After the 1st NC State 9-Ball Championships were won by Larry Nevel in 2013, Mike Davis, Jr. won the next three between 2014 and 2016 He skipped three years in which Shannon Fitch (’17), Reymart Lim (’18) and Keith Bennett (’19) won, before returning to the annual event in 2020, downing Justin Martin in the finals. BJ Ussery claimed the title in 2021 and Jesus Atencio won it last year. Mike Davis, Jr. chalked up his fifth NC State 9-Ball Championship title this past weekend (Feb. 25-26), going undefeated and downing Brian White twice; hot seat and finals. The $1,000-added event, held under the auspices of the PremierBilliards.com TOP (The Open Players) Tour, drew 38 entrants to Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
A previously-scheduled Ladies event did not occur when it drew only 5 women, including a pair of junior competitors, Hayleigh Marion and Skylar Hess. The women were offered the opportunity at a reduced entry to compete in the Open event and did so, comporting themselves quite well actually.
“Even when they lost,” said tour director, Herman Parker, “the fact that they’d won a few, collectively, against some strong (male) competition was pretty significant.”
Skylar Hess, a regular on the Junior International Championship circuit (JIC), defeated Jason Blackwell before losing to Barry Mashburn and Kirk Overcash. Hayleigh Marion won two on the winners’ side and one on the loss side before being knocked out by Q City 9-Ball veteran and multiple event winner, Reid Vance. Christy Norris, who plays on the tour regularly in mixed-gender events, came within of match of advancing to the first money round, before she forfeited a match against her significant other, Barry Mashburn (who promptly loss in the subsequent round, which led to some gentle ‘ribbing’ after the fact).
“I was super-impressed with the womens’ play this past weekend,” said Parker.
Davis and Brian White met first in the hot seat match after Davis had defeated Clint Clark 7-3 in one of the winners’ side semifinals and White had downed Don Lilly 7-1 in the other one. Davis claimed the hot seat 7-4 and waited on White’s return.
On the loss side, Davis actually had two “White”s to watch, because Hunter White was working his way through the bracket on the loss side as well. Hunter had eliminated Mark Bolton 7-3 and in the first money round, Barry Mashburn 7-4 to draw Lilly. Clark picked up Josh Padron, who’d recently defeated Kelly Farrar 7-3 and to enter that first money round too, survived a double hill battle versus Scott Howard to reach him.
Hunter White defeated Lily 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Clint Clark, who’d eliminated Padron 7-4. Hunter White then downed Clark 7-2 in those quarterfinals, leaving Davis (waiting in the hot seat) in the position of wondering which “White” to watch as the two of them squared off in the semifinals.
One “White” won as the other went down. Brian defeated Hunter 7-3 for a second crack at Davis in the finals. Davis and Brian White mirrored their hot seat match score, which gave Davis his fifth NC State 9-Ball Championship title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Breaktime Billiards for their hospitality (and sponsorship of the tour), as well as title sponsor PremierBilliards.com, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and TKO Custom Cues.
The next stop on the PremierBilliards.com TOP Tour, scheduled for the weekend of March 18-19 will be the 2023 West Virginia State 9-Ball Open, to be hosted by The League Room in Parkersburg, WV. The next stop on the PremierBilliards.com Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this coming weekend (March 4-5), will be hosted by West End Billiards in Gastonia, NC.
About 14 years ago (Feb. 7-8, 2009), Florida’s Tony Pete recorded his first event victory with us here at AZBilliards. In a 75-entrant field on the Florida-based KF Cues Pool Tour, he was sent to the loss side and won five straight matches to face and defeat the competitor who’d sent him there, Mark Wathen, in a single match final. Pete won a second KF Cues Pool Tour event in March that year and then went into a protracted dry spell, until he finished as runner-up to Mike Davis, Jr. at the season opener of the Capital City Pool Tour in Cary, NC last year. This past weekend (Feb. 11-12), Pete chalked up his third recorded event victory and as he did 14 years ago to start his (recorded) pool career off, he came from the loss-side to do it. At a $250-added event on the PremierBilliards.com Q City 9-Ball Tour that drew 26 entrants to Bennie’s Billiards (formerly Buck’s Billiards) in Raleigh, NC, Pete won eight on the loss side and then double-dipped P.J. Schmidt to claim the event title.
Unlike 14 years ago, Pete did not complete his title run this time by downing the player who’d sent him to the loss side. The opportunity to vanquish an earlier opponent might have happened in the quarterfinals, but didn’t. The player that sent Pete over was Jason Rogers, who advanced beyond his victory over Pete to draw the tour’s 2022 tour champion, Larry Hughes, in one of the winners’ side semifinals. P.J. Schmidt squared off against Greg Taylor in the other one.
Schmidt downed Taylor 5-6 (Taylor racing to 8) and was joined in the hot seat match by Hughes, who’d sent Rogers off to a possible rematch against Pete 6-4. With Hughes racing to 6, Schmidt claimed the hot seat 5-4 and waited for Pete to complete his loss-side run.
With three loss-side wins behind him, Pete defeated Steve Page and Chris Petoletti, both 7-4, to draw Taylor. Rogers drew Justin Knuckles, who’d eliminated Charles Caudle 7-1 and Travis Shelton, double hill, to reach him. Pete got into the quarterfinals on the heels of a 7-2 win over Taylor, but Knuckles jumped right into those quarterfinals when Rogers forfeited.
Pete and Knuckles battled to double hill in those quarterfinals before Pete advanced to meet and defeat Hughes in the semifinals 7-2. Pete completed his title run with a 7-3 victory in the opening set of the true double elimination final and a 7-2 win in the second.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Bennie’s Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor PremierBilliards.com, Breaktime Billiards (Winston-Salem, NC), BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and TKO Custom Cues. The next stop on the PremierBilliards.com Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Feb. 18-19), will be a $250-added event, hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC. The following weekend (Feb. 25-26), the tour will host the $1,000-added NC State Open and the $250-added NC State Ladies Open at Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
Mike Davis and Brett Stottlemyer with TD James Hamilton
This past weekend’s (Jan. 28-29) 9th Annual Dick Cox Memorial Bar Box Open employed an increasingly popular format, known in some circles as ‘double jeopardy.’ The format engages players in two separate disciplines, 8-ball and 9-ball. It plays out in various ways; as an example, players in a match allow the individual who wins the lag to determine which of the games they’ll play first in their total number of games to be played; a 5-4 match would feature an even split, four of each because a 5-4 match would not exceed eight games. The APA Leagues employ the double jeopardy format in a way that has members of a five-member team playing both 8-ball and 9-ball matches; 10 matches total instead of the five associated with just one discipline. At the $1,000-added Dick Cox Memorial, which drew 64 entrants to Action Lounge & Billiards in Leonardtown, MD, the two games were played on opposite sides of the bracket; 8-ball on the winners’ side and 9-ball on the losers’ side.
Mike Davis, Jr., the current MD State 10-Ball Champion, began his year with a win on the PremierBilliards.com TOP (The Open Players) Tour two weeks ago and backed that win up with an undefeated run at this year’s Dick Cox Memorial. Last year, Davis completed an earnings year that surpassed anything he’d accomplished since 2016. Though he’s a long way off from repeating his best earnings year (2006), when he cashed in 17 events, back-to-back wins in the first month of 2023 are a good start.
Davis didn’t have a rack chalked up against him by either Forrest White or Matthew Ruzicka in the opening two rounds. The first competitor to score against him was Tom Zippler, who proceeded to battle him to double hill, before Davis advanced to down Aj Nicholas 6-3 and arrive at his winners’ side semifinal against Rick Winpigler. Meanwhile, Joe Wright was at work holding each of his first five opponents to no more than two racks per match; Kelly Daniel and Rick Rhodes managed only one before Jason Masri checked in with two. Charlie Mattingly brought the run back to its one-rack-against roots before Wright advanced to the other winners’ side semifinal. Wright held Stottlemyer to the now-familiar single rack and advanced to the hot seat, where he was joined by Davis, who’d sent Winpigler to the loss side 6-3. Wright ended up on the losing end of a two-rack-against match that put Davis in the hot seat.
On the loss side, now playing 9-ball, Stottlemyer picked up Aj Nicholas, who’d followed his loss to Davis in a winners’ side quarterfinal with victories over John Hergett, double hill, and Clint Clayton, 4-2. Winpigler drew Danny Mastermaker, who’d lost his opening round match to Stottlemyer in a double hill fight and embarked on a eight-match, loss-side winning streak that would eventually put him into a rematch against Stottlemyer in the quarterfinals. He’d recently eliminated Mattingly and Zippler, both 4-1.
Mastermaker chalked up his eighth loss-side win with a third straight 4-1 victory, over Winpigler, that advanced to him his quarterfinal rematch. Stottlemyer joined him after shutting out Nicholas.
Mastermaker put up a double-hill fight in those semifinals to extend his loss-side streak to nine matches, but Stottlemyer had the last word, eliminating him. He then gave up just a single rack to Wright in the semifinals and turned to face Davis.
Like Davis, Stottlemyer, the reigning MD State 9-Ball Bar Box champion, was hoping for a good start towards matching his best recorded earnings year (2012) and was looking for his first win in 2023. He didn’t find it at the 9th Annual Dick Cox Memorial. The finals opened with an 8-ball match and had Stottlemyer won it, it would have forced a second set, playing 9-ball. He didn’t. Davis defeated him 6-4 in the only set necessary to complete his undefeated run and claim the event title.
Kristin Mohr picked up a $150 prize (courtesy of AB & H Excavating) as the top finishing female at the event, as well as a free entry into a new all-female tour run by Kelly Daniel. In addition to his cash prize as the winner, Davis won free entry into one of the MD State Championships, held under the auspices of On the Hill Productions.
Tour director Rusty Hamilton thanked the ownership and staff at Action Lounge & Billiards for hosting the event, as well as sponsors American Billiards Covering, Southernmuddin Lawns and Paint, AB & H Excavating and On the Hill Productions. Hamilton had picked up the ball that Dick Cox, a retired local player, had originally been running with for two years when he passed in 2014.
“He started a local event called the Southern Maryland Invitational Tourney that lasted two years,” he said. “I decided to take over the event and name it after him to keep his memory going.”
“Here we are, nine years later and the event seems to be getting bigger and better every year,” he added. “We’ve gone from a three-table event to now, 16 tables with live streaming and a field of 64 players in the past four years. Dick would be very proud that this event has reached so many people and players.”
In the first of 12 planned Open events in 2023, to be known as The PremierBilliards.com TOP (The Open Players) Tour, Mike Davis, Jr. was crowned as its premier champion. The $500-added, non-handicapped event had to compete with a number of other regional events in the immediate and not-too-distant area and as a result, drew only 18 entrants to Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
Davis and Mark Bolton opted out of a final at this event, allowing their one and only match to stand as the title-claiming victory. As the occupant of the hot seat at the time, Davis went into the books as the event’s official champion and they split the top two prizes.
With races to 7 on both sides of the bracket, they met first in the hot seat match, once Davis had defeated Barry Mashburn 7-5 in one of the winners’ side semifinals and Bolton had sent Kelly Farrar to the loss side 7-4 in the other one. Davis claimed the hot seat and, as it turned out, the official event title with a 7-3 win over Bolton.
On the loss side, Mashburn picked up Josh Heeter, who’d defeated Graham Swinson and Corey Morphew, both 7-2, to reach him. Farrar drew Chris Turner, who’d survived two straight double hill matches, versus William Baize and Derek Leonard, for a shot at Farrar.
By identical 7-3 scores, Heeter and Farrar advanced to the quarterfinals over Mashburn and Turner, respectively. And it was 7-3’s all the way to the end. Farrar over Heeter in the quarterfinals and Bolton over Farrar in the final match of the event, the semifinals.
Davis and Bolton opted out of the final, split the top two prizes and completed the Open Tour’s first event.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Gate City Billiards Club for their hospitality, along with title sponsor PremierBilliards.com, Breaktime Billiards (Winston-Salem, NC), BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and TKO Custom Cues. The next stop on The PremierBilliards.com TOP Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Deb. 25-26 will be the 11th Annual North Carolina State 9-Ball Open and Ladies 9-Ball Open, to be hosted by Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
It’s been a good year for Mike Davis, Jr., who’d already chalked up his best (recorded) earnings year since 2016, when he travelled to Maryland this past Thanksgiving Day weekend (Nov. 26-27) and competed in the MD State Bar Box 10-Ball Championships. He got sent to the loss side by his eventual opponent in the double elimination final, Tom Zippler, and defeated him twice in the double elimination final to claim the title. The $3,750-added event drew 86 entrants to Brews & Cues on the Boulevard in Glen Burnie, MD.
The battle for this title was, by close-match standards, fierce; 38% of the tournament’s last 18 matches (7) went double hill, including the hot seat match, semifinal and first set of the true double elimination final. Mike Davis’ campaign opened up with a double hill battle that he won over Scott Haas. Davis followed up with wins over Clint Clayton (4), Mike Saleh (4) and Steve Fleming (5), to arrive at his first match against Zippler, in one of the a winners’ side semifinals. Zippler’s path started out easy enough, with a shutout over Matt Broz, but grew increasingly competitive as he got by Tony Manning (2), Michael Miller (3), Roger Haldar (4) and then, had to battle Brett Stottlemeyer to double hill in a winners’ side quarterfinal that did send him (Zippler) to that first battle with Davis. In the meantime, Kevin West, working at the other end of the bracket, sent Garrett Vaughan (1), Steve Johnson (2), Bobby Pacheco (double hill) and Grayson Vaughan (4) to the loss side and drew Brandon Shuff in the other winners’ side semifinal.
West and Shuff locked up in a double hill battle that eventually did advance West to the hot seat match. He was joined by Zippler, who’d won his first (and, as it turned out, last) match against Davis 7-3. Zippler and West fought to double hill in that hot seat match, with Zippler prevailing and waiting in the hot seat for Davis’ return.
On the loss side, Davis would play three matches against three of the mid-Atlantic region’s (country’s) toughest competitors; in order, Shaun Wilkie, BJ Ussery, Jr. and then, Kevin West. Upon arrival, Davis faced Wilkie, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Brandon Shuff and then defeated Matt Krah 7-5 and Jeff Abernathy, double hill. Shuff drew BJ Ussery, who didn’t give up a rack through his first two winners’ side matches and then, was defeated by Thomas Haas 7-5. Ussery went on a six-match, loss-side winning streak to get to Shuff, which included the most recent eliminations of Steve Fleming, by shutout, and, junior competitor Nathan Childress, double hill.
Davis defeated Wilkie 7-4 and in the quarterfinals, faced Ussery, who’d given up just a single rack to Shuff. Davis ended Ussery’s loss-side streak at seven, downing him 7-2 in the quarterfinals before he and West locked up in the second-to-last double hill battle of the tournament, struggling for a seat in the finals.
Davis prevailed and walked right into the last double hill battle of the weekend in the opening set of the true double elimination final against Zippler. He won it and then, came within a game of a second double hill match, before getting out ahead and finishing it 7-5.
It should be noted that the event was attended by a number of female competitors, veterans of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour, most of them, including its tour director, Linda Shea, who went 2-2, finishing in the tie for 25th. The two highest female finishers were Tina Malm, who won three on the loss side before encountering Brett Stottlemeyer in the winners’ side fourth round, battling him to double hill before being sent to the loss side and finishing in the tie for 17th with a 3-2 record. And Bethany Sykes, who finished in the same position; sent to the loss side in the second round and winning two there, before being eliminated. Eugenia Gyftopoulos and Stefanie Manning also competed.
The event also featured a few junior competitors, among them Nathan Childress, who finished in the tie for 7th/8th, Brent Worth (25th) and Garrett Vaughan (33rd).
Tour director Loye Bolyard thanked the ownership and staff at Brews & Cues for their hospitality, as well as sponsors AlleyKat Cue Sports, Bull Carbon, AZBilliards, Aramith Balls, Simonis Cloth, TAP Chesapeake Bay Region, Safe Harbor Retirement Planners and Whyte Carbon Fiber Cue Shafts.
The Brass Tap & Billiards of Raleigh, NC has a long history of hosting tournaments and this year was no exception. After a layoff since 2019 due to the pandemic, owner Richard Kuntz welcomed players and fans back to the $15,000 added Beasley Open.
Presented by Doug Beasley of Beasley Custom Cues and special sponsors PoolActionTV.com and Brass Tap & Billiards, this year’s tournament had two events – One Pocket and Open 9 Ball.
Posting their $200 entry fees, the $5,000 added double elimination One Pocket division drew 48 players. Played on Diamond tables and racing to three, the finals would be one extended race to four. After the players auction and draw, the matches began.
With twelve players receiving a first round bye, Josh Roberts and Can Salim were not so fortunate. Josh survived that match 3-1 and went on to defeat Asad Khan 3-0, Justin Hall 3-1 and Brandon Shuff 3-2. On a similar path, John Morra had wins over Francesco Candela 3-1, Larry Pierce 3-2, Hunter White 3-1 and Corey Sykes 3-0. Then, in a hard fought match to reach the hot seat, Morra prevailed over Roberts 3-2.
Meanwhile, in the other portion of the bracket, Alex Pagulayan and Tony Chohan were on the march to the hot seat. After drawing a first round bye, Alex defeated Carlo Biado 3-2, Tony Pete 3-0 and Shane Wolford 3-1. Tony was the victor over Jesse Gilbert 3-2 and then skunked Robbie House 3-0, Brady Norris 3-0 and Omar Al Shaheen 3-0. He then received his own 3-0 thumping by Alex!
The hot seat match was all Pagulayan as he beat back Morra – also 3-0. John headed west and Alex moved to the finals.
Morra watched as Chohan edged out Biado 3-2 only to be relegated to third place 3-0. Looking for revenge, Tony went to the finals.
Still on a tear, Tony sliced through Alex in under an hour winning four gamesstraight to claim the title. Congratulations, Tony! Good tournament, Alex!
Johann Chua and Bader Al Awadhi
The $10,000 added Nine Ball Open began on Friday night following the players auction and draw. Ninety six players posted their $150 entry fees to play. The format was alternate breaks, rack your own with the nine on the spot and the two in the back, no soft breaks and races to 9/7.
Racing across the top half of the bracket was Johann Chua and Chia-Chen Hsieh. Playing to get to the hot seat match, Chua spanked Hsieh 9-1. The bottom portion of the bracket saw Bader Alawadhi win over John Morra 9-5.
Hot seat action again was all Chua as he locked up his seat in the finals 9-1. Bader went to the one loss side to await an opponent. Morra defeated Roberts 7-5 and then was eliminated by the same score leaving John with another third place finish.
The finals were one extended race to thirteen. Chua rocketed out to a 7-1 lead until Alawadhi caught a gear and tied the match at eight games each! Johann finally won the next two games to reach 10-8. Bader fought back to win a couple more until his opponent pulled away to win the match 13-10. Congratulations, Johann! Good shooting, Bader!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Richard Kuntz and his staff for another fantastic event.
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Lomax Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiard Apparel, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next event is the 4th Annual $7,500 added Big Boi Classic at Peyton’s Place in Knoxville, TN. The dates are November 18th-20th – hope to see you there!
North Carolina’s Joey Tate is right on the verge of making his age an irrelevant fact. He turned 17 less than a month ago (June 28) and he’s in the midst of recording his best earnings year since he started showing up on AZBilliards’ database in 2017 at the age of 12. It could well be that his competitors over these past five years are growing tired of hearing that he’s a junior competitor, especially after he’s defeated one of them in a major event. This past July 4th weekend, he joined 32 other entrants at a $1,000-added stop on the Carolina Pool Tour (in collaboration with the Players Madness Tour) at Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC and went undefeated to the finish line, defeating perennial North Carolina State Champion Mike Davis, Jr. in the finals.
As the Billiards Education Foundation’s 2022 Junior National Champion in the 18 & Under Boys Division, which is only the most recent of his accomplishments since he was a 7th grader, Tate brings to his forays into the ‘real world’ of regional tour competition, a sense of confidence, tempered by an awareness about the dangers of overconfidence.
“When you win,” he said after this past weekend’s victory, “you can get caught up in it, to the point of arrogance; not like in how you behave, but an arrogance in your own mind.”
“You still have to stay humble and hungry,” he added.
He pointed to separate influences on him, which keep him in that ‘humble and hungry’ mode; his Christian faith, which grants him the opportunity to be, among other things, thankful for the victories, as well as his own experiences at the table and his observations of the top professionals.
“Through experience,” he said, “you can catch the thoughts that trigger arrogance and block them out. And watching pro players when they’re playing their best; you can see how focused they are and how clean their shots are.
“So,” he added, “it’s really about a combination of those things.”
Tate had his ‘hungry and humble’ hands full from the outset. He opened his six-match march to the win against Michael Yingling, who promptly battled him to double hill. Tate survived, advancing through another junior competitor, Cole Lewis 7-3, then, Adam Pendley 7-4 and in a winners’ side semifinal, in a second double hill fight, he defeated Josh Heeter. Tate advanced to the hot seat match.
Tate’s eventual hot seat opponent, Cory Morphew, on the other hand, shut out three of the four opponents he faced to get to that match; Reene Driskill in their opening-round match, BJ Ussery in the third round and Chuck Ritchie in the winners’ side semifinal. The only opponent he didn’t shut out was Mike Davis, Jr., who chalked up five against him in their second-round match (33 entrants in the bracket made the opening round of the event a single match). Davis and Morphew would meet again in the semifinals, which, as it turned out, did not go well for Morphew. Neither did the hot seat match, won by Tate 7-4.
On the loss side, Heeter picked up Ussery, who’d followed his loss to Morphew with victories over Bruce Campbell 7-4 and Kelly Farrar 7-2. Ritchie drew Davis, who followed his loss to Morphew with a seven-match, loss-side run to the finals, that had recently eliminated Adam Pendley and Clint Clark, both 7-4.
Davis downed Ritchie 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced Ussery, who’d eliminated Heeter, also7-3. Davis gave up only a single rack to Ussery in those quarterfinals and stepped into his rematch against Morphew in the semifinals.
Davis downed Morphew 7-3 for a shot at Tate in the hot seat. Tate claimed the event title of Stop #8 on the Carolina Pool Tour with a 7-2 win over Davis.
Co-tour directors Nickolus Rogers and Xzavia Boykin of the Players Madness Tour thanked the ownership and staff at Breaktime Billiards and all of the players who attended the July 4th weekend event.
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.
With the winner and runner-up of the inaugural Player Madness Tournament series of events in the house, BJ Ussery and Mike Davis, Jr. might have been expected to repeat their dash to the hot seat and finals, but for the second event of the Player Madness Tournaments, held this past weekend (March 5-6), it didn’t turn out that way. Davis did his part, advancing through the field of 71 to go undefeated to the hot seat and finals, but Ussery spent some time on the loss side of the bracket and didn’t make it past the 7/8 matches.Jesus Atencio, who finished 5th/6th in the inaugural event, was to have faced Davis twice in this one, but they opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. This second event of the series, called “Tha (sic) Iron Masters Matches” (the first was called “The Invasion of the Triangle”) was a $2,000-added event, hosted by Rockhouse Tavern and Billiards in Gastonia, NC.
Davis advanced through the field to face Atencio the first time in a winners’ side semifinal, as BJ Hucks and Jacob Brooks squared off in the other one.
Davis advanced to the hot seat match 7-5 over Atencio and faced Hucks, who’d sent Brooks to the left bracket 7-4. Davis claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Hucks and for all intents and purposes, his night was over.
Atencio stopped Hall’s loss-side streak 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced Francis, who’d sent Brooks home 7-5. Atencio then dropped Francis 7-5 in those quarterfinals and in what proved to be the event’s last match, the semifinals, defeated Hucks 7-3. Davis and Atencio agreed on the split and joined the rest of the homeward bound.
Tour director Xzavia Boykin thanked the ownership and staff at the Rockhouse for their hospitality, as well as sponsor Classic Billiards. The dates for the next stop on the Player Madness Tournaments series, the NC State 8-Ball Championships, have not been officially set. Visit the Player Madness Tournaments Facebook page for further information.
Mike Davis, Jr. chalked up his first 2022 tour win last weekend (Feb. 19), although the win picked up a half-asterisk (for which we have yet to discovery a keyboard symbol) because in a finals race to 10, his opponent, Tony Pete, down 8-0, forfeited the remainder of the match. Davis went undefeated through the event’s maximum field of 32 at the $500-added, Capital City Pool Tour’s Stop #1, hosted by Break Time Billiards and Sports Café in Cary, NC.
Davis got by Tony Pete twice (counting the half-asterisk forfeit in the finals). After getting by Kevin Williams, Kyle Webber and Robert West with an aggregate score of 30-6, Davis faced Pete for the first time in a winners’ side semifinal. In the meantime, Jason Rogers, who’d sent Allison Tilley, Justin Knuckles and Barry Mashburn to the loss side, faced Solomon Pope.
Davis downed Pete 10-2, as Rogers defeated Pope 8-5. With three on the wire in a race to 10, Rogers battled to double hill (9-7) before Davis claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Pete picked up Mashburn, who, after his loss to Rogers, had defeated Yogi Liu 9-4 and Jesse Gilbert 9-3. Pope drew Christy Norris, who would be the event’s top female finisher. Norris dropped her opening match to Mark Bolton and then embarked on a five-match, loss-side streak that started with three matches in which she gave up only five racks (21-5). Then, Robert West chalked up five on his own against her and Justin Knuckles battled her to double hill before she prevailed.
Pope ended Norris’ streak 7-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals. With two on the wire at the start of race to 9, Pete was able to join Pope in the quarterfinals, once he had successfully navigated a double hill match versus Mashburn. In a straight-up race to 7, Pete then eliminated Pope 7-3 in those quarterfinals.
With one on the wire in a race to 8, Pete downed Rogers 8-5. The finals began, but didn’t last as long as they might have, when, at 8-0, Pete opted out of continuing. Davis claimed the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Break Time Billiards and Café for their hospitality. For further information about upcoming stops on the tour, visit Capital City Pool Tour’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ccpooltour/
