It’s been a good year for Billy Fowler, his best since he entered our database in 2004, when he won a stop on the old Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour. On Saturday, blending into early Sunday this past weekend (Sept. 17), Fowler was in the hot seat, waiting for Antonio Belton to complete a nine-match, loss-side winning streak on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. Fowler went on to remain undefeated and claim his first 2022 title and seventh overall on the tour. The $250-added event brought 37 entrants to West End Billiards in Gastonia, NC.
With Belton already at work on the loss side of the bracket, having lost his opening match to Dustin Barkley, Fowler advanced to a winners’ side semifinal versus Kirk Hixon. Zach Martin, in the meantime, squared off against Matt Lucas.
Both matches to determine who’d play for the hot seat went double hill; Fowler over Hixon 10-5 (Hixon racing to 6) and Martin over Lucas 6-5. Fowler dominated the hot seat match 10-3, dispatching Martin to a semifinal versus Belton.
On the loss side, it was Lucas who drew Belton, six matches into his loss-side streak that had just eliminated Jonathan Ailstock and Katie Bischoff, both 5-3 (Bischoff had spoiled Belton’s opportunity for a rematch against Barkley by defeating him 5-3 in the previous round). Hixon picked up David Honeycutt, who’d defeated Trevor Stanley 6-3 and Matt Lowe, double hill, to reach him.
Hixon got back on the winning track with a 6-4 win over Honeycutt, while Belton handed Lucas his second straight loss with a double hill win. Belton then downed Hixon 5-2 in the quarterfinals.
With eight down and at most, three to go (he would have to defeat Fowler twice in a true double elimination final), Belton chalked up loss-side win #9, eliminating Martin 5-4 (Martin racing to 6).
Fowler apparently wanted no part in a drawn out final match (or two). He gave up only a single rack to Belton in the only set necessary to claim the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at West End Billiards 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 Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will travel to New Bern, NC this coming weekend, Sept. 24-25, for a $250-added event at Mickey Milligan’s.
In the early hours of Sunday, August 14, Chad Dill, occupying the hot seat at the time, entered the second set of a double elimination final against 16-year-old Hunter Zayas on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. Dill fought Zayas in the second set, battling him to a double-hill, final game, which he won to claim his first Q City 9-Ball Tour title and enter the AZBilliards database of players for the first time. The $250-added event drew 28 entrants to the new venue, Action Billiards in Inman, SC.
Dill and Zayas were among the winners’ side final four, but did not face each other. Dill faced Jason Blackwell in one of the winners’ side semifinals, while Zayas met Dalton Messer in the other. Dill got into the hot seat match with a double hill win over Blackwell, and was joined by Messer, who’d sent Zayas over 6-3. Dill sent Messer off to the semifinals 5-3 and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Zayas and Blackwell, got ‘right back onto their horses’ with victories. Zayas picked up Cameron Hollingsworth, who’d defeated Terry Cannon 5-3, and his older brother, Landon Hollingsworth 5-5 (Landon racing to 9) to reach him. Blackwell drew Marc Rochester, who’d recently eliminated Cory Edwards with a shutout and Katie Bischoff 6-2.
Zayas downed Cameron Hollingsworth 6-3. Blackwell joined him in the quarterfinals, after ending Rochester’s day 6-4. Zayas then took out both Blackwell in the quarterfinals and Messer in the semifinals 6-3.
Entering the finals, as Saturday turned into Sunday, Zayas was looking for his first recorded cash payout in 2022 and his first win on the tour since February, 2021. Hot seat occupant Dill was also looking for his first 2022 cash payout, his first ever, along with his first win on any tour, anywhere. Zayas had the ‘experience’ upper hand in the double elimination final and took the opening set 6-3. But Dill came back in the second set to knot the proceedings at double hill; 4-5 (Zayas racing to 6). Dill won the 10th and final game to claim his first title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff of the tour’s newest venue, Action Billiards, as well as 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 Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will be off this week and be back at the tables on the weekend of August 27-28 at Janet Atwell’s room, Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Norris defeats junior competitor, Bethany Tate twice to win 2nd Annual Ladies Open
Whoever said that “showing up is half the battle” might have had pool in mind and could point to Venezuela’s Jesus Atencio as a case in point. This past Memorial Day weekend (May 28-29), Atencio signed on to the $1,000-added, 10th Annual North Carolina State Open Championships, held under the auspices of the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour and hosted by Break Time Billiards and Sports Bar in Winston-Salem, NC.
Atencio went undefeated through the field of 73 entrants to chalk up his 12th recorded cash payout of the year, but only his first event title. He is moving toward improving on his best recorded earnings year (2021), in which he cashed in 17 events, including victories on the Lone Star Billiards Tour, the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour and the New City Heritage Super Tournament. So, 29 cash finishes in two years, only four of them event victories, and Atencio is halfway toward making 2022 his best recorded earnings year. Primarily by just showing up.
It was a competitive field, according to Tour Director Herman Parker, and although it did not include the 2021 champion (BJ Ussery), it did include Mike Davis, Jr. who has won the event four times, as well as NC State Championships in other disciplines over the years (8-Ball, 10- Ball). A glance at Davis’ earnings record over the years has its share of event wins, but like Atencio, the lion’s share of it has been the result of “just showing up.”
Atencio and Davis, who’d last run into each other on a Player Madness Tournament in March, when they were to appear in the event final but opted out and split the top two cash prizes, met twice in the 2022 NC State Open. They advanced from different ends of the bracket to a winners’ side semifinal; Atencio versus Eric Roberts and Davis facing Adam Pendley.
Atencio defeated Roberts 7-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Davis, who’d sent Pendley west 7-2. Atencio and Davis battled to double hill, before Atencio prevailed to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Roberts and Pendley ran right into their second straight loss. Roberts had picked up Brian White, who’d assured himself a $200 reward for his version of “showing up” by downing Josh Newman 7-5 in the first money round and then, and at least $100 more when he defeated Clint Clark 7-3 to face Roberts. Pendley drew Billy Fowler, who’d run the same early-money-rounds gauntlet, eliminating Danny Farren 7-5 and Michael Robertson 7-3.
White and Fowler defeated Roberts and Pendley, respectively, both 7-4. Fowler advanced one more step, eliminating White in the quarterfinals 7-5, before having his run ended by Davis in the semifinals, also 7-5.
Atencio completed his second appearance and second win on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour with a 7-4 victory over Davis in the finals.
Norris comes back from hot seat loss to double dip her junior opponent, Bethany Tate
The finalists in the short field of 10 that signed on to the $500-added, 2nd Annual NC State Ladies Open were appearing at opposite ends of their individual “showing up” spectrum. Christy Norris, who’s been showing up longer than her opponent, Bethany Tate has been alive, got to the hot seat match, but found herself facing a former Junior National Champion (at the age of 11 in 2018), a recent winner of the 18 & Under Girls division of the Junior International Championships series in February, and the third-place finisher in the Women’s VA State 10-Ball Championships in April. Norris lost to Tate, but came back to double-dip her in the event’s true double elimination final.
They’d both advanced to winners’ side semifinals against Allie Tilley (for Norris) and Shannon Johnson (for Tate). Norris gave up just a single rack to Tilley, while Tate gave up four to Johnson. Tate claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Norris, not knowing, and arguably not suspecting, that she’d won her last match of the event.
On the loss side, Tilley picked up Lisa Cossette, who’d defeated Bethany Tate’s younger sister, Noelle, double hill, to reach her. Johnson drew Katie Bischoff, who’d eliminated Dorothy Strater, also double hill.
As had happened in the Open, the competitors who came to the loss side from the winners’ side semifinal, ran right into their second straight loss. Cossette shut out Tilley and in the quarterfinals, faced Bischoff who’d eliminated Johnson 5-3.
Bischoff won the quarterfinal match 5-1 over Cossette before having her very brief loss-side trip stopped by Norris 5-3 in the semifinals. Norris went on to win the opening set of the true double elimination final 7-3 and then allowed Tate only a single rack in the second set to claim the event title 5-1.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break Time for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, 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 weekend, June 4-5, will be the Brian James Memorial, hosted by Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Martin and Cossette take Open and Ladies events at inaugural Winter Classic
In the future, there’ll be a Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall Classic on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. They are a component of a larger plan that tour director Herman Parker is initiating to feature more Open (non-handicapped) events on the tour schedule. In the inaugural Winter Classic, held this past weekend (Feb. 5-6), Justin Martin and Lisa Cossette went undefeated through the Open and Ladies fields to claim the two titles.
“I want to attract the culture of people who want to play in Open events, rather than handicapped events,” he said, following the completion of the Winter Classic. “I’m planning on 10-12 this year and my goal, down the road is to have it be 50-50; that’d be ideal.”
“I don’t know if it’ll get there,” he added, “but this year, I want to do, on average, about one (Open event) a month.”
The inaugural Winter Classic, featuring its Open tournament and a Ladies event, which, according to Parker, is a side of the tour that he is trying to grow. Three women who competed in the Ladies tournament, also competed in the Open event. The $1,500-added events ($1,000 in the Open and $500 in the Ladies) drew 52 and 18 entrants, respectively, to Break Time Billiards and Sports Bar in Winston-Salem, NC. The 18 women were the largest number of female entrants to ever compete in an Open event on the tour. One of them, 11-year-old Noelle Tate, who finished 4th, became the youngest competitor of either gender to cash in a Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball event in the nine years of its existence.
So, we’ll start there and focus on the 11-year-old for a moment. Noelle Tate is just one member of a family of competitors who are making a name for themselves at the pool tables. Noelle is a younger sister to Bethany and Joey Tate. They were all competitors during last year’s nation-wide series of events, known as the Junior International Championships (JIC), which began its second season just last month. JIC founder, tour director and something of a ‘parental unit’ at JIC events, Ra Hanna, had announced, prior to the start of the JIC’s second season, that part of the second-year plan was to move the junior competitors into the arena of regional tours and Open events. Noelle Tate and (in the Open event) Landon Hollingsworth are manifestations of that plan. Tate came into the event and lost her second-round match to Marianne Merrill. She went on to win four on the loss side, including a 5-2 win over the woman who was favored to win the tournament, Christy Norris. She was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Katie Bischoff 5-3.
The eventual winner, Lisa Cossette, advanced through the field to a winners’ side semifinal against Norris, as Shannon Johnson and Amanda Mann squared off in the other one. Cossette and Johnson, following victories over Norris (double hill) and Mann (7-4), advanced to the hot seat match, at which Cossette prevailed 7-3.
Norris moved to the loss side and ran into Tate, who’d recently eliminated Casey Cork, double hill and Beth Allen 5-2. Mann picked up Katie Bischoff, who’d downed Marianne Merrill and Allie Tilley, both 5-2, to reach her. Tate defeated Norris 5-2 and was joined in the quarterfinals by Bischoff, who’d shut Mann out.
Bischoff eliminated Tate in that quarterfinal (5-3), but not soon enough to keep the 11-year-old out of the money in what was the first money round. Bischoff moved on to defeat Johnson in the semifinals 5-3. An appropriate double hill fight ensued in the single-match finals with Cossette claiming the title over Bischoff 7-6.
Justin Martin
Martin and Ussery battle twice to claim first Winter Classic title
Nine times out of 10, the winner and runner-up of an event, if they’ve competed against each other twice, have done so in the hot seat match and finals. Not so, this time around. Justin Martin and BJ Ussery, both heavily favored as potential winners of the event, met first in the third round. Martin sent Ussery to the loss side 7-1, where he began a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would offer him a second shot against Martin in the finals.
Martin advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Graham Swinson, as Corey Sykes and Jeff Abernathy squared off in the other one. Martin shut out Swinson and was joined in the hot seat match by Sykes, who’d sent Abernathy west 7-1. Martin claimed the hot seat in a double hill fight over Sykes.
On the loss side, Swinson drew Ussery, three matches into his loss-side streak, which had recently eliminated Thomas Sansone 7-5 and Josh Padron 7-1. Abernathy picked up junior competitor Landon Hollingsworth, who’d defeated Niko Konkel and Barry Mashburn, both 7-1. Mashburn had been afforded the opportunity to face Hollingsworth when, in the previous round, Christy Norris, one of the three women who competed in the Open event, along with Allie Tilley and Beth Allen, forfeited her match to Mashburn.
Ussery downed Swinson 7-2 and was joined in the quarterfinals by Abernathy, who’d defeated Hollingsworth 7-3. Ussery then eliminated Abernathy 7-2 and in the semifinals, Sykes in a double hill match. Martin defeated Ussery a second time in the finals, this time 7-2 to claim the inaugural Winter Classic.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break Time Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, and Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Feb. 12-13) will be hosted by Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
