Though Hurricane Matthew had barely made it out of Florida by Saturday, October 8, its effects were being felt up and down the coast. According to Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball tour director, Herman Parker, the rain tracked him all the way to Midlothian, VA on Saturday, stayed for the entire tour stop at Diamond Billiards, and then, followed him all the way back to North Carolina. 

The tour stop, in the meantime, went on, hosting 34 entrants and yielding an undefeated victory for Stevie McClinton.

 

McClinton had to get by Scott Roberts to put this one in the books. They met first in the hot seat match, once McClinton had defeated Bruce Childress 7-1, and Roberts had sent Robert Ash to the loss side 7-2 in the two winners' side semifinals. McClinton claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited for Roberts to get back.

 

On the loss side, Childress picked up Chris Gentile, who'd shut out Jeff Young and defeated Max Schlothauer 8-7 (Schlothauer racing to 10). Ash drew Mike Glenn, who'd defeated Daniel Adams 7-5 and Brian Nellis 7-3. Gentile handed Childress his second straight loss 8-3, and in the quarterfinals, faced Ash, who defeated Glenn 4-4 (Glenn racing to 7).

 

With Gentile racing to 8 in the quarterfinals, Ash won his second straight 4-4 match and turned to face Roberts in the semifinals. In those semifinals, Ash won three of the four he needed, but Roberts reached seven before he got there and earned himself a second shot at McClinton in the hot seat. In a straight-up race to 7, McClinton and Roberts went double hill, before McClinton finished it to claim the event title.

 

Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Diamond Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks and Ruthless Billiards. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of October 15-16, will be the Chad Bostic Memorial Tournament, hosted by Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC. Proceeds from the event, and a variety of raffles, will be donated to the family of Chad Bostick, who died by homicide in January.