The legendary JOB Billiards Club in Madison, TN – a suburb of Nashville – presented the $7,000 added 35th Annual Music City Open this past week. Featuring multiple minis as well as the Open and Ladies Nine Ball events, there was action galore!
Joining JOB’s owner Ricky Gamble in special sponsorship was PoolActionTV.com as well as Aramith, Simonis and Diamond Billiard Products.
All events were played on seven foot Diamonds and play kicked off with on Wednesday evening with a single elimination race to seven nine ball mini tournament. The field was whittled down to Jesus Atencio & Mickey Krause – they split the pot. There was another mini tournament on Saturday night – these two split the pot again!
Players were back on Thursday night for the players auction, meeting & draw. A full field of 128 players entered this race to eleven winner breaks tournament.
Roberto Gomez began his march to the hot seat match after defeating Matt Moore (11-4), Jaime Mitchell (11-3), Rich McDonald (11-1), Johnathan (“Hennessee”) Pinegar (11-9), Jeffrey de Luna (11-9) and Billy Young (11-10).
The hot seat match was close but it was Gomez who locked up his seat in the finals 11-7. Mason would have to await an opponent on the one loss side.
Jeffrey de Luna edged out Mickey Krause (11-10) and then faced Koch to see who would advance to the finals. Jeff defeated Mason 11-4 and moved on to the finals. Mason finished in third place.
Since this was true double elimination, de Luna would have to defeat Gomez twice to win the tournament. However, it was not to be as Roberto won 11-9 to add the Music City Open title to his resume! Congratulations, Roberto! Good event, Jeff!
April Larson and Tina Malm
The Ladies Nine Ball division began on Friday night with 49 players playing in this race to seven winner breaks tournament.
Tina Malm advanced to the hot seat with wins over Casey Baldridge (7-4), Elizabeth Shilliam (7-2), Amanda Wilder (7-0), the always tough April Larson (7-5) and Janeen Lee (7-1).
The hot seat match was close but Malm closed it out with a 7-5 victory over Lovely. Liz headed west to await an opponent.
After losing a nailbiter to Heather Middleton in the fourth round 7-6, Kelly Isaac then edged out Amy Theriault (7-6) and beat Melissa Young (7-2) and Janeen Lee (7-0) until she was eliminated by April Larson (7-2). Kelly finished in fourth place.
Larson then defeated Lovely (7-4) to move into the finals. Liz finished in third place.
Again, since this was true double elimination, April had to defeat Tina twice to take the title. April won the first set 7-4 but Tina took the decider and the title with a 7- 4 win!Congratulations, Tina! Great effort, April!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Ricky Gamble and his staff for their exemplary efforts in taking care of all the players and fans.
We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing an excellent job in running all the different events.
PoolActionTV.com would also like to thank our sponsors and fans. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Lomax Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
And on to the Derby City Classic! Be sure to stop by our Aramith Action Room! The dates are January 20th-28th! Hope to see you there!
JOB’s Billiards – Madison, TN. The 30th Annual Music City Open. Barbox 9 ball – winner breaks, true double elimination. Sure doesn’t get much better than this!!!
The event kicked off on Wednesday night with a 64-player mini tournament. When the smoke had cleared, Nick Hickerson had taken it down after defeating Sean King in the finals.
The women’s division started on Friday night with 41 players. In the end, it came down to Allison Hardwick winning a hill-hill thriller with a break and run on the final rack. Congratulations, Allison! Jessica Mollinet took the well-deserved runner-up position with Lisa Porter in third and Robin Parker in fourth place.
The Midnight Madness Mini kicked off Saturday night – eight players putting up $500 apiece to play – winner take all. Sky Woodward took the cheese over a strong Roberto Gomez in the finals.
The main event had a full field of 128 players. After a raucous player auction on Thursday evening, play began. By Sunday night, the field had whittled down to an undefeated Sky Woodward and Johnathan Pinegar. The smart money was on Sky to take the title as he had played phenomenally throughout the entire event – including two 10-packs.
Hennessee had to defeat Sky twice and won the first set convincingly 11-5. A determined Sky rocketed out to an 8-1 lead in the second set but but never won another game. Henny slowly but surely won game after game to tie the match at 8. From there, he went on ahead to close out the set 11-8, adding a fourth Music City Open title to his resume and leaving a disappointed Sky Woodward in second place. Congratulations to Hennessee for a great tournament!!! Solid performances in a super tough field were turned in by Roberto Gomez for third and Shane Winters for fourth place.
As always, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank JOB’s Billiards and their staff for doing all they could to make everyone feel welcome. Owner Ricky Gamble and Tournament Director Steve McDonald went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly and make us feel at home.
We’d also like to thank our sponsors – Lomax Custom Cues, EnviroAssessments.com, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Hanshew Custom Cues, Simonis, Diveney Custom Cues, GoPlayPool.com, Kamui, Outsville, Diamond Billiard Tables and Club Billiards of Wichita, KS. Thank you all for your continued support.
Our next stop is the Derby City Classic at the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, IN!!! Come on by and sweat the action in our Aramith Action Room!!! Dates are January 20-28th!!! Hope to see you there!!!
Sport 9 Ladies Tour stop #3 was held at 6 Pockets Billiards this past weekend, May 17th, 2014 drawing 16 players in the women’s and 36 in the men’s open bar table mini.
The ladies event began Saturday at noon and was played on 9' Diamond tables. The format was double elimination race to 7 on the winner’s side and race to 5 on the loser’s side. The field was very competitive as Sport 9 welcomed two new players, Tina Hess and Allison Hardwick and newly joined member, Dana Aft. Sunday the final 8 were brought back to battle for top 4 money spots. Going undefeated was Betty Lea out of Atlanta, GA. Dana Aft placed 2nd after defeating Ashley Nandrasy and Janeen Lee.
The men’s 9 ball bar table mini event was held in conjunction with the ladies event also producing some great matches with 36 talented players. The format was race to seven, alternate break double elimination. 'Lil D', Daniel McKenney, from Mississippi won the tournament after coming through the losers bracket. Sam Gilmer placed 2nd and Richard Andrews 3rd.
Congratulations to local player Justyn Cone 'Roadman', winner of the the Friday night bar table tournament.
Sport 9 would like to thank Paul McClain, owner of 6 Pockets Billiards for hosting another great event and look forward to returning July 26th weekend for the 2nd annual River City Open.
Sport 9 would also like to thank all tour sponsors listed below for their continued support and contributions.
Alex Olinger sliced through a daunting field of 120 entrants to go undefeated in the Midwest 9-Ball Tour's $3,250-added Open event on the weekend of February 20-23. Liz Lovely did the same thing in the $750-added, Ladies Tournament, which drew 30. Both, along with a One-Pocket event (separate story), were hosted by Shooter's in Olathe, KS.
Olinger, who picked up two victories on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour last year (March and August), and won the Great Southern Billiard Tour's tour championship in December, met up with the runner-up in the weekend's One Pocket event, John Gabriel, twice; first in the hot seat match, and later, the finals. Olinger had sent Gordon Van Der Veer to the losers' bracket 9-5, as Gabriel was busy doing likewise to Billy Thorpe in a double hill match. Olinger took the first of his two against Gabriel 9-5 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting his return.
On the loss side, Van Der Veer drew Dustin Gunia, who'd just eliminated two Midwest 9-Ball Tour heavyweights; Gabe Owen (who won the One Pocket event) 9-6 and Shane McMinn 9-4 (McMinn had eliminated Joey Gray). Thorpe drew a third Midwest 9-Ball Tour heavyweight, Chip Compton, who'd defeated Ryan Cobb 9-5 and survived a double hill battle against Manny Perez.
Thorpe advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-5 victory over Compton. Van Der Veer did not, falling to Gunia 9-6. Gunia completed his loss-side run with a double hill win over Thorpe and was then stopped by Gabriel in the semifinals 9-7. Olinger completed his undefeated run with a 9-4 win over Gabriel in the finals.
Liz Lovely and Melissa Little played twice in the Ladies event, with Lovely winning both. She'd defeated Allison Hardwick in one of the winners' side semifinals as Little was sending Heather Middleton over 7-1. Lovely and Little battled to double hill in the winners' side final, before Lovely prevailed.
On the loss side, Hardwick and Middleton were handed their second straight losses immediately. Hardwick fell 7-3 to Brittany Colbert, who'd already gotten by Jessica Frideres 7-5 and Barb Avery 7-1. Middleton was shut out by Julia Gabriel, who'd defeated Karen Lincoln 7-2 and Michelle Davis 7-4 to reach her. Gabriel won the quarterfinal over Colbert 7-5 and was then, herself, eliminated by Little 7-3. Lovely then chalked up her second victory over Little 7-4 to claim the Ladies title.
In a buy-back situation at last June's Southern Classic in Tunica, MS, 20-year-old Skyler Woodward, who will very soon be losing the adjective "young," normally attached to his name, made it to the finals of the Southern Classic's Bank Pool Tournament at Harrah's Casino. He faced Alex Pagalayun, who's about six years away from being old enough for Hall of Fame eligibility. Woodward, who'd already used the 'buy back' option to stay in the tournament had to win twice because Pagalayun had yet to exercise the same option. Pagalayun prevailed, winning the first and only set 3-1 to finish an undefeated run. But Woodward, who'd finished tied for 70th place in the same tournament a year ago, had his reputation marker advanced a notch or two. In 2012, on our AZB Money Leaderboard, he was ranked 424th. Now, a year later, with three months to go, he's ranked 73rd.
Woodward's 'rep' continued to advance in the right direction, as he added an undefeated, September 28-29 weekend on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour to his list of 11 accomplishments (code for "in the money") in 2013. He was almost caught in this one by Jay Klatt, who mounted a five-match, loss-side streak to meet him in the finals. Klatt battled him to double hill before Woodward closed out the $2,150-added Open portion of the weekend's events that had drawn 50 entrants to Break Billiards in Cahokia, IL.
The weekend also featured a $350-added Ladies event that drew nine entrants and was won by Julia Gabriel. Like Woodward, Gabriel faced a different opponent in the hot seat match and finals. She downed Shelby Dawn in the hot seat match, but following victories over Annie Nord in the quarterfinals and Dawn in the semifinals, Allison Hardwick got the second chance against Gabriel. Gabriel completed her undefeated run through the short field with a 7-5 finals victory over Hardwick.
In the Open event, Woodward moved among the winners' side final four to meet up with Rich Sager. In the other winners' side semifinal, Steve Boucher faced Chuck Raulston, who had just sent Jay Klatt to the loss side. Woodward downed Sager 9-3, while Boucher was busy defeating Raulston 9-4. Woodward moved into the hot seat with a 9-4 win over Boucher and waited on Klatt.
Klatt, in the meantime, got right back to work. He defeated Mike Dunklin and Bobby McGrath, both 9-7, to pick up Sager. Raulston drew Shane McMinn, who'd gotten by Drake Nietoetter 9-7 and Jacob White 9-3. Klatt advanced 9-6 over Sager and, in the quarterfinals, got a second shot against Raulston, who'd defeated McMinn 9-4.
Klatt took full advantage of his re-match opportunity. He'd been defeated by Raulston 9-3, earlier. He defeated Raulston 9-5 in the quarterfinals and moved on to face Boucher in the semifinal. He took Boucher down 9-5 as well, and turned for his shot at Woodward in the hot seat. Needing to win two, Klatt's bid fell short with a double hill win in the opening set by Woodward.
