Though Billy Carroll and JR Poste share the headline for the story emerging out of the August 11-12 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, it should be noted that the player who finished third has more than earned his spot in the story’s opening sentence. While it may be a little early to declare that BJ Ussery is ‘back’ from something of an extended leave of absence from high level pool competition, his performance at this most recent event is, at least, a sure sign that he’s still a force to be reckoned with.
But first, Carroll and Poste, who met twice in the $250-added event, which drew 23 entrants to Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC. With Ussery already at work on the loss side, Carroll advanced through the field to face Robert Perez in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Poste drew Travis Guerra in the other one.
Carroll downed Perez 7-4 and in the hot seat match, faced Poste, who’d sent Guerra to the loss side 6-3. Carroll claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Poste, and waited on his return, or, possibly, if he had any sense of pool history, the return of Ussery.
On the loss side, it was Guerra who drew Ussery, four matches into his six-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included wins over Zac Leonard 11-5 and a shutout of Kameron Johnson. Perez drew Larry Pierce, who’d eliminated Jordan Oak 6-2 and Greg Smith 6-5 (it was Smith who’d sent Ussery to the loss side in the event’s second round).
In the first money round, Pierce downed Perez 6-3, as Ussery was busy allowing Guerra only a single rack in an 11-1 victory. In the quarterfinals that followed, Ussery defeated Pierce 11-4.
In what was essentially a handicapped race to 11, Poste began the semifinals with ‘five on the wire.’ He and Ussery both chalked up six racks, but the handicapped advantage gave Poste the victory he needed for a second shot at Carroll in the hot seat. Carroll completed his undefeated run with a 7-5 victory in the finals and his third win on the tour.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Mickey Milligan’s, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the tour, scheduled for this weekend (August 18-19), will be hosted by the Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
Postscript – Eighteen years ago, BJ Ussery finished in the 32-player tie for 65th place at the 25th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championships. More remarkable than the feat itself is the evidence it provides of the caliber of player Ussery was keeping company with at the time. Sharing that tie for 65th place were (among others) Mike Davis, Shannon Daulton, Grady Matthews, Mike Zuglan, Allen Hopkins, Mika Immonen, and Steve Mizerak. It was also the year that Earl Strickland chalked up his fifth and what proved to be his last US Open 9-Ball title. Inthe years after that event, Ussery settled into a variety of Southern-based pool tours, regularly winning stops on the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, the Viking Tour, the Great Southern Billiard Tour, and The Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour (to name just a few). Though he’s been away from the tables for a while now, he’s kept his hand in, so to speak. In 2014, he cashed in all three US Bar Box Championship events; 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball, and just last year, he finished fifth at the North Carolina State 10-Ball Open (held under the auspices of the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour), falling to long-time nemesis Mike Davis. Is BJ back? Inquiring minds would like to know.
As is known to be the case with real estate, success at the tables could arguably be about “location, location, location.” On the weekend of March 10-11, Billy Fowler won his second Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball title by going undefeated through a field of 70 entrants, gathered for a $500-added event, hosted by Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC. It was the same location where he’d won his first Q City 9-Ball title, about two years ago (August 2016).
The two wins were almost identical. In the earlier, first victory, Fowler’s bid at an undefeated run was spoiled by Billy Carroll, who took the opening set of a true double elimination final. Fowler rallied to take the second set and the title. In this most recent event, Fowler’s match record went unblemished, in spite of a seven-match (one forfeit), loss-side run by Greg Burke, who’d been defeated by Fowler, double hill in an earlier winners’ side match.
Fowler benefited, as well, from a forfeited match, same player, in a winners’ side semifinal. Unable to attend the second day of this tournament, Mike Wise was forced to forfeit his winners’ side semifinal match, which put Fowler into the hot seat match. He faced Brian Warren, who’d sent Daniel Rutledge to the loss side 6-2. Fowler claimed the hot seat 8-4, and waited for Burke to finish his loss-side run.
On the loss side, Burke chalked up wins #3 and #4 against Danny Turner (8-1), and Matt Shaw (8-4) before, thanks to a second forfeit by Wise, advancing directly to the quarterfinals. Rutledge had drawn Matt Gibson, who’d defeated Calvin Lee 5-4 and Jim Jennings 5-3, before downing Rutledge 5-4 (Rutledge racing to 6) and joining Burke in the quarterfinals.
Burke eliminated Gibson 8-3 in those quarterfinals, and gave up only a single rack to Warren in the semifinals that followed. The momentum didn’t help much. Fowler took the opening set of the true double elimination final 8-4 over Burke to end it and claim his second Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for March 17-18, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
As Billy Carroll and David Williams had done the week before (April 1-2) and J.T. Ringgold and Scott Roberts had done the week before that (March 25), Justin Duncan and Greg Burke (who'd driven to the event together) opted out of a final match during the April 8-9 stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour. They'd met in the hot seat match, won by Duncan, and allowed that to stand as the winner-defining match. The $500-added event drew 48 entrants to Legends Billiards in Inman, SC.
Their first match followed a 7-2 victory by Burke, over Roger Jeffcoat, and a 5-3 win by Duncan, over Ronnie Anderson, in the winners' side semifinals. Duncan claimed the hot seat 5-4 over Burke (Burke racing to 7).
On the loss side, Jeffcoat picked up Steven Ellis, who'd survived two straight double hill matches, against Taz Holliday and Stevie McClinton, to reach him. Anderson drew Corey Morphew, the highest-ranked player left in the field, who'd eliminated Jason Blackwell 9-3 and Dalton Messer 9-4 (double hill).
Jeffcoat and Anderson's loss-side trip lasted only one match. Ellis defeated Jeffcoat 5-2, while Morphew downed Anderson 9-2. Morphew, racing to 9, picked up seven of the racks he needed in the quarterfinals that followed, but Ellis reached five racks first for a 5-7 win that sent him to the semifinals.
In what proved to be the final match of the event, Burke downed Ellis 7-3 in those semifinals. Burke and Duncan came to the no-last-match agreement and split the top two prizes.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff of Legends Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (April 15-16), will be a 'bar box' event, hosted by The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
Billy Carroll and David Williams allowed their hot seat match to stand as the final result, during an April 1-2 stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball tournament. Carroll, as the eventual hot seat occupant, was given the official titleThe $250-added event drew 33 entrants to Mickey Milligan's Billiards & Pub in New Bern, NC.
In addition to its roster of five competitors who cashed in the event, the tournament featured three generations of the Ringgold family; grandfather Vernon, his son Terry, and grandson J.T. Ringgold, who'd split the top two prizes in last week's event with Scott Roberts. All had been eliminated by the time the tournament moved into its money rounds. Terry, representing the middle generation, had defeated his Dad, Vernon, in the matches that determined the four-way tie for 13th place. Moving into the subsequent 9/12 matches, there was a chance looming that father Terry might, at some point, face his son, although the way the brackets were playing out, it wouldn't happen until the quarterfinals. Father Terry lasted one more round than his son, J.T.
Carroll and Williams got into the one and only match they played, for the hot seat, following Carroll's double hill win over Junior Avery, and Williams' 4-6 win over Danny Farren (Farren racing to 8). In a result that may have played into the later decision not to play a second time, Carroll shut Williams out to get into the hot seat.
Avery and Farren moved to the loss side, where they promptly picked up their second loss from two competitors in the midst of lengthy loss-side winning streaks. Avery drew Ron Canterbury, who'd defeated Randy Hodges 6-3 and Roy Musser 6-4 (Musser had eliminated J.T. Ringgold in the previous round). Farren drew Mike Rowe, who'd survived a double hill match against Brent Thomas, and then, ended the Ringgold family's participation with a 4-2 win over Terry.
Canterbury knocked out Avery 6-1, while Rowe, playing in his seventh loss-side match, eliminated Farren 4-4 (Farren to 8). In his seventh loss-side match, Canterbury ended Rowe's streak in the quarterfinals 6-1, only to have Williams end his streak 4-3 in what proved to be the last match of the weekend, the semifinals. Carroll and Williams opted out of the finals, leaving Carroll as the official winner.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff of Mickey Milligan's, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, 13 Delta Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, a $500-added event, scheduled for this weekend (April 8-9), will be hosted by Legends Billiards in Inman, SC.
On the weekend of August 20-21 on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, it was a 'two out of three' battle of the Billys; Fowler and Carroll. Billy Fowler made it to the hot seat, lost the first match of the true double elimination finals to Billy Carroll, and took the second to claim the title. The $500-added event drew 48 entrants to Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC.
Billys Fowler and Carroll almost faced off in the hot seat match. Fowler defeated David Tickle 7-5 in one winners' side semifinal, but Scott Ward sent Carroll to the loss side 7-5 in the other one. Fowler claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on Carroll's return.
On the loss side, Carroll picked up 16-year-old Hunter White, who'd defeated Taz Holliday 8-5 and long-time veteran player and renowned cue maker Mike Gulyassy, double hill. Tickle drew Dayne Miller, who'd gotten by J.R. Poste and Jason Blackwell, both 6-3.
Carroll and Miller advanced to the quarterfinals with six racks each over White and Tickle, who were both racing to 8. Carroll downed White 6-6, while Miller eliminated Tickle 6-5. Carroll took the quarterfinal match 6-2, ending a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Miller, who'd been defeated in the opening round of play.
Carroll moved on and denied Ward a second crack at Fowler by defeating him in the semifinals 6-4. Carroll parlayed a bit of that semifinal momentum into the opening set of the true double elimination final to win that by the same score. Fowler, though, came back in the second set, and gave up only two racks in claiming his first Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks, and Ruthless Billiards Apparel. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for August 27-28, will be hosted by Smokin' Cue in Charlotte, NC.
Billy Carroll and Montez Lloyd locked up twice to determine who'd walk away with the Q City 9-Ball Tour win on Saturday, October 24. Carroll took both matches to claim the title, in the event that drew 28 entrants to Anytime Billiards in Jacksonville, NC.
They met first in the hot seat match. Carroll had sent Gerry Shepherd (owner of Mickey Milligan's in New Bern, NC) to the loss side 6-4, while Lloyd was doing likewise to Robert Perez 7-1. Carroll took the first of the two versus Lloyd 6-2 and waited in the hot seat for the second.
On the loss side, Calvin Harper was doing what he could to prevent Lloyd from getting that second chance. Defeated in the opening round by Raymond McGinn, Harper went on a seven-match, loss-side run that would earn him the right to face Lloyd in the semifinals. Harper got by Solomon Pope 5-5 (Pope racing to 7) and Leon Williams 5-3 (victories #4 & # 5) to draw Shepherd. Perez picked up Justin Himes, who'd defeated Al Boone and Kim Stakley, both 6-2.
It was Harper and Himes advancing to the quarterfinals; Harper, 5-3 over Shepherd, and Himes, 6-3 over Perez. Harper and Himes fought a double hill quarterfinal, eventually won by Harper, whose loss-side run then came to an end at the hands of Lloyd, 7-2, in the semifinals. Carroll then defeated Lloyd a second time, by the same 6-2 score to claim the event title.
