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Reymart Lim comes back from hot seat loss to claim Action Pool Tour season opener

(l to r): Reymart Lim & Nathan Childress

It marked the second year in a row that Reymart Lim had won the Action Pool Tour’s (APT) season opener at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. Last year at this time, he went undefeated through a field of 49 to win his first of two APT events; the second came in March. This year, there was just a little hitch in his get-along, as he succumbed to Nathan Childress in the battle for the hot seat and had to come back from a semifinal versus 2019’s Tour Champion, Chris Bruner, for a second shot at Childress. He took that second shot and won the match to claim his first 2020 title. In the past four years, Lim has finished, in order, 29th, 13th, 5th and 4th in the APT’s final tour standings. If he’s looking to improve (and why wouldn’t he be?), this could be the year he secures that APT Tour Champion title. Winning this event that drew 53 entrants to Q Master Billiards on the weekend of January 18-19 was a good start.
 
Lim got a bye out of a preliminary round and started his march to the winners’ circle with an 8-1 victory over Graham Swinson. He then defeated Bill Duggan 8-4 and Johnathan Syphanthavong 8-3 to draw a winners’ side semifinal match against Scott Roberts, who finished two spots below him on last year’s tour standings list. Childress, in the meantime, who was the Billiards Education Foundation’s 14-and-under Junior National Champion two years in a row (’15 & ’16) and was looking to secure what would be (according to our records) his first major regional tour title, opened with an 8-5 victory over RJ Carmona, who finished one step above Lim last year. After Carmona, Childress sent Jason Trigo (double hill), Reggie Jackson (8-4) and another junior player, Shane Wolford (8-4) to the loss side to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Bruner.
 
Childress sent Bruner west 8-6 and in the hot seat match, faced Lim, who’d defeated Roberts, double hill. Childress claimed the hot seat 8-4 and waited in it for Lim to get back from the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Bruner picked up Nilbert Lim (no relation to Reymart, although a close friend), who’d lost a double hill match to Scott Roberts in the second winners’ side round and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had most recently included two victories in which he’d allowed his opponents only a single rack, combined; none to Syphanthavong and one to Mac Harrell. Roberts drew David Hunt (5th in the 2019 standings), who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal match to Bruner and gone on to defeat David Givens, double hill and Shane Wolford 7-4.
 
Roberts moved on to the quarterfinals with a 7-2 win over Hunt. Bruner, flexing his muscles a bit, shut Nilbert Lim out to join him. Bruner then defeated Roberts 7-5 in those quarterfinals.
 
Reymart Lim stepped into the semifinal ‘frame,’ flexing a few muscles of his own. He gave up only a single rack to Bruner, to earn himself a second shot at Childress.
 
Childress didn’t give up his shot at his first major ‘pro’ title easily. He fought tooth and nail to double hill before Lim sealed his first 2020 victory 10-9.
 
A Second Chance event drew eight entrants. It was won by Graham Swinson, who came back from a 5-2 hot seat loss to shut Johnathan Syphanthavong out 6-0.
 
Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Aramith Balls, Simonis Cloth. Viking Cues, Brown’s Mechanical LLC, Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Ozone Billiards, CSI, Grant Wylie Photography and George Hammerbacher, Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the 2020 APT, scheduled for February 15-16, will be the VA State 10-Ball Championships, hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.

Bruner goes undefeated to win Action Pool Tour season finale and finish as Tour Champion

Chris Bruner 2019 Action Pool Tour Champion

Chris Bruner competed in all but one of the 12 Action Pool Tour stops in 2019. He won four of them – June, July, October (VA State 8-Ball Championship) and the tour’s season finale this past weekend (December 7-8). He was runner-up in two others; to Mike Davis in May and Kristina Tkach in August. He tripled the number of appearances he made on the tour this year, which, factored into tournament results as the APT’s season concluded, gave Bruner the 2019 Tour Champion title. Last year’s champion, Steve Fleming competed in all but two of this year’s tour stops and finished as runner-up.
 
Bruner went undefeated through a field of 19 pre-qualified entrants, who signed on for the season finale – The Pineapple Morris Memorial Shootout on Saturday, December 7 at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. Named after Craig “Pineapple” Morris, a fixture as a teacher at Q Master Billiards and doorman at the annual US Open 9-Ball Championships for many years, the event was limited to the Top 16 men and three women in the tour’s point standings. Thanks to primary tour sponsors Predator Cues, Aramith and Simonis, every player who competed was paid.
 
Fleming was on-hand as well, with the opportunity to defend his tour championship title there for the taking. Fleming was one of six entrants who played a preliminary round for entrance into the event’s official 16-player, double elimination bracket. He and Larry Kressel locked up in a double hill fight that advanced Kressel and sent Fleming to the loss side, where he lasted three rounds.
 
Bruner’s path to the winners’ circle climbed a straight-up ladder that went through #12 Greg Sabins and #8 Bill Duggan, to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against #4 Reymart Lim. Scott Roberts (#6), working in a pressure cooker of his own making, won two straight double hill matches against David Hunt (#5) and Jimmy Byrd (#18) to draw his winners’ side semifinal opponent, none other than the aforementioned Larry Kressel (#11).
 
Roberts won his third straight double hill match, downing Kressel to earn a spot in the hot seat match. Bruner joined him with a double hill win over Lim. Roberts recorded his first double hill loss, as Bruner chalked up his second straight double hill win to claim the hot seat.
 
On the loss side, Kressel picked up #3 RJ Carmona, who’d lost to #7 Scott Haas in the event’s first full opening round and was working on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. He’d recently eliminated Bill Duggan 9-6 and David Hunt 9-5. Lim picked up Haas, who’d been sent over by Kressel in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then defeated Greg Sabins 9-5 and Jimmy Bird, double hill.
 
The possible Carmona/Haas rematch didn’t happen, as Kressel moved into the quarterfinals 9-7 over Carmona. Haas downed Lim 9-3, but in those quarterfinals, fell to Kressel 9-2.
 
The Roberts/Kressel semifinal came within a game of being the 5th double hill match among the event’s final 13 matches. Roberts prevailed 9-7 for a second shot at Bruner in the hot seat.
 
Bruner got out in front and claimed the event title and title of tour champion with an 11-7 victory over Roberts.
 
Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Aramith Balls, Simonis Cloth. Viking Cues, Brown’s Mechanical LLC, Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Ozone Billiards, CSI, Grant Wylie Photography and George Hammerbacher, Advanced Pool Instructor.

Lim returns from hot seat loss to win NC State 10-Ball Open Championships

Reymart Lim

For the second week in a row, Reymart Lim returned from a hot seat loss to meet and defeat its occupant and capture an event title. On the weekend of July 15-16, he captured a Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball title at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. On the weekend of July 22-23, the tour traveled to Raleigh, NC for the $1,000-added North Carolina State 10-Ball Open, and Lim, once again, was defeated in the hot seat match (by Keith Bennett) and returned from a semifinal, against last year's runner-up, Mike Davis, to down Bennett in the final and claim the title. The event, held under the auspices of the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour drew 54 entrants to Brass Tap & Billiards in Raleigh.
 
Lim advanced through three rounds to compete in a winners' side semifinal against BJ Ussery. Bennett, in the meantime, got through his first three opening rounds and met up with Brian White. Bennett and White locked up in a double hill battle that eventually sent Bennett to the hot seat match, where he was joined by Lim, who'd sent Ussery west 7-5. Bennett claimed the hot seat (as had Tim Monk the week before) 7-4.
 
Ussery moved over and picked up Mike Davis, who'd been defeated by White in a winners' side quarterfinal and was working on a modest, two-game, loss-side winning streak. He'd downed David Hunt and James Blackburn, both 7-3 to reach Ussery. White drew Cory Morphew, who'd eliminated Corey Sykes 7-4, and Glen Russell, Sr. 7-5.
 
White and Ussery picked up their second straight and eliminating loss. Morphew eliminated the possibility of a Davis/White re-match by shutting White out. Davis joined Morphew in the quarterfinals match by downing Ussery 7-4.
 
Davis and Morphew battled to double hill in the quarterfinals before the last 10-ball dropped, advancing Davis to the semifinals against Lim; a sort of 'old school' (Davis) versus moderately 'new school' (Lim) matchup. 'New school' won the day, as Lim eliminated Davis 7-4.
 
In another and third straight 'old school' versus 'new school' battle in the finals, 'new school' claimed the title. Lim took the single race to 9 (9-4) to capture the NC State 10-Ball Open title.
 
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Brass Tap & 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 July 29-30, will be hosted by Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
 

Wilkie makes it six straight on the Action Pool Tour with VA State 10-Ball Championship

Shaun Wilkie

Whether it's a back-and-forth contest through multiple ties or a situation in which a player comes back from a significant deficit, double hill pool matches are the Cadillacs/Mercedes-Benz/Jaguars of billiard competition. Add a degree of previous performance context to these double hill battles and you've got yourself what's known as a 'thriller.' 
 
Case in point: The finals of the 3rd Annual VA State 10-Ball Championships, held under the auspices of the Action Pool Tour on the weekend of February 7-8 at Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA. The Context: A field of 70 was on hand for the competition, including last year's runner-up, Shaun Wilkie, who, less than a month ago (January 18) had chalked up an unprecedented fifth straight win on the Action Pool Tour. Last year's winner, Adam Kielar, did not compete. 
 
Wilkie went on, undefeated, to claim the VA State 10-Ball title, but not before he had first, shut Matt Krah out in the battle for the hot seat, and then, was challenged by Krah in a double hill finals thriller that eventually gave Wilkie his sixth straight APT victory.
 
It took Wilkie four matches to reach a winners' side semifinal match against Chris Bruner; four, race-to-7 matches in which he gave up, on average, only two racks, including none in a match versus Nathan Childress and one in a victory over Mike Davis. Krah, in the meantime, chalked up three 7-3 wins and a 7-2 victory to reach the winners' side semifinal and a matchup against Greg Taylor.
 
Bruner got as close to Wilkie as anyone up to that point with five racks in the winners' side semifinal, but Wilkie won it and turned to face Krah, who'd sent Taylor west 7-3. Wilkie shut Krah out to claim the hot seat and waited on his 'loaded with context' return.
 
Over on the loss side, Bruner picked up Mike Davis, who'd won four on the loss side, including a 6-4 win over Chris Futrell and a 6-2 win over David Hunt to reach him. Taylor drew Chris Loar, who'd gotten by Jimmy Varias 6-2 and survived a double hill fight against Kenny Miller
 
Loar and Bruner squared off in a 'Chris' quarterfinal, once they'd defeated Taylor and Davis, both 6-3. It was Bruner who advanced to meet Krah in the semifinals with a 6-4 victory over Loar. 
 
Seemingly determined to earn himself a second shot against Wilkie in the hot seat, Krah gave up only a single rack to Bruner in those semifinals and with the sting of a hot seat shutout on his mind, got that chance. Krah put up a double hill fight, but Wilkie prevailed to win the VA State 10-Ball title and his sixth straight victory on the APT.
 

Green goes undefeated to take 10th Annual VA State 9-Ball Championships

Eric Moore, Joshua Dickerson (TD) and Danny Green

Though Eric Moore would come back from winning five on the loss side to face him in the finals, Danny Green hung on to go undefeated and win the 10th Annual VA State 9-Ball Championships on the weekend of September 14-15. In addition to prize money, both Green and Moore received free entry to the US Open 9-Ball Championships next month, as did top female finisher, Daisy Blancaflora. The event drew 68 entrants to Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
 
Having sent Moore to the loss side 9-7 in the fifth round of play, Green moved into a winners' side semifinal against R.J. Carmona. Brandon Shuff, in the meantime, took on Ray Mart-Lim. Green and Shuff faced each other in the hot seat match with identical 9-4 wins over Carmona and Lim. Green and Shuff locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Shuff to the semifinals against Moore.
 
Moore's march back to the finals began with a 9-6 win over Corey Sykes and was followed by a 9-7 win over Max Schlothauer, which set Moore up to face Carmona. Lim drew David Hunt, who'd gotten by Ray Reyna 9-3 and Chris Futrell 9-5. 
 
Moore and Lim moved into the quarterfinals with 9-7 wins over Sykes and Hunt, and then battled each other to double hill before Moore advanced. Moore then took out Brandon Shuff 9-7 in the semifinals for a second shot against Green. Green took the final match 11-7 and the 10th Annual VA State 9-Ball Championship crown.