If North Carolina’s Joey Tate had a notion to begin his third year as a junior competitor on the Junior International Championships’ (JIC) series of events with some sort of statement, he accomplished that objective well. In the first event of the 2023 JIC season, held this past weekend (Jan. 13-15) at Wolf’s Den in Roanoke, VA, he went undefeated through the 18U Boys division and came from the loss side to claim the ProAm division event; both drew 29 entrants. Skylar Hess, in the meantime, did much the same thing in the 18U Girls division (10 entrants), her ‘statement’ amounting to an undefeated run through the field to claim the first 2023 JIC title in that division and ending a streak of eight appearances in 2022 without a win. In all (with some crossover between different divisions and the gender/age-neutral ProAm division), the JIC season opener drew 88 entrants to Wolf’s Den.
We will cover the two 13U divisions in a separate report, though for now, we’ll report that Hayden Ernst went undefeated to claim the 13U Boys Division and Noelle Tate (Joey’s younger sister) came from the loss side (defeated in the hot seat) for a rematch against Arianna Houston and won the 13U Girls Division.
As Joey Tate and his perennial rival in these JIC events over the past two years (Landon Hollingsworth) came to the tables this past weekend, it’s likely that beyond their singular, cliched task of “taking it one game/match at a time” and “playing the table, not your opponent,” they had a portion of their sights set on the end-of-the-year 18U Boys Championship, an invitational event that plays out during the International Open in Norfolk, VA. Pitting the top players in thedivision at the end of each season each other, the inaugural 18U Boys Championship was won by Hollingsworth and Tate claimed the title last November. Though at this stage of the literal game, it’s a little early to be thinking about that, it’s hard to imagine that given their relatively short-history rivalry, they’re not thinking about that eventual ‘rubber match’ in the third 18U Boys Championship in November, at least once in a while.
In fact, it probably crossed their minds when they met for the first and only time in the opening round of the 18U Boys event, when Tate sent Hollingsworth to the loss side 7-3. They are, by the way, separated by only three Fargo Rate points; Tate, 700 and Hollingsworth, 697. Tate advanced and ran right into Landon Hollingsworth’s brother, Cameron, who battled him to double hill before Tate finished the match, eventually advancing to the hot seat against Nathan Nunes, who, on his journey to the winners’ side final, had defeated the other eventual finalist, Eddie Vonderau. Tate claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Nunes.
On the loss side, Vondereau downed Cameron Hollingsworth 7-5, Hunter Zayas, double hill and Niko Konkel to draw Landon Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth, after his opening round loss to Tate, had embarked on a five-match winning streak that had recently eliminated Logan Whitaker, double hill and Brent Worth in a shutout. His streak came to end when Vondereau defeated him 7-2 in the quarterfinals. Vondereau and Nunes engaged in a spirited semifinal, in which Vondereau edged out in front at the end to win 7-5. Joey Tate was taking no prisoners, as he completed his undefeated run by allowing Vondereau only a single rack in the finals to claim the event title.
Sklyar Hess
In the absence of one, Hess gets by two JIC opponents who finished ahead of her in 2022
Though she failed to win a JIC event in 2022, Skylar Hess was runner-up, twice; to Bethany Tate in Stop #3 and Sofia Mast in Stop # 7. Tate finished at the top of the series’ 2022 rankings, with Mast in 2nd place. Precilia Kinsley finished third in those rankings. Mast and Hess, in the first two years of the JIC, had created a rivalry dynamic similar to Hollingsworth/Tate in the 18U Boys division. Mast, though, was not present at this most recent 18U Girls event. Though present, Tate finished in 4th place and did not face Hess. Precilia Kinsley did.
Kinsley worked her way through Bethany Tate’s younger sister, Noelle and sent Hess’ eventual opponent in the finals, Courtney Hairfield to the loss side 7-5 in a winners’ side semifinal. Hess downed Hayleigh Marion and Sabrina Long to join her in the hot seat match. Hess claimed it 7-4.
Hairfield moved to the loss side and downed Marion in a double hill fight and eliminated Bethany Tate in the quarterfinals 7-2. Hairfield and Kinsley came within a game of double hill before Hairfield prevailed 7-5 to face Hess in the finals. In an extended race-to-9, Hairfield and Hess also came within a game of double hill before Hess pulled out in front to claim the title 9-7.
Tate and Hollingsworth square off in winners’ side semifinal of ProAm event
The marquee matchup of J. Tate v. L. Hollingsworth happened twice in the gender/age-neutral ProAm division of the JIC’s opening weekend. They split them, while the order in which the two matches were played proved to be significant.
They met in a winners’ side semifinal, while Nathan Nunes and Dustin Muir met in the other one. Hollingsworth sent Tate to the loss side 7-5 and was joined in the hot seat match Nunes, who’d defeated Muir 7-3. There are very few so-called surprises in the world of pool at any level, especially when two opponents are somewhat evenly matched. Hollingsworth entered the hot seat match with a Fargo Rate 59 points higher than Nunes (697-638). But it was Hollingsworth who moved to the semifinals, when Nunes claimed the hot seat 7-5.
The loss-side battles for advancement to the quarterfinals featured two, double hill matches; Tate versus Nathan Childress and Dustin Muir against Jas Makhani. Tate defeated Childress, as Muir eliminated Makhani. Tate earned his rematch against Hollingsworth with a 7-5 victory over Muir in those quarterfinals.
Surprise, surprise! The semifinal was a fight to the finish, known in the pool world as a double hill match. The three-point Fargo Rate differential gave Tate a slight edge in terms of probability, but it wasn’t one that you’d have been likely to have gotten any great odds, either way.
Tate advanced to the finals over Hollingsworth and (surprise, surprise) locked up in a second straight double hill battle, with the event title on the line. He claimed it 9-8 over Nunes to chalk up his first of two 2023 JIC titles on the same weekend.
Currently riding atop the 18U Boys division of the ongoing second season of the Junior International Championship series, having won three of its six stops in 2022, North Carolina’s Joey Tate made his way to the West Coast last weekend (August 6-7) and with a hot seat ‘hiccup’ and a subsequent rematch against Adrian Prasad in the finals, claimed the BEF’s Junior National-qualifying spot at the CA State Junior Championships. The $5,000-added boys’ division drew 17 entrants to Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, CA.
On the opposite end of the gender spectrum, two of the best-known, not to mention youngest female competitors in the sport – Sofia Mast (14) and Savannah Easton (12) – battled in the hot seat and finals of the $5,000-added, 18U Girls division of the event, which drew 7 entrants to the same location. Easton claimed the hot seat, but Mast came back from defeating her long-time (well, two-year) rival, Skylar Hess, in the semifinals and returned to defeat Easton in the finals to claim the event title.
The California event was just one of many tournaments that have occurred in this calendar year which are manifestations of the Junior International Championships (JIC), founded by Ra Hanna and his On the Wire Creative Media company in 2021. At the conclusion of the first season and just prior to the second, Hanna made note of the fact that the first season was “just practice” and that “practice was (now) over.” His intent, at the start of the second season, was to encourage his junior competitors to step away from tournaments restricted to their peers and get themselves out in the ‘real world’ of tough competition against older opponents. And the top JIC competitors have been doing just that. While not leaping to the top of ranked players, they’ve been cashing in a lot of tournaments and impressing veteran players on a lot of the tours, as, by way of just a couple of examples, the Viking Cues Q City 9-Ball Tour on which the Tate family (Joey, Bethany and Noelle) has been competing regularly and a number of Florida tours and independent events, on which Tampa-based Sophia Mast has been playing.
Though the California event drew a number of the JIC competitors back among their peers, it also had a way of demonstrating the impact of the JIC throughout the country. Ten of the 17 California event competitors in the 18U Boys division were JIC veterans and all but one of the seven girls in the 18U Girls division were regulars on the JIC series. The top four finishers in both divisions of the California State Junior Championships came from the ranks of the JIC.
Joey Tate has proved to be the JIC’s top competitor this year, not only winning the three of the series’ six events thus far in the 18U division, but two of the series’ six in the ProAm division. With the exception of Adrian Prasad, who made somewhat of a surprise showing in California, finishing third, the top four finishers among the boys in California were the top-ranked competitors in the JIC 18U division.
Tate got by his first two opponents in California, Nathan Nunes and Cody Hill, giving up just a single rack to Nunes. Cameron Hollingsworth, brother to Landon (#2 among JIC 18U Boys), chalked up three against him in their winners’ side semifinal. Adrian Prasad, in the meantime, got by Cash Lance and Gabe Martinez (who’d previously sent Landon Hollingsworth to the loss side) before defeating Carlos Jinez to join Tate in the hot seat match. Tate and Prasad locked up in a double hill fight that did, eventually, leave Prasad in the hot seat.
On the loss side, the Hollingsworth brothers were looking at the possibility of meeting in the event quarterfinals. Landon did his part, defeating Carlos Jinez 7-2, but Lazaro Martinez, #3 among the JIC 18U Boys, battled Cameron to double hill before eventually defeating him. Martinez made it two brothers in a row, defeating Landon in the quarterfinals 7-4, but Tate stopped Martinez 7-5 in the semifinals for a second shot at Prasad in the hot seat.
Tate completed his title run with a 9-6 rematch victory over Prasad in the finals.
Sofia Mast (Photo courtesy Cris Constantin)
The “Pink Dagger” and “Roadrunner” square off in CA 18U Girls hot seat and finals
You can almost imagine these two young women facing each other before a match. The “Pink Dagger,” (Sofia Mast) pretending, with a quiet smile, that she has a dagger and pretending to thrust it, while the “Roadrunner” (Savannah Easton) takes a step back and with a twinkle in her eye, says, “Beep! Beep.”
The Pink Dagger found its target this past weekend. While the Roadrunner “beep-beeped’ her way into the hot seat, the Dagger came back and downed her in the finals.
The short field made for a short run to their first match. Mast got by the only competitor not drawn from the JIC ranks, Emars Selgado, in the opening round 7-2 and walked into the JIC’s #1-ranked competitor in the 18U Girls division, Bethany Tate, in a winners’ side semifinal (Mast is 4th and Easton 9th in the JIC 18U Girls division). Easton, in the meantime, opened with a 7-4 win over Kennedy Meyman and drew Skylar Hess in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Mast defeated Tate 7-2, as Easton was downing Hess 7-4. Easton then defeated Mast 7-2 and claimed the hot seat.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, it was Hess and Tate who squared off in the event’s quarterfinals, once Hess had eliminated Hayleigh Marion and Tate had defeated Meyman, both 7-3. Hess (5th among the JIC 18U Girls) defeated Tate in those quarterfinals 7-3, but fell to Mast in the semifinals 7-5. The “Pink Dagger” flashed the sharp blade of her precision shooting and cool-as-the-proverbial-cucumber demeanor in the finals, giving up only a single rack to Easton and claiming the CA State Junior Championship title.
After this BEF Junior National qualification gig, the girls and boys of the JIC will be back at itlater this month (Aug. 19-21), when they visit Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, IA.
The Billiard Education Foundation recently held its 34th annual Junior National Pool Championships, Tuesday, June 21 to Saturday, June 25. The event attracted more than 130 of the top junior pool players across the country.
During the event, the Billiard Education Foundation recognized more than 90 players as Academic All Americans, as they all had a great point average of 3.0 GPA or better. Of those players, 39 players had a 4.0 GPA or higher. Along with the Academic All Americans, the BEF also recognized Hayleigh Marion and Kaden Hillman as the recipients of this year’s Brenden Crocket Sportsman Award for exemplifying the ideals of sportsmanship while at the pool table with ethical behavior, fair play, and integrity throughout the event.
During the week-long tournament BCA Hall of Famer Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman also held his 28th consecutive annual artistic pool competition. Dr. Cue presented the 2022 Artistic Pool awards to this year’s champions: Brody Hillman (U18 boys division), Kaden Hillman (U16 and U14 boys divisions), Sofia Mast (U18 girls division), Hayleigh Marion (U16 girls division), and Skylar Hess (U14 girls division).
On Saturday, June 25th the Junior National Pool Championships concluded with the final matches in each category. In an effort to align with the WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championship, the BEF awarded gold, silver and bronze medals to the top three finishers of each division.
The finalist of this year’s BEF Junior National 9-Ball Championships presented by Iwan Simonis are:
Bronze Medalists:
18UB Niko Konkel (Winston-Salem, NC)
18UG Courtney Hairfield (Chester, VA)
16UB Niko Konkel (Winston-Salem, NC)
16UG Hayleigh Marion (Bristol, VA)
14UB Jordan Witkin (Algonquin, IL)
14UG Noelle Tate (Elm City, NC)
The finalist of this year’s BEF U18 8-Ball National Championship presented by Lucasi Cues are:
Introduced at this year’s BEF Junior National Pool Championships was the Michael J. Repici Girls in Billiards Scholarship. The new scholarship fund provided $1,000 to the three girls 9-Ball division champions. In its inaugural year, the recipients of the Michael J Repici include: U18 9-Ball Champion Skylar Hess; U16 9-Ball Champion Precilia Kinsley; and U14 9-Ball Champion Savannah Easton.
Sponsors for this year’s event included:
Aramith
BilliardsKing.com
Diamond Billiard Products
Iwan Simonis
J. Pechauer Custom Cues
JamUp Apparel
Lucasi Cues
Mako Tips
Predator Group
Schon Custom Cues
Seyberts Billiard Supply
About Billiard Education Foundation
The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) was formed in 1993 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity committed to promoting a love of pool and building the next generation of players through youth programs and academic scholarships. The BEF is managed by the Billiard Congress of America. For more information about the BEF or to learn how you can support the foundation please visit BilliardEducation.org.
Nine events, drawn from 22 national qualifiers across 17 states, yields 110 unique competitors
For the second year in a row, since the Billiards Education Foundation initiated a new rule allowing players to compete in more than one division of their Junior National Championships, Greenville, SC’s Landon Hollingworth has taken advantage of an opportunity to claim two separate titles at the annual event. He claimed two 2021 Junior National titles in both the 18 & Under and 16 & Under divisions and last week, though he’d aged out of eligibility for the 16 & Under division of the 2022 Junior Nationals, he won his second 18 & Under division title and added a win in the event’s 10-Ball Championships. Nine divisions drew 110 unique entrants to the 2022 Junior National Championships, which were hosted by the South Point Hotel & Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV from June 21-25.
Three of the nine events were designated as qualifiers for the World Junior 9-Ball Championships, scheduled for the week of November 14-20 at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition to the 18U Boys division event, won by Hollingsworth, the 18U Girls division, won by Skylar Hess and the 16U Boys division, won by Adrian Prasad will yield eligible entrants to the World Juniors event. The BEF will make an announcement sometime in the future regarding which players among those who participated will be eligible, taking into account finish positions in each of the qualifying events and the ability of individual players to attend.
The influence of the ongoing Junior International Championship (JIC) series of tournaments, now midway through its second year, was very evident in the results of this year’s Junior Nationals. Of the 27 medals awarded to competitors (gold, silver, bronze; three in each division), 25 of them went to active competitors in the JIC series.
“Proud is an understatement,” wrote On the Wire Creative Media’s Ra Hanna, who organized and runs the series, in the JIC Facebook page. “We’re a family; that’s it, pure and simple. We work hard and we play hard.”
Hollingsworth’s two Gold medals at the BEF Junior Nationals were not without their challenges. Though he’d go undefeated in the second-largest event in terms of entrants, the 18U Boys 9-Ball World Qualifier, which drew 35 entrants, he had to play one loss-side match in his 10-Ball Championship run, which drew 32.
Niko Konkel, Landon Hollingsworth and Joey Tate
None of his five opponents in his 9-Ball event run chalked up less than four racks against him and one of them, Garrett Vaughan, forced him to win the final game of a double hill struggle. He downed Niko Konkel 9-6 to claim the hot seat, before he had to face one of his regular opponents on the JIC circuit, Joey Tate, in the finals. Tate had been sent to the loss side, where he defeated Nicholas Fiore, Trent White in the quarterfinals and Konkel, who picked up the event’s Bronze medal, in the semifinals. Hollingsworth grabbed the Gold medal with a 10-7 final victory over Tate, who went home with the Silver medal.
In the 10-Ball Championships, Hollingsworth began his run to the hot seat match by defeating his younger brother Cameron and then defeated three more opponents to reach and challenge Nathan Nunes for the hot seat. Nunes handed him his first, and as it turned out, only loss of the week 7-3 and claimed the hot seat. Hollingsworth was challenged to his second double hill match by Adrian Prasad in the semifinals and prevailed for a second chance against Nunes. In the very early morning hour or so of Saturday, June 25, he collected his second Gold medal with a 7-5 victory over Nunes in the finals of the 10-Ball event.
In the 18U Girls world qualifier, which drew 17 entrants, Skylar Hess won three on the loss side to down Kennedy Meyman in the finals. Hess had been sent to the loss side by Meyman, who’d advanced to claim the hot seat in a double hill win over Courtney Hairfield. On the loss side, Hess defeated Bethany Tate in the quarterfinals and Hairfield in the semifinals, both 7-5. She won her rematch versus Meyman 10-3 to claim the event’s Gold medal. The top four finishers in this event were among the JIC’s top-ranked competitors in its 18UG division, midway through the JIC season. The winner of the BEF 18UG event, Hess, is 4th on the JIC list, while the runner-up, Meyman, is 2nd. Precilia Kinsley, who finished in the tie for 5th/6th at this event is 3rd on the JIC list, while the 4th place finisher is currently the JIC’s top-ranked young female competitor, Bethany Tate.
In the remaining world-qualifying event, the 16U Boys 9-Ball, which drew one entrant less than the 18U Boys event (34), the 10-Ball Championship’s Bronze medalist, Adrian Prasad came from the loss side to down Harrison Leinen in the finals. Prasad had been defeated by Leinen 9-7 in the battle for the hot seat, and then eliminated the 9-Ball event’s Bronze medalist Niko Konkel in the semifinals 7-2. Prasad completed his run with a 10-8 victory over Leinen in the finals.
The 16U Girls had, by far, the shortest field in the Junior Nationals with only 7 entrants and the above-noted Precilia Kinsley and Bethany Tate finished as winner and runner-up. Those two battled first in a winners’ side semifinal that went double hill before Tate advanced to the hot seat match against Hayleigh Marion. In her second straight double hill match, Tate defeated Marion to claim the hot seat. On the loss side, Kinsley won two matches, including a double hill win over Marion in the semifinals, before coming back to down Tate in the finals 7-2.
8-Ball Championships draw larger field (44), than 14U Girls and Boys combined (40)
Trenton White and Brent Worth
The popularity of 8-Ball was as evident at the BEF Junior Nationals as it is in the general amateur fields of competition, like various leagues and independent-venue, weekendtournaments from coast to coast. The 44-entrant size of the field featured a lot of competitors not included in the JIC rosters of regular competitors. The JIC series, in general, features 9-ball competition, though later this year, there are plans to include a 14:1 tournament. Though they don’t play 8-ball, all three of the event’s medals went to regular JIC competitors.
Trent White, who competes in the JIC 18U Boys division, went undefeated through the field to claim the BEF’s 18U 8-Ball Championships. White faced separate opponents in the hot seat match and finals, downing Brent Worth, double hill, in the former and Jacob Kohl 5-2 in the latter.
Eddie Vonderau, who sits atop the current JIC ranking roster in the 13UB division, went undefeated through the BEF’s 14U Boys event, which drew 28 entrants. Like White in the 8-Ball event, Vonderau faced different opponents in the hot seat and finals. He gave up only a single rack to Jordan Witkin in the hot seat match and faced Jayce Little in the finals. Little won three on the loss side, including two double hill matches, against Grayson Vaughan and in the semifinals, Witkin, for a shot against Vonderau. Witkin chalked up four racks in the finals, but Vonderau got his 8 to claim the Gold medal.
Sofia Mast, Savannah Easton and Noelle Tate
The 12-entrant 14U Girls event was won by Savannah Easton, who went undefeated through the field, downing Sofia Mast twice; hot seat and finals. Easton had defeated the youngest of the three-member Tate clan, Noelle, in a winners’ side semifinal and in the hot seat match, drew Mast, who’d defeated her ‘storied’ arch-rival in the JIC series, Skylar Hess (winner of the 18UG world qualifier), in a winners’ side quarterfinal before defeating Jordan Helfery in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Easton grabbed the hot seat 7-5 over Mast. When Mast returned after defeating Noelle Tate a second time, 5-1, Easton defeated her a second time, 7-3 in the finals to grab the 14U Girls Gold medal.
All in all, it was a good weekend for the Tate family on the Junior International Championships, which held its fourth 2022 stop in the series at Bullshooters in Phoenix, AZ this past weekend (May 6-8). The family’s oldest son that plays on the JIC (among 12 in the family), Joey Tate, went undefeated in the 18U Boys division and came back from a winners’ side semifinal loss to arch-rival Landon Hollingsworth in the ProAm division to down him in the finals. Sister Bethany lost the hot seat match in the 18U Girls Division, but came back from the semifinals to down Savanna Wolford in the finals. Bethany ended up meeting and being defeated by brother Joey in a winners’ side semifinal in the ProAm division, while younger sister, Noelle, finished in the tie for 7th in the 18U Girls and 4th in the 13U Girls Division.
It was also a good day for the JIC’s most well-known rivalries with Tate and Hollingsworth squaring off in both the 18U Boys division and in the ProAm division, while Sofia Mast and Skylar Hess battled in the finals of the 13U Girls division; both won by Mast. They competed, but not against each other, in the 18U Girls division.
The event drew a total of 53 entrants (with some crossovers) to Bullshooter’s. The younger divisions drew very low numbers (three for the 13U Boys and four for the 13U Girls).
Tate’s undefeated win in the 17-entrant, 18U Boys division opened with a 7-4 victory over Landon Hollingsworth and then sent Ivo Lemon to the loss side 7-3, which set Tate up for a winners’ side semifinal against Rylan Yoder. Eddie Vonderau, in the meantime, defeated Deke Squier 7-3 and Payne McBride 7-5 to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal against Nathan Nunes. Two double hill matches ensued for advancement to the hot seat match, won by Tate and Vonderau. Tate claimed the hot seat 7-4.
On the loss side, Yoder picked up Payne McBride, who’d followed his loss to Vondereau by eliminating Hollingsworth 7-4 and Ben Kleinfelter 7-5. Nunes picked up Brent Worth, who’d defeated (among others) Jamison Gall 7-3 and Justin Maywin 7-5 to reach him.
McBride and Nunes advanced to the quarterfinals, where McBride won a double hill match versus Nunes, only to be downed himself in a double hill match by Vondereau in the semifinals. Tate completed his undefeated run with a second win over Vondereau in the finals 9-5.
The multi-gender, 20-entrant ProAm field (largest at this event) featured two matches between Joey Tate and Hollingsworth; hot seat and finals. Tate had sent Ben Kleinfelter and Jahnythan Craig to the loss side to meet up with his sister, Bethany. Hollingsworth, in the meantime, got by Rylan Yoder and Nathan Nunes to face Payne McBride in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Hollingsworth defeated McBride 7-4, as Joey was working at sending his own sister to the loss side 7-2. Hollingsworth claimed the hot seat over Tate 7-2.
On the loss side, Bethany Tate picked up Brent Worth, who’d followed his winners’ side loss to Hollingsworth with a double hill win Justin Maywin and a 7-2 win over Nunes. McBride drew Jahnythan Craig, who’d recently eliminated Yoder and Gall, both 7-2.
McBride and Worth advanced to the quarterfinals, where McBride prevailed 7-3 and was then downed 7-4 by Tate in the semifinals. The tables were turned on Hollingsworth in the finals, who chalked up only two racks in the 9-2 win that gave Tate his second title of the event.
Bethany Tate wins 18U Girls, Mast wins 13U Girls as Vondereau takes 13U Boys
Bethany Tate’s path to the winners’ circle in the 18U Girls division went through her sister, Noelle, whom she defeated in the opening round in a somewhat predictable double hill fight. Tate then faced two ‘Savanna’s’ in a row; one with and one without an ‘h.’ She downed Savannah Easton 7-5 in a winners’ side semifinal to advance to the hot seat against Savanna Wolford, who’d defeated Sofia Mast 7-4 in their winners’ side semifinal.
It was Wolford who grabbed the hot seat 7-3 over Tate. On the loss side, Precilia Kinsley backed up her winners’ side, first-round defeat of Skylar Hess with a 7-4 victory over Mast in her (Mast’s) first loss-side match. In the quarterfinals, Kinsley faced Kennedy Meyman, who’d survived a double hill match against Easton.
Kinsley advanced one more step, downing Meyman 7-2 in those quarterfinals, before she and Bethany Tate locked up in a double-hill semifinal that eventually sent Tate to a second shot against Wolford. Tate and Wolford battled to double hill, before Tate dropped the last ball to claim the 18U Girls title.
The two 13U-division events, with a combined eight entrants, were combined into a single event, which played out, in the beginning, as a round robin event, with each competitor playing seven matches. The top contenders were arranged into a male/female pair of single elimination matches that determined the winner in each division.
Eddie Vondereau’s record in the round robin games earned him a bye in the single elimination phase of the 13U Boys division, as Deke Squier downed Brennan Fee 7-2. Vondereau downed Squier in the finals 9-2, with Fee finishing third. In the opening round of the single elimination phase of the 13U Girls division, Sofia Mast defeated Noelle Tate 7-2, as Skylar Hess downed Savannah Easton 7-4. In the event’s modified single-elimination format, Easton defeated Tate to finish third, with Tate, fourth. In the finals, Mast claimed the 13U Girls title with 9-5 win over Hess.
Stop #4 of the Junior International Championships, sponsored by Viking Cues, signaled the end of the series’ first half of competition. With four events left, Joey Tate and Landon Hollingsworth are in possession of the top two spots in both the 18U Boys division and ProAm division. Tate, with this past weekend’s win and three previous runner-up finishes, is atop the ProAm division, with Hollingsworth in 2nd place, Brent Worth in 3rd and Lazaro Martinez, 4th. In the 18U division, the order is Tate, Hollingsworth, Ivo Lemon and Lazaro Martinez.
Bethany Tate, who’s won three of the first four events, is atop the 18U Girls division, with Kennedy Meyman in 2nd place. Noelle Tate sits in 3rd place and Skylar Hess is 4th. In the 13U Boys division, it’s D’Angelo Spain atop the standings. He’s been runner-up twice and 3rd twice, though he has yet to win a stop. Deke Squier is 2nd, with Eddie Vondereau, who’s won the two events in which he has competed, in 3rd place.
In an effort to assist in travel arrangements associated with the Junior International Championships and the BEF Junior Nationals, the next stop on the former has been scheduled in close time-and-location proximity to the latter. The JIC’s fifth stop, scheduled for the weekend of June 18-20, will be hosted by Griff’s in Las Vegas, while the BEF Junior Nationals will be held the following week (June 21-25) at the South Point Hotel & Convention Center in the same city.
