For the fourth year in a row, Melissa Little took the Ladies title at the Houston Open. This time, on the weekend of September 28-29, she went undefeated and did not, for the first time in three attempts, have to face Amanda Lampert in the finals. Belinda Lee faced her twice; from among the winners' side final four and in the finals of the $500-added event that drew 24 entrants to Legends Billiards in League City, TX.
Manny Chau picked up the victory in the $5,000-added Open event (in which Little competed, as well) that drew 124 entrants to the 23rd edition of the Houston Open, which has occasionally been held more than once in a calendar year. Chau had to come from the loss side to defeat hot seat occupant, Patrick Werren.
Once she had defeated Belinda Lee, Little moved into the winners' side final against Michelle Yim, who'd defeated Teresa Garland. Little got into the hot seat with a 7-4 victory over Yim and waited for what turned out to be the return of Lee.
Lee began her loss-side march back to the finals with a victory over Gail Eaton, and in the quarterfinals, defeated Renee Benton. A double hill win over Yim in the semifinals gave Lee a second shot at Little. Little, though, completed her undefeated run through the field with a 7-4 win to claim her fourth straight US Open title.
In the Open event, Chau and Werren met at the tables for the first time in the finals. Chau had been sent west by Sylver Ochoa 9-6 from among the winners' side final four, as Werren got by James Davis, Sr. 9-5. Werren took the hot seat match 9-5 and waited on Chau.
First up for Chau on the loss side was Jonathan Macias, who'd defeated Shawn Putnam and Shane Manaole, both 7-5, to reach him. Davis, Sr. picked up his son, James Davis, Jr., who'd gotten by Raymond Cardenas and Sonny Bosshammer, also both 7-5. Chau eliminated Macias 7-3 as father James, defeated son James 7-4.
Chau allowed father to exit with son, shortly thereafter, defeating Davis, Sr. 7-4. Ochoa put up a fight in the semifinals, but Chau finished the double hill battle, and turned to face Werren in the hot seat. Chau took the opener of the true double elimination final, giving up only a single rack, and jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set. Werren battled to bring that second set to double hill, before Chau finished it to claim the event title.
Austin favorite James “Bastrop” Davis Sr. was cool, calm, and collected, as he made his way through a field of 32 top competitors to capture the Open 9-Ball Division of the Lone Star Billiards Tour Texas Open Warm-Up III held this past weekend, August 10th-11th, 2013 at Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round, Rock, Texas. In the final, Davis Sr. overcame European player Patrick Werren, 9-3, securing an undefeated, third tour victory. Amidst a field of 48 Amateur Division players, last year’s runner-up Chelo Velasquez captured his first tour victory over Raymond Cardenas, 7-1. Velasquez went undefeated as well without a single opponent surpassing 3 games. The event drew 80 players and paid out over $6,000 in prize money in addition to a free 9-ball division entry for each winner into the Space City Open II slated for December 6th-9th, at Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar, Houston, Texas.
In the Open Division, Bastrop’s path to victory included wins over David “Little David” Henson, 7-1, and Ed “Big Ed” Ambrose, 7-1, while Garett Sitz of College Station, Texas entered his bid for the hot seat ousting Pittsburg native Bob Guzik, 7-5, and upsetting Patrick Werren, 7-6. Steve Pennington upset Waco’s Doug Young, 7-6 and bested Cesar Garcia, 7-1, while local player Brian Sanders disappointed a wave of talent including Erik Renteria and Kevin Guimond. On the west side, Ambros eliminated Renteria, 6-5, and Henson sent Guimond packing, 6-2. Comeback players John Palmore and Brian Anderson were stopped in 9th-12th positions by Werren and Coffman, respectively. On the second day, races increased to 9 on the winners’ side and 7 on the one loss side. Winners’ side action saw Sitz fall to Davis Sr., 9-7, and Sanders steamroll Pennington, 9-3. Davis Sr. and Sanders teed off for a nail biter of a hot seat match. It was 8-6 Davis’ favor when Sanders answered back tying the match at 8. The shot of the match came when Davis Sr. kicked at a triple combination, the 1-ball to the 9-ball to the 8-ball, lined up towards the side pocket. As the shot was executed, long rail with deliberation and proper speed, the cue ball struck the 1-ball, hitting the 9-ball, in turn pocketing the 8-ball. Concluding the shot, the cue ball died, settling in front of a difficult 1-ball/9-ball combination, headed for the same pocket. With cue in hand, he pinpointed his aim, addressed the cue ball, and successfully pocketed the 9-ball. The crowd had little time to catch their breath as Werren forged ahead on the one-loss side eliminating Ambros, 7-1, Pennington, 7-1, and finally Sanders 7-5, to meet Davis Sr. in the finals. A young Werren shot out of the gate, taking a 2-0 lead. In the third game, Werren missed a routine 7-ball hooking the veteran player behind the 8-ball. Davis Sr. kicked one rail, long, and pocketed the 7-ball in the corner. The crowd gasped, followed by an explosion of clapping. Davis Sr. capitalized that game, consequently breaking and running the next rack. Werren answered back with an eight ball run, racking up his third game, but it would be his last as Davis Sr. replied with a 7 game shutout, besting Werren, 9-3.
Amateur Division action saw 36 players eliminated the first day, bringing back the final 12 for Sunday. It appeared as if last year’s Amateur Division Champion Frank Ferrer Jr. might repeat while last year’s runner-up Chelo Velasquez threatened a first-time win. After an impressive run by Victoria’s Alex Cardenas, he was sent west by contender and cousin, Raymond Cardenas. Flip Edwards fell to Ferrer, 7-6, Velasquez dominated David Neumann, 7-3, and David Escobedo struck down Colt Jackson, 7-5. On the west side, A. Cardenas bested Justin Wyly, 5-2, and Cesar Garcia eliminated Edwards, 5-3. It was Neumann over Brian Anderson, 5-1, and Jackson over Paul Jobe, 5-2. The level field played down with little or no upsets as R. Cardenas fell to Ferrer Jr. on the east side, 7-6, and Velasquez pounded on Escobedo, 7-3. Duking it out on the one loss side, A. Cardenas eliminated Edwards, 5-1, and Neumann thrashed Jackson, 5-1. Escobedo squeezed by A. Cardenas, 5-4, and R. Cardenas sent Neumann packing, 5-2. Hot seat action saw Velasquez torture Ferrer Jr., 7-1, while R. Cardenas left Escobedo in 4th place. R. Cardenas executed revenge on Ferrer Jr., staging his first Amateur Division final. Even though Velasquez underwent recent shoulder surgery on his stroking arm, it didn’t seem to hinder him as he slaughtered R. Cardenas in the final, 7-1, grasping what was denied him in 2012.
The Lone Star Tour would like to thank Skinny Bob’s Billiards and staff for hosting another first rate event.
The Lone Star Billiards Tour is sponsored by Poison by Predator Cues www.poisonbilliards.com, Delta-13 Rack www.delta-13.com, APA of North Harris County www.facebook.com/apanorthharriscounty, www.ImproveYourShot.com, and Ozone Billiards www.OzoneBilliards.com. Live streamed, recorded matches from this event may be viewed at www.ustream.tv/channel/lonestarbilliardstour. The complete event photo album can be found at www.facebook.com/lonestartour.
The Tour Championships will be held October 12th-13th, 2013 at Bogies Billiards in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
Strokers in Palm Harbor, FL welcomed the Poison Pool Tour on June 30-July 2, along with a whole lot of lightning and rain. The amateur event drew 34 players and the Open even drew 19. Patrick Werren posed a threat to both tournaments by winning the Amateur event and taking 2nd in the Open event. Steve Knoll, Florida’s hard courier, decided to put his bricks down for one day and pick up his cue, just to let the young guys like Werren know that he still has what it takes. He won the Open event, defeating Werren in the finals.
In the Amateur event, Werren breezed through the winners' side like it was his job. Taking a first round bye, he posted wins over Rich Johnson 7-4, Chris Gentile (2011 FL State Amateur 9 Ball Champ) 7-4, Gary Gilsinan 7-4, and Marcus Shenandoah 7-2, before meeting Mark Wathen in the hot seat match. Wathen, looking like his usual, strong-playing self, started with a first round bye and then posted wins over Jason Bowen 7-6, Kyle Bova 7-5, Jose Del Rio 7-0, and JD 7-1. The two fought a double hill, hot seat thriller, in which Wathen prevailed
The battle for the west side hot seat was waged between Brett Lykins and Jarred Schlauch. Schlauch, losing to Tim Baron in the 3rd round, took that as motivation to post wins over Bowen 6-5, Jason Richko 6-3, Justin Gilsinian 6-1, Jose Del Rio 6-3, and Rich Johnson 6-4. Lykins took a loss to Johnson in the 2nd round and then fired off wins over Zoran Vidic 6-0, Dave Stem 6-4, Kyle Bova 6-4, Chris Gentile 6-4, Tim Baron 6-4, and JD 6-2.
Schlauch bested Brett Lykins in the quarterfinals 6-4, but had his five-match, loss-side streak snapped by Werren in the semifinals. Werren then took the opening set of the finals, forcing a single rack shootout to determine the Amateur event champion. Werren completed the double dip over Wathen to claim his first Poison Pool Tour Amateur 9-Ball title.
On Sunday, Werren's fortunes were reversed as he advanced to the hot seat, only to be taken down by Steve Knoll in the single-set/single rack finals. Following wins over Jose Del Rio 7-3 and Jon Wing 7-4, Werren met Knoll among the winners' side final eight, and sent him to the loss side, 7-5. In the battle for the hot seat, Werren faced Jason Richko, who arrived having defeated Donny Mills, double hill, Kyle Bova 7-5 and Tim Baron 7-3. Werren gained the hot seat with a 7-3 win over Richko and waited for the return of and rematch against Knoll.
On the west side, Knoll would pick up Kyle Bova who'd put up wins over Tony Crosby 6-5 and Chris Gentile 6-0. Knoll prevailed 6-1 over Bova to meet Paul Mullins in the quarterfinals. Mullins, who took a third round loss to Knoll, had put up wins over Michael Lear 6-2, Jarred Schlauch 6-3 and Tim Baron 6-3 to earn the quarterfinal re-match.
Knoll took that re-match 6-2 for a shot at the waiting Richko in the semifinals. As if trying to say that he doesn't mind not carrying bricks for a day. Knoll took Richko down 6-1 for a chance to deny Werren two straight event wins on the same tour stop.
Werren and Knoll fought to double hill in the opening set of the finals, but Knoll prevailed to force the second set, single-rack shootout. Knoll took a look at an early, but irresistible 2/10 combination, won the rack and claimed his first Poison Pool Tour Open 10-Ball title.
We would like to thank Strokers' room owner, Jose Del Rio, for the great venue and even better hospitality. The staff at the room were exceptional and the food. . . well, it is always something to talk about. Strokers in Palm Harbor will be the feature room for the U.S. Amateur Championship qualifiers and championship rounds.Thank you to Poison Billiards, for whom without this would not be possible. They work hard at improving billiards through technology and style.
Our next event will be held on the weekend of July 27-28 at Hammerheads in Holiday, FL, featuring Diamond tables. To keep in tune with our events go here – http://uspoisontour.com/ – to join our mailing list and 'Like' us on Facebook to get first-hand updates on the tour.
