Currently riding atop the 18U Boys division of the ongoing second season of the Junior International Championship series, having won three of its six stops in 2022, North Carolina’s Joey Tate made his way to the West Coast last weekend (August 6-7) and with a hot seat ‘hiccup’ and a subsequent rematch against Adrian Prasad in the finals, claimed the BEF’s Junior National-qualifying spot at the CA State Junior Championships. The $5,000-added boys’ division drew 17 entrants to Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, CA.
On the opposite end of the gender spectrum, two of the best-known, not to mention youngest female competitors in the sport – Sofia Mast (14) and Savannah Easton (12) – battled in the hot seat and finals of the $5,000-added, 18U Girls division of the event, which drew 7 entrants to the same location. Easton claimed the hot seat, but Mast came back from defeating her long-time (well, two-year) rival, Skylar Hess, in the semifinals and returned to defeat Easton in the finals to claim the event title.
The California event was just one of many tournaments that have occurred in this calendar year which are manifestations of the Junior International Championships (JIC), founded by Ra Hanna and his On the Wire Creative Media company in 2021. At the conclusion of the first season and just prior to the second, Hanna made note of the fact that the first season was “just practice” and that “practice was (now) over.” His intent, at the start of the second season, was to encourage his junior competitors to step away from tournaments restricted to their peers and get themselves out in the ‘real world’ of tough competition against older opponents. And the top JIC competitors have been doing just that. While not leaping to the top of ranked players, they’ve been cashing in a lot of tournaments and impressing veteran players on a lot of the tours, as, by way of just a couple of examples, the Viking Cues Q City 9-Ball Tour on which the Tate family (Joey, Bethany and Noelle) has been competing regularly and a number of Florida tours and independent events, on which Tampa-based Sophia Mast has been playing.
Though the California event drew a number of the JIC competitors back among their peers, it also had a way of demonstrating the impact of the JIC throughout the country. Ten of the 17 California event competitors in the 18U Boys division were JIC veterans and all but one of the seven girls in the 18U Girls division were regulars on the JIC series. The top four finishers in both divisions of the California State Junior Championships came from the ranks of the JIC.
Joey Tate has proved to be the JIC’s top competitor this year, not only winning the three of the series’ six events thus far in the 18U division, but two of the series’ six in the ProAm division. With the exception of Adrian Prasad, who made somewhat of a surprise showing in California, finishing third, the top four finishers among the boys in California were the top-ranked competitors in the JIC 18U division.
Tate got by his first two opponents in California, Nathan Nunes and Cody Hill, giving up just a single rack to Nunes. Cameron Hollingsworth, brother to Landon (#2 among JIC 18U Boys), chalked up three against him in their winners’ side semifinal. Adrian Prasad, in the meantime, got by Cash Lance and Gabe Martinez (who’d previously sent Landon Hollingsworth to the loss side) before defeating Carlos Jinez to join Tate in the hot seat match. Tate and Prasad locked up in a double hill fight that did, eventually, leave Prasad in the hot seat.
On the loss side, the Hollingsworth brothers were looking at the possibility of meeting in the event quarterfinals. Landon did his part, defeating Carlos Jinez 7-2, but Lazaro Martinez, #3 among the JIC 18U Boys, battled Cameron to double hill before eventually defeating him. Martinez made it two brothers in a row, defeating Landon in the quarterfinals 7-4, but Tate stopped Martinez 7-5 in the semifinals for a second shot at Prasad in the hot seat.
Tate completed his title run with a 9-6 rematch victory over Prasad in the finals.
Sofia Mast (Photo courtesy Cris Constantin)
The “Pink Dagger” and “Roadrunner” square off in CA 18U Girls hot seat and finals
You can almost imagine these two young women facing each other before a match. The “Pink Dagger,” (Sofia Mast) pretending, with a quiet smile, that she has a dagger and pretending to thrust it, while the “Roadrunner” (Savannah Easton) takes a step back and with a twinkle in her eye, says, “Beep! Beep.”
The Pink Dagger found its target this past weekend. While the Roadrunner “beep-beeped’ her way into the hot seat, the Dagger came back and downed her in the finals.
The short field made for a short run to their first match. Mast got by the only competitor not drawn from the JIC ranks, Emars Selgado, in the opening round 7-2 and walked into the JIC’s #1-ranked competitor in the 18U Girls division, Bethany Tate, in a winners’ side semifinal (Mast is 4th and Easton 9th in the JIC 18U Girls division). Easton, in the meantime, opened with a 7-4 win over Kennedy Meyman and drew Skylar Hess in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Mast defeated Tate 7-2, as Easton was downing Hess 7-4. Easton then defeated Mast 7-2 and claimed the hot seat.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, it was Hess and Tate who squared off in the event’s quarterfinals, once Hess had eliminated Hayleigh Marion and Tate had defeated Meyman, both 7-3. Hess (5th among the JIC 18U Girls) defeated Tate in those quarterfinals 7-3, but fell to Mast in the semifinals 7-5. The “Pink Dagger” flashed the sharp blade of her precision shooting and cool-as-the-proverbial-cucumber demeanor in the finals, giving up only a single rack to Easton and claiming the CA State Junior Championship title.
After this BEF Junior National qualification gig, the girls and boys of the JIC will be back at itlater this month (Aug. 19-21), when they visit Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, IA.
The Billiard Education Foundation recently held its 34th annual Junior National Pool Championships, Tuesday, June 21 to Saturday, June 25. The event attracted more than 130 of the top junior pool players across the country.
During the event, the Billiard Education Foundation recognized more than 90 players as Academic All Americans, as they all had a great point average of 3.0 GPA or better. Of those players, 39 players had a 4.0 GPA or higher. Along with the Academic All Americans, the BEF also recognized Hayleigh Marion and Kaden Hillman as the recipients of this year’s Brenden Crocket Sportsman Award for exemplifying the ideals of sportsmanship while at the pool table with ethical behavior, fair play, and integrity throughout the event.
During the week-long tournament BCA Hall of Famer Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman also held his 28th consecutive annual artistic pool competition. Dr. Cue presented the 2022 Artistic Pool awards to this year’s champions: Brody Hillman (U18 boys division), Kaden Hillman (U16 and U14 boys divisions), Sofia Mast (U18 girls division), Hayleigh Marion (U16 girls division), and Skylar Hess (U14 girls division).
On Saturday, June 25th the Junior National Pool Championships concluded with the final matches in each category. In an effort to align with the WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championship, the BEF awarded gold, silver and bronze medals to the top three finishers of each division.
The finalist of this year’s BEF Junior National 9-Ball Championships presented by Iwan Simonis are:
Bronze Medalists:
18UB Niko Konkel (Winston-Salem, NC)
18UG Courtney Hairfield (Chester, VA)
16UB Niko Konkel (Winston-Salem, NC)
16UG Hayleigh Marion (Bristol, VA)
14UB Jordan Witkin (Algonquin, IL)
14UG Noelle Tate (Elm City, NC)
The finalist of this year’s BEF U18 8-Ball National Championship presented by Lucasi Cues are:
Introduced at this year’s BEF Junior National Pool Championships was the Michael J. Repici Girls in Billiards Scholarship. The new scholarship fund provided $1,000 to the three girls 9-Ball division champions. In its inaugural year, the recipients of the Michael J Repici include: U18 9-Ball Champion Skylar Hess; U16 9-Ball Champion Precilia Kinsley; and U14 9-Ball Champion Savannah Easton.
Sponsors for this year’s event included:
Aramith
BilliardsKing.com
Diamond Billiard Products
Iwan Simonis
J. Pechauer Custom Cues
JamUp Apparel
Lucasi Cues
Mako Tips
Predator Group
Schon Custom Cues
Seyberts Billiard Supply
About Billiard Education Foundation
The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) was formed in 1993 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity committed to promoting a love of pool and building the next generation of players through youth programs and academic scholarships. The BEF is managed by the Billiard Congress of America. For more information about the BEF or to learn how you can support the foundation please visit BilliardEducation.org.
Nine events, drawn from 22 national qualifiers across 17 states, yields 110 unique competitors
For the second year in a row, since the Billiards Education Foundation initiated a new rule allowing players to compete in more than one division of their Junior National Championships, Greenville, SC’s Landon Hollingworth has taken advantage of an opportunity to claim two separate titles at the annual event. He claimed two 2021 Junior National titles in both the 18 & Under and 16 & Under divisions and last week, though he’d aged out of eligibility for the 16 & Under division of the 2022 Junior Nationals, he won his second 18 & Under division title and added a win in the event’s 10-Ball Championships. Nine divisions drew 110 unique entrants to the 2022 Junior National Championships, which were hosted by the South Point Hotel & Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV from June 21-25.
Three of the nine events were designated as qualifiers for the World Junior 9-Ball Championships, scheduled for the week of November 14-20 at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition to the 18U Boys division event, won by Hollingsworth, the 18U Girls division, won by Skylar Hess and the 16U Boys division, won by Adrian Prasad will yield eligible entrants to the World Juniors event. The BEF will make an announcement sometime in the future regarding which players among those who participated will be eligible, taking into account finish positions in each of the qualifying events and the ability of individual players to attend.
The influence of the ongoing Junior International Championship (JIC) series of tournaments, now midway through its second year, was very evident in the results of this year’s Junior Nationals. Of the 27 medals awarded to competitors (gold, silver, bronze; three in each division), 25 of them went to active competitors in the JIC series.
“Proud is an understatement,” wrote On the Wire Creative Media’s Ra Hanna, who organized and runs the series, in the JIC Facebook page. “We’re a family; that’s it, pure and simple. We work hard and we play hard.”
Hollingsworth’s two Gold medals at the BEF Junior Nationals were not without their challenges. Though he’d go undefeated in the second-largest event in terms of entrants, the 18U Boys 9-Ball World Qualifier, which drew 35 entrants, he had to play one loss-side match in his 10-Ball Championship run, which drew 32.
Niko Konkel, Landon Hollingsworth and Joey Tate
None of his five opponents in his 9-Ball event run chalked up less than four racks against him and one of them, Garrett Vaughan, forced him to win the final game of a double hill struggle. He downed Niko Konkel 9-6 to claim the hot seat, before he had to face one of his regular opponents on the JIC circuit, Joey Tate, in the finals. Tate had been sent to the loss side, where he defeated Nicholas Fiore, Trent White in the quarterfinals and Konkel, who picked up the event’s Bronze medal, in the semifinals. Hollingsworth grabbed the Gold medal with a 10-7 final victory over Tate, who went home with the Silver medal.
In the 10-Ball Championships, Hollingsworth began his run to the hot seat match by defeating his younger brother Cameron and then defeated three more opponents to reach and challenge Nathan Nunes for the hot seat. Nunes handed him his first, and as it turned out, only loss of the week 7-3 and claimed the hot seat. Hollingsworth was challenged to his second double hill match by Adrian Prasad in the semifinals and prevailed for a second chance against Nunes. In the very early morning hour or so of Saturday, June 25, he collected his second Gold medal with a 7-5 victory over Nunes in the finals of the 10-Ball event.
In the 18U Girls world qualifier, which drew 17 entrants, Skylar Hess won three on the loss side to down Kennedy Meyman in the finals. Hess had been sent to the loss side by Meyman, who’d advanced to claim the hot seat in a double hill win over Courtney Hairfield. On the loss side, Hess defeated Bethany Tate in the quarterfinals and Hairfield in the semifinals, both 7-5. She won her rematch versus Meyman 10-3 to claim the event’s Gold medal. The top four finishers in this event were among the JIC’s top-ranked competitors in its 18UG division, midway through the JIC season. The winner of the BEF 18UG event, Hess, is 4th on the JIC list, while the runner-up, Meyman, is 2nd. Precilia Kinsley, who finished in the tie for 5th/6th at this event is 3rd on the JIC list, while the 4th place finisher is currently the JIC’s top-ranked young female competitor, Bethany Tate.
In the remaining world-qualifying event, the 16U Boys 9-Ball, which drew one entrant less than the 18U Boys event (34), the 10-Ball Championship’s Bronze medalist, Adrian Prasad came from the loss side to down Harrison Leinen in the finals. Prasad had been defeated by Leinen 9-7 in the battle for the hot seat, and then eliminated the 9-Ball event’s Bronze medalist Niko Konkel in the semifinals 7-2. Prasad completed his run with a 10-8 victory over Leinen in the finals.
The 16U Girls had, by far, the shortest field in the Junior Nationals with only 7 entrants and the above-noted Precilia Kinsley and Bethany Tate finished as winner and runner-up. Those two battled first in a winners’ side semifinal that went double hill before Tate advanced to the hot seat match against Hayleigh Marion. In her second straight double hill match, Tate defeated Marion to claim the hot seat. On the loss side, Kinsley won two matches, including a double hill win over Marion in the semifinals, before coming back to down Tate in the finals 7-2.
8-Ball Championships draw larger field (44), than 14U Girls and Boys combined (40)
Trenton White and Brent Worth
The popularity of 8-Ball was as evident at the BEF Junior Nationals as it is in the general amateur fields of competition, like various leagues and independent-venue, weekendtournaments from coast to coast. The 44-entrant size of the field featured a lot of competitors not included in the JIC rosters of regular competitors. The JIC series, in general, features 9-ball competition, though later this year, there are plans to include a 14:1 tournament. Though they don’t play 8-ball, all three of the event’s medals went to regular JIC competitors.
Trent White, who competes in the JIC 18U Boys division, went undefeated through the field to claim the BEF’s 18U 8-Ball Championships. White faced separate opponents in the hot seat match and finals, downing Brent Worth, double hill, in the former and Jacob Kohl 5-2 in the latter.
Eddie Vonderau, who sits atop the current JIC ranking roster in the 13UB division, went undefeated through the BEF’s 14U Boys event, which drew 28 entrants. Like White in the 8-Ball event, Vonderau faced different opponents in the hot seat and finals. He gave up only a single rack to Jordan Witkin in the hot seat match and faced Jayce Little in the finals. Little won three on the loss side, including two double hill matches, against Grayson Vaughan and in the semifinals, Witkin, for a shot against Vonderau. Witkin chalked up four racks in the finals, but Vonderau got his 8 to claim the Gold medal.
Sofia Mast, Savannah Easton and Noelle Tate
The 12-entrant 14U Girls event was won by Savannah Easton, who went undefeated through the field, downing Sofia Mast twice; hot seat and finals. Easton had defeated the youngest of the three-member Tate clan, Noelle, in a winners’ side semifinal and in the hot seat match, drew Mast, who’d defeated her ‘storied’ arch-rival in the JIC series, Skylar Hess (winner of the 18UG world qualifier), in a winners’ side quarterfinal before defeating Jordan Helfery in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Easton grabbed the hot seat 7-5 over Mast. When Mast returned after defeating Noelle Tate a second time, 5-1, Easton defeated her a second time, 7-3 in the finals to grab the 14U Girls Gold medal.
Conflict between expectations and event reality stirs controversy
Greg Hogue of Tulsa, OK, has had two good (recorded) earning years at the tables. They stand as bookends to a 15-year pool career that began in 2006, which remains on record with us here at AZBilliards as his best earnings year. It continues with what is now his second-best earnings year, this one, thanks in large measure to his undefeated performance at the 2022 Sandcastle Open last weekend (June 4-5). The $2,500-added event drew 32 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
Hogue had to face South Dakota’s Danny Olson twice in this event. Olson, as it happens, is in the midst of his best recorded earnings year since he first showed up in our player database back in 2011. At the end of the Sandcastle Open, while Hogue had moved up to a career-high spot on our AZB Money Leaderboard (#100), Olson moved up to his career-high spot on the board to #72.
They met first in the winners’ side second round. As Hogue was working on an opening round, 7-4 victory over Alex Vangelov, Olson had his hands full with a double hill fight against one of the top players in the world, Jayson Shaw. Olson won that battle, only to be sent west by Hogue 7-4. Hogue advanced to win his third straight 7-4 victory, over Levie Lampaan and pick up Jonathan Pinegar (aka Hennessee from Tennessee) in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Meanwhile, Oscar Dominguez from the West Coast had been busy downing his young protege Adrian Prasad, Alex Osipov and Josh Thiele to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal battle against Raymond Linares.
Dominguez added another 7-4 win to the batch of them, downing Linares to earn his spot in the hot seat match. Hogue joined him after sending Pinegar to the loss side 7-5. Hogue sent Dominguez to the semifinals, claiming the hot seat 7-5.
On the loss side, Pinegar picked up Danny Olson, four matches into the seven-match, loss-side streak that would end in the finals against Hogue. He’d recently eliminated Mhet Vergara 7-2 and Shane Wolford 7-3. Linares drew Derek Daya, who was working on a six-match, loss-side streak that included victories over Lampaan 7-5 and knocked Jayson Shaw out of the tournament 7-4.
Daya chalked up his sixth in a row against Linares 7-5, while Olson was defeating Pinegar 7-3. Olson then stopped Daya’s run 7-3 in the subsequent quarterfinals.
Olson punched his ticket to the finals with a 7-5 win over Dominguez in the semifinals. Though Olson would chalk up one more rack than he’d managed against Hogue in the second round, Hogue claimed the Sandcastle Open title 7-5.
Old story, new day . . .
The 32-entrant field, which resulted in the promotional, expected figure of ‘$5,000-added’ being reduced to the reality of ‘$2,500-added,’ didn’t sit well with the players who showed up. Sandcastle Billiards owner, Ed Liddawi, wasn’t too happy about it either. Prior to the event, 55 players had registered to compete. By the time the event started, that number had dwindled to 32, with only two of the 23 players who did not compete, providing reasonable explanations regarding their inability to attend.The flyer promoting the event made it clear that the ‘$5,000-added’ figure was contingent upon a field of 64 entrants and in the end, Liddawi returned the entry fees to all of the players who had submitted an entrance fee, to include some who reached out to him, in less than reasonable ways, while he was in the middle of conducting the event they had failed to attend.
In comments that surfaced on our own AZBilliards Forums, some players made the point (in a variety of ways) that financial considerations dictate whether or not someone is going to sign on to compete (entry fees, green fees, calculated travel and living expenses, weighed against the potential for winning enough cash to offset those expenses and hopefully, more). Thus, plans to compete are often contingent on there being sufficient money at stake to make attendance worthwhile. A subsequent and substantial reduction in the amount of prize money available has a way of altering the cost/benefit analysis to the point where not only might a player have to face the reality of not making any money, he/she might end up losing money.
That said, room owners, tour directors and event promoters, like Ed Liddawi, are conducting the same sort of cost/benefit analysis built on the financial burdens they have to assume when considering the creation and promotion of a given event. When, through no fault of their own, some of the math is thrown off track, then they, too, have to face the reality that instead of an event, that as planned, was designed to benefit their own financial expectations, as well as theexpectations of the players, they have to make hard decisions that inevitably impact both sides of the financial equations. Just like the players, they can end up losing money, too.
Not an ideal set of situations for anybody.
The debate, articulated in the Forums and in some cases, personally to us here at AZBilliards is not new and in a polarizing way, familiar to anyone who follows politics these days. It’s not enough apparently to just state a given case, it becomes necessary to demonize one’s opponents; to call a room owner/event promoter ‘greedy,’ or complain, in general, about how much ‘these people’ work toward making a player’s life miserable by ‘stealing’ from them with no regard as to what they, the players have to deal with, or, conversely, that players ‘don’t understand or care’ about what it takes to organize and ultimately run an event and are ‘only interested in themselves.’
Those are NOT quotes from any particular individuals, merely examples of the sort of close-minded debate that contributes little or nothing to the solution of a central problem that has plagued pool longer than AZBilliards has been around. Part of the problem is, of course, that there have been in the past and continue to be room owners/event promoters who are greedy, cheat players out of money and act in bad faith, caring little about the fate of the players they’re hosting at a given event. But there are also players who act out of bad faith, too, assume they’re being cheated and start with that as a premise when they engage in any sort of discussion about a specific controversy.
The specifics of this decades-old controversy, to include actual quotes from players and room owners can be found in our Forums, stretching back over the years, with a great deal of regularity. Complaining falls under the umbrella of individual and “inalienable rights,” afforded to greedy room owners/event promoters and self-centered, whining pool players alike. But you can’t paint all room owners/event promoters and players with the same brush. It should be noted, as well, that many room owners are players themselves at varied levels of proficiency (Jayson Shaw and Oscar Dominguez, who attended this event, as two examples, and Ed Liddawi, who put it on). Responsible, reasonable room owners/event promoters and responsible, reasonable players do not tend to join the acrimonious debate, especially when it devolves into senseless name-calling and baseless accusations. It is not anyone’s intent to censor the commentary or the Forum community, but it should be incumbent on individuals in both ‘camps’ to seek reasonable solution(s) to the varied and apparently intractable problems represented in the debates themselves.
It was made abundantly clear on the final weekend of competition for the Junior International Championships’ two 13 & Under divisions (boys and girls) that the competitors were reluctant to finish competing. The weekend, which began on Friday, Sept. 17 at Wolf’s Den in Roanoke, VA was to have been a Championship event for the 13 & Under divisions, for which its players had already qualified. The competitors decided that not only did they want to hold the scheduled Championship event, they also wanted, while they were there anyway, to compete in an 8th regular event. So they did both. On Friday and Sunday, the two divisions competed in the 8th event of the JIC series, and on Saturday, they held their Championship event.
Stop # 8 of the JIC series drew 14 boys and 10 girls to their respective 13 & Under divisions. The 13 & Under Championships drew 10 boys and 9 girls. And just to keep everybody busy, the weekend also included Stop # 8 for the 18 & Under Boys (39 entrants) and Girls (14 entrants) and the ProAm Division (32 entrants). The 18 & Under Boys and Girls will play their Championship event at the tail end of the 2021 International Open next month (October 28-30 at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, VA), while the top three competitors from the final rankings of the ProAm division, who were awarded entry fees, will be competing in the 9-ball Open. There were to have been only two ProAm competitors who qualified for entry to the International Open, but a tie for second place led to three who qualified – Joey Tate, Landon Hollingsworth and Nathan Childress. A report on the final stop for the two 18 & Under and ProAm divisions will appear separately.
Stop # 8 of the 13 & Under divisions were won by undefeated performances from Gabriel Martinez and Sofia Mast. It was Martinez’ third win of the series, having won in March and June. Before he finished the 8th stop, he would compete and go undefeated in the 13 & Under Boys Championship, as well (more on this later). It was Mast’s 5th win in the division, having finished as runner-up in Stops #2, #4 and #5.
Martinez went through Julian Scruggs and Eddie Vondereau to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal versus Jayce Little. Adrian Prasad squared off against Hank Leinen in the other one. Prasad and Martinez advanced to the hot seat; Prasad, 7-5 over Leinen and Martinez 7-2 over Little. Martinez sent Prasad to the semifinals and claimed the hot seat 7-2.
In those semifinals, Prasad drew Leinen, who’d defeated Vondereau and Jayse Alton, both 7-1, to reach him. Leinen earned a shot at Martinez in the hot seat with a 7-5 victory over Prssad. Martinez completed his undefeated run with a 9-5 win over Leinen in the finals.
Mast’s four-match path to the winners’ circle in the 13 & Under Girls division went through Carley Tomaszewski to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal matchup against Noelle Tate. Long-time JIC rival to Mast, Skylar Hess, faced Arianna Houston in the other one. Mast got into the hot seat match 7-4 over Tate. Hess joined her after downing Houston 7-1. Mast claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Hess.
On the loss side, Noelle Tate followed her winners’ side loss against Mast with a double hill victory over her sister, Bethany before downing Houston 7-4 in the quarterfinals and then, Hess 7-3 in the semifinals. She fell to Mast a second time in the finals 9-2.
Gabriel Martinez
Martinez wins his second undefeated event on Saturday; Mast, Hess and Tate are top 3 again
The Girls 13 & Under Championships, sandwiched between the two days of the 8th stop on the series finished in almost the same way as the 8th stop. Mast, Noelle Tate and Hess finished 1, 2 & 3 on Stop #8, while Mast, Hess and Tate finished 1, 2, & 3 in the Championships.
Mast’s path in the Championships ran through Skylynn Elliot and Franki Spain to arrive at what (time-wise) was her first of two hot seat matches against Hess, who’d defeated Taylor Perkins and Noelle Tate. It was Hess claiming the hot seat 7-5 over Mast in the Championships.
On the loss side, in the semifinals, Mast drew Noelle Tate, who, following her winners’ side loss to Hess, had defeated Elliott 7-3 and Spain 7-2 in the quarterfinals. Mast and Tate battled to double hill in the semifinals, before Mast prevailed for a second shot against Hess. Mast downed Hess 9-4 in the finals to claim the 13 & Under Girls’ championship title.
Facing a couple of the same opponents, Gabriel Martinez went undefeated (time-wise, first) in the 18 & Under Boys Championship. He’d faced Hank Leinen in the finals of Stop #8 of the 18 & Under division and squared off against Leinen in a winners’ side semifinal in the Championships. Martinez won that match 7-2 and advanced to his first of two hot seat matches against Adrian Prasad. He shut Prasad out in the Championships’ hot seat match (and gave up only two racks in the hot seat match they played against each other the next day).
On the loss side, Prasad drew a rematch against Eddie Vondereau, who, after losing their first matchup 7-1, went on to defeat Timmy Cossey, Konnor McFayden in the quarterfinals and then, in the rematch, shut Prasad out in the semifinals. Martinez completed his undefeated run with a 9-4 victory in the finals to claim the 13 & Under Championship title.
JIC Tour Director Ra Hanna thanked all of his sponsors for their help in making this event possible, Mike Littman with Littman Lights, Matt Suite at American Billiard Covering, Dynaspheres, Chris Wilson at The League Room, Kory & Trena Wolford from Wolfs Den Billiards and Mike from Michael’s Billiards.
13 & Under Boys Championships
1st Gabriel Martinez $600 a CueTec Propel Jump cue
2nd Eddie Vondereau $400 2×4 leather case
3rd Adrian Prasad $200
Trena Wolford, Joey Tate, Ra Hanna, Nathan Childress and Kory Wolford
Tate and Heyman at the top of “18 & Under Girls; Mast and Tate lead “13 & Under” groups
On the Wire Creative Media’s series of Junior International Championships crossed its midway point this past weekend (May 28-30) at the 4th event in the series, hosted by Center Pocket Billiards in Bowie, MD. Technically, it did so somewhere in the middle of this event, because although there are eight total events scheduled, the last will be the tour finale, scheduled to coincide in time (more or less) and space (Norfolk,VA) with Pat Fleming’s US International 9-Ball Open, scheduled to take place between Oct. 23-31.
The rivalries in the different age groups are becoming clearer now, as the junior competitors, all 92 of them, at this event, with a lot of categorical/division crossover, have begun facing each other on a more or less regular basis. Through four events, Nathan Childress and Joey Tate are battling it out for the top-ranking spot in both the “18 & Under Boys” division, as well as theProAm division. Childress has gone back-to-back in the “18 & Under Boys” event, with Joey Tate as runner-up both times. Tate, who’s younger than Childress by three years (18-15), has the upper hand in the ProAm rankings, having won the event back in April and finishing as runner-up before that (March). Childress, who won this most recent Pro Am, finished 3rd back in January, was 13th in March and 4th in April.
Talking to On the Wire Creative Media’s Ra Hanna, one would think that these five-division tournaments being run simultaneously for most of this year are as simple as opening a given venue’s doors, pointing children at tables and telling them to play. It’s not, but you wouldn’t know it from Hanna, who’s professional demeanor and unflagging enthusiasm for the entire project never seems to diminish. Nor does his awareness that he isn’t doing it alone.
“Truthfully,” he said, reflecting on the midway point of the series of tournaments, “there are a lot of supportive parents. We’ve gotten positive feedback and a lot of help.”
“This, to me, is always where we were headed,” he added. “It took a while for me to do it the way I wanted to do it.”
Among the surprises he has encountered, he has discovered that a part of the original plan had to be scrapped to accommodate the junior players themselves.
“When we first started,” he said, “the plan was to have separate (by age) brackets, so that you wouldn’t have kids flying all over the country to go two and out, but the younger kids wanted to play the older kids.”
“I had to open it up,” he added, “and as it turned out, the older players mentored the younger ones.”
In the most heavily-attended event of the weekend, the “18 & Under Boys” division, which drew 32 entrants, the marquee matchup between Nathan Childress and Joey Tate happened twice. Childress worked his way through Garrett Vaughan, Dylan Waugh and Hunter Frazier to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Landon Hollingsworth. Tate, in the meantime, had sent Konnor McFayden, Adrian Prasad, and Riley Adkins to the loss side and faced Ivo Linkin in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Tate downed Linkin 7-1. Childress joined him in the battle for the hot seat, after engaging in a successful double hill fight against Hollingsworth. Tate claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited for Childress to get back from the semifinals, which he did (downing Linkin 7-3). The wait wasn’t long, but the extra match was apparently to Childress’ benefit, as he returned to defeat Tate in the finals 9-4.
In the next most heavily-attended event, the Pro Am, which drew 26 mixed-gender-and-age entrants, Childress went undefeated to claim the title. He and Tate met in a winners’ side semifinal in this one. Childress had gotten by Jacob Kohl, Ben Kleinfelter and Payne McBride to draw Tate. Trenton White in the meantime, had been awarded an opening round bye and then defeated Ivo Linkin and Landon Hollingsworth to face Lukas Fracasso-Verner in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Childress sent Tate to the loss side from which he would not return 7-2. White downed Fracasso-Verner 7-5. Childress took the first of his two matches against White 7-2 and claimed the hot seat. On the loss side, Fracasso-Verner and Tate eliminated Linkin and Hollingsworth, respectively, before Fracasso-Verner ended Tate’s Pro Am run 7-3 in the quarterfinals. White defeated Fracasso-Verner a second time in the semifinals 7-5 and then, fell a second time to Childress, who claimed the event title 9-5 in the finals.
The older girls and the younger divisions do battle
There was a bit of a shakeup in the rankings of the top four young women in the “18 & Under Girls” event, which drew 13 entrants. Coming into the weekend, Kennedy Meyman was leading the pack of 18 that had competed, so far. She’d won the first event and placed third in April. Bethany Tate (14) was second, having finished as the runner-up in the first two events. Sofia Mast (12) was third, having finished third in the second event. Skylar Hess (12) rounded out the top four in the rankings, having not been among the top three finishers in any of the first three events. When the recent event was over, Tate, Meyman and Mast were in a tie for the top spot, with Hess, who finished as runner-up, maintaining her 4th place position.
Trena Wolford, Sofia Mast, Ra Hanna, Skylar Hess and Kory Wolford
Mast went undefeated to win the event and had to defeat Hess twice; hot seat and finals. She’d defeated Bethany Tate’s younger sister, Noelle (11) and in a winners’ side semifinal, Courtney Hairfield, whom she defeated 7-3 to get into the hot seat match. Hess had downed Precilia Kinsley and Carley Tomaszewski and in the other winners’ side semifinal, Kennedy Meyman 7-5 to join Mast in the struggle for the hot seat.
Mast won the first of their two 7-3 to claim it. Hess moved to the semifinals where she ran into Bethany Tate, who, in a way, had exacted revenge on behalf of her sister, when she faced Meyman in the quarterfinals. Meyman had just defeated Noelle Tate. Bethany eliminated Meyman 7-4 in those quarterfinals, but was then eliminated herself, by Hess, in a double hill semifinal fight. The final fight was a double hill affair, as well, with Mast winning it 9-8 to claim the “18 & Under Girls” title.
The finish of the 8-entrant, “13 & Under Girls” event, looked a lot like the finish in the “18 and Under” division. Not exactly, though. Mast and Hess were in the finals, but the result was reversed, with Hess claiming the title. Bethany Tate finished in 3rd place for the second time.
The final rankings in the two female groups are very much alike, as well; Bethany Tate, Kennedy Meyman, Sofia Mast and Skylar Hess leading the way among the older young women. Mast, Tate, Hess and Noelle Tate leading the younger crowd in current rankings.
Hess and Mast split the two matches that they played, with Hess winning the second one in the finals. After Mast had shut out Ashley Prasad in a winners’ side semifinal and Hess had sent Franki Spain to the loss side 7-5, Mast downed Hess 7-4 to claim the hot seat. On the loss side, the Tate sisters met in the quarterfinals, once Bethany had eliminated Franki Spain (8) and Noelle had done likewise to Ashley Prasad, both 7-2. The elder Tate, Bethany, downed her younger sister Noelle 7-3 and then, engaged in a double hill, semifinal fight for a shot at Mast in the finals.Hess won it, though, and then, defeated Mast 9-6 to claim the “13 & Under Girls” title.
Konnor McFayden, Adrian Prasad and Jayce Little
Adrian Prasad retained his top spot in the “13 & Under Boys” division by winning this division for the second straight and third, overall time. He had to come from the loss side to do it. He’d been sent over in a winners’ side semifinal, double hill, by Konnor McFayden, who went on todefeat Jayce Little 7-4 to claim the hot seat. Prasad moved over and in three matches, gave up only four racks; two to D’Angelo “Jaws” Spain, and one each to Grayson Vaughan in the quarterfinals and Jayce Little in the semifinals. Prasad claimed the title by downing McFadden in the finals 9-4. This was only McFadden’s second appearance in the championship series, where in the opening event in March, he’d finished in 4th place. That put him in 4th place in the rankings, as well. In his absence, over the next two events, his place among his peers slipped. As this event’s runner-up, he moved up to #7 in the rankings.
Ra Hanna noted that Landon Hollingsworth had won the event’s Sportsperson Award, while Timothy Cossey won the Jeanette Lee Comeback Award. Hanna thanked the ownership and staff at Center Pocket Billiards for their hospitality, as well as his assistants Chris Robinson (handling photography) and the Wolfords, Corey and Treena, for their help. In addition to thanking Chris Wilson, owner of the League Room in Parkersburg, WV and Mike Littman of Littman Lights (“there from the beginning,” said Hanna.), he gave a shout out to all the families of the junior players, whose camaraderie has made these events, “truly, one big travelling family.”
The series of events, Hanna noted, has exceeded his expectations.
“Truthfully,” he said, “I knew we could get here, I just didn’t know it would be so fast.”
“If it weren’t for COVID, it would have been easy to get 128 (juniors) into these events,” he added. “We’re already outgrowing the spots we’re at.”
Stop #5 on the Junior International Championships (JIC), scheduled for the weekend of June 25-27, will be hosted by Stixx and Stones in Lewisville, TX. The complete schedule of events is available on the JIC Facebook page or in our calendar here at AZBilliards; link to the Tours/Events tab and then find “Junior International Championship.”
Lazaro and Gabriel Martinez (Photo courtesy Chris Robinson)
In the second of eight Junior International Championships (JIC), held under the auspices of On the Wire Creative Media at Racks Billiards and Sports Bar in Sanford, FL this past weekend (March 12-14), two brothers – Gabriel and Lazaro Martinez – won two of the five events. The younger Martinez, Gabriel (13), won the Pro/Am event that drew 28 entrants, while the older brother, Lazaro (14) won the 18 & Under Boys event that drew the largest field of entrants (36). Gabriel competed against the 18 & Under Boys, as well, although he was sent to the loss side by his brother in a winners’ side semifinal and eliminated by the eventual runner-up, Nathan Childress, in the event semifinals. Gabriel won the first JIC event in the 13 & Under Boys division and competed in that event this time, as well, although he was sent to the loss side in a winners’ side semifinal match by the eventual winner, Adrian Prasad (who was runner-up to Martinez last time), and later eliminated in his first loss-side match by D’Angelo (Jaws) Spain.
In the female divisions, Ohio’s Tatum Cutting won the 18 & Under event that drew 12 entrants and North Carolina’s Bethany Tate won the 13 & Under division that drew 9 entrants.
There were, in all, 77 entrants and 99 entries, indicative of the fact that more than just the Martinez brothers competed in a number of events at this most recent JIC. The junior competitors are collecting tour points that will be used for seeding in the tour finale, scheduled to coincide with the International Open at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside in Norfolk, VA in October.
At present, Gabriel Martinez leads the two-event point totals with 10,000 for his two victories. Adrian Prasad is in second place with 9,250 and D’Angelo Spain is in 3rd place with 3,500 points.
As originally designed, the events were broken down into their separate age divisions so that younger players would not have to enter events and face the possibility of competing against older, more experienced opponents and potentially, getting discouraged when they lost, early and often. The reaction to this division by ages surprised On the Wire Creative Media’s Ra Hanna.
“I didn’t want the 13-year-olds to get disappointed,” he said, “but I didn’t realize how much interest the younger kids would have in competing against the older players. They want to play with the big boys.”
“That,” he added, thinking of case-in-point, Gabriel Martinez, “has been fantastic.”
As always, ladies first. The increased opportunities for competition among younger females has not begun to affect the numbers that these junior events are seeing in the female divisions. Neither of the female events which drew 9 and 12 entrants this past weekend, drew as many as the Boys 13 & under (14) and combined, the girls’ events didn’t draw as many as either the Pro Am (28; which included some female competitors) or the Boys 18 & Under (36). That, as players and their parents, begin to become aware of these events, is likely to change.
Tatum Cutting’s undefeated path to the winners’ circle in the Girls 18 & Under event went through Precilia Kinsley, Alana Sanchez and Bethany Tate, with an aggregate score of 21-5, which put her in the hot seat match against Sofia Mast, who’d been awarded an opening round bye and then defeated Kennedy Meyman 7-5 and Savanna Wolford 7-3 to join Cutting. Mast chalked up as many racks against Cutting in the hot seat match as all of her previous opponents, combined, but was sent to the semifinals 7-5. Mast and Bethany Tate fought a double hill battle in those semifinals, both looking for a rematch against Cutting. Tate prevailed, and then fell to Cutting in the finals 9-4.
In the 13 and Under girls’ event, it was the combatants in the 18 & Under semifinals (Bethany Tate and Sofia Mast) who battled twice before Tate claimed the younger girls’ title. Tate had gotten by Skylar Hess and her own sister, Noelle Tate and advanced to the hot seat match. Mastjoined her, following victories over Franki Spain and Gianna Fiore.
Tate claimed the hot seat after a double hill fight. Mast downed Hess 7-5 in the semifinals and returned for a rematch. A second double hill fight ensued and for the second time, Tate prevailed and was able to claim the event title.
One goes undefeated, the other with one loss to claim boys’ titles
In the 18 & Under Boys division, Nathan Childress and Lazaro Martinez fought twice to claim the title. Martinez had gotten by Riley Adkins, Trenton White, Ivo Linkin and his own brother, Gabriel to arrive at the hot seat match. Childress’ path to the hot seat match went through Conner Scruggs, Hank Leinen, D’Angelo “Jaws” Spain, and, in a double hill fight, Nathan Nunes.
Martinez downed Childress the first time 7-3. Childress’ semifinal was against Martinez’ younger brother, Gabriel and he just did survive it, double hill, for a second shot against Lazaro. Childress got much closer in the finals, but not close enough, as Martinez finished his undefeated run to claim the Boys’ 18 & Under title 9-7.
In the 13 & Under Boys’ division, it was Adrian Prasad and Harry Leinen battling twice. Leinen had gotten by Iann Nolen, Fred Hill, Jr., and Konnor McFayden to arrive at the hot seat match. Prasad had sent Caleb Chase, Andrew Johnson and Gabriel Martinez to the loss side to face Leinen.
Leinin took the first of their two, 7-4. Prasad returned from a 7-3 semifinal victory over D’Angelo “Jaws” Spain for a rematch. He won that rematch 9-7 to claim the 13 & Under Boys title.
In the mixed gender Pro Am event, 13-year-old Gabriel Martinez had his hands full. He seemed to be getting stronger as he got closer to the finish line. Following a bye, he advanced past Landon Hollingsworth, Brent Worth and Julio Estevez, demonstrating increased success – 7-5, 7-4, 7-2 – to arrive at the hot seat match. Joey Tate, in the meantime, seemed to be showing signs of getting weaker. He got by Cash Lance 7-3, Trenton White 7-2, Lazaro Martinez 7-4 and Kodi Allen 7-5. It was Tate, though, who claimed the hot seat 7-4.
Gabriel moved west and in the semifinals, faced Justin Toye, who’d sent Gabriel’s brother, Lazaro, to the proverbial showers in the quarterfinals. Gabriel eliminated him 7-3 and got a second shot at Tate.
You could almost see it coming. Two of the most promising juniors in the game faced off in the finals of the mixed-gender, Pro Am finals and battled to double hill. Gabriel Martinez prevailed to earn his second title at the second event on the Junior International Championships calendar.
Ra Hanna thanked the ownership and staff at Racks Billiards and Sports Bar for hosting the event, as well as sponsors Mike Littman of Littman Lights, Dynaspheres and The League Room. He also extended thanks to his tournament director, Corey Wolford and Jay Helfert. The next stop on the Junior International Championships tour, scheduled for April 16-18, will be hosted by Racks on Rocks in Peoria, IL.
(Watch for an extended report on this second JIC event in the upcoming edition of the BUZZ, coming in April, which will include interviews with the participants and their parents about the growth of opportunities for junior players.)
