He had to win two double hill matches out of his final three, but Taz Holliday did just that on the weekend of October 28-29 to complete an undefeated run and win the 2017 Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Bar Box Tour Championship. The $1,000-added, invitational event drew 77 entrants, representing seven states (FL, GA, NC, SC, VA, TN, and WV) to Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC.

 

Holliday’s first double hill fight of his final three matches came in a winners’ side semifinal against the higher-handicapped Bobby McGrath. With McGrath racing to 11, Holliday got into the hot seat match with a 6-10 win over him. Jason Potts, playing in the other winners’ side semifinal, defeated Brent Hensley 7-4. With Potts racing to 7, Holliday claimed the hot seat 6-5 and waited for Potts to come back from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, McGrath picked up Michael Chapman, who’d defeated Justin Duncan 7-5 and Scott Roberts 7-3 to reach him. Hensley drew Jerry Ray Harris, who’d eliminated Bo Blakely 6-2 and survived a double hill fight versus Chris Gentile (6-8, Gentile racing to 9). Chapman and Harris handed McGrath and Hensley their second straight loss; Chapman 7-9 over McGrath (racing to 11) and Harris 6-2 over Hensley.

 

Chapman dropped Harris off in the quarterfinals 7-2, but had his modest loss-side streak ended by Potts in the semifinals 7-5. Holliday completed his undefeated run with a re-match double hill win over Potts in the finals.

 

Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time 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 will be the $1,000-added, 3rd Annual North Carolina State 8-Ball Championships. Scheduled for November 4-5, this annual event has been won by Mike Davis over the past two years, and will be hosted by Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC.

 

Given the theory, supported by anecdotal evidence, that competing against stronger opponents improves one's own pool game, the allure of handicapped tournaments is easy to understand. Handicaps in such situations are designed to give lower-ranked players something of a fighting chance against seasoned (higher handicapped) veterans.

 

On the weekend of June 17-18, at a stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, Michael Chapman, looking for his first major tournament win, made it to the hot seat. In the finals, he faced Open/Pro player Jonathan Pinegar, aka Hennessee from Tennessee, who'd lost his opening match and won eight on the loss side to reach those finals. With Pinegar racing to 12 and Chapman racing to 6, Pinegar took the opening set in the true double elimination final. Chapman, though, obviously improving on the spot, as it were, came back to win the second set and claim his first major title.  The event drew 27 entrants to a new venue on the tour, Billiards and Brews in Knoxville, TN.

 

In the event's opening round, Pinegar faced Ricky Bingham, who was racing to 8. Bingham won that match 8-9, and eventually advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Jerry Ray Harris. Chapman, in the meantime, squared off against Bryan Walters in the other winners' side semifinal. Harris downed Bingham 5-4, as Chapman was sending Walters to the loss side 6-4. Chapman claimed the hot seat by that same score, and waited for Pinegar to complete his loss-side run.

 

It was Walters who drew Pinegar, halfway through his eight-match, loss-side winning streak, which included, most recently, a double hill win over Brett Kleinhaus (12-8), and a 12-3 win over Joel Bradshaw. Bingham drew Steve Ellis, who'd downed Angela Gann 6-2 and Rick Rogers 6-4. Pinegar advanced to the quarterfinals 12-3 over Walters, as Ellis spoiled the opportunity for a Pinegar/Bingham re-match with a 6-3 win over Bingham.

 

Pinegar gave up only a single rack to Ellis in those quarterfinals, and then spoiled Harris' hopes for a re-match against Chapman, with a 12-2 win in the semifinals. Chapman put up a double hill fight against Pinegar in the opening set of the true double elimination final, but Pinegar prevailed 12-5 to force a second set. Chapman downed Pinegar in the second set 6-8, completing his undefeated run to claim his first major title.

 

Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Billiards and Brews, 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 June 24-25, will be the 1st Annual South Carolina State 9-Ball Barbox Championships, to be hosted by Cue Time Billiards in Spartanburg, SC.