Two months ago, in late July, Greenville, SC’s Landon Hollingsworth attained something of a short-term goal when, in his third attempt, he won the Billiards Education Foundation’s Junior National Championships in Las Vegas. For the first time in the history of that event, players were allowed to compete in more than one division of the three each available for male and female competitors. In his third attempt at these national championships, Hollingsworth (16) took advantage, signing on to the 18 & Under division and the 16 & Under division. He won them both to become the first junior player to win two divisions in the first year of eligibility to do so.
“What I’d accomplished,” he said, “didn’t really hit me that day. It did the day after, though.”
This past weekend (Saturday, Sept. 11), he claimed his fourth Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour title when he went undefeated through the $610-added event that drew 54 entrants to Rock House Tavern Sports in Gastonia, NC. The win made 2021 Hollingsworth’s best recorded earnings year to date since, in 2018 at the age of 13, he began appearing on the payout lists of the tour and other events, scattered from coast to coast. Look for a profile of this young competitor in the October issue of our monthly magazine, Billiard Buzz (BUZZ tab on our Web site’s front page).
The Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour acknowledged the 20th anniversary of 9-11 with a brief message and a moment of silence before getting underway with the tournament. It didn’t finish until well into the early hours of Sunday, September 12.
In a sense, Hollingsworth defeated the Rock House Tavern Sports defending champion, Justin Duncan, in the finals. Duncan had won the previous Q City event at the venue last month (August 14). Defeated in a double hill battle by Hunter White in the fourth winners’ side round in this event, Duncan won five in a row on the loss side (two of them by forfeit) for the right to face Hollingsworth in the finals.
Hunter White, who split the top two prizes at last weekend’s Carolina Cup event with Brian White, advanced to face Brent Newman in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Hollingsworth, in the meantime, squared off against Q City 9-Ball Tour veteran Hank Powell. White got into the hot seat match with a 10-3 victory over Newman. Hollingsworth joined him after sending Powell to the loss side 8-4. An 8-3 win sent Powell off to the semifinals and left Hollingsworth in the hot seat.
On the loss side, Duncan began his trek back to the finals with a 6-1 victory over Brian Francis and then leapfrogged over a forfeit (by Hunter Zayas) in the first money round to draw Powell. Newman picked up Jason Blackwell, who’d eliminated Robert Perez 5-3 and Michael Robertson 5-2.
Duncan became the beneficiary of two straight forfeit wins, when Powell bowed out, advancing Duncan from the first money round (7/8) to the quarterfinals without having to lift his cue. Blackwell joined him after defeating Newman 5-3.
Duncan showed little signs of any ‘rest rust’ as he downed Blackwell 6-3 in those quarterfinals and then, in a rematch against Hunter White, earned the right to a shot at Hollingsworth, waiting for him in the hot seat. For the second time, Duncan and White fought back and forth to double hill, before Duncan dropped the last 9-ball.
Hollingsworth lost no time in claiming the event title. He gave up only a single rack in the finals to chalk up his fourth win on the Q City 9-Ball Tour.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Rock House Tavern Sports, 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 Sept. 18-19, will be a $500-added event, to be hosted by Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
Though Justin Duncan has four Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball titles on his resume, which date back to 2016, the only one in which the title was earned by competing and winning a final match was last June’s Scotch Doubles event. Duncan and Billy Fowler were in the hot seat when they lost the opening set of a true double elimination final, but came back to win the second set and claim that title. Duncan’s other three titles were earned when he went undefeated to the hot seat and by mutual agreement with his final opponent, split the top two prizes. Duncan did that twice with the same opponent (Greg Burke), once in September 2016, where they met in a winners’ side semifinal, won by Duncan, and again, in April 2017, when they met in the hot seat match, claimed by Duncan in what has been his best earnings year at the tables, to date.
This past Saturday, August 14, Duncan claimed his fourth official Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball title, allowing his victory over Bryant Cooper in the battle for the hot seat to stand as the definitive victory match. The $500-added event drew 45 entrants to Rockhouse Billiards in Gastonia, NC.
Duncan advanced through the field to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Cole Lewis, as Cooper squared off against Jeff Underwood in the other one. Combined, Duncan and Cooper gave up only a single rack to earn their spot in the hot seat match (Cooper allowed Underwood that single rack in a 5-1 victory). Duncan then sent Cooper off to the semifinals 6-3 and in, effect, claimed the event title.
On the loss side, Lewis and Underwood walked right into the first money round and their second straight loss. Lewis met Hank Powell, who’d defeated Amber Jackson 8-1 and Bruce Campbell 8-4, before downing Lewis 8-5 and moving into the quarterfinals. Underwood drew Brian Francis, who’d eliminated Brian Pyle 6-4 and Ray Mullinax 6-1 before also eliminating Underwood 6-5 (Underwood racing to 7) and joining Powell in the quarterfinals.
Powell took the quarterfinal match 8-3 and in what proved to be the last match of the event, was eliminated by Cooper 5-6 in the semifinals. Duncan and Cooper agreed to the split, with Duncan entering the official record books as the official winner.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the new ownership and staff of the newly-renovated Rockhouse Billiards, 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 August 21-22, will be a $250-added event to be hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
Herman Parker and the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour paid a visit to West End Billiards in Gastonia, NC this past weekend (February 6-7). In spite of it being Super Bowl weekend for a population trying to avoid contracting a virus that’s turned into a global pandemic, the $250-added event drew 78 entrants. And Herman was shaking his head, because . . .
“The week before, we didn’t even know where we were going to be,” he said. “West End Billiards gave us an opportunity.”
“Oh, and by the way,” he added. “A 14-year-old won the whole thing.”
And the 14-year-old (Hunter Zayas) was not alone. He battled against another Junior player, Cole Lewis, in a winners’ side semifinal (Lewis finished third the week before), while a third junior player, Landon Hollingsworth, was fighting to get into the money, as the 78-player field whittled down to eight.
In his first year of recorded cash winnings in our database, Hunter Zayas cashed in seven Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour events, which included his first recorded tour victory anywhere, at the tour’s annual Turkey Bowl, last November. A month later, he was runner-up to BJ Ussery at a new venue for the tour, Overtime Bar & Grill in Columbia, SC.
Hunter Zayas went undefeated to claim the event title. He gave up a total of 8 racks in four of the seven matches he played, but his opponents chalked up 14 in the other three, including four in his opening match, six in a double hill, winners’ side quarterfinal and four in what proved to be the last match of the event, the semifinals. Zayas and Clint Clark opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. It should be noted that while Zayas now has two tour victories on his resume, both of them came as the result of being the undefeated occupant of the hot seat at the conclusion of the semifinals and opting out of a final match against the winner of those semifinals (Billy Fowler at the Turkey Bowl and Clark at this most recent event). There are unconfirmed reports that Zayas is so good, that players coming out of the semifinals don’t want to take him on.
They’d met first in the hot seat match. Clark had started his winners’ side semifinal contest against Josh Heeter with a single bead on the wire, in a race to 9 and sent Heeter to the loss side 8-4. Zayas joined him after sending his fellow-junior player, Cole Lewis over 6-2. Zayas started the hot seat match with two on the wire in a race to 8 and sent packing for the semifinals 6-4.
On the loss side, Lewis and Heeter ran straight into their second straight loss. Jason Gardner had eliminated Jonjon Newman double hill (5-5) and Ricky Bingham 5-3 to meet and then defeat Lewis, double hill (5-5 again). Heeter drew Justin Duncan, who’d defeated Joey Fox, double hill, and knocked out the third prominent junior player, Landon Hollingsworth 6-4. Duncan, with three beads on the wire, to start, in a race to 9, defeated Heeter 6-5 to join Gardner in the quarterfinals.
Gardner chalked up his second straight double hill win, defeating Duncan in the quarterfinals. Clint Clark ended Gardner’s loss-side run 8-1 in the semifinals. At that point, Clark and Zayas agreed to a split of the top two cash prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Zayas laid claim to the official event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at West End Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, AZBilliards, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and Dirty South Grind Apparel Co. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, Feb. 13-14, will be hosted by Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
In a final, race-to-six match that took 12 minutes, Billy Fowler and Justin Duncan defeated Kevin Ping and Tony Wall in the second set of a true double elimination final at the May 30-31 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. The $500-added Scotch Doubles event drew 48 teams of two to Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC.
The event finalists met first in the hot seat match. Fowler and Duncan had sent Hayleigh Marion, a junior player, and Janet Atwell to the loss side 6-4. Ping and Wall had defeated Team Abernathy (brothers Jeff and John) 6-3. Two out of three of the matches that Fowler/Duncan and Ping/Wall played went double hill and the hot seat match was the first of them. Fowler/Duncan claimed the hot seat and waited for Ping/Wall to get back from the semifinals.
In the first money round, battling to get into the quarterfinals, Zayas and Messer leapfrogged into those quarterfinals when Hayleigh and Atwell could not return to compete on Sunday and forfeited. Team Abernathy, in the meantime, survived a double hill battle against Hollingsworth/Gabriel and joined Zayas/Messer.
A double hill fight eventually sent Ping and Wall to the semifinals over Zayas/Messer. Ping and Wall earned their second shot against Fowler/Duncan with a 6-4 win over Zayas/Messer.
In their second of three, the opening set of the true double elimination final, the two teams went double hill, before Ping and Wall prevailed to force a second set. Once the second match got underway, tour director Herman Parker chose to take a step outside. When he returned, moments later, the match was half over at 3-0 in favor of Fowler and Duncan.
According to Parker, the Fowler/Duncan team had chalked up three 9-ball combinations in a row to win those opening three games. They kept that pace up, and completed the second-set shutout that earned them the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break & Run Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards, and Tickler Pool Ball Washing Machine. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will be held this weekend, June 6-7, and hosted by Randolph Billiards in Hickory, NC.
Five days before the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour got back to the business of pool tournaments, the governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, gave restaurants in the state the ‘green light’ to open up at 50% capacity. A day later (May 12), he signed an Executive Order extending South Carolina’s specific State of Emergency for 15 days, while noting that as of that day, the state had identified 7,927 cases of COVID-19, to include 355 deaths. According to Tour Director Herman Parker, that occupancy percentage was adhered to during the tour’s two-day stay at Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC, where, this past weekend (May 16-17), Roland Garcia and Justin Martin split the top prizes at the $500-added event that drew 52 entrants. Parker estimated that total occupancy at any given time during the two-day event was about 80 people and that while no one was utilizing masks, an informal social distance protocol was able to be maintained.
Garcia and Martin opted to split the event’s top two prizes shortly after Martin won the first set of a true double elimination final on Sunday evening, thereby evening their match results at that point to 1-1. Garcia was declared the official winner of the event.
They’d met first in a winners’ side semifinal, as Justin Duncan and Landon Hollingsworth met in the other one. Garcia sent Martin to the loss side 12-4 (Martin racing to 10). Duncan dispatched Hollingsworth to the left bracket 6-4, and then, followed him over when Garcia downed him 6-4 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Martin began his trek back to the finals against Sammy Manley, who’d defeated Clint Clark 5-6 (Clark racing to 8) and Billy Fowler 5-7 (Fowler, racing to 9). Hollingsworth picked up Hunter White, who’d lost his opening match to Romy Malonzo, and then embarked on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included victories over Jacob Brooks 9-4 and Kelly Piercy 9-2.
The four of them played 22 games for the right to advance to the quarterfinals. Manley and Hollingsworth won only three of those 22; Manley chalking up two against Martin and Hollingsworth managing only one against White.
Martin ended White’s eight-game winning streak 10-6 in those quarterfinals and then, spoiled Duncan’s hopes for a re-match against Garcia with a 10-4 victory over him. With that ever-intangible, though never underestimated ‘loss-side momentum,’ Martin battled Garcia to double hill in the opening set of the true double elimination final and then won it, to force a second set.
They didn’t play it. They opted to split the top two prizes and allow Garcia to claim the official event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break & Run Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards, and Tickler Pool Ball Washing Machine. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour is being planned. Visit the tour’s Facebook page for specific information on the date and time.
NC State One Pocket and 10-Ball Open tournaments on event horizon
On Saturday, November 9, Hunter White recorded his 4th 2019 victory* on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, besting his 2016 best-number-of-wins total by one in what is already his best earnings year to date. White went undefeated, though he and Michael Dill opted out of a final match, allowing their hot seat match to stand and agreeing to a split in the top two prizes. The $500-added event drew 28 entrants to Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC.
Their hot seat match followed a 6-4 victory by Dill over Mike Bumgarner and a 9-5 win by White over Justin Duncan in the two winners’ side semifinals. White then downed Dill 9-2 and in effect, claimed the hot seat and official event victory.
Duncan and Bumgarner moved to the loss side and into the first money round. Duncan picked up Hank Powell, who’d defeated Justin Clark and Steven Ellis, both 7-4, to reach him. Bumgarner drew Blade Best, who’d recently eliminated Matt Lucas 6-4 and Corey Edwards 6-3.
Duncan defeated Powell 6-5 (Powell racing to 7) and in the quarterfinals, faced Bumgarner, who survived a double hill battle versus Best (7-5; Best racing to 6). Bumgarner then defeated Duncan 7-5 in those quarterfinals.
In what proved to be the final match of the night, Dill defeated Bumgarner 6-1 in the semifinals. He and White opted out of the final, split the top two cash prizes and called it a night, leaving the undefeated White as the event’s official winner.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break & Run for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball.
For the next two weeks, action on the tour will shift to Sandford, NC, where Speak Eazy Billiards will host two back-to-back, $2,000-added events – The North Carolina State One Pocket Open, set for the long weekend of November 15-17 and on the weekend of November 23-24, the NC State 10-Ball Open. The One Pocket event will play host to a maximum of 32 players. Both events are being sponsored by Beasley Custom Cues.
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.
While headlines have tended to focus on the state of Florida’s fortunes in the wake of Hurricane Irma, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Irma’s impact stretched further north, as far as Atlanta, GA, where as late as this past weekend (September 16-17), there were still thousands of people without power. Mr. Cues II in Atlanta had the power necessary to host a Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour stop over the weekend, though the continuing issues may well have contributed to a relatively low field of competitors. Raed Shabib navigated his way through a field of 28, on-hand for the $500-added event, and after dropping the opening set of a true double elimination final to Jeff Hooks, came back to win the second set and claim the event title.
Shabib advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Marvin Reed, as Jeff Crawford squared off against Mike Chapman. Shabib got into the hot seat match with an 8-4 win over Reed. He was joined by Crawford, who’d defeated Chapman 9-3. Shabib claimed the hot seat with an 8-7 win over Crawford, who was racing to 9, and waited on the return of what turned out to be Jeff Hooks, who, at the time of the hot seat match, was in the midst of a five-game, loss-side winning streak that began with a defeat at the hands of Reed, and would give him a shot against Shabib in the finals.
On the loss side, it was Chapman who drew Hooks, three matches into his streak, with recent wins over John Maikke 7-4 and Bernardo Hernandez, 7-8 (Hernandez racing to 10). Reed picked up Justin Duncan, who was on a win streak of his own, having been defeated in the event’s opening round, and winning six straight to advance as far as the quarterfinals.
Hooks downed Chapman 7-2 and was joined in the quarterfinals by Duncan, who defeated Reed 6-5 (Reed racing to 7). Hooks and Duncan locked up in a double hill fight that saw both of them miss a shot at the 9-ball, three times, in the deciding game. Hooks eventually advanced to the semifinals against Crawford, where a 7-6 win (Crawford racing to 9) gave him a shot against Shabib in the hot seat.
With Shabib racing to 8, Hooks took the true double elimination opener 7-6. With one loss for each of them going into the second set, they battled to double hill for the title. Shabib hung on to win it 8-6 and claim that title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Mr. Cues II, 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 September 23-24, will be hosted by Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
The Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour played host to a few fleeing Floridians on the weekend of September 9-10. Escaping torrential downpours and widespread damage, they traveled north to Spartanburg, SC, where Cue Time hosted a $500-added tour stop that drew 53 entrants and saw Chase Smith take two out of three against Matt Bulfin to claim his first event title.
Smith and Bulfin battled first in the hot seat match. Bulfin sent Robert Davis to the loss side 10-3 in one winners’ side semifinal, while Smith downed Chris Gentile (Florida State’s Amateur Champion in 2011) 7-5. Smith claimed the hot seat by the same 7-5 score and waited for Bulfin to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Davis picked up Daniel Rutledge, who, after being sent over by Justin Duncan, was on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He eliminated Steve Loftin 6-4, and Brett Underwood 6-2 to get Davis. Gentile, in the meantime, drew Dalton Messer, who’d gotten by Mike Bumgarner 6-4 and eliminated any possibility of a Rutledge/Duncan re-match by defeating Duncan 6-3.
Rutledge and Gentile gave up one rack each in their victories over Davis and Messer and faced each other in the quarterfinals. With Gentile racing to 9, Rutledge then chalked up what proved to be his last loss-side win, 6-6 over Gentile. Bulfin ended Rutledge’s bid for a shot at Smith with a 10-3 victory in the semifinals.
Smith and Bulfin fought to double hill in the first set, before Bulfin finished it at 10-6. Smith came back in the second set and won it 7-5 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, 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 September 16-17, will be hosted by Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA.
As Billy Carroll and David Williams had done the week before (April 1-2) and J.T. Ringgold and Scott Roberts had done the week before that (March 25), Justin Duncan and Greg Burke (who'd driven to the event together) opted out of a final match during the April 8-9 stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour. They'd met in the hot seat match, won by Duncan, and allowed that to stand as the winner-defining match. The $500-added event drew 48 entrants to Legends Billiards in Inman, SC.
Their first match followed a 7-2 victory by Burke, over Roger Jeffcoat, and a 5-3 win by Duncan, over Ronnie Anderson, in the winners' side semifinals. Duncan claimed the hot seat 5-4 over Burke (Burke racing to 7).
On the loss side, Jeffcoat picked up Steven Ellis, who'd survived two straight double hill matches, against Taz Holliday and Stevie McClinton, to reach him. Anderson drew Corey Morphew, the highest-ranked player left in the field, who'd eliminated Jason Blackwell 9-3 and Dalton Messer 9-4 (double hill).
Jeffcoat and Anderson's loss-side trip lasted only one match. Ellis defeated Jeffcoat 5-2, while Morphew downed Anderson 9-2. Morphew, racing to 9, picked up seven of the racks he needed in the quarterfinals that followed, but Ellis reached five racks first for a 5-7 win that sent him to the semifinals.
In what proved to be the final match of the event, Burke downed Ellis 7-3 in those semifinals. Burke and Duncan came to the no-last-match agreement and split the top two prizes.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff of Legends Billiards, 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 (April 15-16), will be a 'bar box' event, hosted by The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.