JT Ringgold continues to solidify his position as the top winner on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. On the weekend of June 23-24, he added his 11th victory on the tour. His closest competitor in the category is James Blackburn, who, to date, has won five times on the tour. The $500-added weekend event drew 41 entrants to Speakeazy Billiards in Sanford, NC.

 

Ringgold came within a match of going undefeated. Barry Mashburn won five on the loss side for the right to meet him in the true double elimination finals and won the opening set. Ringgold took the second set to claim the title.

 

Mashburn was sent to the loss side in a winners’ side quarterfinal match against Jason Rogers, who advanced to meet David Brown in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Ringgold and Joshua Shultz squared off in the other one. Brown sent Rogers to the loss side 8-4, and in the hot seat match, faced Ringgold, who’d defeated Shultz 10-4. Ringgold claimed the hot seat 10-5 over Brown and waited on the return of Mashburn.

 

Mashburn opened his loss-side run by giving up only a single rack over his first two matches; one to Anthony Mabe and none at all versus Dylan Letchworth. This set Mashburn up to face Shultz. Rogers drew Stevie McClinton, who’d eliminated Don Lilly, 7-6 and Donnie Stewart 7-1 to reach him.

 

Mashburn jumped immediately into the quarterfinals, when Shultz forfeited (citing a prior commitment, Shultz had left on Saturday). Mashburn was joined in the quarterfinals by McClinton, who’d defeated Rogers 7-5.

 

Mashburn took the quarterfinal 9-4, and then, defeated Brown in the semifinals 9-5. Carrying the familiar ‘momentum sword,’ Mashburn took the opening set of the true double elimination final 9-4 (Ringgold racing to 10). Ringgold then demonstrated the skill and experience that had, to that point, earned him 10 Q City 9-Ball titles. He defeated Mashburn 10-5 in the second set to claim his 11th title.

 

Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Jim Bullis and his Speakeazy staff for their hospitality, 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 this weekend (June 30-July 1) will be a $200-added event, hosted by Pal’s Billiards in Piedmont, SC.

 

David Tickle and James Blackburn allowed the single match that they played against each other to stand as the result of a Q City 9-Ball Tour stop, on November 14. The two opted out of playing a final, leaving Tickle, in the hot seat, as the winner of the event that drew 38 entrants to the Gate City Billiard Club in Raleigh, NC.

 

Tickle had sent Dylan Letchworth to the loss side 8-2 in a winners' side semifinal, while Blackburn was busy sending 13-year-old Peter Abantangelo over 8-3. Tickle claimed the hot seat 8-4 over Blackburn.

 

On the loss side, Letchworth picked up George Crawford, who'd gotten by Colin Hall 8-3 and Bobby Clinton 8-1. Abantangelo drew Jay Calhoun (husband to Belinda Calhoun), who'd defeated Zach Leonard 6-5 and Josh Williams 6-2. Crawford and Calhoun handed Letchworth and Abatangelo their second straight loss. Letchworth forfeited his match, while Calhoun downed Abantangelo 6-3.

 

With Crawford racing to 8, Calhoun took the quarterfinal 6-5. Blackburn ended Calhoun's run 8-4 in the semifinals. At this juncture, Tickle and Blackburn opted out of the final match and split the top two prizes.

 

The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Saturday, November 21, will be hosted by Buck's Billiards in Raleigh, NC.

 

The Great Southern Billiard Tour settled in to Johnny Archer‘s Marietta Billiards Club, in Marietta, GA on the weekend of August 11-12. The $1,500-added stop on the tour drew 64 entrants to the club, through which Duke Laha worked to attain the event title, defeating Rod Rentz two out of three times; once in the battle for the hot seat, and again, in the second set of a true double elimination final.

The two winners’ side semifinals featured three A-rated players, and Toppy Athakhanh, a B player. Laha faced Athakhanh, as Rentz squared off against Tommy Najar. Laha moved into the hot seat match with a 9-2 victory over Athakhanh, and faced Rentz, who’d sent Najar west 9-3. In their first of three, Laha prevailed 9-3 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting rounds two and three versus Rentz.

Athakhanh moved over and picked up double-A Josh Roberts, who’d defeated Jeff Hooks 11-5 and Dylan Letchworth 11-1 to reach him. Najar drew Clay Fisher, who’d gotten by Mark Rochester in a double hill match and Mike Langley 7-2. Najar got back to winning with a shutout over Fisher, as Roberts was busy ending Athakhanh’s day with an 11-5 victory.

In the quarterfinals that followed, Najar defeated Roberts 9-6, and moved into a semifinal rematch versus Rentz. Najar managed a single rack more than he’d chalked up in their first meeting among the winners’ side final four, but Rentz prevailed a second time for his own re-match against Laha. In the opening set of the true double elimination final, a straight-up race to 9, the two battled to double hill, before Rentz forced a second set with the final rack win. Laha roared back in the second set, taking nine out of the 13 games, to secure the event title.

Tour directors Shannon and Marge Daulton thanked Archer and his staff at Marietta Billiards for their 20,000 square foot hospitality and Scorpion room, details of which can be found at www.mariettabilliardsclub.com. The Daultons also thanked sponsors Nick Varner Cues and Cases, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Tiger Products and Delat-13 racks.

In the hot seat match and finals of the Great Southern Billiard Tour stop on the weekend of June 9-10, Mike Slaughter, looking to chalk up his first win on the tour, found himself facing an opponent, Josh Roberts, who was looking for his fourth trip to the finals since April of 2011. Slaughter got by Roberts both times to finish the weekend undefeated. The $1,500-added, 9-ball event on bar tables at Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC, drew 51 entrants.

In a straight-up race to 7, among the winners’ side final four, Slaughter defeated Chase Gilbert 7-4. Roberts (AA), in the meantime, downed Larry Faulk (A) 11-5. In their first of two, with a four-game handicap, Slaughter sent Roberts to the semifinals 7-5 and waited for his return.

Faulk moved over to pick up Brian Capps, who’d defeated both Dylan Letchworth and Shawn Padgett, both 7-4, to reach him. Gilbert picked up Billy Thorpe, who was looking for his second straight win on the tour, having won the previous week in Havelock, NC. Thorpe had defeated Alex Olinger 9-7 and Josh Newman 9-3 to reach Gilbert. Both B players (Gilbert and Capps) defeated their A opponents (respectively; Thorpe and Faulk) 7-6. In the straight-up, race-to-7 quarterfinals, Gilbert prevailed 7-5.

Gilbert got within a game of forcing a double hill match in the semifinals, and facing Slaughter a second time, but Roberts prevailed 11-5, and got his second chance. He took the opening set 11-4, but Slaughter came back to win the second set 7-4 and secure the event title.

Tour directors Shannon and Marge Daulton thanked the ownership and staff of Shore Thing Billiards (to where the tour will return next month), as well as sponsors Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Nick Varner Cues and Cases, Mike Davis Exterminating, Tiger Products and Delta-13 racks.