Collin Hall’s last victory on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour was just a little over three years ago, when he, sitting in the hot seat, was forced to split the top two prizes with BJ Ussery because the Gate City Billiard Club in Greensboro, NC had a curfew. This past weekend, Saturday, Nov. 12, Hall was in a similar position, having claimed the hot seat and waiting for the player he’d defeated to get back (or not) from the semifinals. There was a difference this time. There wasn’t a curfew to worry about at The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA and significantly, the competitor he faced in his last two matches owned the room.
Given that in addition to being competitors, Hall and Clubhouse owner Chris England were friends as well as workplace colleagues (Hall works security at the facility), tour director Herman Parker thought that the two might possibly opt out of the final, but they didn’t. They’d battled for the hot seat, to double hill, before Hall finished it. When England won his semifinal match, the shot at the title also represented his first chance at a title on the tour and he wasn’t about to give that up.
“Chris had never won on the tour before,” said Parker, with a laugh, “and he was on a mission.”
It was almost ‘mission accomplished,’ because for a second time, they battled to double hill. Hall, though, had the last word and completed his undefeated run. The $500-added event drew 21 entrants to The Clubhouse.
They’d advanced to their respective winners’ side semifinal from opposite ends of the bracket. Hall faced Marc Becker, as England squared off against Robert Cuneo. England battled to double hill getting to the hot seat match, but did send Cuneo loss-side packing, while Hall was engaged with sending Becker to the loss side 7-3. Hall and England played their first double hill battle, which sent England off to the semifinals.
On the loss side, Becker and Cuneo walked right into their second straight loss. Becker drew Rich Cunningham, who’d just eliminated Calvin Godsey and Dustin Coe, both 7-2. Cunio picked up Bryan Glisson, who’d taken a bit of a roller coaster ride over his previous two matches, shutting out Barrett White before surviving a double hill match against Nick Call.
Glisson defeated Cuneo 5-3. Cunningham eliminated Becker 7-3. Cunningham then prevailed in the quarterfinals, 7-1 over Glisson. In what would prove to be his second of three straight double hill matches on his mission to claim the title, England defeated Cunningham 5-6 (Cunningham racing to 7).
England, entered the final phase of his mission and it almost paid off. Hall, though, completed his undefeated run with a second double hill win over his friend, his boss and his earlier hot seat opponent.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked England and his Clubhouse staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Breaktime Billiards (Winston-Salem, NC), BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Ridge Back Rails, and Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division.
The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, Nov. 19-20, will be the tour’s 10th Annual Tour Championships, a $1,500-added event to be hosted by Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem. The two-time defending champion of the event and the only player in the event’s history to win it twice, Landon Hollingsworth, will not be in attendance, as he will be competing in Puerto Rico at the time; entry to the Puerto Rico Open was a prize he earned as the top-ranked player in the Junior International Championship Series’ ProAm division this year. The generally competitive field at this annual event will crown its first new champion since 2019.
The first time Earl Kent recorded a payout finish on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, nine days before Christmas in 2019, he and BJ Ussery negotiated a split of the event’s top two prizes. As occupant of the hot seat at the time, Ussery claimed the event title. This past weekend, May 14, at the same location, The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA, Kent, once again, split the top two prizes with his potential opponent in the finals. This time, however, Kent was in the hot seat and became the official winner, chalking up only his second recorded cash payout and his first tour win, albeit with the missed-final asterisk. The $500-added event drew 43 entrants to The Clubhouse.
He and Cameron Lawhorne worked their way through the field to arrive at Kent’s winners’ side semifinal against Chris Woodrum and Lawhorne’s against Brian Glisson. Kent got into the hot seat match 5-3 over Woodrum, as Lawhorne prevailed in a double hill match against Glisson (8-4; Glisson racing to 5). Battling for the hot seat became the defining match of the event with the two of them battling to a 12th deciding game and Kent finally winning it.
On the loss side, as matches dwindled down to the first money round (5th/6th), there was a junior competitor in the mix. Her name as Precilia Kinsley and is likely recognizable to anyone who’s been following the exploits of the Junior International Championships, now in their second season of events. After four events on the 2022 JIC so far, Kinsley is ranked 6th among 19 junior ladies in the 18 & Under division and finished 3rd at the JIC’s last stop in Phoenix, AZ a week ago. Like other junior competitors in the JIC, Kinsley has been encouraged to extend her ‘reach’ into regional tour events and according to Q City 9-Ball tour director, Herman Parker, she’s proved to be a formidable opponent.
“It was the first time she played with us,” said Parker, “and she won her first two matches; against another junior competitor and then, one of our regulars, Reid Vance, in a double hill match.”
She was sent to the loss side by the eventual winner, Earl Kent and eliminated by another Q City 9-Ball veteran, Scott Roberts, who ended up finishing third. Roberts advanced to down James Marvin, double hill, and Collin Hall 8-4 to draw Woodrum coming over from his winners’ side semifinal match. Glisson, arriving from the other winners’ side semifinal, picked up Thomas Sansone, who’d eliminated Clubhouse owner, Chris England 6-1 and Robert Cuneo 6-4.
In the first money round, Sansone and Roberts handed Glisson and Woodrum their second straight loss; Sansone advancing to the quarterfinals, double hill, as Roberts was busy eliminating Woodrum 8-2 to join him. Roberts and Sansone then battled to double hill in those quarterfinals, before Roberts advanced for a shot at Lawhorne in the semifinals.
In what would prove to be the event’s final match, Lawhorne defeated Roberts 8-6. The deal to split the top two prizes was made, with Kent taking the official event title, his first.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Chris England and his Clubhouse staff for their hospitality along with title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Ridge Back Rails, and Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, May 21-22, will be hosted Still Cluckin’ in Providence, NC.
Unlike the tournaments that they host, which generally produce only one winner (sometimes, they split the cash and go home), improvements to existing pool rooms are always something of a win-win situation. The Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour arrived at its scheduled stop at The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA on the weekend of March 2-3 to find that owner Chris England had doubled the number of tables in the room and was preparing to open an adjacent steakhouse within the next month or so. The improved room and especially tournament conditions attract more players. More players increase business at the improved location, to include, in this case, a new, attached restaurant and then, they tell their friends. Win-win.
It was win-loss for Hank Powell and Andy Bowden over the weekend; the former, winning and the latter, having to settle for runner-up. The event drew 31 entrants to The (newly-renovated) Clubhouse.
They played their first of three matches in a winners’ side semifinal, as Trey Frank and Scott Roberts squared off in the other one. Powell sent Bowden to the loss side, double hill (7-4; Bowden racing to 5), and in the hot seat match, faced Frank, who’d sent Roberts over 7-7 (Roberts racing to 9). Powell claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on the return of Bowden.
On the loss side, Bowden picked up Sean McGrady, who’d defeated Ron Frank (Trey’s father) 5-4 (Frank racing to 9), and junior competitor, Shane Wolford double hill 5-8 (Wolford racing to 9). Roberts drew female competitor Jordyn Worley, who, after being awarded a bye, lost her opening match to Michael Neal and embarked on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take her as far as the quarterfinals. She’d recently won two straight double hill matches against Daniel Adams and Collin Hall, both 4-6.
In a straight-up race to 5, Bowden downed McGrady 5-3. Worley joined him in the quarterfinals with a 4-5 victory over Roberts, who was racing to 9. Bowden ended Worley’s loss-side streak 5-1 in those quarterfinals and then, defeated Trey Frank 5-3 in the semifinals.
With the often-underestimated (and occasionally over-estimated) benefit of momentum, Bowden battled Powell to double hill in the opening set of the true double elimination and dropped the 9-ball to force a second set. Powell came back in the second set and won it 7-3 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Chris England and his staff at The Clubhouse 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 (March 9-10) will feature two events; A Saturday, March 9 handicapped event, and a Sunday, March 10 Open event. Both will be hosted by a new venue on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour schedule – Wolf’s Den, owned by the Wolford family (parents to Shane Wolford, who will presumably be on-hand to compete) in Roanoke, VA.
Two of Collin Hall’s five victories on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour have been accomplished at The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA. He won the first of those two this past July, and on the weekend of October 13-14, he chalked up the second (fifth overall). Hall went undefeated and in lieu of a final match, he split the top two cash prizes with Brent Hensley. The event drew 33 entrants to The Clubhouse.
Hall advanced through the field and arrived at a winners’ side final match against James Blackburn. Hensley, in the meantime, squared off against the owner of The Clubhouse, Chris England. Hall advanced to the hot seat 6-5 over Blackburn (Blackburn racing to 9). He was joined by Hensley, who’d sent England to the loss side 7-3. Hall claimed the hot seat, and, as it turned out, the event title by winning a double hill hot seat match over Hensley.
On the loss side, Blackburn picked up Travis Guerra, who’d defeated Bobby McCoy 6-1 and Lee O’Neal 6-4 to reach him. England drew Brian Bryant, who’d eliminated Chuck Cuneo and Bernie Kirby, both 9-3.
Blackburn got right back to winning, downing Guerra 9-3 and advancing to the quarterfinals. Bryant joined him after chalking up his third straight 9-3 win, over England. Blackburn broke that 9-3 streak and battled Bryant to double hill before Bryant prevailed in those quarterfinals.
Hensley and Bryant battled to double hill in the semifinals, as well, thought it would be Hensley who advanced for a second shot against Hall, waiting in the hot seat. The decision to opt out of the final match was reached and as the undefeated hot seat occupant, Hall claimed the official event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Chris England and The Clubhouse staff, 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 (Oct. 20-21), will be hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
