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Parra takes two out of three over Sandifer to capture DFW 9-Ball Tour’s season finale title

(l to r): Juan Parra, Greg Sandifer & Jeff Georges (Photo by Jesse Garcia, Bound by Imagination)

Juan Parra tried for a win on the 2019 DFW 9-Ball Tour three times; in May, June and October. His best effort was his first when he finished 3rd. His worst was the last in which he finished in the tie for 13th. At the tour’s season finale, on the weekend of November 16-17, he broke through to record a victory for the first time since he won a stop on the DFW 9-Ball predecessor, the Omega Tour in 2017. Parra had to get by the #2 player on the standings list going into the final event, Greg Sandifer, twice. The $3,000-added event, open only to tour members who’d competed in at least four of the tour’s 11 events in 2019, drew 56 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
 
Parra and Sandifer wove their separate ways through the field to arrive at their first meeting, battling for the hot seat. Parra got an opening round bye before defeating Dario Gomez, Donnie Gregory and Curtis Caldwell to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Jesus Sorto. Sandifer’s path went through Gert Ehing, Chris Woody Smith, Jud Hunter and Jeff Georges to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup against Amos Bush.
 
Sandifer gave up only a single rack to Bush in an 8-1 victory that put him into the hot seat match. Parra joined him following his 7-5 win over Sorto. In their first of three, Sandifer claimed the hot seat 8-4.
 
On the loss side, Sorto picked up Jeff Georges, who, following his defeat at the hands of Sandifer in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had defeated Friday Abismo 7-5 and the #1 competitor in the tour standings, Tim Larson, double hill (7-8). Bush drew Jesse Hernandez, who’d lost his second match, double hill to Sorto, and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. Sorto and Hernandez would each fall one match short of a rematch.
 
In a straight-up race to 7, Georges downed Sorto 7-4. Bush and Hernandez battled to double hill before Bush prevailed to join Georges in the quarterfinals. Bush then won his second straight double hill battle in those quarterfinals.
 
Both combatants in the semifinals were looking for a rematch in the finals against Sandifer. If the score proved to be any measure of the desire, Parra apparently wanted it more and won handily 7-1.
 
With Sandifer racing to 8, Parra took the opening set 7-6. He did Sandifer one better in the second set, winning it 7-5 to claim the season finale title.
 
A Second Chance event drew seven entrants and was won Alberto Nieto Garcia. Billy Guy was runner-up and Rachelle Dytko was third.
 
In ceremonies following the event, Tim Larson, who’d competed in each of the tour’s 11 events, won two of them and finished as runner-up in a third, was acknowledged as the 2019 Tour Champion. Highway Sigadi won the tour’s 2019 Best Sportsmanship award. 
 
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards for their hospitality as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Super Store, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball, FargoRate, BCA Pool League, JB Custom Cue Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI and Internet Marketing Solutions. The 2020 DFW 9-Ball Tour season will begin where the 2019 season ended, at Rusty's Billiards in Arlington, TX on the weekend of January 18-19, 2020.

Evans goes undefeated, splits top prize with Tate on Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour stop

Jason Evans

Earlier this year, in February, we reported on a victory for Jason Evans on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, which, in a career that’s spanned almost 20 years, was his first recorded victory in a major event. His best recorded earnings year (2002) came as the result of placing 3rd at a stop on the Joss Tour, 17th at the IBC Championships and three cash finishes at that year’s Derby City Classic. He has a way to go before he can match his earnings from that year, but on Saturday, October 5, he chalked up his second win* on the 2019 Q City 9-Ball Tour. He went undefeated at the event, but split the top two prizes when he and junior competitor Joey Tate, whom he’d defeated, double hill in the hot seat match, opted out of a final match. The $1,000-added event drew 39 entrants to The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
 
Evans advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Blade Best, while Tate squared off against Brent Hensley. Evans got into the hot seat match with a 9-4 victory over Best, as Tate was locked up in a straight-up race to 7, double hill fight against Hensley. Tate won it and then, in what proved to be the event finals, a second straight double hill match, fell to Evans 9-6 (Tate racing to 7).
 
On the loss side, Best drew Shane Woodrum, who’d shut out Travis Guerra and defeated Dustin Coe 5-2 to reach him. In an earlier round, Coe had defeated Shane’s older brother, Chris Woodrum 6-4. Hensley picked up Jonathan Ailstock, who’d been defeated by Evans in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then defeated Travis Shelton and Hank Powell, both 6-4.
 
Woodrum fell to Best 6-3, as Ailstock was busy downing Hensley 6-5 (Hensley racing to 7). Ailstock defeated Best 6-4 in the quarterfinals that followed, and with the notion of a rematch against Evans in the finals, squared off against Tate in the semifinals.
 
Tate, though, stopped Ailstock’s four-match, loss-side run with a 7-4 win in those semifinals. He and Evans opted out of the final, awarding the undefeated Evans the event title.
 
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at The Clubhouse, 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 12-13), will be hosted by Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.

Bryant takes two out of three over Walker to grab Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball title

Brian Bryant

Billy Walker came back from a defeat in a winners’ side semifinal match against Brian Bryant to win the opening set of a true double elimination final against him. Bryant, though, rallied in the second set to claim the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball title, at a stop held on Saturday, April 29. The event drew 21 entrants to The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
 
In their first of three matches, Bryant downed Walker 9-3 (Walker racing to 7). Scott Largen, in the meantime, defeated Lee O’Neal 7-2 in the other winners’ side semifinal. Bryant and Largen battled to double hill in the hot seat match, before Bryant won it and waited on Walker’s return.
 
On the loss side, Walker ran into Chris Woodrum, who’d defeated co-tour director Angela Parker 6-5 and the previous week’s Q City 9-Ball Tour winner, Cameron Lawhorne 6-1. O’Neal drew Kelly Farrar, who’d eliminated Brian Glisson 6-3 and Greg Taylor 6-4.
 
Walker got into the quarterfinals with a 7-2 win over Woodrum. He was joined by O’Neal, who’d survived a double hill fight versus Farrar. Walker then defeated O’Neal 7-3, and spoiled Largen’s hopes for a re-match against Bryant with a 7-2 win in the semifinals.
 
Walker took the opening set of the true double elimination final 7-4. Bryant won the second set 9-4 to claim the event title.
 
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at The Clubhouse, 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 May 5-6, will be hosted by Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN. 

Stanley stops 12-match, loss-side streak by Wiley to go undefeated on DFW 9-Ball Tour

(l to r): Rick Stanley, Corey Flud & CJ Wiley

CJ Wiley should be the ‘poster child’ for some form of additional prize awarded to competitors in pool tournaments who lose an opening round match and win 10 or more on the loss side to meet and ultimately either defeat or lose to the occupant of a given tournament’s hot seat. Perhaps extra tour ranking points, a little bonus cash? Something, for while runner-up money is all well and good, a 10-match or more winning streak on the loss side of a double elimination bracket is a significant accomplishment, worthy of some official kind of recognition.
 
Though Rick Stanley went undefeated on the February 17-18 stop (#2) on the Dallas/Fort Worth 9-Ball Tour and deserves all of the accolades that go along with that, he did so by chalking up eight match victories, all with the double elimination bracket’s built-in margin for error, allowing a single loss without elimination. The handicap format saw Stanley (racing to 9) face six 7s, one 6, and one 9 (Wiley), and chalk up an average score against opponents of 9-2.7. CJ Wiley won 12 on the loss side of that double elimination bracket, with an average match score of 9-3, and faced five 6s, six 7s, and one 8, before his straight-up race to 9 in the finals against Stanley. The tour-ranking end result allowed Wiley to maintain his #1 spot on the tour rankings, while Stanley, competing in his first stop on the 2018 tour, moved from nowhere into second place. The $1,700-added event drew 108 competitors to The Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
 
With Wiley at work on the loss side, Stanley worked his way through five opponents (JP Kinman, Walt Anderson, Ashraf Aldamen, Mike Voelkering, and Marcelino Santiago) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Amos Bush. Corey Flud, in the meantime, chalked up three double hill wins in getting by Chris Woody Smith (double hill), Danny Williams, Roman Bayda (double hill), and Donny Gregory (double hill) to arrive at the other winners’ side semifinal against Judd Hunter.
 
Stanley downed Bush 9-1, as Flud (in a straight-up race to 7) defeated Hunter 7-3. Stanley claimed the hot seat 9-4 over Flud and waited for Wiley to complete his epic loss-side run.
 
Over on the loss side, Wiley got by five opponents just to advance to the first money round (the tie for 25th place). He got by four more, including a 9-5 win over Donny Gregory and a 9-4 win over Steve Collins, before running into Bush, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Hunter drew TJ Davis, who’d eliminated Cody Wright 8-4 and Marcelino Santiago 8-1 to reach him.
 
Wiley downed Bush 9-4, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Davis, who’d eliminated Hunter 8-2. Wiley took the quarterfinal match over Davis 9-3 and completed his long trek back to the finals with a 9-5 win over Flud in the semifinals.
 
And there it was. The final match between two of the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s top-ranked competitors, although one (Stanley) had yet to compete on the tour’s 2018 schedule. Stanley completed his undefeated run with a 9-5 victory over Wiley and settled into the second spot on the tour rankings.
 
The weekend also included a new, but soon-to-be-repeated preliminary event, held on Friday night, pitting two area teams (Dallas & Fort Worth) against each other. Called the DFW 2018 Tour Cup, and modeled after the Mosconi Cup, the first event saw Dallas take the Cup 5-2.
 
“It was very well-received,” noted tour representatives, “and we will more than likely be having more events of this type in the future.”
 
A Second Chance event that drew 17 entrants saw Tony Sulsar take the top spot, with Shan Iyer as runner-up. The “Last Lady” award of the main event ($50) was split between Kiengchay (Kitty) Phoutthavong and Tera Saunders.
 
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of the Billiard Den, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, JB Cases, Dallas Eightball League, Outsville (AccuRack), Fargo Rate, BCAPL/CSI, Internet Marketing Solutions, and Granite Guyz. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of March 24-25, will be hosted by Rusty's Billiards in Arlington, TX. 

Best and Holliday split top prizes on Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour

(l to r): Taz Holliday & Blade Best

 

Blade Best and Taz Holliday split the top two prizes on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour stop on the weekend of July 29-30. As the undefeated player, Best chalked up the official title win of the event that drew 39 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
 
Best advanced through the 64-player bracket to face Scott Howard in one of the winners' side semifinals, as Bill Eisenhard faced Brandon Kidwell in the other one. Kidwell had just sent Holliday to the loss side. Best sent Howard over 6-6 (Howard racing to 8), as Eisenhard was at work defeating Kidwell 7-3. Best claimed the hot seat over Eisenhard 6-5 (Eisenhard racing to 7) in what proved to be his last match.
 
On the loss side, Holliday opened his trip to the finals with a double hill win over renowned trick shot artist Chris Woodrum, and followed it with a shutout over Terry Lawson. This set Holliday up against Howard, coming over from his defeat in the winners' side semifinal. Kidwell picked up Jerry Varnado, who'd defeated Jerry Hilton 8-6 and Matt Shaw, double hill, to reach him.
 
Holliday won a double hill battle against Howard to advance to the quarterfinals. Varnado spoiled a Holliday/Kidwell re-match with an 8-1 victory over Kidwell to join Holliday.
 
Holliday eliminated Varnado 6-3 and then fought his third loss-side double hill match against Eisenhard in the semifinals, winning it for a shot against Best in the hot seat. They opted out of that final match, granting Best the official title.
 
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her staff at Borderline 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 Aug. 5-6, will be hosted by Legends Billiards in Inman, SC.
 

CBSA 2013 Canadian Championship Results

John Morra

Shooters Snookers and Sports Club in Toronto hosted the 2013 Canadian Cue Sports Championships from June 21st to July 2nd. The combination of heat and heavy rain paved the way for sicky conditions in the crowded room of players and spectators.
 
The event kicked off with 51 players in the amateur 9-ball event. Ontario player Marc Godin took the title with a 11-10 win over Serge Therrien from New Brunswick. In the Junior 9-Ball event, Charles Guimont from Quebec was undefeated as he took his first national title. Charles was the runner-up in last year’s event.
 
In the ladies events, Kayla Jones from London Ontario marched through the amateur 8-ball event beating Angela Carringan in the finals 9-7.  Brittany Bryant took her 3rd consecutive 9-ball title beating Naomi Williams in the finals.  Naomi was not left empty handed as she overcame New Brunswick’s Angela Belding to win her 3rd consecutive 10-ball title.
 
In the Men’s Open events, Jason Klatt got the ball rolling with a 11-3 score over Calgary’s Dave Martin for his 3rd national 8-Ball title.  In the 9-Ball event, Jeff Blais entertained the crowd with his fearless aggressive style.  Jeff lost a heartbreaking match to John Morra 11-10 in the A-side finals, and then lost his next match to Jason Klatt hill-hill in the B-Side finals.  Morra went on to win this event for his 1st national 9-ball title.  In the 10-ball event, John Morra continued his excellent play.  John outscored his opponents overall 63-26 for his 3rd 10-ball title.
 
In the snooker event, Ontario filled out the top four spots.  Jason Williams had a long road to the finals which included an 8 hour match against Chris Wood.  The steady young player is looking more impressive each year.  Jason’s opponent in the finals was lefty Floyd  Ziegler.   Floyd has been in the finals of this prestigious event multiple times in the past.  His experience likely gave him an edge over Jason.  It’s was Floyd’s great play and shot-making that gave him the title with a 6-2 win.
 
In the senior’s snooker, Jim Whittaker came though the b-side to take the win over Paul Flemming in the finals.  Live streaming was provided by Randall Morrison of the Alberta Billiards & Snooker Association.

Special thanks to the CBSA and Shooters Billiards for putting on another successful event.  Congratulations to Justin Kluznik for winning CityTV News athlete of the week.  Although Justin didn’t win a national title, he did win a box of Frosted Flakes.