Johnny Walker has cashed five times in six years of playing on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. He was runner-up to then-teenager Hunter White at an event in Cary, NC in June, 2016. It was the closest he’d come to the winners’ circle until this past weekend (Sat. July 31) when he went undefeated to claim his first event title and make it six cash finishes in six years; three of them this year. The event drew 40 entrants to Still Cluckin in Providence, NC.
Walker and Billy Richardson worked through the field to arrive at the winners’ side semifinal matches. Richardson versus Chad Snody and Walker taking on Brandon McGuire. Richardson and Snody battled to double hill before Richardson prevailed. Walker sent McGuire to the loss side 6-2. Walker claimed the hot seat 6-3 over Richardson and waited on what turned out to be the return of McGuire.
On the loss side, Snody picked up Chris Rhoades, who’d defeated Mike Hagood 6-3 and Tony Wall 6-1 to reach him. McGuire drew Michael Robertson, who’d recently sent Juan Rojas (6-4) and Jonathan Ailstock (double hill) home.
Snody and McGuire got right back to work, handing Rhoades and Robertson their second loss; Snody 6-3 over Rhoades and McGuire 6-1 over Robertson. McGuire then eliminated Snody in the quarterfinals 6-2. McGuire completed his return to the finals having given up only four racks in 22 loss-side games that included his 6-1 victory over Richardson in the semifinals.
McGuire’s 81% game-winning average on the loss side was trumped by Johnny Walker’s 88% game-winning average in the only set necessary in the true double elimination final. Walker completed his undefeated run with a 6-1 victory to claim his first tour title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Tommy and Tonya Lunsford and their Still Cluckin staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor 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, Aug. 7-8, will be a $500-added event ($1,000-added with 64-plus entrants), hosted by The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
The Q City 9-Ball Tour held a double header weekend; commencing with a Saturday, September 19 event that drew 59 entrants, and concluding with a $300-added event that drew 37, which actually began on Saturday night and finished up on Sunday, September 20. Neither event saw a final match, as all four competitors opted out of a final and split the money. The top prize in both events included qualification for a North Carolina 8-ball Championship, scheduled for November. The events were hosted by Chandler's Chalk and Cue in Statesville, NC.
Ryan Hollinsworth went undefeated in the Saturday opener, and finished in the tie for fifth in the Sunday event. David Tickle, who finished in fourth place on Saturday, was defeated in the hot seat match of Sunday's event, and returned from the semifinals to face Colin Hall. The match didn't occur. Tickle and Hall split the top two prizes, and while the undefeated Hall would normally have been declared the winner, Hall deferred to give Tickle the qualification prize to November's 8-Ball championship.
On Saturday, Hollinsworth advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Matt Shaw, while Terry Ringgold met up with Scott Lewis. With Lewis racing to 10, Ringgold defeated Lewis 4-7, as Hollinsworth was downing Shaw 7-4. Hollinsworth claimed the hot seat, and for all intents and purposes, the event title with his 7-3 win over Ringgold.
Lewis and Shaw moved to the loss side and were immediately handed their second straight loss. Lewis fell to David Tickle 8-7. Shaw ran into Brian Bryant, whom he'd sent to the loss side in an earlier round. Bryant faced and defeated Shaw 8-3 while in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side run that would propel him into the finals. Bryant moved on to defeat Tickle 8-4 in the quarterfinals and punctuated what proved to be his final match by shutting out Ringgold in the semifinals. He and Hollinsworth opted out of the final and split $1,330.
On Sunday, Colin Hall and Tickle would have met twice had they opted to play a final match, but they met only once, in the battle for the hot seat. Hall had sent Johnny Walker to the loss side 6-5, as Tickle was defeating Hollinsworth 8-5. Hall claimed the hot seat with a 6-2 win over Tickle.
Like Shaw and Lewis in Saturday's event, Walker and Hollinsworth moved to the loss side and were immediately defeated for the second straight time; Walker, 8-3, by Mike Bumgarner, and Hollinsworth 6-3 by Jamie Fells. Fells eliminated Bumgarner 6-4 in the quarterfinals, but was himself eliminated 8-4 by Tickle in the semifinals. Tickle and Hall split the top two prizes, amounting to $880.
The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Saturday, September 26, will be hosted by Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
