Room owners Kim and Tracy Sanders welcomed pool aficionados to Round Rock, TX for their inaugural $14,000 added Skinny Bob’s Nine Ball Classic.
It was noted that in addition to the Americans, the field had players from all over the world representing Canada, Poland, Bulgaria, Mexico, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, Switzerland, Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines and Hong Kong.
Players and fans were treated to three main championships in addition to a banks ring game, a ladies ring nine ball game and an opening night nine ball mini. When the smoke cleared in the $500 added event, Fedor Gorst and Jeff de Luna chopped the cheese.
The event continued the following day with the $4,000 added One Pocket Tournament. Thirty seven players posted a $200 entry fee to compete – the format was double elimination with races to three.
Hot off claiming the Bayou State Classic One Pocket title, Roberto Gomez was still on fire. After receiving a first round bye and then dispatching Kristina Zlateva 3-0, Kash Keeton 3-0, Jerry (Alex) Calderon 3-2 and Roland Garcia 3-1, Roberto arrived at the hot seat match.
Meanwhile, Fedor Gorst was taking no prisoners as he tore through the bottom half of the chart. Mark Nanashee 3-0, Chip Compton 3-1, Billy Thorpe 3-0, Jeff de Luna 3-0 and Raed Shabib 3-0 were all sent west by the Russian.
The hot seat match was close but in the end, it was Gorst who edged out Gomez 3-2 to take his seat in the finals.
After being sent to the one loss side by Calderon 3-2, Roland Garcia eliminated de Luna 3-1 and Tommy Tokoph 3-2 to take on Roberto. Neck and neck, in the end it was Roland who won the match 3-2 and moved on to the finals.
Although he put up a good fight in the finals, Roland went down 3-0 and Fedor claimed another title!
Later that night, another $500 was added to the banks ring game and finalists Fedor Gorst and Blaine Barcus decided to split the cash.
The $300 added Ladies Ring Nine Ball game also began. Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva took top honors over Michelle Corteza with Jennifer Kraber and Kim Pierce taking third and fourth places.
The following day, the $7,000 added Open Nine Ball began. A full field of 128 players posted their $150 entry fee to play in this double elimination, winner breaks tournament – races were 7/7.
Although the field was packed with champions, it didn’t seem to matter to young Gabriel Martinez. He won his first match against Daniel Schneider 7-2 and barely survived against current Texas Open champ Vitaliy Patsura 7-6. Down went Steve Sheppard 7-5, Jon Demetand Joey Torres – both 7-2. Next was Blaine Barcus 7-4 – Gabe had arrived at the hot seat match.
However, in the other portion of the bracket, Fedor Gorst was on his way to the hot seat. He barely broke a sweat as he defeated Bart Czapla 7-4 and skunked Eric Aicinena and Roberto Gomez 7-0. Next was Naoyuki Oi who went down 7-2, Jesus Atencio 7-3 and Michael Schneider 7-1.
Gorst steamrolled Martinez 7-0, locked up his seat in the finals and sent Gabe west to await an opponent.
After being beaten by Gorst, Michael Schneider beatreigning Bayou State Classic 9 Ball champ, Roland Garcia and Blaine Barcus – both 7-4 – to face Martinez for the other slot in the finals.
Looking for a rematch with Fedor, Gabe eliminated Michael 7-3 and moved into the finals.
Since this was true double elimination, Gabe would have to win two matches to claim the title. Fedor was having none of that as he took the match & title 7-4.
Sakura Muramatsu
The final division of this event began on Saturday. A full field of thirty two players posted their $100 entry fees to play in the $2,500 added Ladies Nine Ball Championship. This was also double elimination with winner breaks and races to 7/5.
Known as “The Roadrunner,” young Savannah Easton shot out of the gate and without looking back, ended up in the hot seat match. On her way there, she defeated Crystal Jones 7-1, edged out Sakura Muramatsu 7-6, Kennedy Meyman 7-2 and Kim Sanders 7-4.
In the other portion of the bracket, Tara Williams survived two squeakers against Liz Galvan and Jennifer Kraber 7-6. She then spanked former Texas Open champ Ming Ng 7-2 and the always tough April Larson 7-4 on her way to the hot seat match.
The hot seat match was all Savannah as she cruised past Tara 7-3 and waited for a finals opponent.
Meanwhile, after losing her second match to Savannah, Sakura mowed down both Melissa Smith and Ada Lio 5-1, Ming 5-2, Angie Payne 5-1, Kim Sanders 5-0, Music City Open champ Tina Malm 5-3 and Tara 5-0 to reach the finals.
Since this was true double elimination, the current Texas Open 9 Ball champ would have to beat Savannah twice – and she did. Sakura won the first set 7-5 and the second one 5-1 to take the title!
And, as usual, thanks again to everyone at Skinny Bob’s for a first class event! Big thanks to the local sponsors – they included Austin Pro, Diamond Billiard Products, GAF, Hanshew Custom Cues, Sanders Roofing & Exteriors, ABC Supply Co, Inc., Simonis, Aramith, Savage Billiards and Mints Amusements.
Thanks to Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing an exemplary job juggling multiple events.
And, as always, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors! They include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the $12,000 added Midwest Open Billiards Championship III to be held at Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH. Featuring six events – one pocket, 9 ball banks, open nine ball, a bank ring game, ladies 8 ball, a pro ten ball invitational and mini tournaments galore – Michael’s will also crown an all around champ! Dates are March 20th-26th – hope to see you there!
Chris McMinn, Sherrie Glenn, Fedor Gorst and Tommy Tokoph
It doesn’t happen often. When a given event offers multiple opportunities to compete, there is often a fatigue factor which plays into the possibility that any one, two or three competitors playing in more than one of the events will succeed multiple times. They might finish respectably in two events, winning one and placing among the top five or so in another. But three competitors, finishing first, second and third in two events on the same long weekend? We searched for instances where it had happened before, but couldn’t find one, which is not an indication that it never happened, merely an indicator that it’s a rarity.
At the 8th Annual Junior Norris Memorial, held this past weekend (Aug. 10-14), offering $10k worth of total added-money that attracted (with some crossover) 233 entrants to Sikes Center Mall in Wichita Falls, TX, Fedor Gorst, Shane McMinn and Tommy Tokoph finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in both the $5k-added, 82-entrant 9-Ball Open and the $2k-added, 44 entrant 10-Ball Open.
Those events were just two of the seven events that comprised the long-weekend memorial celebrating the “Texas Legend,” James “Junior” Norris, a Wichita Falls hometown hero, WWII veteran, generally acknowledged in his day as one of the top 9-ball players in the US and inductee into the Texas Billiards Hall of Fame in 1995 at the age of 70. Norris passed away in March of 2016 at the age of 91, having attended the first two of the Memorial events named in his honor. The event has expanded over the years to embrace multiple game disciplines and launch each year with a VIP Dinner at its start and a Birthday BBQ celebration (this past weekend honoring what would have been Norris’ 97th birthday). The memorial, which was originally just a family barbecue event which occurred around the time of two birthdays, Junior’s in June and his mother, Sadie’s on the Fourth of July, turned into a barbecue and pool tournament in 2014.
In addition to the two events won by Gorst, the 8th Annual Junior Norris Memorial Shootout featured a $1,000-added, 57 entrant, 575-and-under 8-Ball tournament, a $2k-added Women’s 9-Ball tournament and three junior events, for 14-18 Girls and Boys and a 13U event, to which $500 was added for all three.
Though the 9-Ball event’s defending champion, Edgie Geronimo did not compete, last year’s runner-up Justin Espinosa did. So did the event’s 2018 champion, Robb Saez. Fedor Gorst finished 4th in last year’s 9-ball event and 3rd in 10-ball. This year, he went undefeated in both. Among the opponents in his seven-match march to the 9-ball victory were Espinosa, whom he defeated in the third round 9-2, Greg Sandifer 9-4 in a winners’ side semifinal and finally, Tokoph in the hot seat and McMinn in the finals, both 9-2. Tokoph had sent McMinn to the loss side in the other winners’ side semifinal, double hill. On the loss side, McMinn downed Espinosa 9-6, Sandifer 9-7 in the quarterfinals and Tokoph 9-5 in the semifinals.
In the 10-Ball event, Gorst met McMinn twice, hot seat and finals. Gorst never gave up more than two racks to any of his six opponents in seven matches. McMinn got off to a good start in this one, benefiting from an opening round forfeit and a first-match shutout. He gave up three to Tyrel Blowers before running into a double hill battle versus Chris Reinhold. McMinn prevailed, and defeated Dalton Waters 7-1 for his first shot against Gorst in the hot seat match. Tokoph, in the meantime, had lost early and battled through six matches on the loss side, including victories over Reinhold 7-4, a double hill win over Greg Hogue and a 7-2 win over Vitaliy Patsura in the quarterfinals. A predictable double hill fight over who would face Gorst in the finals developed in the semifinals, with McMinn prevailing for his second shot at it. Gorst downed him a second time to claim the 10-ball title.
Cortez goes undefeated to win Ladies Open, Jinez from loss side, wins 8-ball & 14-18 Boys
In the absence of both defending champion Kristina Tkach and last year’s runner-up April Larson, Michelle Cortez stepped up and went undefeated through the field of 32 to claim the $2k-added Women’s 9-Ball. Cortez’ path to the winner’s circle went through five opponents in six matches; Renita Pierre, Christina Abel, Melissa Smith and in a double hill, winners’ side semifinal, Ricki Casper. Her eventual hot seat and finals opponent, Chris Fields got by Yvann Scott, Tisha Leslie (double hill) and in a second straight double hill match, the event’s 2019 champion, Tara Williams. She then downed Toby Stogner 7-2 to face Cortez for the first time.
Cortez claimed the hot seat over Fields 7-2. Williams, in the meantime, was working on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently eliminated Christy Grigsby by shutout and double hill, Ricki Casper. Williams, two steps away from the final, got by the first obstacle, Stogner okay, 7-3 in the quarterfinals, but she and Fields battled to double hill in the semifinals before Fields punched her ticket to the finals rematch against Cortez.
Fields came within a game of making it double hill, but Cortez edged out in front to claim the 2022 Women’s Open title.
Carlos Jinez came from the loss side, winning three, to claim the 575-and-under (Fargo rate) 8-ball event. He’d lost his winners’ side semifinal to Glenn Miller, who advanced to meet Jacob Pena in the hot seat match. Pena and Miller battled to double hill before Pena prevailed to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Jinez defeated Nicholas Garrett 3-1, while Terry Moser was busy eliminating the Women’s Open winner, Michelle Cortez by the same score. Jinez and Moser fought back and forth to double hill in the quarterfinals before Jinez closed it out. Jinez then defeated Miller 3-1 in the semifinals.
Jinez made something of a statement in the first set of the double elimination final, defeating Pena by shutting him out. In the shortened race-to-three second set, they battled to double hill before Jinez finished it to claim the 8-ball title.
In the junior events, the 13-and-under division proved to be the largest, with 9 entrants. The hot seat and finals featured a pair of literal and figurative ‘aces.’ Ace Acevedo claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Ace Smith and once Smith had downed Leigha Noble 5-2 in the semifinals, Acevedo downed him a second time 9-3.
Eight-ball winner Carlos Jinez had to come from the loss side to win the five-entrant 14-18 boys title, as well. Tyrel Blowers claimed the hot seat over him 7-4, but after defeating Dalton Waters 5-2 in the semifinals, Jinez returned to defeat him in the finals 9-6 to claim his second title of the weekend; his first, actually, the 8-ball title was won later that night (Sunday).
Mary and Eva Grigsby
The Grigsby sisters, 17-year-old twins from Temple, TX, Eva (left-handed shooter) and Mary (right-handed) battled it out in the finals of the four-entrant, 14-18 Girls event. Eva won her first round 7-4 over Peyton Thompson, while Mary lost to Raynie Schroeder 7-3. Eva claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Schroeder. On the loss side, Mary won a double hill fight against Thompson and then, in the semifinals, defeated Schroeder 5-3. The event finished late and in lieu of a double elimination final, the twin sisters played a single match to 7, won by Mary.
The annual event featured a customary Sportsmanship Award. This year’s prize went to the 9-Ball and 10-Ball event’s third-place finisher, Tommy Tokoph.
Since the pandemic landed on our collective heads two or three years ago and curtailed a lot of competitive activity, there has been a slow, but steady return of players, who either stopped playing altogether or in the absence of venue opportunities and availability of personal equipment, brought their game home. In addition to this return, there has also been an emergence on the part of players who for one reason or another have never been heard from before (or at least, very little) and are currently not only coming to the tables, but winning events for the first time.
Case(s) in point: Jennifer Hooten of Garland, TX, who, prior to this past weekend (Sat., April 9), had only cashed once at a regional tour event, finishing 13th at a stop on the mixed-gender DFW 9-Ball Tour, two years ago; a finish that made her the top female finisher at the event. She also won the 2019 Texas State BCA Women’s Fair Match Singles event in 2019, which went unrecorded by us here at AZBilliards. She came from the loss side at this most recent event to record her highest event finish on the tour, claiming her first regional tour title on the $500-added, Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Ladies Tour that drew 21 entrants to Stixx and Stones Billiards in Lewisville, TX.
Nancy Rios, from Dallas, came into the event with no recorded cash payouts whatsoever and advanced to the hot seat for the first time. As a result, her first recorded cash payout anywhere was the distinction of being an event’s runner-up. However one might assess the nature of the 21-entrant competition, anyone who’s ever stepped up to a pool table with cash on the line will tell you: You never forget your first win and/or first cash payout and the benefit of increased confidence in your efforts pays dividends the very next time you step to the table.
Hooten opened her winning campaign with a double hill win over Judy Frank and followed it with a 4-1 victory over Julie Stephenson, who was racing to 6, and has been recording cash payouts on the Hunter Tour, the OB Cues Ladies Tour and now, the DFW tour for over 20 years. Hooten advanced to face Ginger Abadilla in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Rios started with a victory over co-tour director Monica Anderson 3-1 (Anderson racing to 4), and downed Deliza Baumbach, double hill to Krystle Suarez in the other winners’ side semifinal.
With Suarez racing to 7, Rios advanced to the hot seat match with a double hill 3-6 win over Suarez. Abadilla joined her after sending Hooten to the loss side 3-1. In a straight-up race to 3, Rios claimed her first hot seat 3-1.
On the loss side, Hooten picked up Baumbach, who’d followed her winners’ side quarterfinal loss against Rios with victories over Ileana Sullivan 3-2 (Sullivan racing to 5) and Melissa Smith 3-1. Suarez drew Jennifer Pavlovick, who’d lost her opening match to Smith and was in the midst of a five-match winning streak that included the elimination of Julie Stephenson, double hill, and Tina Soto 5-2.
Pavlovick chalked up her fifth loss-side win, downing Suarez 5-4 (Suarez racing to 7). Hooten joined her in the quarterfinals with a shutout over Baumbach. Hooten put a stop to Pavlovick’s run in those quarterfinals 4-3 (Pavlovick racing to 5) and turned to a rematch against Abadilla in the semifinals.
Hooten allowed Abadilla only a single rack in the semifinals and moved on to what was the first (recorded) finals match for both her and her opponent. Hooten would need to win twice, and befitting a match, no doubt characterized by the mutual anticipation and eagerness, not to mention anxiety, of both competitors to claim their first regional tour title, the first set went double hill. With Rios racing to 3, Hooten won it 4-2. With emotions running in two separate directions (confidence and concern), Hooten chalked up all of the racks in the second set and claimed the title.
“Both of these ladies took advantage of the tour’s mission,” noted Co-Tour Director Monica Anderson, “designed to provide a fun, challenging, and rewarding tournament environment for both low, mid and high-level skilled players.”
“Our hot seat match (between Rios and Abadilla),” she added, “was a battle of two, skill level 3’s, who got there by taking advantage of missed opportunities by their higher-skill-level opponents.”
Anderson (along with co-tour directors Hooten and Abadilla) thanked the ownership and staff at Stixx and Stones Billiards, as well as title sponsor Cuetec, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore and Kamui. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Ladies Tour, scheduled for July 9, will be hosted by Rusty’s in Arlington, TX.
