Raffled cues, online funding, organized by Christy Norris, raises $4,600 for Mabe family
Anthony Mabe, 28, a regular on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, died in a car accident on Saturday, May 29. Long-time friend and tour director Herman Parker began immediate arrangements for a benefit tournament, re-purposing an already-scheduled tour stop for this past weekend (June 5-6) at Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC. Mabe had begun appearing on the payout lists for the tour in 2015 and over the past six years, had cashed in 18 of the tour’s stops, including a default win (as occupant of the hot seat) that he shared with Graham Swinson and Corey Sykes in 2019 (his best earnings year). In his most recent effort, he finished in the tie for 5th place on the last weekend in February at Gate City Billiards Club.
With raffled cues and an online funding campaign, organized by Christy Norris, the Anthony Mabe benefit was able to raise $4,600 to help the Mabe family with the cost for services, which included a graveside service before the tournament began on Friday, June 4 at the West End Cemetery in West End, NC. The tournament drew 90 entrants to Gate City Billiards Club and was won by Zac Leonard, who, as occupant of the hot seat, split the top two prizes with Jimmy Bird.
In effect, Leonard and Bird settled the issue in the battle for the hot seat. They both defeated their winners’ side semifinal opponents 7-1; Leonard, over Brandon Butts and Bird, over Jesse Cortner. Leonard claimed the hot seat 7-2 in what proved to be his final match.
On the loss side, Butts and Cortner ran immediately into their second loss. Josh Shulz had defeated Reid Vance 7-1 and Jamie Bruce, double hill, before eliminating Cortner 7-2. Donnie Stewart had defeated Mike McPherson 6-3 and Robert Ash 6-2, before he shut out Butts.
Shultz then eliminated Stewart 7-2 in the quarterfinals, before he was eliminated by Bird 7-1 in the semifinals. Leonard and Bird agreed to the split, with Leonard as the official winner of the event.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Gate City Billiards Club for their hospitality, as well as all those who attended and either in-person or online, contributed to the benefit of Anthony Mabe’s family. He also thanked title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., AZBilliards, Federal Savings Bank mortgage division and Diamond Brat.
The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, June 12-13, will be hosted Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
In a final, race-to-six match that took 12 minutes, Billy Fowler and Justin Duncan defeated Kevin Ping and Tony Wall in the second set of a true double elimination final at the May 30-31 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. The $500-added Scotch Doubles event drew 48 teams of two to Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC.
The event finalists met first in the hot seat match. Fowler and Duncan had sent Hayleigh Marion, a junior player, and Janet Atwell to the loss side 6-4. Ping and Wall had defeated Team Abernathy (brothers Jeff and John) 6-3. Two out of three of the matches that Fowler/Duncan and Ping/Wall played went double hill and the hot seat match was the first of them. Fowler/Duncan claimed the hot seat and waited for Ping/Wall to get back from the semifinals.
In the first money round, battling to get into the quarterfinals, Zayas and Messer leapfrogged into those quarterfinals when Hayleigh and Atwell could not return to compete on Sunday and forfeited. Team Abernathy, in the meantime, survived a double hill battle against Hollingsworth/Gabriel and joined Zayas/Messer.
A double hill fight eventually sent Ping and Wall to the semifinals over Zayas/Messer. Ping and Wall earned their second shot against Fowler/Duncan with a 6-4 win over Zayas/Messer.
In their second of three, the opening set of the true double elimination final, the two teams went double hill, before Ping and Wall prevailed to force a second set. Once the second match got underway, tour director Herman Parker chose to take a step outside. When he returned, moments later, the match was half over at 3-0 in favor of Fowler and Duncan.
According to Parker, the Fowler/Duncan team had chalked up three 9-ball combinations in a row to win those opening three games. They kept that pace up, and completed the second-set shutout that earned them the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break & Run Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards, and Tickler Pool Ball Washing Machine. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will be held this weekend, June 6-7, and hosted by Randolph Billiards in Hickory, NC.
In what shaped up to be only his second cash finish on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, Reid Vance, in agreement with BJ Ussery, opted out of a final match at the February 22-23 stop on the tour. It was Vance’s second finish as runner-up, having finished behind Ricky Bingham at a stop in September, 2018. Vance had gotten into the hot seat at that event, only to be double-dipped by Bingham in the true double elimination final. This time, around, at the same location – Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN – it was BJ Ussery in the hot seat, with Vance coming from the loss side to challenge and ultimately, to negotiate an equitable split of the top two cash prizes. The event drew 68 entrants to Borderline Billiards.
They might have met in the hot seat match, had Joe Edmisten not defeated Vance in one of the winners’ side semifinals 5-4 (Vance racing to 6). Edmisten went on to face Ussery, who’d sent Hank Powell west 12-4 in the other winners’ side semifinal. Ussery and Edmisten fought to double hill (11-4) before Ussery prevailed in what proved to be his last match.
On the loss side, Vance began his three-match trip back to the finals against Anthony Mabe, who’d defeated Tyler Mayfield 7-3 and Jaiden Hess 7-1 to reach him. Hank Powell picked up a rematch against a former junior player, Anthony Adams, whom he’d defeated in the event’s second round. Adams embarked on a nine-match, loss side winning streak that had most recently included victories over Matt Shaw 6-3 and Brandon Helton 6-1.
Vance got into the quarterfinals with a 6-4 win over Mabe. He was joined by Adams, who’d battled in his Powell rematch to double hill before advancing to take on Vance. Though Adams would battle Vance to double hill as well in those quarterfinals, Vance prevailed in the end.
Vance made short work of Edmisten in the semifinals that followed. Vance’s 6-1 victory assured him at minimum, another runner-up finish on the tour. The agreement with Ussery to split made it official. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Ussery claimed the official title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her staff at Borderline Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Tickler Pool Ball Washing Machine. The next stop on the tour, scheduled for March 1-2, will be the 2020 NC State 9-Ball Open, a $500-added event, hosted by Randolph’s Billiards in Hickory, NC.
The Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, through its tour directors Herman and Angela Parker turned their recent tour stop on the weekend of January 11-12 into a benefit event for Brian James, a tour competitor battling fatal pancreatic cancer. Through the raffling of cues, balls and an assortment of other products from keychains to clothing, the tour was able to raise $3,300 to help defray some of the costs of his ongoing health care. James was on hand for the tour stop that followed, which drew 63 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN. Trey Frank went undefeated to the hot seat match, where he sent Jonathan Ailstock to the semifinals. The win would stand as the definitive final match between the two, as Ailstock returned from those semifinals to negotiate a split with Frank of the event’s top two prizes.
Their first meeting followed their victories in the winners’ side semifinals. They each gave up only a single rack in advancing to the hot seat match. Frank had defeated Michael Chapman 7-1, as Ailstock was sending Steve Dye to the loss side 6-1. Their hot seat match, appropriately enough, was a double hill affair, eventually won by Frank.
On the loss side, Chapman and Dye walked right into their second straight loss. Chapman picked up Chris Stump, who’d been defeated by Frank in the 4th round, and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d recently eliminated Doug Schulz 5-1 and Charles Hartung 5-2 and then eliminated Chapman 5-3. Dye drew Hershel Rife, who’d defeated Dalton Messer 5-4 (Messer racing to 6) and Anthony Mabe 5-3.
Chapman and Dye fell to Stump and Rife by the same 5-3 score. Stump then downed Rife 5-2 in the quarterfinals that followed.
In what proved to be the last match of the night, Ailstock ended Stump’s loss-side streak 6-2 in the semifinals. Ailstock agreed to the split, and as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Frank claimed the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards staff for their hospitality and all of those who donated to and/or participated in the raffle that was able to donate $3,300 to Brian James and his family. The Parkers also thanked title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the tour, scheduled for January 18-19, will be hosted by Mickey Milligans in New Bern, NC.
At his only other event victory on the 2019 Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour (May 11-12), Billy Fowler faced Brian Bagwell three times, taking two out of the three to capture the event title. At the annual Tour Championships, the season finale of the tour’s 2019 season on the weekend of December 21-22, Fowler and Bagwell repeated that scene, with a minor alteration or two. In May, it was Fowler who grabbed the hot seat, and though Bagwell took the opening set of the true double elimination final, Fowler took the second set and claimed that title. On this most recent, just-before-Christmas weekend, it was Bagwell who claimed the hot seat, with Fowler winning his two, back to back, in the true double elimination final to grab the Tour Championship title. The $1,000-added event drew 63 entrants to Break and Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC.
They’d both gotten by their individual opponents in the winners’ side semifinals; Fowler 9-2 over Gary South and Bagwell over Ricky Baughman 7-4. Bagwell took the first of their three 7-6 (Fowler racing to 9) to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Baughman and South got right back into things with victories over their first opponents. Baughman faced Kelly Piercy, who’d been defeated by the tour’s Point Standings leader, BJ Ussery, in the opening round of play and then mounted a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included victories over Tyler Mayfield 5-4 (Mayfield racing to 6) and a successful rematch against Ussery, which he won 5-8 (Ussery racing to 11). South drew Anthony Mabe, who’d eliminated Landon Hollingsworth 7-3 and Joe Upchurch 7-4.
Boughman ended Piercy’s nine-match streak 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced South who’d ended Mabe’s 2019 tour season 7-5. Baughman inched a match closer to a potential shot at the finals with a double hill win over South in those quarterfinals.
Fowler put an end to Baughman’s thoughts of a spot in the finals. Fowler, as anxious as Boughman to face Bagwell, got his second shot at Bagwell with a 9-2 win in the semifinals.
Fowler took the opening set of the double elimination final 9-3. Bagwell chalked up two more racks in the second set, but Fowler chalked up his nine to claim the Tour Championship title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break and Run Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The season opener of the 2020 Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will be held on the weekend of January 4-5 at a site to be determined.
Winner Hank Powell came looking for his second win on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. Runner-up Ryan Fossum came in search of his first. Powell went undefeated at the December 7-8 event that drew 41 entrants to Janet Atwell’s room, Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN. Fossum settled for runner-up and his first cash win on the tour.
They battle twice in the event; hot seat and finals. Powell advancing to the match after a double hill (7-5) win over Keith Young, and Fossum joining him after sending Rick Chitwood to the loss side 5-1. Powell claimed the hot seat 6-3 and waited in it for Fossum to return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Chitwood picked up Chris Stump, who’d eliminated Anthony Mabe, double hill, and Robert Hall 5-1 to reach him. Young drew Jackson Hurst, a 16-year-old junior player, who’d been defeated in the event’s second round by room owner Janet Atwell and launched a seven-match, loss-side winning streak to the quarterfinals. He’d recently eliminated Mike Kirby 5-3 and Bobby Jack Conner 5-6 (Conner racing to 8).
Hurst got into those quarterfinals with a 5-4 win over Young (Young racing to 6). He was joined by Chitwood, who’d defeated Stump, double hill.
Chitwood then ended Hurst’s loss-side streak 6-3 in those quarterfinals, before himself being eliminated by Fossum, double hill (5-5) in the semifinals.
In the opening and what proved to be only double-elimination set necessary, Fossum was able to muster a couple more racks against Powell than he had in their hot seat match, but they weren’t enough. Powell took the opening set 7-4 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for December 14-15, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by the newly-renovated Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
Though still a long way from beating his best earnings year to date (2005), BJ Ussery is making an “I’m back” statement on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour this year. On the weekend of October 12-13, he added his sixth victory on the tour since February with an undefeated run through a field of 40 entrants at Gate City Billiards in Greensboro, NC. In addition to his six victories on the tour, Ussery has also tallied three runner-up finishes, a 3rd, 4th and 7th-place finish, as well as a victory on the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour.
Ussery faced separate opponents in the hot seat match and finals of this event, both of whom were also looking to add to their win totals on the 2019 tour. In the hot seat match, he battled Jeff Abernathy, who was seeking his third win on the 2019 tour. In the finals, Ussery faced Josh Heeter, who’d been defeated in the third round of play and won seven matches on the loss side to face him in the finals, hoping to chalk up his second victory on the 2019 tour.
Ussery advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Anthony Mabe, as Abernathy squared off against Jeff Little. Ussery got into the hot seat match with a 12-3 victory over Mabe. He was joined by Abernathy, who’d shut Little out. Ussery claimed the hot seat 12-3 and waited on what turned out to be Heeter.
Three matches into his loss-side winning streak, Josh Heeter eliminated Matt Raden 8-2 and then shut out Tim Nelson to draw Little, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Mabe picked up Reené Driskill, who’d recently defeated Hunter Apple 4-2 and shut out Sydney Cork to reach him.
Heeter and Little locked up in a double hill fight that did eventually send Heeter to the quarterfinals 8-4 (Little racing to 5). Mabe joined him, following a 7-2 win over Driskill.
Heeter, who entered the quarterfinals having given up only six racks in his last 30 games, kept it at six racks in his last 38 games with a shutout over Mabe. He then gave up only four to Abernathy, who was racing to 9, to advance to the finals against Ussery.
As might have been expected, Ussery and Heeter locked up in a double hill fight to claim the event title. Ussery prevailed 12-7 to chalk up his sixth Q-City 9-Ball title in 2019.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Gate City Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (October 19-20) will be hosted by Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Thomas Cooke dodged a few major ‘bullets’ and came back from a hot-seat loss to double dip a junior player in the finals of the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour stop at Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC on the weekend of Sept. 28-29. It was, at least as far as our records indicate, not only Cooke’s first victory on the tour, but his first cash payout at any major event anywhere. The $500-added event drew 20 entrants to Mickey Milligan’s.
Among the ‘bullets’ he dodged (did not play) were tour regulars BJ Ussery, Barry Mashburn and Anthony Mabe. Junior competitor and runner-up Josh Shultz was unable to dodge two ‘bullets,’ but fired back and on the winners’ side of the bracket, defeated both Ussery and JT Ringgold (the tour’s most prolific event winner), who, together on the loss side of the bracket, advanced to a marquee matchup in the quarterfinals. Ringgold had his six-match, loss-side streak ended by Cooke in the semifinals.
With the tour’s ‘heavy hitters’ already at work on the loss side, Cooke and Shultz advanced to the winners’ side semifinals; Cooke facing Jack Whitfield and Shultz meeting David Givens. Cooke battled Whitfield to a deciding 11th game in their double hill match, before advancing to the hot seat match. Shultz downed Givens 6-2. Shultz took the first of his three versus Cooke 6-3 and waited in the hot seat for him to return.
Over on the loss side, Ussery and Ringgold were waiting for Whitfield and Givens, respectively. Ringgold had most recently defeated Reene Driskill and Barry Mashburn, both 11-3, to draw Givens. Ussery had shut out Anthony Mabe and defeated Gerry Shepherd 12-2 to face Whitfield.
Ussery and Ringgold advanced to the marquee quarterfinals; Ringgold 11-4 over Givens and Ussery, 12-4 over Whitfield. Ussery was a little ‘off,’ apparently, and when they returned the following day to play that quarterfinal match, Ringgold won it 11-4.
Ringgold was apparently not at the top of his game, either, as, racing to 11, he fell 5-5 to Cooke in the semifinals. With Shultz racing to 6 in the finals, Cooke took the opening set 5-4 and won the second set 5-3 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Mickey Milligan’s as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (October 5-6), will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
The Tour is heading into a busy part of its schedule, with a number of high profile events between now and Christmas, beginning with its (9-ft table) Tour Championships on October 26 at Randolph’s Billiards in Hickory, NC. The bar table Tour Championships will be held December 19 at Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC.
The month of November will be particularly busy with the tour’s first One Pocket invitational tournament, which has already been sold out. Scheduled for November 16-17, the event will be hosted by Speakeazy Billiards in Sandford, NC. A week later, at the same location, the tour will host the NC State 10-Ball Open, sponsored in part by Doug Beasley Custom Cues. A Scotch Doubles Tournament, scheduled for Thanksgiving Day weekend (Nov. 30-Dec.1) will be hosted by Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC. Tour patrons should monitor the tour’s Facebook pages for further information about these and upcoming tournaments.
Both competitors had something to play for in what would likely have been an entertaining final match of the August 31-Sept. 1 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. BJ Ussery would have entered the match looking for his fourth win and his eighth finish among the top three in eight events on the 2019 tour (he’d record the win, albeit with an *). Scott Roberts would have entered the match looking for his first 2019 win on the tour and his first since he won four events on the tour in 2017. Roberts had a little extra incentive, having been defeated in the second round of play and winning seven on the loss side to face Ussery, waiting for him in the hot seat. For undisclosed reasons, they opted out of the final match, leaving Ussery as the event’s official winner. The $500-added event drew 28 entrants to Speak Eazy Billiards in Sanford, NC.
With Roberts at work on the loss side of the bracket, Ussery advanced to a winners’ side semifinal matchup against Barry Mashburn. Tony Wall faced Anthony Mabe in the other one.
Ussery got into the hot seat match with a 12-7 win over Mashburn. He was joined by Wall, who’d defeated Mabe 5-5 (Mabe racing to 7). Ussery subsequently gave up only a single rack to Wall and claimed the hot seat 12-1.
It was Mashburn who ran into Roberts on the loss side. Roberts, four matches into his seven-match, loss-side winning streak had chalked up victories #3 and #4 against Richard Lynch (8-1) and 14-year-old Joey Tate (8-3). Just prior to meeting Roberts, Joey Tate had eliminated his 12-year-old sister, Bethany, from the competition. Mabe drew Gary South, who’d defeated Justin Martin 7-4 and Travis Guerra 7-1 to reach him.
Roberts defeated Mashburn 8-7 (Mashburn racing to 9). He was joined in the quarterfinal match by Mabe, who’d given up only a single rack to South.
Roberts took that quarterfinal match 8-2 over Mabe, and then, in what turned out to be the last match of the weekend, defeated Wall in the semifinals 8-4. He and Ussery agreed to the split with Ussery claiming the official event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at SpeakEazy Billiards as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (September 7-8), will be hosted by Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
When things got underway, early on Saturday afternoon, April 6, at Speakeazy Billiards in Sanford, NC, Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker had every expectation that it would be over, no later than the bar was scheduled to close officially at 1 a.m. on Sunday morning. It didn’t turn out that way.
As Saturday night was turning into Sunday morning, with about 10 matches left to play, it was clear that some of the 29 entrants who’d signed on to compete in the $500-added tournament would be coming back later in the day on Sunday to finish it. And they did. When it came down to the finals on Sunday afternoon, Barry Mashburn and Anthony Mabe were set to square off for their second match against each other; the first having played out in the battle for the hot seat on Saturday night. The two are close friends and initially decided that rather than just agreeing to split the top two prizes, they’d play a final match. Before it was over, though, they’d both invited their respective girlfriends in to play and it devolved into a Scotch Doubles match that no one seemed to remember, or care, who won. Mashburn and Mabe did split the final two prizes, and with Mashburn occupying the hot seat at the time, he became the event’s official winner.
Speakeazy Billiards is a seven-table room, built in what looks to be, originally, a warehouse; just one part of a yellow, metal wall facility that stretches for a city block and embraces a separate-building dance studio on one end, a private storage space for Speakeazy’s owner, Jimmy Bullis, the room itself, and just beyond the far end, a cell phone tower which tends to make cell phone reception extraordinarily clear in the room. The whole arrangement sits behind a Burger King off North Horner Boulevard in Sanford.
At present, Speakeazy Billiards consists of the single room, though in a tour of the facility, Bullis showed the ongoing development of an adjacent second room, which will house two additional tables that he’d like to put to use for One Pocket events. Beyond that planned second room, currently with unfinished walls and floors and two under-construction tables, is a set of glass wall segments, with a door at one end, housing and showcasing Bullis’ 1960 black Cadillac that looks long enough to land an airplane on, with a new engine that looks as though it came off a manufacturing line about two months ago. The original vehicle came off its assembly line the year that Bullis was born.
The current playing area features pool memorabilia on every available wall, including, but not limited to a framed poster from 1991, advertising a Legends of One Pocket tournament. Another announcing a Seminole Senior Open tournament in Naples, FL, a variety of early 20th century prints, featuring elegant women in formal clothes in the vicinity of a classic pool table, holding cues. There are also the ‘required’ film posters for both The Hustler and The Color of Money, as well as one advertising a film called Guns, Sin and Bathtub Gin; from 1979, with, among others, Robert Conrad, Louise Fletcher and Christopher Lloyd, about the 1930s and “an idealistic farm girl becoming the moll of infamous gangster, John Dillinger.” Somewhat incongruous in the mix of wall hangings is a black-and-white charcoal sketch of Al Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface. The charcoal portrait was drawn by Bullis’ son, Jimmy, when he was a senior in high school.
It’s clear, early on in this tournament, that many of the 29 entrants knew each other, have known each other, in fact, for years. And as they scoot around the state of North Carolina (and other states), showing up at stops on the tour, they’ve developed both a sense of respect for each other, and an equally healthy sense of no-holds-barred rivalry. There’s good-humored trash talk and the occasional gripe about an opponent’s ‘clearly’ under-rated handicap, but overall, the atmosphere was relaxed, congenial and almost deadly serious when action moved to the tables. The event occurred as the NCAA Final Four was playing out on the room’s only flat screen, hung above the bottles in the bar, and virtually no one paid any attention to either of the games.
Full disclosure: I attended this event and entered it, just more or less to see what would happen. What happened at the outset was that I drew BJ Ussery as my first opponent; the competitor that players in the room and spectators chose as the most likely player to win. I’d ‘known’ Ussery for over a decade, covering him through tour reports over the years, but we’d never met. When the meeting part was over, I was granted six ‘beads on the wire’ at the start of a race to 11. I didn’t win a single rack, even though, at one point, Ussery scratched, giving me ball in hand, with three balls left in a simple enough pattern at one end of the table (“I tried,” he said to Herman Parker. “Gave him ball in hand with only three on the table.”). Not my finest hour. Later, on the loss side, I would compete against Hank Powell, who won a stop on the tour a month ago at The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA. Powell gave me two ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 7, and though this time, I’d manage to win two racks, one of them was with a 1-9 combination that Stevie Wonder could have managed, and the other resulted from Powell scratching, after sinking the 9-ball. Just saying. . .
I was done by the time Mashburn and Mabe had advanced to the hot seat. Mashburn had sent Kelly Farrar to the loss side 9-3 in one of the winners’ side semifinals (Farrar had just sent Ussery to the loss side). Mabe had defeated Shaun Apple 7-3. Mashburn grabbed the hot seat with a 9-3 win over Mabe.
On the loss side, Apple picked up Stevie McClinton, who’d defeated Jeff Abernathy 7-5 and Billie Spadafora 7-3. Spadafora had previously eliminated Zac Leonard with whom, earlier in the day, he’d exchanged a few trash talk ‘pleasantries,’ to which Leonard had responded (to me) “You have to kill ‘em with silence.” For all the good it did him. Farrar showed up on the loss side for a second match against Ussery, who’d defeated Dale Lloyd 11-3 and survived a double hill, 11-9 battle against Justin Martin.
Apple and Ussery advanced to the quarterfinals; Apple 5-4 over McClinton (racing to 7) and Ussery, giving up just a single rack in his rematch against Farrar. Already into Sunday afternoon, Ussery gave up only two racks to Apple in the quarterfinals, but then, in a double hill fight (7-10), lost to Mabe. The final match was begun and played until it became the aforementioned Scotch Doubles, just-for-fun match. Mashburn and Mabe split the top two cash prizes and Mashburn went home with the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Jimmy Bullis and his Speakeazy staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (April 13-14), will be hosted by Steakhorse Restaurant & Billiards in Spartanburg, SC.
