Chase Rudder dominated the Open 9-Ball division in this past weekend’s $1,000 added Poison by Predator Tour event which spawned 57 entries overall, held at Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar in Houston, Texas. Rudder annihilated North Carolina’s Younger Chapman, 9-1, in the final after an undefeated run where he held each of his victims at 4 games or less. Chapman, Great Southern Billiards Tour player and North Carolina State Senior Champion, succumbed to Rudder in the hot seat match, 9-1, after an impressive showing which included wins over resident players Brent Thomas and Bill Fuller. The final four winners’ side saw #7 ranked Raul Escobedo fall to Rudder 9-4, while #9 ranked Will Felder fell to Chapman, 9-5. After a first round blow at the hands of Eric Hsu, Sonny “The Boss” Bosshamer won 6 consecutive matches including wins over Andy Jethwa, 7-6, and Escobedo, 7-1, but was stopped dead in his tracks by Felder, 7-2. Once again, Felder was defeated by Chapman, 7-4, settling for a respectable third place finish.
The Amateur 9-ball division saw Bobby Perez move swiftly through the winners’ side with wins over tour newcomer Matthew Sales, Bobby Garcia, and Steve Williams. On the final four winners’ side, Perez ousted Chuck Adams, 7-4, while the indomitable Sonny Demetro defeated Raul Escobedo, 7-4. After a first round loss to Jonathon Poon, Jerald “Topwater” Jackson won 6 consecutive matches including wins over Errol Sanders, Alex Cardenas, Mike White, and Jack Cavalier. Escobedo ended Jackson’s run, 5-3, but was eliminated by Adams, 5-1. Hot seat action saw Demetro handily defeat Perez, 7-4, staging a rematch between Perez and Adams. Perez stayed the course, defeating Adams once again, 5-4, earning himself another shot at Demetro. In the final match both players were collected and calculating, shot for shot. Despite his raw determination, Perez fell short against the veteran player by the same score, 7-4.
The next event on the Poison by Predator Tour will be held Sunday, July 7th, 2013 at Bogies Billiards in Houston. The game will be 8-ball, played on 8’ Gandy tables with Simonis cloth and Aramith Pro Cup cue balls.
This past weekend the Lone Star Event hosted its second 9-ball stop of the year at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, Texas with 73 Amateur players and 52 Open players in attendance. Participants came from all over including Tyler, Temple, San Antonio, and Austin to take the Lone Star plunge. Open side notables included Joey Barnes, James Baraks, Manny Chau, and Sylver Ochoa. Amateurs included Calvin Trimont, Robert Hitchcock, Rocky Esquivel, Robert Odom, Steve Espinosa and many more.
Match play commenced at approximately 3pm on Saturday after 125 players were auctioned off. The Amateur division winners' side final 8 saw Jason Pearce defeat Steve Lindgren 7-1, Raul Escobedo oust Calvin Trimont 7-4, Victor Rojas best Sonny Bosshamer 7-1, and Karl McClendon defeat Rocky Esquivel 7-2. On the one-loss side it was Bobby Perez making a great comeback with 6 straight wins after a second round loss to Steve Lindgren. His end came at the hands of Will Felder 5-3. It was Mikey Frost over Charlie Buckner 5-3 and David Massie over Eric Olivo which moved them into 9th -12th position on the one-loss side along with Felder and Perez. It was Felder and Rojas who dueled for 3rd after Rojas was dealt a blow by MCclendon 7-5 on the winners' side. Pearce sent Escobedo west 7-4 and earned himself a first-time hot seat match up with McClendon. Pearce secured his place 7-3 while Rojas defeated Felder 5-3. McClendon overcame Rojas but fell to Pearce in the final.
The Open division winners' side final 8 saw Andy Jethwa skim by Manny Chau 9-8, Raul Escobedo best Bill Fuller 9-3, Sylver Ochoa defeat Brent Thomas, and James Baraks glide by Brian Rosenbaum. On the west side, Danny Lee defeated Thomas, Joey Barnes bested Brian Rosenbaum, Chau sent home McClendon, and Mike Alonzo eliminated Fuller. Upsets included Barnes and Chau who suffered winners' side blows from Jethwa by the same score of 9-8, but when the smoke cleared it was Ochoa over Escobedo for the hot seat 9-6. On the one-loss side, Barnes and Escobedo were stopped short by Chau 7-4, 7-2, respectively. Ochoa made quick work of Chau and finished the event undefeated by a final score of 9-2.
Other winners included Courtney Peters and Loretta Lindgren who split the $100 Top Lady prize awarded in the Amateur division. Nick Calderaro, Houston's hottest young up-and-comer took home first for his efforts in the Junior division held on Sunday. Rocky Esquivel, Steve Espinosa, and Brittany McCombs all took home a Poison Cue from the Poison Cue Raffles. Congratulations!
The Lone Star Tour would like to thank its sponsors, www.PoisonBilliards.com, www.PredatorCues.com, www.Delta-13.com, www.PoolWebsites.com, the APA of North Harris County, Roger Allen Cue Repair, Gulf Coast Billiards, www.Pool-Trax.net, and James Walker who donated two T-Shirts to our Junior event winners. Our tour referee, Derrell Montgomery, did an outstanding job of keeping the event running smoothly as well as John Newsome who took over the tournament command post on Sunday.
The next Lone Star Event is April 14th-15th at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar. We would love for you to join us! Here is another chance to qualify for the Poison by Predator Tour!
For information on how to become a Lone Star Tour Sponsor, host an event, or general information, please call Kim White-Newsome at 713.825-1411.
Open
1st Sylver Ochoa $600/$1000
2nd Manny Chau $420/$700
3rd Raul Escobedo $280/$500
4th Joey Barnes $120/$200
5th-6th Andy Jethwa, James Baraks $70
7th-8th Danny Lee, Mike Alonzo $50
9th-12th Brent Thomas, Brian Rosenbaum, Karl McClendon, Bill Fuller $35
Amateur
1st Jason Pearce $570/$750
2nd Karl McClendon $400/$500
3rd Victor Rojas $250/$300
4th Will Felder $100/$115
5th-6th Mikey Frost, Raul Escobedo $70/$50
7th-8th Calvin Trimont, Bobby Perez $50/$30
9th-12th Steve Lindgren, David Massie, Sonny Bosshamer, Rocky Esquivel $35
13th-16th Charlie Buckner, Eric Olivo, Dee Davis, Brent Thomas $25
