Ronny Park Benefit Memorial – Joey Korsiak vs Dustin Lackey
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Fossum goes undefeated on Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour to win his first major tournament
Ryan Fossum
He’d come close before.
A week before Christmas in 2019, Ryan Fossum finished as runner-up to Hank Powell at a stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. It was only the second time, according to our records, that Fossum had cashed in any tournament. The year before, he’d finished 4th; same tour, same location (Borderline Billiards, Bristol, TN). On Saturday, April 10, Fossum broke through to chalk up his first tournament win; same tour, same state, different location – Jac’s All-American Billiards in Newport, TN. Fossum went undefeated through a relatively short field of 26 entrants and won almost three out of every four games he played (30-11; 73%).
Fossum and Dustin Lackey worked their way through three opponents to arrive at their respective winners’ side semifinal matches; Fossum, facing Montez Lloyd and Lackey meeting up with Rodney Huskey. Fossum downed Lloyd 5-1 and in the hot seat match, faced Lackey, who’d sent Huskey to the loss side 7-2. Fossum claimed the hot seat 5-3 over Lackey.
On the loss side, Huskey picked up Matt Marrisett, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal match to Fossum and then won all but one of the subsequent matches he played on the loss side, double hill. He began by defeating Reid Vance (5-6) and Corey Morphew (5-8). Lloyd drew Tony Miller, who’d lost to Huskey in a winners’ side quarterfinal and defeated Ricky Bingham and Yoshiaki Kanamura, both 6-4.
Miller and Marrisett handed Lloyd and Huskey their second straight loss; Miller, double hill over Lloyd and Marrisett defeating Huskey (not double hill) 5-3. Marrisett stopped Miller’s run in the quarterfinals with his third straight double hill win (5-5).
Marrisett chalked up his fourth straight double hill win, downing Lackey in the semifinals (5-6). Fossum put a stop to Marrisett’s run with a 5-2 win in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Jac’s All-American Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, AZBilliards, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and Dirty South Grind Apparel Co. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (April 17-18), will be hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
Lackey & Ussery split top prizes on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour
Dustin Lackey
The first time the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour paid a visit to Sonny’s Billiards in Princeton, WV, back in October, 2020, one of the venue’s local players, Wayne Hubbard, broke through to win his first (recorded) cash payout and event title, anywhere. And defeated tour veteran Hank Powell, twice, in the finals, to do it. Hubbard returned to the ‘scene of the crime’ last weekend (March 13-14) in search of his second win. For the second time, he made it to the winners’ side semifinals before being sent to the loss side, but this time, he didn’t return. The man who sent him over, Dustin Lackey, advanced to claim the hot seat, which became his last win when he and BJ Ussery later opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. The $1,000-added event drew 34 entrants to Sonny’s Billiards.
Lackey’s advance to the hot seat match, 7-3 over Hubbard, led to a battle between him (Lackey) and Dwain Barberie, who’d survived a double hill match versus Scott Largen. Lackey claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Barberie and waited on negotiations for the split with BJ Ussery.
Ussery, in the meantime, was at work on an 88% winning-average in the seven matches he’d end up playing on the loss side. He’d been awarded an opening round bye and defeated Joey Supphin 12-1, before running into Mark Williams, who sent him to the loss side 5-4. From that point on, Ussery gave up only 14 racks in the next 98 games. He gave up one of those to Tim Crigler and another to Ricky Bingham just before drawing Hubbard, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Largen picked up Reid Vance, who’d recently eliminated Mark Williams 7-3 and Mike Clevinger, double hill.
Ussery gave up another rack eliminating Hubbard 12-1, as (with deliberate alliteration) Vance advanced to the quarterfinals over Largen 7-4. Vance put up what, under the circumstances, would have to be considered a ‘fight’ in the quarterfinals, but fell to Ussery 12-4.
Ussery repeated that score in the semifinals. He’d given up 11 racks total through his first seven matches, and gave up eight in his last two. The last one, in his 7-4 semifinal victory over Dwain Barberie, sent them both home. His top-prizes-split negotiations with Lackey, waiting for him in the hot seat, sent everybody home.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Jason Paitsel, Jonathan Brockman and their Sonny’s Billiards’ staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, AZBilliards, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and Dirty South Grind Apparel Co. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, March 20-21, will be a $500-added ($1,000 with 48+) event, hosted by Randolph’s Billiards in Hickory, NC.
Powell downs Lackey twice and goes undefeated on Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour
Hank Powell
In his final three matches in the January 30 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, Hank Powell won all but seven of the 28 games in those matches, which, with a little of that ‘factoring’ that we all used to do in high school, means that in the end, when it counted, he was winning (on average) three out of every four games he played. He finished undefeated to chalk up his first tour win since a tour stop on the 4th of July last year; a win he shared with junior player Landon Hollingsworth. The $1,000-added event in the final weekend of January this year, drew 46 entrants to Sonny’s Billiards in Princeton, WV.
As the event came up to its final 14 matches, Powell found himself facing off against another junior player, Cole Lewis, in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Dustin Lackey and Michael Howell squared off in the other one.
By identical 7-3 scores, Lackey downed Howell and Powell defeated Lewis. Powell then claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Lackey and waited on what turned out to be the return of Lewis.
On the loss side, both of the opponents that Lewis and Howell drew had just won two straight double hill matches to reach them; first, in advancing to the money round in the 9/12 matches and then, in the first money round itself (7/8). Scott Howard had downed Travis Guerra (7-5; Guerra racing to 6) and Jeff Underwood (7-4; Underwood racing to 5) to reach Lewis. Reid Vance had eliminated Adam Ratcliff 7-4 and Keith Young 7-5 to draw Howell.
Vance chalked up a third straight double hill win (7-4) against Howell. Lewis, in the meantime, eliminated Howard 6-2 to join Vance in the quarterfinals. Lewis repeated his previous score in sending Vance to the proverbial showers.
Lackey and Lewis squared off in the finals, with Lackey downing the junior player 7-3 and earing himself a second shot at Powell in the hot seat. The two duplicated the score of their earlier hot seat match, with Powell winning 7-2 a second time to claim the event title.
The Parkers thanked the ownership and staff at Sonny’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, JB Magic Templates, AZBilliards, Tickler Pool Ball Washing Machine, Skyline Construction, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and Dirty South Grind Apparel Co. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, Feb. 6-7, will be hosted by West End Billiards in Gastonia, NC.