Over the past weekend, the grand finale of the 49th Annual Texas Open 9 Ball Championships took place. Hosted by owners Kim and Tracy Sanders, Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, TX was the place to be!
The $20,000 added 9 Ball Open had an entry fee of $200. The double elimination event was races to nine and winner breaks. Using a template rack, the nine was racked on the spot with three point rule in effect.
After the players auction, the brackets were posted and play began.
Using eighteen Diamond tables, the 128 player field was whittled down by Sunday to the final 32. A second players auction was held and when it was over, the action resumed.
Two players battled their way through the very tough field to the hot seat match – Ukraine’s Vitaliy Patsura and BCA Hall of Famer Alex Pagulayan.
In the bottom portion of the bracket, Pagulayan defeated Clint Palaci 9-5, Brian Sanders 9-5, skunked Gordon Vanderveer 9-0, blistered fellow Filipino and day’s old Texas Open One Pocket champ Roberto Gomez 9-2 and Robert Frost 9-3. He then sent Josh Roberts to the one loss side with a score of 9-5.
In dead punch, the hot seat match saw Patsura claim his seat in the finals with a 9-5 victory over Pagulayan.Alex headed to west to await an opponent.
Over on the one loss side, Josh Roberts kept Jesus Atencio in his chair with a 9-4 win. John Morra eliminated the always tough Naoyuki Oi 9-5. Both Atencio and Oi finished 5th-6th.
Morra was ahead with a 5-3 lead until Roberts stepped on the gas. Tied at seven apiece, Josh won the last two games and took the win 9-7. John finished in fourth place.
The Alex Pagulayan-Josh Roberts match began – each player looking to get into the finals. Alex leaped out to a 5-1 advantage but here came Josh! He tied it up at five games each!
Alex won the next three games to reach the hill 8-5. But then, here came Josh again to take the next two games! Alex decided to finish it right there and took the match 9-7. He moved on to the finals leaving Josh in third place.
As this event was true double elimination, Pagulayan would have to defeat Patsura twice to win the tournament.
Alex won the first game and Vitaliy won the next three. Then he started to really pull ahead – 5-2, 6-2, 7-3 and to the hill he went. Alex managed to win one more game and then Vitaliy ran out to claim the title!!!
While the main event was going on, Sky Woodward took the $500 added Banks Ring Game mini over Raed Shabib and Sakura Muramatsu defeated Jennifer Kraber to win the Ladies Ring 9 Ball Game! Congratulations to both!
Sakura Muramatsu
The $3,500 added Ladies 9 Ball Division had a full field of 32 players with races to seven.
After several matches, room owner Kim Sanders and last year’s third place finisher Sakura Muramatsu battled for the hot seat. Sakura cruised to a 7-3 win to claim her spot in the finals.
Kim was sent to the west side to await the victor of the Jennifer Kraber-Michelle Cortez match. Michelle prevailed 7-5 leaving Jennifer in fourth place.
Cooling her heels waiting for an opponent didn’t seem to faze Sanders any as she took the match over Cortez 7-4. Michelle finished in third place.
As this was also true double elimination, Sanders would have to defeat Muramatsu twice to win the tournament but it was not to be – Sakura won the final match 7-3.
Congratulations to Vitaliy and Sakura for becoming the 2022 Texas Open 9 Ball Champions! Great tournament, Alex and Kim!
And, thanks again to everyone at Skinny Bob’s for a first class event! Big thanks to the local sponsors – they included Diamond Billiard Products, GAF, Hanshew Custom Cues, Sanders Roofing & Exteriors, ABC Supply, Sionis, Aramith and Mints Amusements.
Thanks to Tournament Director Jason Hill for an exemplary job juggling multiple events.
And, as always, PoolActionTV would like to thank our fans and sponsors! They include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, EnviroAssessments, Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diveney Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the Ten Ball Champions Challenge featuring Roberto Gomez and John Morra! Held at Railyard Billiards & Sports Pub in Louisville, KY, this is going to be great! Dates are September 9th-11th! Hope to see you there!!!
(l to r): Dennis Orcollo, Legends co-owner and tournament director Mindy Cohen & Roberto Gomez
Dennis Orcollo and Roberto Gomez repeated their performance at the 28th Houston Open by finishing as winner and runner-up at the 29th Houston Open, held this past weekend (Sept. 7-8). Gomez decided to spice things up this year. Instead of advancing to a winners’ side semifinal, being sent to the loss side (by Francisco Bustamante), winning three there and challenging Orcollo in the finals as he did last year, Gomez lost his second match to Orcollo 9-2 and then proceeded to win 11 on the loss side to meet Orcollo in the finals. That part of their 2018 meeting stayed the same, albeit with Gomez chalking up a few less racks (9-6 in 2018, 9-2 in 2019). The $7,500-added event drew 93 entrants to Legends Billiards in League City, TX.
Orcollo was awarded an opening round bye and sent Gomez on his loss-side journey in the second round, before navigating his way through two straight double hill wins over Sajal Ghimire and Josh Roberts. He then defeated John Morra 9-3 to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against what Legends Billiards co-owner and tournament director Mindy Cohen called a “blast from the past,” an older Filippino player, Edgar Acaba.
Robb Saez, in the meantime, who’d finished in the tie for 7th place last year, when defeated by Warren Kiamco, followed an opening round bye with victories over Ray Hansen, Manny Chau, Jerry Alvarez and Leon Contreras, before squaring off in the other winners’ side semifinal against Alex Calderon.
Orcollo downed fellow countryman Acaba 9-5 and in the hot seat match faced Saez, who’d sent Calderon west 9-6. Orcollo then sent Saez off to the semifinals 9-4 and waited in the hot seat for Gomez to finish his somewhat epic loss-side journey.
With six notches on his loss-side belt, Gomez defeated Leon Contreras 7-1 and chalked up a surprising strong victory against Josh Roberts 7-3 to draw Acaba in his first loss-side match. Calderon drew John Morra, who’d defeated Brian Sanders 7-3 and Jerry Alvarez 7-5 to reach him.
Gomez and Calderon advanced to the quarterfinals on the heels of identical 7-5 victories over Acaba and Morra, respectively. And then, building momentum, Gomez chalked up loss-side win #10, eliminating Calderon 7-4.
Gomez reduced his opponents’ number of racks by an additional one, as he spoiled Saez’ bid for a rematch against Orcollo 7-3 in the semifinals. In a ‘déjà vu all over again’ scenario, Gomez and Orcollo greeted each other as finalists at the Houston Open for the second straight year.
Second verse, same as the first. Gomez needed to defeat Orcollo twice. He only chalked up two racks in the first set, eliminating the need for a second. Orcollo walked away with his second straight Houston Open title.
In addition to paying out the top 24 finishers in the event, the Houston Open paid $150 to the top female finisher in the event, which proved to be three women who tied for the prize. They were all from the same family and split the money – Madonna Springs, Gayla Toms and Shyenne Toms (age 12).
Co-owners of Legend Billiards and tournament directors Mindy Cohen and Ted Dean thanked their entire staff for their cooperation and assistance during the weekend run of the tournament, as well as Jerry Olivier Cues for contributing the $1,200 cue that got raffled and was won by Elizabeth Sturges. Cohen and Dean also thanked Ray Hansen and his entire PoolActionTV staff for streaming selected matches of the event all weekend.
The draw for the 43rd US Open 9-Ball Championship has been made, with Jayson Shaw to begin his defense against Marcus Weston at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas on Sunday, April 21.
The draw was seeded with a golf-style category system adopted, which took in rankings from across the pool world including WPA World Ranking, BCA Standings and Fargo Rating. As defending champion Shaw was seeded No.1, while five-time US Open champion Shane Van Boening is seeded second as the highest ranked American player.
Broadcast details for the 2019 US Open 9-Ball Championship will be announced shortly. Live rack-by-rack scoring will be available throughout the event at www.matchroompool.com thanks to Matchroom Multi Sport’s partnership with CueScore.
Note: Should any players featured in the draw not participate in the event, they will be replaced directly by the first player on the event waiting list to accept a spot in the tournament, irrespective of where the new player would have featured in any seeding category.
All matches at the US Open 9-Ball Championship takes place April 21-26 at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas. Matches are race to 11, winner breaks, except the final which is race to 13. The draw and match schedule for the first stage of the tournament is available now at www.matchroompool.com.
Tickets for the 43rd US Open 9-Ball Championship are still available at www.matchroompool.com from as little as $10 with VIP packages also available for the final three days of the tournament.
The tournament will be split into two stages with the full field playing double elimination down to the final 16 from Sunday April 21st until Tuesday April 23rd across multiple tables. From Wednesday April 24th until Friday April 26th the final 16 players will play straight knockout in the TV Arena in front of a global television audience.
Over Labor Day weekend, and more precisely, at about 4 a.m., Eastern time, on Tuesday morning, Skyler Woodward snatched the 42nd Annual Texas Open title out of its defending champion, Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant's hands. But not, as was expected, without a fight. The $7,000-added event drew a full field of 128 entrants to Skinny Bob's Billiards in Round Rock, TX. In a concurrently-run, $2,000-added Ladies event that drew 32 (see separate story), the Texas Tornado (Vivian Villareal) chalked up her third straight Texas Open title.
For the male event, early weekend talk at Skinny Bob's and in the chat rooms of PoolAction TV, which live-streamed the event throughout the weekend, centered on Mexico's Ruben Bautista. Bautista, who got by (among others) Richie Richeson, John Gabriel and Alex Olinger, was fulfilling some of those expectations, all the way through until early afternoon on Labor Day, when he ran into the Hillbilly in a winners' side semifinal. In the other semifinal, Woodward, in the meantime, met up with Robb Saez, who, on his way, had sent three-time Texas Open champion ('94, '02, '03) Jeremy Jones to the loss side and was showing some grit. It's safe to say, if not meticulously researched and proven, that a good percentage of figurative and literal money invested into predicting the winner of this event, had just these four squaring off as they did in the winners' side semifinals.
Woodward dispatched Saez to the loss side 9-5, as Bryant took care of Bautista 9-3. In a surprisingly good-natured hot seat match (Woodward and Bryant can each be feisty at times), Woodward dominated 9-2.
Lurking on the loss side, as Saez and Bautista slid over, were (among others) Jones, Olinger, Joey Gray, Jonathan Pinegar and Justin Bergman, who, after being sent to the loss side by Woodward in the third round, was working on what turned out to be a seven-match, loss-side run. Wins #5 and #6 came at the expense of Jundel Mazon 9-2 and Pinegar 9-5, which set Bergman up against Bautista. Saez drew Gray, who'd eliminated Olinger 9-4 and Brian Sanders 9-5.
In two polar-opposite matches battling for advancement to the quarterfinals, Saez drew the 'double hill' card that finished Gray's weekend. In a somewhat surprising turn of events (though not to everyone), Bergman shut Bautista out. Following that victory, very few would have predicted the double hill quarterfinal that followed, and at a guess, it would have been even money for the result, that was 9-8, Saez.
The semifinal between Bryant and Saez (who won this event, four years ago) was a re-match from last year's final, at which, on the hill and shooting at the 9-ball, Saez scratched, giving Bryant, in the hot seat, the opportunity to tie and then, break and run, to capture the 2014 title. In the steady, and not overly dramatic re-match, Bryant defeated Saez 9-5 for a second, and potentially necessary third shot at Woodward.
It looked, in the early going of the opening set, as if Bryant was going to cruise to a second set. Woodward, who won the lag, was looking at a separate, private payout of $500 if he could break and run the set; a bargain that fell apart on his opening break, when he sunk a single ball, but couldn't see the 1-ball. He rolled out, launching a series of back and forth safety shots that made it look as though it were going to be a longer night than it actually was. Woodward untangled the safety mess by sinking the 4-ball, but he scratched, turning the table over to Bryant, who promptly ran out, and then (winner breaks), chalked up four more in a row, the last of which saw Woodward scratch again, shooting at the 5-ball.
Skyler regrouped to win the sixth rack, but it looked to be a temporary reprieve, when, in the seventh rack, Woodward completely missed a shot that gave Bryant ball in hand. Bryant, though, joined the 'scratch' parade and gave the table back to Woodward, who finished that rack and chalked up three break and runs to tie things at 5-5.
Skyler took his first lead at 6-5. Bryant promptly tied it up and added three more to force a second set.
Things started a little slower in the second set, with the two trading racks to a 2-2 tie. It was at this point, that in the words of assistant tournament director, and competitor (17th) John Palmore, Woodward "caught a gear," chalking up six straight to reach the hill ahead, way ahead of Bryant. And then, it was Bryant's turn. With the sword of defeat hanging over his head, Bryant chalked up four in a row, which, but for a single shot at the 9-ball, could have been five in a row.
It was, as they say, too little, too late. Woodward closed it out by the same score he'd been defeated by in the first set – 9-6 – to become the second youngest player to win the 42-year-old tournament (by a matter of months, the youngest was Sylver Ochoa; 2007).
A final note: Many of the details in this report would not have been possible, had it not been for the as-always professional live stream, offered by Ray "Big Truck" Hansen and his PoolActionTV crew, along with continually-updated, online brackets and regular, graciously-offered conversations with assistant TD and competitor John Palmore.
Mike Alonzo and Manny Chau (Photo courtesy of poolactiontv)
Peru's Manny Chau added another major victory to a list that's been growing for over a decade by going undefeated to claim the inaugural Texas Open 10-Ball Tournament, held on the weekend of February 28-March 1. The $2,938-added event drew 110 entrants to Skinny Bob's Billiards in Austin, Texas and was streamed live by Ray "Big Truck" Hansen's PoolActionTV.
The field featured an expected list of both Southwest and nationwide competitors, including Chau, the Davises (James, Sr. and Jr.), Charlie Bryant, Jeremy Jones, Shane McMinn, Robb Saez, Dave Henson, and Mike Alonzo, to name just a few of the 110 entrants who cashed in the event. The winners' side semifinals featured Jones versus Alonzo and Chau versus McMinn. Jones sent Alonzo west 7-5, as Chau was busy defeating McMinn 7-4. Chau claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Jones and waited on what turned out to be the return of Alonzo.
On the loss side, David Henson, following a double hill victory over Brian Sanders and a 7-2 win over Robb Saez, faced McMinn. Alonzo drew James Davis, Sr., who'd defeated Drew McCoy and Frank Ferrer, Jr., both 7-4, to reach him. James Davis, Jr. had bowed out in the matches that decided the six-way tie for 13th ($170). Henson eliminated McMinn 7-4 and in the quarterfinals, faced Alonzo, who'd ended Davis, Sr.'s tournament bid 7-5.
Alonzo and Henson battled to double hill in the quarterfinals before Alonzo finished it and advanced to the semifinals against Jones. Alonzo completed his three-match, loss-side winning streak with a 7-5 win over Jones. Chau, though, finished Alonzo 7-3 in the finals to claim the first-ever Texas Open 10-Ball Championship title.
Tour Director John Palmore thanked John Cielo and the staff at Skinny Bob's for their hospitality, as well as sponsors James Hanshew Custom Cues, Joe Salazar, Ray Hanson and PoolActionTV, and Ron Guyer. He also noted volunteer contributions by Kaye Watson and Emma Davis, without which, he said, the event could not have been done.
It was “all in the family” this past weekend, August 23rd-24th, 2014 at the Lone Star Billiards Tour event held at Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, Texas. James Davis, Jr. “Bastrop, Jr.” and James Davis, Sr. “Bastrop, Sr.” captured first and second, respectively, in the open 9-ball division while Frank Ferrer, Jr. captured the amateur 9-ball division, upgrading his status to “open” division player. The tour would like to thank Skinny Bob’s owners John and Sue Cielo for hosting another first-rate event, their 5th year as Lone Star Tour hosts. The Tour is proudly sponsored by Poison by Predator Cues, Delta-13 Rack, Ozone Billiards, ImproveYourShot.com, and APA of North Harris County.
First round action started Saturday at 3pm. James Davis, Jr. steadily worked his way through the winners’ side with wins over Jason Bagby, 7-4, Rudy Esteves, 7-5, David Henson, 7-6, and Manny Chau, 7-5. Another local favorite, Brian Sanders, made his stand as well, defeating Cesar Garcia, 7-5, Chuck Adams, 7-4, James Davis, Sr., 7-3, and finally Blaine Barcus to reach Bastrop, Jr. for the hot seat. New to the tour, Dallas player Roman Bayda suffered a second round loss to Barcus, 7-1, but made his way through the one-loss to finish in the money. Junior Jueco, Bagby, and Chris Smith also finished 9th-12th. John Eagle lost his bid for the final four winners’ side to Barcus, 7-3, and was subsequently eliminated by James Davis, Sr., 6-4. Frank Ferrer, Jr., suffered a loss in the same round to Chau, 7-5, and was eliminated by Henson, 6-4. These turn of events staged an all-too familiar shoot-out with veteran champions, Henson and Davis, Sr., playing for third place. On the east side, Davis, Jr. squeezed by Sanders to secure the hot seat, 6-5. Davis, Sr. squeezed by Henson and Sanders by the same score, 6-5. Father and son decided not to play the final match and instead split the winnings. It was agreed that Junior retain the title, perhaps a belated wedding gift after tying the knot with Emma Davis (formerly Stewart) at BCA Nationals this past July. They are expecting their first child, a boy, later this year.
In the amateur division, Frank Ferrer, Jr. faced off with Cesar Garcia for the hot seat. Ferrer’s victims included Aaron Isbell, 6-2, Cielo Velasquez, 6-0, Chris Salinas, 6-2, and John Eagle, 6-1. Garcia ousted David Escobedo, 6-4, Roger Senn, 6-4, Jason Bagby and Chad Hensen, 6-5. James Dugger suffered a first round loss and won 6 consecutive matches while Bagby made his way into the final four on the losers’ side as well. Dugger fell to Jacob Warriner, 5-4, while Bagby advanced over Rudy Sanchez. It was Hensen over Warriner and Bagby over Eagle. Hensen eliminated Bagby, 5-3, while Ferrer dominated Garcia for the hot seat. Hensen took down Garcia, but fell to Ferrer in the first set of the finals.
Congratulations to all the Poison VX Cue raffle winners; Jimmy Krone, Jerry Riley, James Smiser, and Chris James.
The Lone Star Finale is October 4th-5th at Bogies Billiards & Games, Houston, Texas. The ladies’ Gulf Coast Tour Finale will be on Saturday, October 4th, at the same venue. For more information, visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
Austin favorite James “Bastrop” Davis Sr. was cool, calm, and collected, as he made his way through a field of 32 top competitors to capture the Open 9-Ball Division of the Lone Star Billiards Tour Texas Open Warm-Up III held this past weekend, August 10th-11th, 2013 at Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round, Rock, Texas. In the final, Davis Sr. overcame European player Patrick Werren, 9-3, securing an undefeated, third tour victory. Amidst a field of 48 Amateur Division players, last year’s runner-up Chelo Velasquez captured his first tour victory over Raymond Cardenas, 7-1. Velasquez went undefeated as well without a single opponent surpassing 3 games. The event drew 80 players and paid out over $6,000 in prize money in addition to a free 9-ball division entry for each winner into the Space City Open II slated for December 6th-9th, at Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar, Houston, Texas.
In the Open Division, Bastrop’s path to victory included wins over David “Little David” Henson, 7-1, and Ed “Big Ed” Ambrose, 7-1, while Garett Sitz of College Station, Texas entered his bid for the hot seat ousting Pittsburg native Bob Guzik, 7-5, and upsetting Patrick Werren, 7-6. Steve Pennington upset Waco’s Doug Young, 7-6 and bested Cesar Garcia, 7-1, while local player Brian Sanders disappointed a wave of talent including Erik Renteria and Kevin Guimond. On the west side, Ambros eliminated Renteria, 6-5, and Henson sent Guimond packing, 6-2. Comeback players John Palmore and Brian Anderson were stopped in 9th-12th positions by Werren and Coffman, respectively. On the second day, races increased to 9 on the winners’ side and 7 on the one loss side. Winners’ side action saw Sitz fall to Davis Sr., 9-7, and Sanders steamroll Pennington, 9-3. Davis Sr. and Sanders teed off for a nail biter of a hot seat match. It was 8-6 Davis’ favor when Sanders answered back tying the match at 8. The shot of the match came when Davis Sr. kicked at a triple combination, the 1-ball to the 9-ball to the 8-ball, lined up towards the side pocket. As the shot was executed, long rail with deliberation and proper speed, the cue ball struck the 1-ball, hitting the 9-ball, in turn pocketing the 8-ball. Concluding the shot, the cue ball died, settling in front of a difficult 1-ball/9-ball combination, headed for the same pocket. With cue in hand, he pinpointed his aim, addressed the cue ball, and successfully pocketed the 9-ball. The crowd had little time to catch their breath as Werren forged ahead on the one-loss side eliminating Ambros, 7-1, Pennington, 7-1, and finally Sanders 7-5, to meet Davis Sr. in the finals. A young Werren shot out of the gate, taking a 2-0 lead. In the third game, Werren missed a routine 7-ball hooking the veteran player behind the 8-ball. Davis Sr. kicked one rail, long, and pocketed the 7-ball in the corner. The crowd gasped, followed by an explosion of clapping. Davis Sr. capitalized that game, consequently breaking and running the next rack. Werren answered back with an eight ball run, racking up his third game, but it would be his last as Davis Sr. replied with a 7 game shutout, besting Werren, 9-3.
Amateur Division action saw 36 players eliminated the first day, bringing back the final 12 for Sunday. It appeared as if last year’s Amateur Division Champion Frank Ferrer Jr. might repeat while last year’s runner-up Chelo Velasquez threatened a first-time win. After an impressive run by Victoria’s Alex Cardenas, he was sent west by contender and cousin, Raymond Cardenas. Flip Edwards fell to Ferrer, 7-6, Velasquez dominated David Neumann, 7-3, and David Escobedo struck down Colt Jackson, 7-5. On the west side, A. Cardenas bested Justin Wyly, 5-2, and Cesar Garcia eliminated Edwards, 5-3. It was Neumann over Brian Anderson, 5-1, and Jackson over Paul Jobe, 5-2. The level field played down with little or no upsets as R. Cardenas fell to Ferrer Jr. on the east side, 7-6, and Velasquez pounded on Escobedo, 7-3. Duking it out on the one loss side, A. Cardenas eliminated Edwards, 5-1, and Neumann thrashed Jackson, 5-1. Escobedo squeezed by A. Cardenas, 5-4, and R. Cardenas sent Neumann packing, 5-2. Hot seat action saw Velasquez torture Ferrer Jr., 7-1, while R. Cardenas left Escobedo in 4th place. R. Cardenas executed revenge on Ferrer Jr., staging his first Amateur Division final. Even though Velasquez underwent recent shoulder surgery on his stroking arm, it didn’t seem to hinder him as he slaughtered R. Cardenas in the final, 7-1, grasping what was denied him in 2012.
The Lone Star Tour would like to thank Skinny Bob’s Billiards and staff for hosting another first rate event.
The Lone Star Billiards Tour is sponsored by Poison by Predator Cues www.poisonbilliards.com, Delta-13 Rack www.delta-13.com, APA of North Harris County www.facebook.com/apanorthharriscounty, www.ImproveYourShot.com, and Ozone Billiards www.OzoneBilliards.com. Live streamed, recorded matches from this event may be viewed at www.ustream.tv/channel/lonestarbilliardstour. The complete event photo album can be found at www.facebook.com/lonestartour.
The Tour Championships will be held October 12th-13th, 2013 at Bogies Billiards in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
