Carlos Jinez, Jon Rawlins, Dan Bowman and Scott Emory
Dependent on how any number of other players will have their winning points slotted into the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s standings, Daniel Bowman’s victory this past weekend (Aug. 20-21) could elevate him from his previous spot at #84 to among the tour’s top 10 competitors. Bowman, the “long-time player, first-time winner,” (noted tour representatives), accomplished this by going undefeated at the $1,750-added event that drew 93 entrants to Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX.
The 554-Fargo-rated Bowman opened up with a win over the 678-rated Roman Bayda and followed up with wins over Don Bullard, Greg Hogue and TJ Thetford to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against the “17-year-old phenom, making a name for himself,” Carlos Jinez. Jonathan Rawlins in the meantime, survived a first-round double hill fight against Mike Ledford, advanced to meet and defeat Burke Garfias, shut out Jesus Sorto and got by Ray Hinton to meet up with Tina Malm in the other winners’ side semifinal. Malm, one of 10 tour-record number of women who competed, had downed the tour’s #1-ranked competitor, Daniel Herring in a third-round, double-hill battle and would finish as the ‘last woman standing,” adding $200 to her cash prize.
Bowman downed the youngster Jinez 6-2. He was joined in the hot seat by Rawlins, who’d sent Malm to the loss side 7-2. Bowman claimed the hot seat with a bit of a flourish, shutting Rawlins out and waiting on Scott Emory, who’d been sent to the loss side by Malm in the fourth round and was working his way back to the finals.
Four matches into his seven-match, loss-side winning streak that had included recent wins over Donald Weathersby 4-5 (Weathersby racing to 9) and Steve Smith, double hill (4-9; Smith racing to 10), Emory picked up a re-match against Tina Malm. Jinez, in the meantime, drew Ruben Adame, who was working on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had recently included the elimination of Max Sun 6-3 and Monica Anderson, who put up a double hill fight that would leave her in the tie for 7th place and second-highest finishing lady in the event.
Jinez ended Adame’s loss-side streak 6-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced Emory, who’d restricted Malm’s loss-side effort to a single match, but not before Malm had battled to double hill and forced a deciding game. Emory then stopped Jinez 5-1 in the quarterfinal match.
Emory completed his loss-side trip with a 5-1, semifinal victory over Rawlins, who was racing to 9. Emory battled Bowman to within a game of double hill in the first set of a true double elimination final, but Bowman edged out in front at the end and won the only set he needed 6-3 to claim his first Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Snookered for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and Fort Worth Billiard Superstore. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 17-18, will be hosted by Jeffro’s Billiards in Canton, TX.
Previously on the Cuetec DFW 9 Ball Tour: In securing the top spot on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s rankings, Donald Weathersby went undefeated on the tour’s season opener in January, thwarting an 11-match, loss-side run by Tony Top in the finals. Daniel Herring, who’d sent Top on his loss-side run in the second round, joined him after falling to Weathersby in a winners’ side semifinal and then, running into Top a second time on the loss side, had his loss-side run stopped before it even got started to finish in the tie for 5th place. On the tour’s second stop last month, Tony Top became the designated, randomly bracket-chosen competitor to derail the efforts of one Aloysius Yapp (runner-up in the 2021 US Open 9-Ball Championships) which he did, twice, downing him in a winners’ side semifinal and later, the semifinals. Herring, however, downed Top twice (hot seat and finals) to claim his first 2022 Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour title. Top’s two runner-up finishes kept him atop the early-going of the tour rankings, ahead of Herring by 40, Weathersby (who did not compete in Stop #2) by 120, Clint Palaci by 165 and Yapp (who did not compete in the season opener) by 195 points.
After a short commercial break for Cuetec cues and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, our story shifts to this past weekend (March 19-20), where last month’s top three finishers were once again prepared to do battle on Stop #3. Thanks, in part, to some handicap-matchup assistance provided to his opponents, Yapp only played twice, losing his opening match (to Paul Sifuentes, who would go on to finish 4th) and then, double hill, his first match on the loss side, to Doug Winnett. Palaci played six times, losing his third winners’ side match before being ousted by Miguel Hernandez in his third, loss-side matchup. With Weathersby, once again, absent from competition, Herring and Top were in position to battle for the top spot in the tournament and the tour rankings at the $1,750-added event that drew 79 entrants to Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX.
Odds-makers, looking for a final matchup between Herring and Top, were disappointed early (as they no doubt were with the US Open 9-Ball runner-up finishing 25th). Top lost his opening match to Neil Saidawi 6-5 (Top racing to 8) and five on the loss side (including a forfeit) before finishing in the tie for 13th place. Herring, on the other hand, went on an undefeated, seven-match run to claim the title and, for now, the top spot in the tour’s rankings.
Herring got by Matt Dickson, Robbie Cleland, Brandon Clark (double hill) and Matt Devance (shutout) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Joel Nabia. In the meantime, Don Baker, who, prior to this past weekend, had only recorded one previous payout to the AZBilliards’ database, five years ago (9th at a stop on the Omega Tour), went on a six-match tear to the hot seat match, getting by Eric Hammond, Chance Willis, Joshua Paredes, Pedro Mungia and in a winners’ side quarterfinal, Sharik Sayed. With Sayed racing to 10, Baker downed him 4-7 (Sayed racing to 10) and advanced to his winners’ side semifinal against Paul Sifuentes.
Baker got into his first (known) hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Sifuentes and was joined by Herring, who’d defeated Nabia 8-4. Baker got three of the five he needed to claim his first hot seat, but Herring got all nine he needed first to claim it.
On the loss side, Nabia ran into Sayed, who’d followed his loss to Baker with victories over Samuel Escalona 10-3 (Escalona had previously eliminated Top), and Jesus Sorto 9-5. Sifuentes picked up Matt Devance, who’d moved on from his loss to Herring to eliminate Doug Winnett, double hill, and Nando Benavides 8-3.
Sifuentes advanced to the quarterfinals 6-4 over Devance. With Nabia racing to 5, Sayed narrowly defeated him 9-4.
Apparently, impatient with all of this. . . back and forth, Sayed went on a rampage to the finals. He shut out both Sifuentes in the quarterfinals and Baker in their semifinal rematch. Herring didn’t get the ‘rampage’ memo and downed Sayed 6-3 in the finals to claim his second straight Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour title in a row and the top spot in the tour rankings.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Snookered Billiards, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. Next time on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour: A $1,750-added event, scheduled for April 23-24, to be hosted by Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Chip Compton, Jesus Sorto, Jeremy Jones and Blake Kamiab
Jeremy “Double J” Jones enjoyed winning his first Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour event so much last month, that he decided he’d go for a second straight, back-to-back title this past weekend, August 21-22. And to the surprise of pretty much no one, he nailed it. Apparently, not having enjoyed last month’s three-match visit to the loss side of the bracket, though, he opted for the ‘undefeated’ route this time, downing Chip Compton twice to complete the run and claim the title. The $1,500-added event (Stop # 8) drew 90 entrants to Snookered in Frisco, TX.
As it played out, Jones and Compton both made their way to the hot seat at a blistering pace. By the time they arrived at their separate spots in the winners’ side semifinals, they had (together) played a total of 105 games in nine matches. Combined, they had only given up 15 racks. Jones, who was awarded an opening round bye, gave up six versus four opponents, for an 87% game-winning average, while Compton gave up nine to five opponents (85%). By contrast, over the next three matches (50 games), Jones gave up 20 racks (60%), while Compton, in four matches (59 games) gave up 27 racks (54%).
Jones got by Jimmy Lejeune, Joshua McCauley, Jesus Sorto (who’d finish in 3rd place) and Joshua Perez to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Jeff Franklin. Compton got by Kenny Rowell, Quy Dao, Jordan Gartenberg, Andrew Gonzales and Donnie Gregory to meet up with his winners’ side semifinal opponent, Blake Kamiab.
They advanced to the hot seat; Jones 10-6 over Franklin, Compton 10-3 over Kamiab. “Double J” grabbed the hot seat 10-8.
On the loss side, Jesus Sorto, after being defeated by Jones, had begun work on a six-match, loss-side streak that would take him all the way into the semifinals versus Compton. He survived two back-to-back double hill matches against Kenny Rowell and Chase LaFerney and eliminated Crispian Ng to draw Franklin, coming over from his winners’ side semifinal defeat at the hands of Jones.
Kamiab drew Daniel Herring, who was also working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. He’d chalked up a double hill win over Juan Parra, eliminated TJ Davis and most recently, had victories over Chris Reinhold and Sky Massingill, both 8-2.
Sorto moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-6 victory over Franklin (Franklin racing to 8). Herring and Kamiab battled to double hill, before Kamiab dropped the final 9-ball to join Sorto in the quarterfinals.
In a straight-up race to 7, Sorto downed Kamiab in those quarterfinals 7-3. Compton, though, put an end to Sorto’s loss-side winning streak with a 10-4 victory in the semifinals.
In turn, “Double J” put an end to Compton’s single-match, loss-side winning streak. Though Compton would end up with more racks against Jones in two matches than all five of Jones’ previous opponents, combined (14-12), Jones claimed his second Cuetec DFW 9-Ball title 10-4.
Tour representatives thanked Craig and Janna Lucas and their Snookered Billiards staff as well as title sponsor Cuetec and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Sept. 18-19, will be hosted by Jeffro’s Billiards in Canton, TX.
(l to r): Juan Parra, Greg Sandifer & Jeff Georges (Photo by Jesse Garcia, Bound by Imagination)
Juan Parra tried for a win on the 2019 DFW 9-Ball Tour three times; in May, June and October. His best effort was his first when he finished 3rd. His worst was the last in which he finished in the tie for 13th. At the tour’s season finale, on the weekend of November 16-17, he broke through to record a victory for the first time since he won a stop on the DFW 9-Ball predecessor, the Omega Tour in 2017. Parra had to get by the #2 player on the standings list going into the final event, Greg Sandifer, twice. The $3,000-added event, open only to tour members who’d competed in at least four of the tour’s 11 events in 2019, drew 56 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Parra and Sandifer wove their separate ways through the field to arrive at their first meeting, battling for the hot seat. Parra got an opening round bye before defeating Dario Gomez, Donnie Gregory and Curtis Caldwell to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Jesus Sorto. Sandifer’s path went through Gert Ehing, Chris Woody Smith, Jud Hunter and Jeff Georges to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup against Amos Bush.
Sandifer gave up only a single rack to Bush in an 8-1 victory that put him into the hot seat match. Parra joined him following his 7-5 win over Sorto. In their first of three, Sandifer claimed the hot seat 8-4.
On the loss side, Sorto picked up Jeff Georges, who, following his defeat at the hands of Sandifer in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had defeated Friday Abismo 7-5 and the #1 competitor in the tour standings, Tim Larson, double hill (7-8). Bush drew Jesse Hernandez, who’d lost his second match, double hill to Sorto, and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. Sorto and Hernandez would each fall one match short of a rematch.
In a straight-up race to 7, Georges downed Sorto 7-4. Bush and Hernandez battled to double hill before Bush prevailed to join Georges in the quarterfinals. Bush then won his second straight double hill battle in those quarterfinals.
Both combatants in the semifinals were looking for a rematch in the finals against Sandifer. If the score proved to be any measure of the desire, Parra apparently wanted it more and won handily 7-1.
With Sandifer racing to 8, Parra took the opening set 7-6. He did Sandifer one better in the second set, winning it 7-5 to claim the season finale title.
A Second Chance event drew seven entrants and was won Alberto Nieto Garcia. Billy Guy was runner-up and Rachelle Dytko was third.
In ceremonies following the event, Tim Larson, who’d competed in each of the tour’s 11 events, won two of them and finished as runner-up in a third, was acknowledged as the 2019 Tour Champion. Highway Sigadi won the tour’s 2019 Best Sportsmanship award.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards for their hospitality as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Super Store, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball, FargoRate, BCA Pool League, JB Custom Cue Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI and Internet Marketing Solutions. The 2020 DFW 9-Ball Tour season will begin where the 2019 season ended, at Rusty's Billiards in Arlington, TX on the weekend of January 18-19, 2020.
(l to r): Gerardo Perez, Daniel Herring & Kevin Guimond (photo:Jesse Garcia, Bound by Imagination)
While the top point leaders in the Predator DFW 9-Ball Tour’s standings list (#1 through #5) were languishing on the loss side of the Oct. 19-20 bracket of the tour’s 10th stop – only two of them finished in the money (#1 Tim Larson, tied for 7th and #5 Jay Ryda, tied for 17th) – #42 (Gerardo Perez) and #63 (Daniel Herring) advanced through the 88-entrant field and battled twice to claim the event title. Perez was the undefeated winner of the $1,500-added event, hosted by the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
All but one of the top five on the standings list – #4 Amos Bush – had competed in all nine of the tour’s events, and Bush had only missed one. It was Gerardo Perez’ sixth appearance on the 2019 tour and his best finish had been in a tie for 9th place last month. Herring had competed in only three of the tour’s stops, with a best finish of a tie for 13th place in August (He’d won a stop on the tour just over a year ago). They both battled players higher in the points list during their trek to the finals, but neither of them faced any one of the top five, though as it turned out, it was not for lack of trying. Greg Sandifer (#2) was on the loss side at the end of the opening round. Larson, Davis, Bush and Ryda all moved over after the third round.
Herring and Gregory battled to double hill before Herring prevailed and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Perez, who’d defeated Emerson 7-4 (Emerson racing to 8). With Herring racing to 8, as well, Perez claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on Herring’s return.
Over on the loss side, Sandifer and Bush had been knocked out before the first money round (33rd-48th). TJ Davis made it to that first money round (17th-24th), but went home with just the $160. Tim Larson, who’d been sent to the loss side by Emerson, was in the midst of a very brief winning streak that had started in the first money round and after three wins, including a 9-1 victory over Chris Rickman, had ended with a defeat at the hands of Jersey Jack Lynch, who advanced to pick up Emerson. Gregory drew Kevin Guimond, who, after losing to Larson in the third round, was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d recently eliminated Crispian Ng 9-6 and Walter Heunerfuerst 9-5 to draw Gregory.
Emerson downed Lynch 8-1. Guimond joined him in the quarterfinals after a 9-3 win over Gregory. In the semifinals, with Guimond racing to 9, he and Herring battled to a double hill standstill before Herring ended it for a second shot against Perez in the hot seat.
With Herring racing to 8, he and Perez fought to 6-7, double hill, before Perez ended it to claim his first event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at the Billiard Den, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues and main event sponsors Ft. Worth Billiards Superstore, JB Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball League, BCAPL, RackEm TV (streaming sponsor), FargoRate, and IMS (Internet Marketing Solutions). The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 16-17, will be the tour’s Season Finale at Rusty’s in Arlington, TX.
It seemed as though a majority of the nation’s pool players were competing in Texas over the September 7-8 weekend. Half of that hypothetical majority (93) was competing at the Houston Open in League City, while the other half (96) was apparently at Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX for the $1,500-added, 9th stop on the Dallas-Ft. Worth 9-Ball Tour. In both events, the eventual winner went undefeated, while the runner-up battled back from an early loss to challenge the hot seat occupant. In the Houston Open, it was Dennis Orcollo stopping an 11-match, loss-side winning streak by Roberto Gomez (separate story). In the DFW Tour stop, it was Tim Larson stopping the 10-match, loss-side winning streak of Jeremy Jones.
Larson’s victory, his second on the 2019 tour, added to what has already been his best earnings year to date and cemented his position at the top of the DFW Tour’s standings, ahead of Greg Sandifer and TJ Davis. Jones, whose best earnings year to date in a career dating back 21 years, was in 2003, was looking for his first win on the 2019 DFW Tour, having won the 2018 season final of the tour. Earlier this year, he’d won the Derby City Classic’s One Pocket Mini event, had three other cash finishes at Derby City and a 65th finish at the US Open 9-Ball Championships.
They almost met in the event’s third round. Larson opened with a 9-1 victory over Monica Anderson, as Jones was enjoying the benefits of an opening round bye. Larson then defeated Jim Smith 9-4 and advanced to face Juan Parra, who had just sent Jones to the loss side 7-5. Larson went on to defeat Parra, Jim Talmon and Jud Hunter to face TJ Davis in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Denny Sneed, in the meantime, squared off against Jesus Sorto in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Larson defeated Davis 9-6 and was joined in the hot seat match by Sneed, who’d sent Sorto to the loss side 8-3. Larson claimed the hot seat and waited (no doubt with some concerns) for Jones to complete his 10-match, loss-side winning streak.
On the loss side, Jones won his first four matches by an aggregate score of 40-6. Things tightened up a bit in his next three, which led him to pick up Davis, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. He defeated Jeff Georges, Amos Bush and Greg Sandifer by an aggregate score of 30-17 (5, 5, and 7, respectively) to face Davis. Sorto drew Chris Gaither, who was working on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had recently included victories over Jud Hunter 7-5 and Mohammed Alrawi 7-2.
Sorto ended Gaither’s streak 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Jones, who’d eliminated Davis 10-5. Jones, returning (for the moment) to earlier loss-side form, gave up only a single rack to Sorto in that quarterfinal match (10-1).
Jones didn’t give up many more than that to Sneed in the semifinals. Jones won it 10-3 for a shot at Larson in the hot seat.
Larson started the opening set of true double elimination finals with ‘one bead on the wire’ in a race to 10. He completed his undefeated run with a 9-6 victory over Jones to claim his second 2019 DFW 9-Ball Tour title.
A Second Chance event that drew nine entrants was won by Dakota McBride, with Cameron Cummings as the runner-up. The best female finisher in the event was 16-year-old Aryana Lynch, the BCAPL’s 2018 Women’s 9-Ball Singles Champion and 2019 Women’s 8-Ball Singles Champion, who finished in the tie for 13th amidst the field of 96. Along the way, as a skill level 6, she defeated skill level 7 players Juan Parra, Corey Flud and Rodney Williams.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Snookered Billiards, as well as tour title sponsor Predator Cues and main event sponsors Ft. Worth Billiards Superstore, JB Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball League, BCAPL, RackEm TV (streaming sponsor), FargoRate, and IMS (Internet Marketing Solutions). The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of October 19-20, will be hosted by the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
After eight stops on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, Tim Larson has retained his top spot in the tour standings. On the weekend of August 3-4, however, the owner of the #3-spot in those tour standings, Greg Sandifer, went undefeated, downing Larson twice (hot seat and finals) to claim the event title and edged up a single spot to take over the #2 spot in the standings. TJ Davis, who owned that #2 spot prior to this past weekend’s event, finished in the tie for 7th/8th, which earned him enough points to slip only a single spot into third place. The $1,500-added event drew 77 entrants to CK Billiards in Dallas, TX.
Sandifer’s seven-match path to the winners’ circle saw him give up more than three racks to an opponent only three times. After an opening round bye, he advanced through Casey Dawson 8-2, Mohammed Alrawi 8-3, Ricki Casper 8-2, and Amos Bush 8-5 to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against JP Kinman. Larson, in the meantime, though after a bye, he’d open with a 9-2 win over Darrell Smith, found himself facing stiffer opposition. He got by Robin Barbour 9-6, Randy Staggs 9-1 and Jesus Sorto 9-6 to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Robert Clark.
Sandifer and Larson advanced to the hot seat in matches that reflected their earlier efforts. Sandifer downed Kinman 8-2, as Larson held off Clark 9-6. Sandifer, who’d had only one opponent reach as far as five racks against him until he played in the hot seat match, gave up six to Larson, but he claimed the hot seat 8-6 and waited on Larson’s return.
On the loss side, Kinman picked up the always-dangerous Jeremy Jones, who’d been defeated in a double hill, winners’ side quarterfinal match by Robert Clark and then downed Andrew Talton 10-2 and TJ Davis 10-5 to face Kinman. Clark, in the meantime, drew Doug Winnett, who was in the midst of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that included recent victories over Jeffrey Wadsworth 7-1 and Amos Bush 7-2.
Winnett spoiled any potential rematch between Clark and Jones by defeating Clark 7-5. Jones, in the meantime, eliminated Kinman 10-5. Jones then put an end to Winnett’s loss-side winning streak, double hill, in the quarterfinals; 10-6, Winnett racing to 7.
As of this past weekend, 260 players had figured in the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s eight events so far, some of them, multiple times and many of them, all eight times. It was Jones’ first recorded appearance on the 2019 tour and as he moved into the semifinals, he was looking at the possibility of moving into the top 20 of the tour’s standings (if he ended up claiming the event title), among the top 27 or so if he finished as the runner-up and among the top 37 or so if he finished in third place.
He and the tour’s #1 player in the standings, Larson, battled to a predictable double hill point, before Larson (who started with ‘one on the wire’ in a race to 10) dropped the last 9-ball in the match’s 17th rack to earn himself a second shot at Sandifer in the hot seat. Larson, who’d finished as runner-up in the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s stop in June, repeated as runner-up in this one. Sandifer shaved a rack off of Larson’s performance against him in the hot seat match, downing him 8-5 to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at CK’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball, FargoRate, BCA Pool League, Internet Marketing Solutions (IMS), CSI, Accu-Rack and JB Custom Cue Cases. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Sept. 7-8, will be hosted by Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX.
