In any pool game, and especially One Pocket, it is said that experience and the ability to “out-move” your opponent is the key. Sometimes though, not knowing that the shot you are lining up is the wrong “move” can be a player’s best friend. That might have been the case in round 9 of the Derby City Classic One Pocket Division on Wednesday night when Jesus Atencio took on “Eagle Eye” Jayson Shaw.
Atencio, who moved from Venezuela to Charlotte three months ago, was excited to just get the opportunity to play Shaw. “This is my first big one pocket event, and to get the chance to play a player like Jayson was a dream come true” said Atencio through a friend who was translating.
Shaw came out strong and ran the first rack for the 1-0 lead, but that is when the pool gods decided to get a littLe Mischievous. Atencio proceeded to score 8-6, 8-5 and 8-6 wins over this year’s Bigfoot Challenge champion.
“Jesus went for two shots that he knows he shouldn’t have, but they both went in” said Atencio’s friend. Shaw had the same explanation for what happened. “The kid played all the wrong shots and kept getting away with it” he said. “I need two and he needs two at the end, and I kick a ball out of his hole and the the white get double kissed and scratched. Not much you can do when that stuff happens. “
Atencio, who already has a loss at the hands of Justin Bergman, will now wait for round ten to be drawn. The loss was Shaw’s first, and he was upbeat after the loss. “I still have one life left” he reminded the rest of the remaining players.
Like criminals to a crime scene, pool players love returning to the sites of previous triumphs. It could be a home room, near to their actual home, or just a place where, for whatever reason, the balls were rolling well on a given day. On the weekend of July 13-14, Raed Shabib returned to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN, where he’d won the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour Championships last December. He went undefeated through a field of 39 entrants this time and got by Brian Bagwell twice to claim the event title.
They met first in the hot seat match. Shabib had defeated Ron Frank 9-6 in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Bagwell, in the meantime, accepted a forfeit from his son, Josh Miller, in the other winners’ side semifinal and advanced to the hot seat match against Shabib. Shabib defeated Bagwell the first time 9-5.
On the loss side, Frank picked up Gary South, who’d defeated Mark Hurst 7-3 and John Pallaria 7-4 to reach him. Miller, looking to work his way back to a possible finals rematch against his Dad, drew Jeff Abernathy, who arrived having just given up only three racks in 21 games (Abernathy racing to 9); two to Ryan Fossum and only one to Doug Schulz.
South downed Frank 7-3, whiLe Miller was busy chalking up more racks against Abernathy than his previous two opponents combined. With Abernathy again racing to 9, Miller advanced to the quarterfinals 5-6.
South ended any hopes for a father-son final by defeating Miller 7-2 in the quarterfinals. Bagwell then put an end to South’s run 7-3 for a second shot against Shabib in the hot seat. Shabib completed his undefeated run with a second victory over Bagwell; this time 9-4.
Herman and Angela Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards 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 (July 20-21), will be hosted by the Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
(l to r): Paul Wrangpetch, Cano Palaez & Miguel Laboy
The New England 9-Ball Series stepped out of its geographical comfort zone on Saturday, November 10, and paid a tour-stop visit to New York City. As a result, the visit drew a few familiar NYC-based players to the $1,000-added event (Stop #6) among the 23 who competed at Spin City Café Billiards in Woodside (Queens), NY. The players were not, as they usually are, split into upper and lower brackets for this particular event. The top two prizes were split by NYC-area veteran Miguel Laboy (runner-up) and winner Cano Palaez, who’d defeated Laboy in the hot seat match.
Following victories over Paul Wrangpetch, Hiram Maldonado, and another NYC-area vet, Thomas Schreiber, Palaez moved into a winners’ side semifinal against Atstoshi Mizuno. Laboy, in the meantime, who’d been awarded an opening round bye, got by Juan Guzman and Pat Langley to draw Jimmy Acosta in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Separated by 247 FargoRate points, Palaez (453) started his winners’ side semifinal with six on the wire in a race to 10 against Mizuno (700). Palaez chalked up the four racks he needed while giving up only two to Mizuno. Palaez was joined in the hot seat match by Laboy (663), who was playing a much tighter race against Acosta (635); Acosta, starting with a single game on the wire in a race to 7. Laboy won it 7-4. As he’d done against Mizuno, Palaez gave up only two racks to Laboy, winning it 4-2 (Laboy racing to 9) to claim the hot seat, and, as it turned out the event title.
On the loss side, Mizuno picked up Pat Langley, who, following his defeat at the hands of Laboy, had eliminated via shutout yet another familiar New-York-area name, Bob Toomey, and, in a straight-up race to 7, just did survive a double hill match against Michael Verducci. Acosta drew Wrangpetch, who’d lost his opening round match to Palaez and was working on a five-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d most recently eliminated Jennifer Tully 8-3 and Schreiber 5-4 (Schreiber racing to 9).
Wrangpetch took his next loss-side step, downing Acosta 4-8 (Acosta racing to 10), while Mizuno dispatched Langley 9-2. Wrangpetch, working with the identical handicap as hot seat occupant Palaez (at the start, six on the wire in a race to 10), eliminated Mizuno 4-6 in the quarterfinals before having his loss-side streak snapped by Laboy 9-2 (Wrangpetch racing to 4).
Palaez and Laboy, as friends, opted out the final match, and as the hot seat occupant, Palaez claimed the event title, while splitting the top two prizes with Laboy.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Spin City Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL (New England), Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#7) will return the tour to familiar territory. The $500-added event, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 24, will be hosted by Stix & Stones in Abington, MA.
Gareth Potts concluded his undefeated run through the field to win the Joy Chinese Pool U.S. Open on October 19th in Los Angeles.
This event was the first major event held by Joy Chinese Billiards in the states and drew 64 players from the United States, Britain, Norway, Australia, Pakistan and other countries.
The finals were a race to 13 with a 150 minute time limit. Surprisingly, the final match was a one sided affair with Potts in top form and Li Hewen struggling as he made multiple mistakes at the table. At the first official timeout, Potts already held a dominating 7-1 lead. As the match continued, Li Hewen couldn’t find his “A-Game” while Potts continued his high level of play. By the end, it was Potts scoring a 13-4 win for first place. Since Potts has already qualified for the Joy World Chinese Pool Masters in January, Li earned the qualifier that was up for grabs at this event.
Chris Melling continues to have one of his best seasons since returning to pocket billiards from snooker four years ago.
The stocky Englishman jumped out to a huge lead against Jayson Shaw then nearly gave the match away before rallying late to defeat friend and occasional roommate in the finals of the World Pool Series 8-Ball Classic Championship Friday evening at the IDM Club in Bucharest, Romania.
It was the second significant victory for Melling in 2018, having won the 9-ball competition of the Derby City Classic earlier in the year. He was also the runner-up in the ICEA Chinese Pool World Championships and finished third at the WPS Aramith 9-Ball Players Championship earlier in the year.
“I feel like I deserved it. I felt like I took most of my chances,” Melling said after the match.
The early stages of the title session were almost a mirror image to Melling’s semifinal match earlier in the day against Ioan Ladanyi, as he used a pair of dry breaks from Shaw coupled with three breaks-and-runs to build a 5-1 lead. He committed his first unforced error in the eighth game, misplaying position on the 15-ball and ultimately missing the shot. After Shaw cleared the table to cut the deficit to 6-2, Melling used two unforced errors and a dry break from Shaw and added in a break-and-run to win four consecutive racks and surge ahead, 10-2.
However, Shaw would not go quietly into the Romanian night.
He cleared the table after Melling missed the 9-ball in the 13th game, broke-and-ran and capitalized on two missed shots and a dry break by Melling to cut the lead to 10-6 heading into a 15-minute intermission. Shaw continued applying pressure after the break, taking advantage of a misplayed safety and another missed shot by Melling while Mixing in another break-and-run to cut the lead to 12-10. Shaw pulled within one game when he ran out after Melling failed to pocket a ball on the break in the 23rd game.
“Jayson just showed how much character he has. The will to win from being 10-2 down against me,” Melling said. “Without blowing my own trumpet, there’s no one in the world who can get close to me when I’m 10-2 in front and he just showed how good he is.”
That’s as close as Shaw would get. Melling ran out the 24th and 26th games after Shaw broke dry on both occasions. He added a break-and-run of his own in the 25th rack to push the lead to 16-11. Shaw finally landed a ball on the break and ran out in the 28th game, but it was too little too late as Melling did the same to close out the match in the subsequent game.
Shaw struggled with the break throughout the championship, failing to pocket a ball seven times in 14 opportunities. The Scotsman said after the match he didn’t feel that all of the balls were frozen to each other on some racks, adding that rules prohibited requesting a re-rack regardless.
“I’m not disappointed in losing. I’m disappointed in not getting the balls touching,” Shaw said.
“He was very unlucky with his breaks. The dry breaks cost him the match. That’s the in and the out of it really. Anyone who plays pool knows that.” Melling said.
The 8-Ball Classic Championship is the third event of the four-tournament 2018 World Pool Series. This event will be held at the IDM Club in Bucharest, Romania from August 7th to 10th 2018. The World Pool Series is sponsored by Rasson, Aramith, Predator, Iwan Simonis, Tiger, and Kamui. Our suppliers and partners are Billiards Digest, CueScore, Outsville, and the WPA.
KC Hawley and Shawn Miller fought three times to claim victory at the May 19-20 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. Miller took the hot seat opener of the series, but Hawley returned from the semifinals to take the next two in a double elimination final. The event drew 32 entrants to Rooster’s 21 Pool Room in Sissonville, WV.
To get to their three-match opener battling for the hot seat, Hawley sent Mike Gulley to the loss side 7-2 in one winners’ side semifinal, whiLe Miller downed Brian James 7-5 in the other one. Miller claimed the hot seat, double hill, and waited in it for Hawley to come back.
On the loss side, Gulley picked up Lee O’Neal, who’d defeated Billy Walker 6-5 and Taz Holliday 6-4 to reach him. James drew Jonathan Ailstock, who’d eliminaTed Dean Buckhammer 6-5 and Dustin Booth 6-4. James and O’Neal advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 6-2 victories over Ailstock and Gulley.
James downed O’Neal 6-4 in those quarterfinals, before having his brief trek on the loss side ended by Hawley 7-5 in the semifinals. Hawley and Miller fought back and forth to double hill in the opening set of the true double elimination final. Hawley kept the second set out of double-hill territory with a 7-5 win that earned him the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Rooster’s 21 Pool Room, 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 Memorial Day weekend, will be hosted by BreakTime Billiards in Cary, NC.
China B, the Philippines and Chinese Taipei all powered through to the last eight of the 2018 World Cup of Pool at the Luwan Arena, Huangpu District in Shanghai, as the quarter-final line-up begins to take shape ahead of the weekend.
The $250,000 tournament originated in 2006 and has since moved around the world before touching down in Shanghai. The World Cup features 32 pairs from across the globe including two from host nation China. Running from 15th to 20th May, the event is on live TV in over 100 countries around the world.
In the opening match of the session, China B – Kong Dejing and Wang Ming – won a scrappy encounter against Germany as the pairing of Souquet and Filler made far too many errors for a race to seven match and were made to pay the price.
Commented Kong, “I was really nervous at the beginning but later on I stepped up and we took advantage of our opponent’s mistakes. We are very proud to reach the quarter-finals.”
The second match saw Team Philippines motor past England 7-0. The English pair of Mark Gray and Imran Majid spent the vast majority of the match as spectators as Carlo Biado and Jeffrey De Luna put on a clinic.
Commented Biado, “At the start of the match I felt a bit shaky but I said to myself, stay focus, relax and just play the game. Anybody can win and there will be pressure in the remaining games. Anything can happen.”
De Luna was looking ahead to their quarter-final match against the youngsters from China B, “We practised hard last night before we came here. China B have top players, they are good young players. We will prepare for a tough match.”
In the final match Greece paid the price for an early mistake to go 2-0 ahead. It was their last effective contribution to the match as Chinese Taipei took the next seven racks for victory.
It was an object lesson for Nick Malai and Alex Kazakis as a single miss effectively ended their World Cup hopes, while Chang Jung-Lin and Cheng Yu-Hsuan cashed in on the Greek error in the most clinical way.
Cheng, “I am really happy because we played an almost perfect game with just one dry break. This was one of our best performances on TV. It doesn’t matter who we are against in the next round, we just have to play our own game.”
Play continues on Friday evening with three more second round matches.
Finland v USA
Spain v Sweden
Australia v China A
2018 World Cup of Pool sponsored by Iwan Simonis who supply the Official Cloth; the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc, and Predator is the Official Cue of the event.
There were new developments at the start of the European 9-ball tour as thousands of pool fans tuned in to watch Thursday’s matches on Kozoom and the EPBF facebook page. With the free promotion in full swing and a packed house here in Italy it was a great start to the 2018 season.
The last time we were in Italy in November 2017, the young Polish star Wiktor Zielinski claimed his first ever Eurotour title and he has made light work of the first two matches here today. First up was the unknown British player Mark Foster who started well but surely felt the pressure as he caved in 9-4. Up next for Wiktor was Slovenia’s Matjaz Erculj who is no slouch himself but after Wiktor raced into a 3-0 lead it looked plain sailing from there. Matjaz had other ideas though and hung on in there picking off the frames and as he got closer, the nerves set in for Wiktor. Matjaz pulled it back and trailed 7-6 but a little mistake let Wiktor take the spoils 9-6 and progress to the next round where another victory tomorrow at 15:00h will see him safely into the last 32.
Other notable results saw Austria’s Mario He also through and needing one more to book his place in the single elimination while the local heroes, Italy’s Fabio Petroni & Daniele Corrieri having to do it the hard way on the loser’s side. The talented Portuguese player Henrique Correia who is well known in the senior division with multiple titles was up against former world champion Oliver Ortmann. After a bright start, Henrique lost ground as Oliver put rack after rack on the board and eventually won 9-4 which sends Henrique to the last chance saloon tomorrow where he awaits the winner from Daniele Corrieri or Spain’s Javier Del Santo-Sanz.
Every day, two matches from the event will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF for free. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 20 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page every day. Results and schedules can be found at www.eurotouronline.com so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open.
The event will be hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.eurotouronline.com visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
(l to r): Spencer Auigbelle, Kayla (Manager of Shooters) & Jeremy Sossei
It’s been just over 10 years (November, 2007) since Jeremy Sossei chalked up his first win on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour. That first win, at what was the Ocean State 9-Ball Championships, saw him win five on the loss side, including a semifinal victory over George “Ginky” Sansouci to double dip Tony Robles in the finals, with the second set going double hill. On the weekend of February 17-18, at the 30th Northeast 9-Ball Open, Sossei recorded his 18th victory on the tour, going undefeated through the field. Though he would enter the event as the #2 player on the tour and face #1 (Matt Tetreault; 10 points ahead) in the hot seat match, it would be a four-years-in-the-making finals rematch against Canadian Spencer Auigbelle that would decide it. The win, combined with Tetreault’s third place finish, moved Sossei 65 points ahead of Tetreault and into the top spot in the tour standings. The $2,000-added ($500 for Second Chance) event drew 40 entrants to Sharpshooter’s Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY.
Four years ago, they’d met in the hot seat match and finals, with Sossei winning them both. This past weekend, they met first in a winners’ side quarterfinal, each having downed three opponents to get there. Sossei defeated Auigbelle 9-6 in that winners’ side quarterfinal and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Bucky Souvanthong (who finished third in the event four years ago). Tetreault, in the meantime, squared off against Dave Giner in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Sossei sent Souvanthong to the loss side 9-7, and in the hot seat match, faced Tetreault, who’d defeated Giner 9-2. The tour’s #2 player (Sossei) claimed the hot seat from the #1 player (Tetreault) 9-5 and waited on the return of (at the time) a player (Auigbelle) with only 60 ranking points chalked up over two events.
Auigbelle began his trip back to the finals with a 7-4 win over Mike Hurley, and then defeated Jorge Teixeira 7-2, to draw Giner. Souvanthong picked up Bruce Carroll, who’d been defeated in the opening round of play, and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would end when he finally ran into Auigbelle. A double hill win over Nick Brucato, and a 7-2 victory over Bruce Nagle, set Carrol up against Souvanthong.
Carroll advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Souvanthong, while Auigbelle defeated Giner 7-1 to join him. Auigbelle ended Carroll’s loss-side streak 7-4 in those quarterfinals, and then, defeated Tetreault in the semifinals 7-3.
With momentum as a bit of a tail wind, Auigbelle won the opening set of the true double elimination final 9-3. Sossei came back and won the second 9-6 to claim the event title.
A 16-entrant Second Chance Tournament saw Jared Zimmerman go undefeated through the field, but not before Mark Stewart, who lost his opening round match and won seven on the loss side, challenged him in the finals. Zimmerman took that final 3-1 to claim the Second Chance title, and its $300 first prize. Stewart took home $200 as the runner-up, whiLe Mike Hurley finished third ($140). Josh Scheff finished fourth ($100), while Greg Bombard and Nick Brucato finished in the tie for fifth ($40 each). Ryan Smith was the raffle winner of a $1,200 Joss Cue.
The next stop on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of February 24-25, will be hosted by East Ridge Billiards in Rochester, NY.
Danny “The Shredder” Smith captured his first-ever Space City Open 9-Ball title, plowing through an 83-player field, undefeated, besting Roberto “Superman” Gomez in the first set of the true double elimination final, 9-3. Josh Roberts went undefeated in the 40-player, one pocket division, ousting John Morra in the first set, 3-2, taking home his first Space City Open One Pocket title. Jeremy “Double J” Jones went undefeated in the 9-ball banks division, taking down Tommy Tokoph in the first set, 3-2, earning himself a whopping fourth, banks division title. Wrapping up four long days of match play, the ladies 9-ball concluded on Sunday, with Gail “Virginia Slim” Eaton defeating Ming “The Empress” Ng, to capture her second, Space City Open title.
In its sixth year, the four-day, four-division, $6,000 added Space City Open VI (SCO) was held at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, Texas, November 30th – December 3rd, 2017, featuring top players from across America. This year’s line-up featured a cast of new talent, including Danny Smith, Roberto Gomez, John Morra, Jason Brown, and Kelly Isaac, along with numerous others. Admission was free, and fans enjoyed four days of top-notch pool, provided by world-class players.
In the 9-ball division, Danny Smith obliterated the field with wins over Marlin Griffith, 9-4, J.C. Torres, 9-3, Jeremy Jones, 9-7, and Alex Calderone, 9-4, while Jason “Jaybird” Brown took down Taylor Hobbs, 9-8, Curt Sheldon, Josh Roberts, 9-8, and James Davis, Jr., 9-2. Two-time Space City Open 9-Ball Champion, Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant, made his way to the final four with victories over Mike Wilson, 9-2, David Twitty, 9-6, Kevin Guimond, 9-0, and Cesar Arechiga, 9-2, while Roberto “Superman” Gomez overcame Kenneth Price, 9-6, Randy Nickerson, 9-3, Chase Rudder, 9-5, and John Morra, 9-2. On the one loss side, Tommy Tokoph took out Roberts, 7-3, and Jones eliminated former pro C.J. Wiley, 7-1, while Yovani Salvia ousted Rudder, 7-4, and Jeff Chauncey destroyed Guimond, 7-1. Back on the east side, Gomez bested Bryant, 9-6, while Smith overwhelmed Brown, 9-4. Smith ran away with the hot seat match, defeating Gomez, 9-2. The one loss side witnessed Morra overpower Tokoph, 7-1, and Jones handily defeat Arechiga, 7-0. Davis, Jr. ended Rudder, 7-6, while Guimond dusted off Calderone, 7-4. Morra went on to eliminate Jones, 7-4, and Brown, 7-1, while Guimond overcame Davis, Jr., 7-3. Bryant squeezed by Guimond, 7-6, rounding out the final four players in the division. Morra was on a role, taking out Bryant, 7-2, to win his fourth match on the one loss side. He was stopped short by Gomez, 7-1, finishing in a respectable, third place. Gomez earned himself a rematch with Smith, and “The Shredder” was ready. With his spot-on break, it was a short-lived set for Gomez, much like the first. Smith shot out of the gate and never looked back, capturing the first set, 9-3, and his first, Space City Open 9-Ball title.
[photo id=48363|align=right]Last year, Josh Roberts finished runner-up in the one pocket division, but this year he came out on top. Roberts ran through a 40-player field, undefeated, booking wins over Jim McCary, Adam Cooper, and Ted Reeves, 3-1, while John Morra overcame Gabe Owen, Marvin Diaz, 3-0, and Sylver Ochoa, 3-1. Houston’s Ernesto Bayaua made his way to the final four with wins over Cliff Joyner, Dallas’ Gerardo Perez, 3-0, and Roberto Gomez, 3-1, while Justin Whitehead overwhelmed Curt Sheldon, 3-0, Corey Flud, 3-0, and Kent Berthelot, 3-1. On the one loss side, Davis, Jr. eliminated Ochoa, 3-1, Brown defeated Reeves, 3-0, and Diaz ended Berthelot, 3-1. Following an early hit at the hands of Roberts, Jeremy Jones won four matches, including victories over Jeff Bramblet, 3-0, Jeff Chauncey, 3-1, and Gomez, 3-1. As the final eight took shape, winners’ side matches witnessed Roberts edge out Morra, 3-2, and Whitehead dust off Bayaua, 3-1. Roberts wasted little time with Whitehead, capturing the hot seat, 3-0. Back on the west side, Brown denied Ochoa, 3-0, and Bayaua, 3-2, while Jones squeezed by Diaz, 3-2, falling in turn to Morra, by the same score. Morra made quick work of Whitehead, 3-0, moving on to Roberts, and the finals. In the first set, players were neck and neck. Tied at two a piece, an unforced error by Morra sealed his fate, and Roberts ended the set to secure his first, Space City Open One Pocket title.
Kicking off the four-day, billiard extravaganza, was the 26-player, 9-ball banks division, witnessing former Mosconi Cup MVP and former U.S. Open Champion, Jeremy Jones, capture his fourth Space City Open Banks title. Jones blazed a path through Kent Berthelot, 3-0, Gail Eaton, 3-0, and Roberto Gomez, 3-1, while Tommy Tokoph handled Ricki Casper, 3-0, former U.S. Open runner-up, Tan Hoa, 3-2, and Scotty Evans, 3-1. Former U.S. Open Champion, Gabe Owen, checked off Alfred Flores, 3-0, Richie Richeson, 3-0, and Jason “Jaybird” Brown, 3-1, while Cliff Joyner overwhelmed Beaumont’s Carl Honey, 3-0, Will Felder, 3-1, and Alan Myers, 3-1. On the one loss side, John Morra took out Berthelot, while Roberto Gomez ousted James Davis, Jr., 3-1. Canadian Alex Olinger ended Alan Myers, 3-2, while Josh Roberts handled Jason Brown, 3-1. Down to the final eight, on the east side, Jones defeated Tokoph, 3-1, and Owen slid by Joyner, 3-1. In a speedy, hot seat match, Jones crushed Owen, 3-0. Back on the west side, Gomez eliminated Morra, but fell to Joyner, 3-1, while Roberts took out Myers, 3-0, falling to Tokoph in the next round, 3-0. Tokoph was on the war path, sending home Joyner, 3-2, and Owen, 3-2, reaching Jones, and the finals. Players teed off, both keeping pace as the set progressed. Tied at two a piece, Jones inched ahead in the final game, closing out the set to defend his 2016 title and secure his fourth banks title.
[photo id=48362|align=right]Wrapping up Space City, 24 women battled it out on Sunday for over $2,400 in cash in the ladies 9-ball division. Gail “Virginia Slim” Eaton came out firing, ousting Terry “The Terrorizer” Petrosino, Calaia Jackson, 7-1, and Toledo’s Kelly Isaac, 7-6, whiLe Ming “The Empress” Ng made her way to the final four with wins over Cindy Ferry, Nayla Hoak, and Joyce Davis. Angleton’s Brandi Booth came out firing, securing victories over Ricki Casper, 7-3, and Robyn Petrosino, 7-6, while Teresa “The Princess of Pool” Garland took down Alicia Huff, 7-5, and Yvonne Asher, 7-1. On the west side, Isaac eliminated Denton’s Amy Jones, 5-2, and T. Petrosino reined in Davis, 5-3. Natalie Mans squeezed by Asher, 5-4, and R. Petrosino extinguished Yvonne Ramirez, 5-2. Down to the final eight, east side action saw Isaac eliminate T. Petrosino, 5-3, and Garland, 5-4, while Mans dusted off R. Petrosino, 5-1, in turn, falling to Ng, by the same score. Ng went on to eliminate Isaac, 5-4, and Booth, 5-1, earning herself a rematch with Eaton. In the first set of the true, double elimination final, Ng served Eaton her first loss, 7-6, and the finals ventured into overtime. Players displayed poise and composure in the late hour, but only one player could wear the crown. Players fought for every game, but it was Eaton who pulled ahead to end the second set, 5-3, capturing her second, Space City Open 9-ball title.
The Space City Open extends a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who supported this event; Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar, along with owners David and Shannon Richardson, the entire Bogies’ staff, assistant tournament director, John Newsome, Simplified Electronics, APA of North Harris County, Gulf War Veteran Mike McDonald, Ozone Billiards, and Outsville Billiards. “Special Supporters” of this event included Mark Stubbs, Glen Benton, Ted Reeves, Adam Cooper, Richard Holstein, Richard “Black Diamond” Stuart, and Art Politte. This year’s event featured booths by Jerry Olivier Cues and Cue Repair, Joe Salazar Connoisseur of Custom Cues, Champions Cues, Bryant Billiards, and Q-Xtender.com.
Space City Open VII is set for December 6th-9th, 2018. For sponsorship information, please contact Kim Newsome at 713.825.1411, or email lonestartour@gmail.com.
