There was reportedly some Mid-Atlantic area competition with tournaments over the weekend of March 17-18, and it had an impact on entrants who signed on to the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour stop at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA on that weekend. Chuck Cuneo and Mike Hancock joined the ranks of 22 players who did compete in the $250-added event, and in the end, with Cuneo in the hot seat, and Hancock coming back from the semifinals, they opted to split the top two prizes.  

 

Cuneo advanced through two matches to reach a winners’ side semifinal match against Bernard Andico, while Hancock faced Brian Lane in the other one. Cuneo got into the hot seat match with a 6-6 win over Andico, who was racing to 8. Cuneo was joined by Hancock, who’d sent Lane west 7-1. Cuneo downEd Hancock 6-5 (Hancock to 7) to claim the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, in the first money round, Andico picked up Dwight Cherry, who’d defeated Ken Miller 9-5 and Mike Hughes 9-6 to reach him. Lane drew Jim Bird, who’d gotten by Brandon Fitchett 8-2 and Lance Luke 8-4.

 

Lane advanced to the quarterfinals 7-6 over Bird (racing to 8), and was joined by Cherry, who’d eliminated Andico 9-7. Lane and Cherry locked up in a double hill fight for advancement to the semifinals, which Lane won (7-8).

 

Lane got into his second straight double hill match, this one in a straight-up race to 7, against Hancock in the semifinals. It proved to be the last match of the weekend, with Hancock advancing to the finals, and then, by mutual agreement, splitting the top two prizes with hot-seat occupant Cuneo.

 

Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, 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 March 24-25, will be hosted by Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC.

It was, by far, his most productive year at the pool tables. In the five years that Reymart Lim has been showing up on our tournament payout lists, his 2017 reported cash earnings in 11 tournaments were six times what he’d earned in any previous year. As we reported in December, he chalked up wins on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour (two, including the NC State Open 10-Ball event) and finished the year by coming from the loss side to win the Action Pool Tour’s season finale on the weekend of December 9-10. A little over a month later, Lim was back on the Action Pool Tour, and once again, coming from the loss side, he completed a run through 41 entrants to defeat a hot seat occupant (R.J. Carmona, in this case) and win the APT’s season opener, held on the weekend of January 13-14, and hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.

 

Lim was challenged early and often in this one. An opening 7-3 win over Dwight Cherry was followed by two matches that went double hill, against David Lassiter and Nilbert Lim (no relation, though close friends), before advancing him to a winners’ side semifinal against Eric Moore. Carmona, in the meantime, opened his bid for the season opening title with a 7-2, preliminary-round win over Chris Pyle, defeated Jeremy Wyatt 7-3, and then won two 7-4 victories over Steve Fleming and Tuan Chau to face Danny Bell in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Moore downed Lim 7-5, as Carmona chalked up his third straight 7-4 win and sent Bell to the loss side. Carmona claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Moore, and waited on Lim’s return.

 

On the loss side, Lim picked up Tim Colvin, who, after a winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Bell, had defeated Mark Lacson 7-2 and survived a double hill battle versus Tuan Chau. Bell drew Nilbert Lim, who, after defeat by his friend, Reymart, went on to defeat Greg Sabins, double hill and Jason Trigo 7-3. The two Lims advanced to the quarterfinals for their second match; Reymart eliminating Colvin 7-5 and Nilbert, with a 7-5 win over Bell.

 

Though their first match had been a double hill fight, their second proved to be a little easier for Reymart. He gave up only two racks to his friend and advanced to a semifinal re-match against Moore. Reymart gave up three to Moore and advanced to the finals against Carmona. A 9-6 win in those finals allowed Lim to chalk up his first (and presumably not his last) 2018 tour victory.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth, Aramith, Tiger, Predator, Viking, Ozone Billiards, Cue Sports International (CSI) and George Hammerbacher Instruction. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for February 10-11, will be the VA State 10-Ball Championships, hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.

 

The APT also announced some major changes for 2018. In recognition of the fact that in previous years, the ‘points race’ for the title of Tour Champion (and runner-up), in competition for free entry, hotel and airfare to a major event the following year, had, by mid-season, become irrelevant to most players, the APT announced the creation of a “$10,000 Top 64 Shootout” event. Players with an active one-year membership on the tour will be competing throughout the year to be among the top 64 players in tour rankings. At the end of the tour season (on a date to-be-determined), those 64 will be invited to the “Shootout,” which will feature a total prize fund of $10,000. Those who finish among the top 16 in that “Shootout” will be guaranteed $500, with the winner guaranteed $2,500.

“We are confident,” notes the tour’s Web site announcement of this event, “that this will keep the points race interesting for more players.”

 

The tour also announced that the VA State 10-Ball and VA State 8-Ball Championships will be restricted to the first 64 paid entries. The women’s events in both will be restricted to the first 16 paid entries. As noted in the 2017 Season Finale report, separate women’s events will not be held in 2018, although the APT has reinstituted the Top Female Bonus, which will grant the top-finishing female in each event a bonus cash award, based on the number of women in the field. This will range from $100 (with 3-5 women in the field) to $600 (with 18-20 women in the field).

 

For further information on the Action Pool Tour, including its plans to begin streaming its events on an APT YouTube Channel, on which all events will be stored for later viewing, visit the tour Web site at http://www.actionpooltour.com.

In his first-ever appearance on the Action Pool Tour (APT), Zoren James Aranas from the Philippines went undefeated through a strong field of 48 entrants, beginning what proved to be a six-match march to the winners' circle with an opening round shutout, and finishing with victories over the APT's top-ranked player, Shaun Wilkie in the hot seat match, and Reymart Lim in the finals. The Aug. 5-6 event, Stop # 8 on the APT, was hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.

 

In a concurrently-run Ladies event that drew 10 entrants, USA Atlantic Cup Challenge team member Sierra Reams avenged an opening round loss to Gwen Townsend to defeat her in the finals and capture the Ladies' title. Reams also competed in the Open event.

 

In the Open event, after shutting out Leo Taborn, Aranas defeated Chad Pike and Greg Sabins, both 9-2, to arrive at a winners' side semifinal with an aggregate score of 27-4. Aranas faced Bill Duggan. Wilkie, in the meantime, who'd played an extra preliminary round, had defeated Roy Taylor, Jim Bilderback, Nilbert Lim and Dwight Cherry to arrive at his winners' side semifinal with an aggregate score of 36-13, and faced Reymart Lim. Aranas sent Duggan to the loss side 9-4, and faced Wilkie, who'd sent Lim over 9-7. Aranas claimed the hot seat 9-6 over Wilkie and waited on what turned out to be Reymart Lim's return.

 

Lim moved over to pick up RJ Carmona, who'd been defeated by Duggan in a winners' side quarterfinal, and then, on the loss side, defeated Scott Haas 7-4 and  survived a double hill match against Eric Moore to reach him. Duggan, in the meantime, picked up Dwight Cherry, who'd  navigated his way through two straight double hill matches, against Dave Hunt and Brian Dietzenbach.

 

Carmona ended up on the wrong end of his second straight double hill fight, which advanced Lim to the quarterfinals against Duggan, who'd eliminated Cherry 7-4. Lim, picking up speed, downed Duggan in the quarterfinals 7-3, and then allowed Wilkie just a single rack in the semifinals. In a single race to 11, Aranas stopped Lim's run 11-7 to claim his first APT title.

 

In the Ladies event, Gwen Townsend's defeat of the eventual winner, Sierra Reams, 6-1 in the opening round, set her (Townsend) up for a winners' side semifinal against Barbara Yeager. Daisy Lim, who'd defeated Jackie Duggan 6-3 in her opening round, faced Soo Emmitt in the other winners' side semifinal.

 

Townsend shut Yeager out and in the hot seat match faced Lim, who'd defeated Emmitt 6-3. Townsend claimed the hot seat 6-4 over Lim, and waited on Reams.

 

On the loss side, Reams got by Melissa Mason and Jen Giampa, both 6-2 to draw Emmitt. Yeager drew Duggan, who'd picked up an opening round, loss-side bye and defeated Kitty Nguyen 6-2. Reams and Yeager advanced to the quarterfinals; Reams 6-1 over Emmitt, and Yeager 6-4 over Duggan. Reams survived a double hill quarterfinal against Yeager, and then, in the semifinals, defeated Daisy Lim 6-2.  Reams completed her run, avenging her opening round loss, with an 8-6 win over Townsend in the finals.

 

A 13-entrant, Second Chance Tournament saw Nilbert Lim go undefeated through the field, downing Kenny Daughtrey in the hot seat match 4-2 and Scott Haas in the finals 6-3.

 

Brandon Shuff and Chris Futrell faced each other three times in the Action Pool Tour stop on the weekend of June 9-10, and battled to double hill in all three matches. Shuff took two out of the three, including the second set of a true double elimination final to capture the event title. The event drew 58 entrants to Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.

The recipient of one of the six, first-round byes, Shuff gave up only four racks in his first two rounds of play, one against Daniel Choi and three versus Brian Deska, before running into Futrell the first time, among the final eight winners. Futrell gave up only five racks over three matches to get to that point, shutting out both Jackie Duggan and Anne Reynolds, before giving up the five in a match versus Dwight Cherry. In their first of three, Shuff advanced to the winners’ side final four to face Danny Mastermaker, while Futrell moved to the loss side and began a five-match winning streak back to the finals. In the other winners’ side semifinal, Chad Pike squared off against Rafael Reyes.

Shuff advanced to the hot seat match 8-6 over Mastermaker, and was joined by Reyes, who’d sent Pike west 8-2. Shuff sent Reyes to the semifinals 8-2, and waited in the hot seat for the return of Futrell.

Futrell moved to the loss side and immediately resumed his table domination, giving up only three racks in his first two matches, one against R.J Carmona and two versus Cary Dunn, which set him up to take on Pike. Mastermaker picked up Bill Duggan, who’d shut out Jesse Figueroa and battled Deska to double hill. Futrell and Mastermaker advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 6-2 victories over Pike and Duggan.

Futrell then chalked up two more 6-2 scores, over Mastermaker in the quarterfinals and Reyes in the semifinals, for a second shot at Shuff. In their second of two, it was Futrell prevailing in the opening set of a true double elimination final. In a reduced race to 6, Shuff came back to win the second set and secure the event title. In addition to Shuff’s $800, first-place prize, the victory gave him a free entry to October’s US Open 9-Ball Championships, valued at $500. The victory also kept him in the number one spot on the Action Pool Tour’s rankings.

In a concurrently-run Second Chance Tournament on Sunday, Tuan Chau went undefeated through a field of 16 entrants. Chau’s opening and closing matches were double hill battles, while in his three middle matches, he gave up only a single rack; to Nil Lim, in the hot seat match. Chau’s opponent in the finals, Paul Helms, had been sent west by Lim in the second round of play, and won five straight, including a 4-2 revenge match against Lim in the semifinals. Chau prevailed in the double hill finals to take the top, Second Chance prize.

Pool players will tell you that it’s often better to be lucky than good. In the wake of his recent victory on the Great Southern Billiard Tour, Mike Conway, Jr. might tell you that you’d better be both. Luck played a role in Conway’s semifinal victory, while ‘good’ took the stage in 10 straight loss-side matches and the second set of the double elimination finals against John Mitchelltree, that earned him the event victory. The $1,500-added amateur 9-ball tournament drew 60 entrants to QMaster Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA on the weekend of February 4-5.

Conway was working from the loss-side from the conclusion of his opening match; a 9-4 victory for Dwight Cherry, who would advance to the winners’ side final four, and then meet up with Conway again in his first loss-side match. Chris Futrell sent Cherry west 11-7, and in the battle for the hot seat, met up with Mitchelltree, who’d just sent Cheryl Pritchard to the loss side 9-5. Mitchelltree survived a double hill contest against Futrell and sat in the hot seat, waiting for Conway.

With five down and five to go on the loss-side, Conway defeated Tim Colvin 9-2, and Dave Bollman 9-4 to earn a re-match against Cherry. Pritchard drew Justin Squires, who’d eliminated John Hernandez 7-7 (Hernandez needing to reach 9), and Jimmy Byrd 7-4. In a straight-up race to 9, Conway wreaked his vengeance on Cherry 9-7 as Pritchard (a C player) survived a double hill battle against the B-rated Squires 6-6. Conway chalked up loss-side victory # 9 with a 9-7 win over Pritchard in the quarterfinals. 

“A stellar performance,” said co-tour director Marge Daulton of Pritchard’s fourth place finish; the highest for a woman in the five year history of the Great Southern Billiard Tour.  “She was down in a few and battled back, winning some key double hill matches.”

“We’re proud to see her accomplish this,” Daulton added. “She earned it.”

Conway, in the meantime, was on his way to the semifinals and his date with Lady Luck. His opponent, Futrell, needed to reach 11 games before he reached 9. Futrell was on the hill, at 10 games, when Conway (at seven games) shot at the 9-ball that would bring the match to double hill. Conway missed, and watched as the 9-ball kept traveling. . .one rail, two, three. . and then dropped into a hole. He even apologized, before settling in to take the final game and finish his 10-match streak on the loss-side.

With some ‘good’ and some ‘luck’ behind him, Conway added momentum to his repertoire and took the opening set of the straight-up race to 9, true double elimination finals handily 9-2. In the second set, he found himself down 4-0, and then after chalking up his first, gave up two more, giving Mitchelltree a 6-1lead. Conway called on some ‘good’ to catch up, winning eight of the next nine games to secure the event victory.

Tour directors Shannon and Marge Daulton thanked Barry Behrmann and his staff at QMaster Billiards for their hospitality on Super Bowl weekend, as well as sponsors Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Nick Varner Cues and Cases, Mike Davis Exterminating, Tiger Products and Delta-13 racks. The GSBT shifts to Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH on the weekend of February 18-19, for a $2,000-added 9-ball/8-ball tournament, with a 9-ball bank tournament, scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m.