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Wiley wins DFW 9-Ball Tour finale and Tour Champion title

(l to r): Jeremy Jones, CJ Wiley and & TJ Davis

Going into the DFW 9-Ball Tour finale, held on the weekend of Nov. 10-11, the 2018 Tour Championship title was still very much in play. CJ Wiley stood atop the 10-stop point standings, poised to win it all, though Paul Guernsey and TJ Davis were a hair-width 40 and 80 points away (680-640-600). Had Guernsey won the final tour stop, with Wiley as runner-up, they’d have tied for first place. If Davis had won with Guernsey as runner-up, they’d have tied for first place. Had Wiley faltered in his quest for the event win and Tour Champion title, there were numerous ways it might have turned out.
 
But he didn’t falter. He faced seven opponents, including Jeremy Jones twice (early and late), played 84 games, winning (on average) three out of every four of them and finished undefeated to claim both the season finale and 2018 Tour Championship titles. The $5,000-added event drew 64 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
 
As it turned out, Wiley and Davis faced each other in the hot seat match. Wiley had gotten by Neil Nabil Saidawi and Douglas Pitts before running into Jeremy Jones for the first time. In races to 9, handicapped with Fargo Ratings, Jones chalked up more racks against Wiley (6) in their third-round meeting than any other opponent Wiley faced all weekend, including Jones in their later meeting in the finals. Wiley then advanced to meet and defeat Phil Auteri, which set him up to face Jordan Gartenberg in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
 
Davis, meanwhile, had defeated Michael Montgomery, Cody Wright, Brian Horvath and Greg Sandifer to draw Jersey Jack Lynch in the other winner’s side semifinal. Davis sent Lynch to the loss side 8-2, as Wiley shut Gartenberg out to join him. Wiley assured himself a minimum second place finish by defeating Davis 9-2. Davis moved to the semifinals, having secured a minimum third place finish.
 
On the loss side, Jones was at work on the seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would earn him a re-match against Wiley in the finals. A victory over Denny Sneed put Jones into the first money round (13th-16th) where he defeated Oscar Araujo 9-4. He advanced to eliminate Greg Sandifer and Tim Larson, both 9-5, to draw Gartenberg, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Jersey Jack Lynch drew Corey Flud, who’d been sent to the loss side by Jones in the second round and was on his own seven-match, loss-side quest for a re-match, against Jones. Flud eliminated Billy Guy, Douglas Pitts, Suliman Abu Salem and Steve Raynes, before defeating Clint Palaci, double hill, and Phil Auteri 7-3 to draw Jersey Jack.
 
Flud earned his quarterfinal re-match against Jones with a 7-5 victory over Lynch. Jones did his part with a 9-2 victory over Gartenberg. Flud started the quarterfinal with two on the wire in a race to 9. Jones defeated him a second time 9-4, and then moved on to give up only a single rack in a semifinal win over Davis.
 
Their Fargo Rates are 37 points apart with Jones given the edge over Wiley, 749-712. Wiley defied the FargoRate Match odds, giving him a roughly 30% chance of winning (29.6% to be precise). Jones chalked up the second-highest number of racks against him in the tournament, but Wiley took the match 9-5 to claim both the event and Tour Champion title.
 
Wiley finished the event as he’d started it, at the top of the tour rankings. TJ Davis and Paul Guernsey (who finished the event in the tie for 25th) switched places; Davis, finishing second and Guernsey finishing third. In addition to awarding the Tour Championship to Wiley, the tour gave a Best Sportsman Award to Billy Guy.
 
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty's Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Super Billiards Store JB Cases, Outsville (Accu-Rack), Granite Guyz, BCAPL/CSI and Dallas Eight-Ball League. 

Abismo wins double elimination final to stop Gutierrez and go undefeated on Omega Billiard Tour

Daniel Herring, Denny Sneed, Friday Abismo and David Gutierrez

Back in June, after a somewhat protracted absence from the pool scene, Houston’s David Gutierrez returned to the fold, so to speak, to win the sixth stop on the Omega Billiard Tour, going undefeated through a field of 85. Two and a half months later, on the weekend of September 9-10, at the ninth stop on the tour, Gutierrez rebounded from a loss on the winners’ side to challenge Friday Abismo in a true double elimination final. They battled to double hill, twice, with Gutierrez winning the first set and Abismo winning the second to claim the event title. The $1,700-added event drew 92 entrants to Speed’s Billiards & Games in Arlington, TX.
 
Abismo navigated his way through five winners’ side matches against Jesse Wilcoxson, Kiengchay Phoutthavong, Mark Szabo, Viet My and Steve Raynes to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Daniel Herring. Gutierrez, in the meantime, won three winners’ side matches, against James Thorpe, Robin Barbour and Tony Top before being sent to the loss side 5-5 by Charley Elders (Gutierrez racing to 9). Elders followed him over when he was defeated by Juan Parra, who moved into the other winners’ side semifinal against Denny Sneed.
 
Abismo defeated Herring 7-2, as Sneed sent Parra west 7-1. Abismo claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Sneed and waited for Gutierrez to complete the seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would put him into the finals against Abismo.
 
On the loss side, it was Parra who drew Gutierrez, four matches into his sloss-side streak, having most recently downed Jersey Jack Lynch 9-5 and Oscar Araujo 9-3. Herring picked up Carl Bodeker, who’d been sent to the loss side by Sneed in a winners’ side quarterfinal and defeated Viet My 7-5 and Tony Sulsar 7-4.
 
Gutierrez defeated Parra  9-4, and in the quarterfinals met up with Herring, who’d eliminated Bodeker 8-5. Gutierrez was gaining momentum at this juncture, and took the quarterfinal match 9-3 over Herring. He got his shot at Abismo in the hot seat with a 9-2 win over Sneed in the semifinals.
 
Abismo was granted two games on the wire in each of the two matches against Gutierrez in races to 9 for the double elimination final. Both matches went double hill, with Gutierrez winning the opener 9-8. Abismo kept battling and took the second set 9-8 to claim the event title.
 
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Speed’s for their hospitality, along with sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiard Tour, scheduled for October 14-15, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by The Hideaway in Dallas, TX.
 
 

Pitts goes undefeated to take Omega Billiard Tour stop on Memorial Day Weekend

Dave Faver, Juan Bautista and Douglas Pitts

Douglas Pitts chalked up his second victory (his first in a couple of years) on the Omega Billiard Tour with an undefeated run on the weekend of May 27-28. He had to get by David Faver twice to do it; once, in a winners' side semifinal and again, in the finals. The $1,700-added, 5th stop on the tour drew 87 entrants to Puckett's in Fort Worth, TX.
 
For a while there, about three matches, it looked as though Pitts was just going to breeze through the field. He shut out his first opponent (Eric Solomon), gave up three racks to his second (Travis Landsdowne), and surrendered a single rack to Robert Reighter before running into three straight double hill matches that eventually put him in the hot seat.
 
He survived his first double hill match in a winners' side quarterfinal against Tony Barrington, and then, in one of the two winners' side semifinals met up with Dave Faver, who'd arrived on the scene with a 'back story' that had a way of focusing a lot of attention on what he eventually accomplished as the event's runner-up. Last July, Faver was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and after a tough fall and winter, characterized by chemotherapy, radiation and a bout of pneumonia, had his esophagus (and the cancer) removed in April. Exhausted and weak all weekend, according to tour director Melinda Bailey, Faver literally battled through to his winners' side, double hill semifinal against Pitts, and then won three on the loss side to challenge Pitts a second time in the finals. 
 
As Pitts and Faver struggled through their double hill ordeal, Juan Batista and Phillip Palmer battled in the other winners' side semifinal, won by Bautista 6-5 (Palmer racing to 7). Pitts claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Bautista and waited on Faver's return.
 
On the loss side, Faver picked up TJ Davis, who'd gotten by Oscar Araujo 9-4 (double hill), and Crispian Ng 9-5. Palmer drew Barrington, who, after his defeat at the hands of Pitts, had defeated Denny Snead 8-3 and Greg Sandifer 8-6. Barrington then downed Palmer 8-6 (double hill), and in the quarterfinals, met up with Faver, who'd eliminated Davis 7-7 (double hill).
 
As tired and exhausted as he was, Faver locked up in his third straight double hill fight (against Barrington) and won it (7-7). His second (possibly third or fourth) wind kicked in during the semifinals, in which he defeated Batista 7-3. Pitts, in the finals, ended Faver's extraordinary run. He defeated Faver 7-3 to claim the event title.
 
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Puckett's as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The sixth stop on the Omega Billiards Tour, a $1,700-added event, scheduled for June 24-25, will be hosted by Clicks in Arlington, TX. Further information about the Omega Billiard Tour can be found by visiting their Web site at Omegabilliardstour.com