It's the point where the thinking rubber meets the playing road. An undefeated competitor in the hot seat faces an opponent who's warded off elimination for a long time on the loss side of the bracket. The final match goes to double hill and in that last deciding game, the two face different kinds of stress that amount to the same thing; to have worked so hard and have it come to this – one game to decide, as if the rest of the tournament hadn't even happened. 

 

And so it went for Matt Fralin and Chad Pike as they squared off for the first time in the finals of the January 16 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. Fralin in the hot seat, Pike at the end of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak. Scored tied at 6-6. Fralin hung on to win it and complete the undefeated run. The event drew 33 entrants to Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC.

 

As Pike was toiling away on the loss side, Fralin advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Alex Johnson. Brian Pate, in the meantime, faced Bobby Glenn. Fralin sent Johnson over to the loss side 7-3, as Pate was downing Glenn 6-1. As Fralin and Pate squared off in the hot seat match, both were mindful of the fact that they'd gotten to that point with the help and sponsor support of their (Doug) Beasley Custom Cue. Fralin's Beasley Custom Cue defeated Pate's Beasley Custom Cue 7-4, and Fralin was in the hot seat.

 

Over on the loss side, Pike was working his way towards a meet-up with Glenn. He won his third and fourth loss-side matches against Zack Wilson, double hill, and Michael Robertson 7-3. Johnson drew Robert Ash, who'd defeated the man responsible for sending Pike to the loss side, Rashad Brooks, 4-3 and shut out J.T. Ringgold.

 

Pike and Ash advanced to the quarterfinals; Pike, 7-3 over Glenn, and Ash, 4-3 over Johnson. Pike then chalked up his third straight 7-3 win (over Ash), and let Brian Pate get one more on him in a 7-4 semifinal victory. 

 

So there they were; Fralin and Pike down to this. Last match, became last game, became last ball, became an undefeated run for Fralin and a Q City 9-Ball title.

 

Jason Rogers worked his way undefeated through a field of 39 to capture the August 22-23 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. The event was hosted by Breaktime in Cary, NC.

 

Rogers worked his way into the hot seat, by first defeating Paul Swinson 8-2 in a winners' side semifinal. Steve Page, in the meantime, was busy sending Matt Fralin to the loss side 10-6. With Page racing to 10, Rogers claimed the hot seat 8-8, and waited on Page's return.

 

On the loss side, Fralin picked up 13-year-old Peter Abatangelo, who'd defeated Andy Bowden 4-3 (Bowden racing to 6), and J. T. Ringgold 4-4 (Ringgold racing to 8). Swinson drew Bobby Clinton, who'd defeated Jason Best and Jackson Jeffrys, both 7-3, to reach him.

 

Fralin eliminated Abatangelo 7-2, while Clinton and Swinson locked up in a double hill battle that eventually sent Clinton against Fralin in the quarterfinals. Clinton ended up on the losing end of his second straight double hill match, which gave Fralin a second shot against Page in the semifinals.

 

Page and Fralin also locked up in a double hill fight, which ended with Page heading back for his second shot against Rogers in the hot seat. Rogers defeated Page a second time, by the same score he'd chalked up in the hot seat match – 8-8 – and claimed the event title.