Two former winners on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour squared off on Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 24-25) in the finals of the tour’s 6th Annual Turkey Bowl. Hunter White, who, as a junior player, won three events on the tour two years ago, went undefeated through a record field of 76 entrants (last year’s Turkey Bowl drew 66). White had to defeat Chase Smith twice, whose last appearance in a Q City 9-Ball winners’ circle occurred in September 2017. The $1,000-added event, which featured competitors from eight states (WI, MI, VA, TN, NC, SC, GA & FL) and Germany, was hosted by Steakhorse Restaurant & Billiards in Spartanburg, SC.
They met first in a winners’ side semifinal, as former BEF Junior Champion (14-and-under Boys, 2013) Sergio Rivas and Lauren Kauffman squared off in the other one. In their first of two, White and Smith battled to double hill before White finished it 7-5 (Smith racing to 6). Rivas joined White for the hot seat match, having shut Kauffman out. White claimed the hot seat in a double hill win over Rivas and waited for Smith to return.
Anderson jumped right into the quarterfinals when Kauffman forfeited their match. He was joined by Smith, who’d downed Hart 6-1. With Anderson racing to 8 in the quarterfinal match, Smith defeated him 6-1 to face Rivas in the semifinals.
Rivas slipped a gear, so to speak, and managed to chalk up only one rack of the 10 he needed to win the semifinal. Smith, in the meantime, chalked up the six he needed for a re-match against White in the finals.
White and Smith fought a second double hill battle, with the same result. With Smith racing to 6 in the first of potentially two sets, White chalked up his seven racks first and claimed the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Dayne Miller and his Steakhorse staff, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Dec. 1-2), will be hosted by Speakeazy Billiards in Sanford, NC.
They were all set to get underway on the August 4-5 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour at Buck’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC when the lights went out. With no chance of restoring power in the immediate future, tour directors Herman and Angela Parker scrambled to find someplace where the event’s 25 entrants could go to shoot some pool. They found one about 11 miles/15 minutes away and shifted operations to Shotmakers Sports Bar and Billiards in Garner, NC. They settled into the event which was won by George Crawford, who went undefeated through the field, and twice, downed the tour’s most prolific competitor, JT Ringgold.
They met first in a winners’ side quarterfinal. With Crawford racing to 8, and Ringgold to 10, Crawford sent Ringgold to the loss side 8-8, advancing to meet Ricky Dickson in a winners’ side semifinal. Junior Avery and Bobby Glen squared off in the other one.
Crawford downed Dickson 8-2, as Avery got by Glenn 6-1. Crawford claimed the hot seat 8-4 over Avery and waited for Ringgold to get back to him from his five-match, loss-side run.
That loss-side run would encompass a total of 63 games, 50 of which Ringgold won to challenge Crawford a second time. He opened the trek back to the finals with back-to-back 10-1 victories over Casey Cork and Daniel Adams, which set him up to face Glenn. Dickson drew Anthony Mabe, who’d eliminated Chris Roades 7-5 and Lauren Kauffman 7-3 to reach him.
Ringgold and Mabe handed Glenn and Dickson their second straight losses; Ringgold advancing to the quarterfinals 10-3 over Glenn and Mabe, joining him after a double hill win (7-4) over Dickson. Ringgold then stopped Mabe’s run 10-3 in the quarterfinals, and stopped Avery’s single-game, loss-side bid 10-5 in the semifinals.
Ringgold put up a fight in those finals, chalking up one more rack against Crawford than he had in the winners’ side quarterfinal match that had sent him to the loss side. But it wasn’t enough. Crawford persevered in a double hill battle (8-9) that earned him his first Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff of both Buck’s Billiards and Shotmakers Sports Bar and Billiards for their cooperation and assistance with the ‘lights out’ change of venue, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the tour, scheduled for this weekend (August 11-12), will be a $250-added event, hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
If your favorite dictionary doesn’t define ‘frustration’ with pictures of countless pool players who’ve endured long, loss-side journeys, only to be defeated, double hill, in a tournament final, it probably should. Jason Rogers qualified for this hypothetical photo gallery by losing his opening match and winning nine on the loss side to reach the finals of the January 27-28 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City-9-Ball Tour, hosted by Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC. Rogers was defeated in that final match by Don Lilly, who, in so doing, completed an undefeated run through a field of 34, a little less than a quarter of which (8) were women.
One of those women, Lauren Kauffman, was responsible for sending Rogers to the loss side in the opening round of play. She would go on to earn free entry to a future tournament for being the top female finisher at the event. Rogers, in the meantime, began his loss-side trek, as Lilly advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Bo Blakely. Walt Baldwin and Phillip Skibo squared off in the other one.
Lilly and Blakely battled to double hill before Lilly advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Baldwin, who’d sent Skibo to the loss side 8-7 (Skibo racing to 9). Lilly claimed the hot seat 6-4 over Baldwin and waited for what would turn out to be some anxious moments in his final match against Rogers.
On the loss side, Rogers and his opening round opponent, Kauffman, worked their way toward a meeting just outside the first money round. With four notches on his loss-side belt, Rogers downed a player known only as “Shaft” 8-4, while Kauffman defeated Blade Best, double hill. Both matches in the battle for 7th/8th place saw the winners shut out their opponents; Rogers’ re-match against Kauffman (8-0) and Mickey Hucks’ victory over Billie Spatafora (6-0).
Rogers drew Blakely, while Hucks picked up Skibo. Rogers and Hucks advanced to the quarterfinals; Rogers 8-2 over Blakely and Hucks 6-3 over Skibo. Rogers gave up only a single rack to Hucks and won the quarterfinal match. He gave up three to win the semifinal against Baldwin 8-3.
Rogers, with the higher handicap, was racing to 8 in the final, with Lilly racing to 6. They battled to double hill before Lilly finished it to complete his undefeated run.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Corner Pockets, along with 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 the weekend of February 2-3, will be hosted by Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
Christy Norris and Kenny Daughtrey split the top two prizes on the August 6-7 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour by opting out of a final match. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Norris claimed the official event title. The event drew 43 entrants to Brown's Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
With Daughtrey at work on the loss side, after a third round defeat at the hands of Randy Hodges, Norris advanced to a winners' side semifinal versus Joe Cosky. Jerry Cannon, in the meantime, squared off against Lauren Kauffman. Norris did her part to arrange for an all-female hot seat match by defeating Cosky 6-2. Cannon, though, downed Kauffman 5-2. Norris claimed the hot seat 6-2 over Cannon, in what proved to be her last match of the weekend.
On the loss side, Daughtrey was at work on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him to the finals. He chalked up wins #3 and #4 against Chad Weachter (6-1) and DJ Outlaw (6-3) to draw Kauffman. Cosky picked up the man who'd sent Daughtrey to the loss side, Randy Hodges, who'd gotten by Bobby Clinton 5-5 (Clinton racing to 7), and J.T. Ringgold, by the same score (Ringgold racing to 9).
A Daughtrey/Hodges re-match was avoided when Cosky downed Hodges 6-3. Daughtrey finished Kauffman's weekend with the first of three straight 6-2 wins. He repeated that score in the quarterfinals against Cosky, and again, in the semifinals versus Cannon. It was at this point that the two tired finalists decided against playing a final match, and chose to split the top two cash prizes.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff of Brown's Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, and Delta-13 racks. The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for August 13-14, will be hosted by Gate City Billiards in Greensboro, NC.
David Airfield may have chalked up his victory on the Q City 9-Ball Tour by taking advantage of a short, handicapped field (15), but he had to get by a wily veteran, Larry Kressel, twice, to do it. The August 8th event was hosted by Diamonds Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
They met first in a winners' side semifinal, while James Hicks and Doug Carter met in the other one. Kressel, who's been chalking up victories and cashing on tours for over a decade now, was racing to 11, while Airfield needed six games. He got his six, as Kressel's five moved him to the loss side. Battling for the hot seat, Airfield faced Hicks, who'd defeated Carter 8-4. Airfield claimed the hot seat with a shutout and waited on Kressel's return.
On the loss side, Kressel picked up Collin Hall, winner of the previous week's stop on the tour. Hall had defeated Joey Mastermaker 6-4 and Lauren Kauffman 6-2 to reach Kressel. Carter faced Mat Lemire, who'd eliminated Wayne Richards and Ricky Dickson, both 7-3.
Over the next three games, propelling him back to the finals, Kressel gave up only a single rack more (7) than he'd given up to Airfield in the winners' side semifinal (6). He gave up two of them to Hall, as Lemire defeated Carter 7-5. He gave up two more to Lemire in the quarterfinals, and three to Hicks in the semifinals.
Kressel chalked up one more rack in the finals (6) than he had against Airfield in the hot seat match (5). Airfield, though, completed his undefeated day 6-6 to claim the event title.
The next stop on the Q-City 9-Ball Tour, to be hosted by Grady's in Lexington, SC, is scheduled for Saturday, August 15.
