The Virginia-based Tiger Pool Tour held another one of its three-tier events last weekend (April 20-21); a Division 1 tournament for FargoRates between 526 and 650 that drew 22 entrants, a Division 2 tournament for FargoRates of 525 and under, which drew 33 and a Women’s Division event, also for 525 and under Fargo Rates, which drew 12. The three-fer was hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
There were eight competitors in the ‘600’ range in the Division 1 tournament and 14 in the ‘526 and above’ range. Scott Guschel (575), who entered the Division 1 event as the highest ‘500,’ went undefeated to claim the title, downing Samuel Holloway (573), twice; hot seat and finals.
In the Division 2 event, the top three at the end were either right at, or just below the FargoRate maximum of 525. There were eight in the ‘500’ range, 16 in the ‘400’ range and nine in the combined ‘200/300’ range. Joshua Abella (525) went undefeated, facing and defeating Kenny Marple (525) in the hot seat and Chris Sutherland (522) in the finals.
Courtney Hairfield (512), who came from the loss side in the Women’s Division to defeat Paige Frost (416) in the finals, was the only woman whose FargoRate exceeded ‘500.’ There were eight competitors in the ‘400’ range, a single ‘217’ and two in the ‘100’ range.
Guschel, in the Division 1 event, sandwiched two pieces of ‘double-hill’ bread, with three pieces of racks-against ‘meat’ that declined from his opening match through to his hot seat win. Andrew Park gave him the double-hill, opening-round run for his money, before Moe Mozzaner chalked up five against him and in a winners’ side semifinal, Kenneth Mydland managed four.
Samuel Holloway, bound for the hot seat match, had two 6-5 wins (first and third in match order), but each of those opponents were racing to higher numbers. Reno Villanueva in the opening round was racing to eight. Holloway then gave up three to Jerry Jenkins before chalking up his second 6-5 win over Jimmy Bird, who was racing to 7.That put him into a winners’ side semifinal against Mike Harvey whom he defeated to meet Guschel in the hot seat match. Guschel won it 7-3.
On the loss side Mydland and Harvey downed their first opponents, Robert James Carter and Michael Bumpass, respectively, 7-5 and 7-3, to face each other in the quarterfinals. Mydland took that match 7-3, but fell to Holloway in the semifinal 7-5.
It was getting late when Guschel and Holloway got set to square off in the finals and to accommodate, they reduced the race from 8 to 7. They battled to double hill before Guschel prevailed to claim the title.
Joshua Abella and Chris Sutherland
The two ‘525’s in the Division 2 tournament, winner Joshua Abella and 3rd place finisher Kenny Marple, came at each other from opposite ends of the bracket to square off in the hot seat match. Chris Sutherland (522) got sent to the loss side in the third round of play (by Baker Hedhli 6-0) and won five straight to take a shot at Abella in the finals.
Abella got by Cody Rosetti (4), Jaiden Jenkins (3), Christopher Hott (3) and in a winners’ side semifinal, Baker Hedhli (4). To join Abella in the hot seat match, Marple got by Bobby Campbell (4), Thearon Garth (3), Vaughan Wardsworth (0) and in his winners’ side semifinal, Eddie Gayden (1). Abella claimed the hot seat with a shutout over Marple and waited for Sutherland to complete his loss-side campaign.
That campaign was going well. Sutherland had downed Devin Davis (3), Christopher Hott (4), and Eddie Gayden (3) before eliminating Reagan Wallace in the quarterfinals 7-3 and in the semifinals, Marple 6-4.
Momentum for Sutherland certainly played a part in the double-hill final, but it wasn’t enough. Abella hung on to win it and claim the Division 2 title.
Hairfield comes from the loss side, shuts out hot seat occupant Paige Frost to win Women’s title
Courtney Hairfield and Paige Frost
In her first year as a cash-winning player in our AZBilliards database, Courtney Hairfield has won three of the four events in which she has competed and was runner-up in the fourth. It’s her best recorded earnings year because so far, it’s her only recorded earnings year and she’s just getting started.
Her latest win came just this past weekend (April 20-21) at the triple-tiered stop of the Tiger Pool Tour in which she competed in the short Women’s division field of 12 (that’s not a division for short women). As she had done at Stop #2 on the tour, she came from the loss side to claim this latest title, although this past weekend, she spent a little more time on that side of the bracket.
After defeating Merideth Graves and Kaley Sullivan by a combined score of 10-1, Hairfield ran into Reagan Wallace, another up and coming junior female competitor, who has joined the ranks of cash-winning players in our AZBilliards database this year. Wallace, who finished 4th in the Division 2 event, sent Hairfield to the loss side 5-3 in one of the winners’ side semifinals and advanced to the hot seat match. Meanwhile, Paige Frost survived a double-hill challenge from Jadyn Bird in the opening round of play, moved on to defeat Krista Ellis (2) and in the other winners’ side semifinal, Lisa Watson 5-3. Frost claimed the hot seat over Wallace 5-3.
Hairfield showed up on the loss side and defeated Ellis 8-1, as Watson was busy eliminating Kaley Sullivan 5-3. Hairfield took the next two matches by a score of 6-2; over Sullivan in the quarterfinals and Wallace in the semifinals. As had happened with Sutherland in the Division 2 tournament, Hairfield picked up a little momentum with her loss-side work, although with Hairfield, it actually helped her in the final. She shut out Paige Frost to claim the Women’s title.
Tour directors Tiger Baker and Kris Wylie thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, along with title sponsor Tiger Products. The Tiger Pool Tour will return to Q Master Billiards for a stop, scheduled for May 18 in Virginia Beach.
In what will be his last year as a junior competitor, Brent Worth, already 18, is making as much of that final year as he can. He’s competed in six of the seven 18U Boys (best finish, 5th) and ProAm (best finish, 4th) divisions of the Junior International Championships thus far, finished 5th in the Dynaspheres Cup Junior 9-Ball Open in March and just this past weekend, Saturday, Sept. 10, won eight on the loss side and double-dipped hot seat occupant, Stevie McClinton, to win his first regional tour event on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. The $500-added event drew 44 entrants to The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
Worth moved to the loss side in the second round of play, losing 5-3 to Greg Vaughan, whose son, Grayson, competed as well and did better than his father did. In the meantime, McClinton and DJ Brads advanced to their respective winners’ side semifinals; McClinton versus Scott Roberts and Brads against Cameron Lawhorne.
McClinton downed Roberts 7-6 (Roberts racing to 8) and was joined in the hot seat match by Brads, who sent Lawhorne to the loss side 6-3. McClinton claimed the hot seat over Brads 7-2.
On the loss side, playing in the first money round of the tournament, it was Lawhorne who picked up Worth, five matches into his loss-side winning streak, having recently eliminated Thomas Sansone 6-1 and Robert Cuneo, double hill. Roberts drew Collin Hall, who’d recently defeated Jimmy Bird, double hill and Grayson Vaughan by shutout.
Worth, picking up some speed at this point, gave up only a single rack to Lawhorne and advanced to the quarterfinals against Roberts, who eliminated Hall 8-4. Worth and Roberts battled to double hill before Worth advanced to the semifinals against Brads.
By this time, it was fairly clear to tour representatives and spectators alike that Worth could arguably have been rated as a ‘7’ instead of the ‘6’ at which he played the entire tournament. According to tour director Herman Parker, Worth will play as a ‘7’ the next time he competes on the tour.
In a straight-up race to 6 in the semifinals, Worth defeated Brads 6-3, advancing to a double-elimination final in which he’d be awarded a single “bead on the wire” in both races to 7 (if needed) against McClinton. Worth didn’t ‘need the bead’ in either set.
He won the opening set 6-3 and came back to do one better (6-2) in the second set, claiming his first event title in his first appearance on the tour.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at the Clubhouse for their hospitality, along with title sponsor Viking Cues, Breaktime Billiards (Winston-Salem, NC), BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Ridge Back Rails, and Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this coming weekend, Sept. 17-18, will be a $250-added event, hosted by West End Billiards in Gastonia, NC.
The last two times that Mike Clevinger competed on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour (June and earlier this month), he went home a winner. He came to this past weekend’s stop on the tour in search of his third straight win, only to have those hopes dashed by one Cole Lewis, who came looking for and found his first win on the tour. The event was the 2nd Annual Brian James Memorial, held at Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN, which drew 70 entrants.
They met first in a winners’ side semifinal, as Jimmy Bird and Dalton Messer met up in the other one. Lewis took the first of their eventual three 7-3 and in the hot seat, faced Bird, who’d sent Messer to the loss side 7-2. Lewis claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Bird.
On the loss side, Clevinger drew Eric Roberts, who’d defeated Kyle Bailey 9-3 and Doug Schulz 9-4 to reach him. Chris Cowan had most recently gotten by junior player Garytt Elder (14) 5-1 and Ron Frank 5-6 (Frank racing to 8) to pick up Dalton Messer.
Clevinger and Messer downed Cowan and Roberts; Clevinger, 7-6 over Roberts (racing to 9) and Messer, 6-2 over Cowan. Clevinger put the hammer down in the subsequent quarterfinals, allowing Messer only a single rack. Jimmy Bird gave Clevinger a battle in the semifinals that followed. They fought to double hill, before Clevinger prevailed for a second and to win, necessary third shot at Lewis, waiting for him in the hot seat.
In a match that wouldn’t conclude until the early hours of Monday morning, Clevinger took advantage of some momentum to win the opening set 7-4. In the second set, they battled to double hill, before Lewis prevailed to claim his first title on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor title Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Diamond Brat, Federal Savings Bank’s Mortgage Division and AZBilliards. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, July 31-Aug. 1, will be hosted by Still Cluckin’ in Providence, NC.
Raffled cues, online funding, organized by Christy Norris, raises $4,600 for Mabe family
Anthony Mabe, 28, a regular on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, died in a car accident on Saturday, May 29. Long-time friend and tour director Herman Parker began immediate arrangements for a benefit tournament, re-purposing an already-scheduled tour stop for this past weekend (June 5-6) at Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC. Mabe had begun appearing on the payout lists for the tour in 2015 and over the past six years, had cashed in 18 of the tour’s stops, including a default win (as occupant of the hot seat) that he shared with Graham Swinson and Corey Sykes in 2019 (his best earnings year). In his most recent effort, he finished in the tie for 5th place on the last weekend in February at Gate City Billiards Club.
With raffled cues and an online funding campaign, organized by Christy Norris, the Anthony Mabe benefit was able to raise $4,600 to help the Mabe family with the cost for services, which included a graveside service before the tournament began on Friday, June 4 at the West End Cemetery in West End, NC. The tournament drew 90 entrants to Gate City Billiards Club and was won by Zac Leonard, who, as occupant of the hot seat, split the top two prizes with Jimmy Bird.
In effect, Leonard and Bird settled the issue in the battle for the hot seat. They both defeated their winners’ side semifinal opponents 7-1; Leonard, over Brandon Butts and Bird, over Jesse Cortner. Leonard claimed the hot seat 7-2 in what proved to be his final match.
On the loss side, Butts and Cortner ran immediately into their second loss. Josh Shulz had defeated Reid Vance 7-1 and Jamie Bruce, double hill, before eliminating Cortner 7-2. Donnie Stewart had defeated Mike McPherson 6-3 and Robert Ash 6-2, before he shut out Butts.
Shultz then eliminated Stewart 7-2 in the quarterfinals, before he was eliminated by Bird 7-1 in the semifinals. Leonard and Bird agreed to the split, with Leonard as the official winner of the event.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Gate City Billiards Club for their hospitality, as well as all those who attended and either in-person or online, contributed to the benefit of Anthony Mabe’s family. He also thanked title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., AZBilliards, Federal Savings Bank mortgage division and Diamond Brat.
The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, June 12-13, will be hosted Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Chris Bruner competed in all but one of the 12 Action Pool Tour stops in 2019. He won four of them – June, July, October (VA State 8-Ball Championship) and the tour’s season finale this past weekend (December 7-8). He was runner-up in two others; to Mike Davis in May and Kristina Tkach in August. He tripled the number of appearances he made on the tour this year, which, factored into tournament results as the APT’s season concluded, gave Bruner the 2019 Tour Champion title. Last year’s champion, Steve Fleming competed in all but two of this year’s tour stops and finished as runner-up.
Bruner went undefeated through a field of 19 pre-qualified entrants, who signed on for the season finale – The Pineapple Morris Memorial Shootout on Saturday, December 7 at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. Named after Craig “Pineapple” Morris, a fixture as a teacher at Q Master Billiards and doorman at the annual US Open 9-Ball Championships for many years, the event was limited to the Top 16 men and three women in the tour’s point standings. Thanks to primary tour sponsors Predator Cues, Aramith and Simonis, every player who competed was paid.
Fleming was on-hand as well, with the opportunity to defend his tour championship title there for the taking. Fleming was one of six entrants who played a preliminary round for entrance into the event’s official 16-player, double elimination bracket. He and Larry Kressel locked up in a double hill fight that advanced Kressel and sent Fleming to the loss side, where he lasted three rounds.
Bruner’s path to the winners’ circle climbed a straight-up ladder that went through #12 Greg Sabins and #8 Bill Duggan, to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against #4 Reymart Lim. Scott Roberts (#6), working in a pressure cooker of his own making, won two straight double hill matches against David Hunt (#5) and Jimmy Byrd (#18) to draw his winners’ side semifinal opponent, none other than the aforementioned Larry Kressel (#11).
Roberts won his third straight double hill match, downing Kressel to earn a spot in the hot seat match. Bruner joined him with a double hill win over Lim. Roberts recorded his first double hill loss, as Bruner chalked up his second straight double hill win to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Kressel picked up #3 RJ Carmona, who’d lost to #7 Scott Haas in the event’s first full opening round and was working on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. He’d recently eliminated Bill Duggan 9-6 and David Hunt 9-5. Lim picked up Haas, who’d been sent over by Kressel in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then defeated Greg Sabins 9-5 and Jimmy Bird, double hill.
The possible Carmona/Haas rematch didn’t happen, as Kressel moved into the quarterfinals 9-7 over Carmona. Haas downed Lim 9-3, but in those quarterfinals, fell to Kressel 9-2.
The Roberts/Kressel semifinal came within a game of being the 5th double hill match among the event’s final 13 matches. Roberts prevailed 9-7 for a second shot at Bruner in the hot seat.
Bruner got out in front and claimed the event title and title of tour champion with an 11-7 victory over Roberts.
Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Aramith Balls, Simonis Cloth. Viking Cues, Brown’s Mechanical LLC, Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Ozone Billiards, CSI, Grant Wylie Photography and George Hammerbacher, Advanced Pool Instructor.
In 2013, Danny Mastermaker was everywhere and playing in his best earnings year since AZBilliards began recording his winnings in 2007. He won a stop on the Action Pool Tour and another on the Great Southern Billiard Tour, and cashed in 11 other events, including that year’s VA State 10-Ball Championship (3rd), the George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial (7th), the Super Billiards Expo’s Amateur Championship (9th), the VA State 9-Ball Championship (9th), the US Open 9-Ball Championships (17th) and Turning Stone XXI (17th).
As he came into stop #11 on this year’s Action Pool Tour, he had only one cash winning to his 2019 credit; he finished 7th at the VA State 10-Ball Championship in February. Mastermaker went undefeated at the Saturday, November 16 10-Ball event to claim his first (recorded) event title since he won the VA State Bar Table 9-Ball tournament in Lynchburg, VA in July, 2014. Oddly enough, Mastermaker downed Larry Kressel in the finals of that bar table 9-ball tournament five years ago and at the Action Pool Tour event this past weekend that drew 30 players to Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA, he defeated Kressel in the finals again.
He got by Kressel twice, actually. Mastermaker got by Zach Gladfelder, Adnan Ahsan and John Wright to draw Kelly Farrar in one of the winners’ side semifinals, as Kressel sent Shane Buchanan, Jason Trigo and Dave Hunt to the loss side and picked up Scott Roberts in the other winners’ side semifinal. Mastermaker dominated his match versus Farrar and sent him to the loss side 8-1, as Kressel sent Roberts over 8-5. In their first of two, Mastermaker prevailed 8-3 over Kressel.
On the loss side, Farrar drew Shane Wolford, who’d lost his opening round match and was working on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him all the way to the semifinals. He’d most recently defeated Dave Hunt 7-3 and Chris Bruner 7-1 to arrive at Farrar. Roberts drew Jimmy Bird, the man who’d sent Farrar to the loss side in the opening round. Bird was on a five-match, loss-side streak that was about to come to an end. He’d most recently eliminated John Wright 7-4 and Josh Craig 7-5.
Wolford shut Farrar out, as Roberts ended Bird’s streak 7-3. Wolford then defeated Roberts 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
Kressel put a stop to Wolford’s run in the semifinals by allowing him only a single rack in a race to 7. Kressel earned his second shot at Mastermaker in the hot seat.
Mastermaker had to chalk up one more rack than he had in the hot seat match in the finals’ race to 9. Kressel duplicated his effort in the hot seat match and Mastermaker claimed the event title 9-3.
Tour directors Kim Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Diamond Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Viking Cues, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls, Brown’s Mechanical LLC, Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Ozone Billiards, CSI, Grant Wylie Photography and George Hammerbacher, Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for the weekend of December 7-8, will be the Pineapple Morris Memorial Shootout at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
Chris Bruner came into the October 12-13 VA State 8-Ball Championships as the Action Pool Tour’s top player. He went undefeated through a field of 37 at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA to claim the event title and maintain his position as #1 on the tour’s player standings list. Eight of the players on the tour’s Top Ten list competed in this year’s event, but so did, among others, Shaun Wilkie (#14) and last year’s runner-up, Mike Davis (#30). Defending champion, Warren Kiamco, did not compete this year. Bruner sent #2, Steve Fleming, to the loss side, and faced #3, RJ Carmona, twice to claim the title.
The Ladies event drew a short field of 13 and was won by Liz Taylor, who, along with Jacki Duggan, who finished in 4th place, are the only women among the tour’s Top 20 in player standings. Like Bruner, Taylor went undefeated through the field and had to face the same opponent (Cheryl Pritchard) in both the hot seat and finals.
Bruner’s seven-match march to the finish line went through Jose Vega-Hernandez, Travis Southard, Jamie Bess and Fleming to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Eric Moore, who would normally be among the tour’s top players, but was making here only his second appearance on the 2019 tour. Bruner arrived at the winners’ side semifinal, having given up only five total racks (two to Southard and three to Fleming).
Carmona got by Kenny Miller (#11), Jason Trigo (#17) and survived a double hill bout versus JT Ringgold (#21) to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Reymart Lim (#5). Three of the four competitors in the winners’ side semifinals had won previous stops on the 2019 tour; Bruner and Lim with two each and Carmona with one.
Moore chalked up more racks against Bruner than all of his previous opponents combined. They fought to double hill before Bruner prevailed and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Carmona, who’d sent Lim west 7-3. In their first of two, Bruner claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Carmona.
On the loss side, Lim picked up Scott Haas, who’d been defeated by Eric Moore 7-5 in a winners’ side quarterfinal match and gone on to defeat Shaun Wilkie 6-4 and Steve Fleming 6-2. Moore drew Ringgold, who, following his double hill loss to Bruner in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had defeated Tony Montalvo 6-2 and Kenny Miller 6-1.
Ringgold downed Moore 6-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced Lim, who’d defeated Haas 6-2. Lim took the quarterfinal match 6-3 over Ringgold.
In the semifinals that followed, Carmona gave up only a single rack to Lim and earned himself a second shot against Bruner. In their second meeting, the Bruner and Carmona battled to double hill before Bruner prevailed to deny Carmona his second 2019 tour victory and chalk up his own third win.
Taylor downs Pritchard twice to capture Ladies 8-Ball Title
Last year’s Ladies’ winner – Bethany Sykes – was ‘in the house’ for this event, though she was sent to the loss side 6-4 in the second round by the eventual winner, Liz Taylor. Sykes then won four on the loss side, before falling to the event’s runner-up, Cheryl Pritchard, in the semifinals.
It took Liz Taylor five matches to claim the title. She got by Maria Beckner 6-1 before sending the event’s defending champion, Bethany Sykes to the loss side 6-4. This set Taylor up in a winners’ side semifinal versus Kim Whitman. Awarded a preliminary round bye, Pritchard defeated Kelly Cox 6-3 to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Lisa Uilani Vita.
Taylor and Whitman fought to double hill before Taylor prevailed 6-5 and sent Whitman west. Pritchard gave up only a single rack to Vita and joined Taylor in what would be their first of two, battling for the hot seat. Taylor took that first of two 6-3 and waited in the hot seat for Pritchard’s return.
On the loss side, Whitman drew Jacki Duggan, who’d lost an earlier battle to Vita and on the loss side, had eliminated Soo Emmett 5-1 and Maria Beckner 5-3. Vita picked up Sykes, who, following her defeat at the hands of Taylor, had defeated Kelly Wyatt 5-3 and Kim McKenna 5-1.
Duggan and Sykes advanced to the quarterfinals with 5-3 victories over Whitman and Vita. Sykes followed that with another 5-3 victory, over Duggan, in the quarterfinals.
Pritchard ended Sykes’ bid for a second year in the 8-Ball Championship finals with a 5-2 win in the semifinals. Taylor then ended Pritchard’s bid for the event title by shutting her out in the finals.
A Second Chance tournament drew 12 entrants and saw Steve Fleming come from the loss side to down hot seat occupant Justin Clark 6-1 in the finals. James Blackburn finished third, with Jimmy Bird in fourth place.
Tour directors Kim Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Viking Cues, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls, Brown’s Mechanical LLC, Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Ozone Billiards, CSI, Grant Wylie Photography and George Hammerbacher, Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 16-17, will be hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
While it conjures images of pool tables lined up along a sandy beach somewhere, with players in bathing suits, the Action Pool Tour’s 5th stop on the 2019 tour referenced the town’s name, not the beaches that are admittedly nearby. The tour stop, held on the weekend of May 18-19, drew 31 entrants to Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. Mike Davis, making his first appearance on the 2019 tour, went undefeated to claim the title, but not before being challenged in the finals by Chris Bruner, who’d been sent to the loss side in the second round of play and won seven in a row for the right to face Davis.
As the event progressed from its opening rounds, Davis’ opponents kept getting closer and closer. Davis opened with an 8-1 victory over Anthony Vigliotti, an 8-3 win over Jimmy Bird, and an 8-5 win over Scott Haas to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Bernard Andico. Nilbert Lim, in the meantime, got by Ron Zampko 8-3, Keith Bennett 8-5 and survived a double hill match against Mark Lacson to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Kelly Farrar. Farrar, on her way to the matchup against Lim, was responsible for sending Chris Bruner to the loss side, and had also defeated the tour’s #3-ranked player, Steve Fleming.
Lim sent Farrar to the loss side and an immediate rematch against Bruner with an 8-3 win, as Davis sent Andico over 8-5. In the battle for the hot seat, Lim was able to chalk up more racks against him than any of his previous opponents, Davis prevailed to claim the hot seat 8-6.
On the loss side, Farrar ran into Bruner, four matches into his seven-match, loss-side streak, which had most recently resulted in the elimination of JR Avery 7-3 and Scott Haas 7-5. Andico picked up the tour’s #2-ranked competitor RJ Carmona, who, like Bruner had been defeated in the second round of play (by Scott Haas) and was in the midst of his own five-match, loss-side winning streak. Bruner and Carmona were about to meet in the quarterfinals.
Carmona got there with a 7-2 win over Andico and was joined by Bruner, who’d ended Farrar’s weekend 7-4. Bruner then ended Carmona’s loss-side streak 7-5 in that quarterfinal match.
Bruner completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 win over Lim in the semifinals. Davis completed his undefeated run with a 10-5 victory over Bruner in the finals.
A Second Chance drew eight entrants. It was won by Kelly Cox, who defeated Steve Fleming in the finals 7-5.
Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Viking Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Cue Sports International (CSI), Chix Cabinets Direct, Grant Wylie (professional photographer), Brown’s Mechanical, LLC, and George Hammerbacher Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the APT, scheduled for the weekend of June 15-16, will be the Brown’s Mechanical 9-Ball Open, hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
It was, apparently, Reymart Lim’s turn, so to speak. In the third stop of the 2019 Action Pool Tour (APT) season, Lim went undefeated to capture his second APT title of the year. In the finals, he downed RJ Carmona, who’d won the APT’s second stop, which was the 2019 VA State 10-Ball Championships, held last month (Feb. 16-17), at which Lim finished in the two-way tie for 7th place. Lim had won the season opener back in January, with Carmona finishing in the three-way tie for 9th place. They finished last year’s season opener the way they finished this year’s third stop; as winner and runner-up. This most recent event (for double tour points) – The East Coast Landscaping Bar Box Bash – drew 31 entrants, playing 8-ball, to Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, VA.
It was a dominant performance by Lim, who ended up playing 43 games of 8-ball and lost only five of them to six different opponents; an astonishing 88% win percentage, or, put another way, winning, on average, damn near nine out of every 10 games he played. He arrived at a winners’ side final match against Steve Fleming, having shut out his first two opponents (Larry Phlegar and Jimmy Bird) and given up only two games to his third (Greg Sabins). Carmona, in the meantime, had downed Tony Plumb 6-3 and Bill Duggan 6-4, before he was sent to the loss side 6-4 in a winners’ side quarterfinal against Fleming, who moved on to face Lim.
At the opposite end of the 32-player bracket, Liz Taylor started her campaign as the only competitor to be awarded an opening round bye. She then, in her own initially dominant performance, gave up only a single rack to her next two opponents; one to Jacki Duggan and none at all to Justin Darouse to draw Trent Parrish in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Lim chalked up his third shutout, over Steve Fleming, to get into the hot seat match. Taylor joined him after sending Parrish to the loss side 6-4. Lim gave up the third of his five total games in that hot seat match and sent Taylor to the semifinals 6-1.
On the loss side, Fleming picked up Bill Duggan, who’d lost his second-round match to Carmona and was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side streak that would end the way it started, against Carmona. He’d most recently eliminated Darouse, double hill and JT Ringgold 5-3. Parrish drew Carmona, who’d defeated Ryan Martin 5-3 and Greg Sabins 5-2 to reach him.
Duggan advanced one more step, downing Fleming (last year’s tour champion, by the way) 5-3. He was joined in the quarterfinals by Carmona, who thought it was about time to join the shutout parade and chalked one up against Parrish. He then chalked up another one in his rematch against Duggan in those quarterfinals.
Carmona then gave up only a single rack in his semifinal match against Taylor to earn himself a shot at Lim in the hot seat. The two of them arrived at the event finals sporting decidedly different winning percentages overall. Carmona had upped his percentage considerably with his two, loss-side shutouts and his 5-1 victory over Taylor in the semifinals, but he entered the finals with a 41-19 record (68%). Their Fargo Rates were only 84 points apart (731 for Lim and 647 for Carmona), but the system gave Carmona only a 12.7% chance of winning their race-to-8. Lim gave up the last two of his five total games in the event, downing Carmona 8-2 to pick up his second 2019 APT title.
Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Peninsula Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors East Coast Landscaping, Inc., Cue Sports International (CSI), Chix Cabinets Direct, Grant Wylie (professional photographer), Brown’s Mechanical, LLC, and George Hammerbacher Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the APT, scheduled for the weekend of April 13-14, will be the 13th Annual Bob Stocks Memorial Tournament, hosted by First Break Café in Sterling, VA.
To attend the February 11-12 stop on the Action Pool Tour, Mike Fuller had to miss his son Christian’s birthday, so when he came back from the loss-side to challenge and defeat hot seat occupant, R.J. Carmona, to take the event title, he wanted it known that this one was for Christian – Happy Birthday!! Odds-on favorites to win this event might have included Mike Davis and Brian Deska, but both were eliminated in the opening day of the event, which drew 60 entrants to QMaster Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
Fuller was among the winners’ side final four, but Eric Moore sent him west 8-5, as Carmona was sending Nil Lim over 8-3. Carmona and Moore then battled to double hill, before Carmona prevailed to sit in the hot seat, awaiting the return of the in absentia birthday boy.
First up for Fuller on the loss side was Chris Futrell, who’d defeated Jimmy Bird double hill and Larry Kressell 6-3 to reach him. Lim drew Paul Helms, who’d shut out Jerry Fitchett and Junior Conway 6-4 (earlier, Conway had eliminated Mike Davis). Fuller then dominated in a 6-1 victory over Futrell, as Lim was busy surviving a double hill battle versus Helms.
Fuller ended Lim’s day with a 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals and then downed Moore 6-3 in the semifinals. He took the opening set of the true double elimination finals 8-6, and to complete his birthday gift to his son won the second set 6-3. In addition to his $900, first place prize, some of which, presumably, would go towards cake and candles, the victory earned Fuller a $500, free entry to the US Open.
In a second chance tournament on Sunday that drew 21 entrants, Jerry Fitchett survived a double hill opening round battle against Cheryl Sporleder (who earned $75 as the top female finisher in the main event). Fitchett then went on to give up only seven racks the rest of the way (five matches) to finish undefeated. He gained the hot seat with a 5-3 victory over Sean Sporleder, who moved west to face Bill Duggan in the semifinals. Sporleder had sent Duggan to the loss side in a double hill match among the winners’ side final four. Duggan, after victories over Mel Peck and Chad Pike on the loss side, shut Sporleder out in the semifinals. Fitchett, though, turned the tables on Duggan, shutting him out in the finals to capture the Second Chance title.
Next stop on the Action Pool Tour is scheduled for March 17-18 at the First Break Cafe, in Sterling, VA.
