Clark wins One Pocket event, Smith goes undefeated in 8-ball
Though the 6th Annual Royce Bunnell Memorial, held this past weekend (Dec. 10-12) at Stixx and Stones Billiards in Lewisville, TX, did not crown a defending champion in any of its three events (9-Ball, 8-Ball & One Pocket), it did witness the crowning of a former champion. Shane McMinn, who won the 9-ball event in 2019, returned and came from the loss side to claim this year’s 64-entrant, $1,500-added 9-ball title. Last year’s winner, Clint Freeman, was on hand to defend his 2020 title, but finished in the tie for 7th/8th place with Joshua Keller.
Robert Clark won the 16-entrant, $1,000-added One Pocket event, which was added to the event lineup for the first time last year. Last year’s winner, Jeff Sullivan, did not compete. Tom Smith picked up the top prize in the 32-entrant, $500-added 8-Ball event. He was the only winner among the three to go undefeated. Last year’s winner of the 8-Ball event, Jim Ryan, finished out of the money this year.
McMinn’s trip through the 9-ball field, which would eventually take a loss-side detour, thanks to Justin Espinosa, began with a three-match, aggregate score of 21-5 as he downed Eric Hammond (1), Noel Villalobos (2) and Duane Payne (2). At that point, he ran into a winners’ side quarterfinal match versus Eric Aicinena, who chalked up as many racks against him as his previous three opponents combined. McMinn survived that challenge, only to encounter another; a winners’ side semifinal against Espinosa, who’d been battling right from the start with wins over Daniel Gilmore (5), Roman Bayda (4) and a relatively easy one over Jack Lynch (1) in their winners’ side quarterfinal match. Sky Massingill, in the meantime, had gotten by Darrell Smith (3), Mohammad Alrawi (2), Chad Burgess (1) and Shane Hvamstad (5), to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal versus Shane Manole.
Espinosa sent McMinn off on a three-match, loss-side trip 7-5 and was joined in the hot seat match by Massingill, who’d survived a double hill match against Manole. Espinosa claimed the hot seat 7-2.
On the loss side, McMinn picked up Alwari, who was working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently eliminated Jeff Franklin 7-5 and Joshua Keller 7-4. Manole drew Aicinena, who’d followed his loss to McMinn with victories over TJ Davis and the event’s defending champion, Clint Freeman, both 7-3.
Aicinena did what he had to do to initiate a quarterfinal rematch against McMinn, downing Manole 7-2. McMinn obliged by putting a stop to Alwari’s loss-side run by the same 7-2 score. Aicinena put up a double hill fight against McMinn in that quarterfinal rematch, but fell short.
McMinn eliminated Massingill in the semifinals 7-2 and headed into his own, necessary two-match battle versus Espinosa in the finals. McMinn took the opener 7-5 over Espinosa and improved on that score by a rack in the second set, 7-4, to reclaim the Royce Bunnell Memorial 9-Ball title.
Smith endures some strong challenges in his undefeated battle for the 8-ball title
Tom Smith may have been the only competitor to go undefeated on the Royce Bunnell Memorial weekend, but it was no walk in the park. Three of the four (race to 3) matches he played getting to the hot seat went double hill. He got by Jeff Franklin that way, for openers, and then took a breath to shut out Chad Burgess. Joe Pelayo and then, Greg Sandifer, in a winners’ side semifinal, also forced a 5th deciding game in their matches. Smith’s opponent in the hot seat match was JP Kinman, who, by contrast, had played just one double hill match (vs. Blake Kamiab). He’d shut out Jason Judd in his opener, before giving up the two racks to Kamiab, and then, gave up one each to Chris Gaither and (in the other winners’ side semifinal) Doug Winnett.
Smith must have come as a bit of a shock to Kinman in that hot seat battle. Smith turned the tables on him and shut him out. He did not return.
There were only two ways to win loss-side matches; shutout or double hill (2-1). Sandifer tried them both, going the shutout route versus Clint Freeman and, in the quarterfinals, versus Sky Massingill (who’d eliminated Willett 2-0). Apparently bored with shutouts, Sandifer gave up the single rack in the semifinals to Kinman, who ended up tallying only a single game over his final six.
There were only three ways to win an 8-ball match at this event; shutout, 3-1, or double hill and to complete his undefeated run, Tom Smith had tried all three. He finished with the first two, shutting out Kinman in the hot seat match and giving up a single rack to Sandifer in the only set necessary in the true double elimination final to claim the Royce Bunnell Memorial 8-Ball title.
Gus Briseno, Robert Clark and Daniel Herring
Clark takes two out of three versus Briseno to claim One Pocket title
Somewhat like the 8-ball matches, there were only three ways to win one in the 16-entrant One Pocket event. Matches were races to 3 on both sides of the bracket.
Robert Clark shutout both Joshua Keller and Crispian Ng to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal vs. Daniel Herring. Gus Briseno, in the meantime, shut out JP Kinman and Clint Freeman to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal against Roman Bayda. Clark added a third shutout, over Herring, while Briseno had to battle to double hill versus Bayda, before joining Clark in the hot seat match. Clark went the 3-1 route to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Herring leapfrogged over a forfeit by Joshua Keller into the quarterfinals. He was joined by Bayda, who’d defeated Paul Villanueva 3-1. Herring and Bayda battled to double hill, before Herring advanced to meet Briseno in the semifinals. Herring and Briseno opted for double hill, too, but it was Briseno who earned the right to a rematch against Clark, waiting for him in the hot seat.
It took both sets, both of which went double hill. Briseno took the opener to even their ‘loss’ score. Clark took the second set to become the 6th Annual Royce Bunnell Memorial One Pocket champion.
Tour director David “Doc” Reyes thanked the ownership and staff at Stixx & Stones for their hospitality, as well as DFW Pool TV for streaming services. He also extended thanks to sponsors OB Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, Granite Guyz, Outsville Accu-Rack, Digital Pool, Cavalli, Eric and Becky Smith, Dallas 8-ball and John Eagle Honda.
Before the 10th stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour was over on Sunday, Oct. 24, tour representatives announced to all those in attendance that Daniel Herring, by virtue of how far he had already advanced in the $1,500-added, ongoing event that drew 84 players to Snookered in Frisco, TX, was the 2021 Tour Champion. It might have provided Jeff Franklin with a touch of motivation, because Franklin subsequently downed Herring twice, in the hot seat and finals, to go undefeated and claim the second-to-last 2021 tour title.
Though he started strong after a bye, downing Zeke Moore 8-3 and Quy Dao 8-1, Franklin would finish, having given up an average of five racks to his six opponents in seven matches (Herring twice). From his second match, he never gave up less than five the rest of the way. He downed Alberto Nieto Garcia (5) and Tony Top (6) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal matchup against Robert Clark.
Herring, in the meantime, after a bye, started out 8-2 (Domingo Lazaro) and 8-4 (Steve Raynes), and even after his two late losses to Franklin, finished having given up an average of just under four racks to his eight opponents (Franklin twice). After Raynes, Herring downed Jim Calderon 8-2 and then, shut out Miguel Hernandez to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal versus Clint Freeman.
Franklin sent Clark to the loss side 8-6, as Herring was sending Freeman over 8-3. In their first of two, Franklin and Herring battled to double hill before Franklin prevailed and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Clark picked up Miguel Hernandez, who’d followed his winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Herring with wins over Prashant Srivastava 6-2 and Jeff Georges 6-4. Freeman drew Tony Top, who’d followed his winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Franklin with victories over Mark Nanashee 8-5 and Chris “Woody” Smith 8-4.
Top downed Freeman 8-3. Clark joined him in the quarterfinals with an 8-5 win over Hernandez. Clark advanced one more step, defeating Top in those quarterfinals 8-5, before being stopped by Herring in the semifinals 8-4.
The finals looked as though it was going to be another double hill battle, but it fell short by a single game. Franklin sealed the deal and claimed the event title 8-6.
Tour director Monica Anderson thanked Craig and Jana Lucas and their Snookered staff, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and associate sponsor Fort Worth Billiards Superstore (Albert Trujillo and team). The Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s finale, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 20-21, will be hosted by Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Mosconi Cup competitor, ‘Chris Robinson,’ adopts stepfather’s name and wins on Father’s Day
There are a couple of story lines beyond the always-obvious winner and loser information that is interconnected with this past weekend’s 6th stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour (June 19-20). One, related to Father’s Day and the other, related to an 11-match, loss-side winning streak that almost snatched victory from the proverbial jaws of defeat.
The name in the top headline may or may not be familiar to you. Chris Reinhold may be more familiar to you as a member of the USA’s 2020 Mosconi Cup team, when he was known as Chris Robinson. In a Facebook message, posted on Father’s Day, presumably as he was competing on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, Robinson announced that, going forward, he would be Chris Reinhold.
In the post, Reinhold noted that he had been raised by his stepfather, Jarod Reinhold, and that he had made him “the man he (was) today.”
“You name it, he was there for me,” he wrote. “In my eyes, he’s my real father. I couldn’t have asked for a better role model or father figure and I’m forever grateful.”
“This,” he went on to explain, “is the reason why my name is Chris Reinhold! It means the world world to my family, who raised me, and also, to myself.”
He then went out and on Father’s Day, won the $1,500-added 9-ball tournament that had drawn 88 entrants to Snookered in Frisco, TX. He had some words in his Facebook pages about that, too.
“I was playing with aggression, passion and confidence,” he wrote in a later post. “The past few months have been rough/trying mentally for me and my pool game.”
“I found the spark for pool again (at a) junior clinic at Sandites Billiards in Oklahoma,” he added. “I saw myself in all of them (and) it re-ignited (the) passion that I’d been lacking the past few months.”
While the results, however it had turned out, would not have altered anything about what he said, his trip to the winners’ circle took a single-loss detour in the opening set of the event’s true double elimination final, when Robert Clark, at the tail end of a 10-match, loss-side winning streak, defeated Reinhold to force a second set. Reinhold took up the gauntlet, so to speak, and won the second set to claim the event title that he’ll forever remember as his first as ‘Chris Reinhold.’
Reinhold probably experienced a few anxious moments at the outset as he faced “good friend” Sargon Isaac in the opening round and found himself down 8-3, racing to 9. He won six straight to win it, and then, downed Juan Parra, Eric Smith, Fahad Alwari and Matt Wilson to draw Robin Barbour in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Chase LaFerney, in the meantime, after an opening round bye, defeated Darrell Smith, JP Kinman, Ruben Flores and Joe Pelayo to pick up Jordan Gartenberg.
Reinhold moved into the hot seat match following a 9-1 victory over Barbour. Ferney joined him after surviving a double hill match versus Gartenberg. Reinhold claimed the hot seat 9-2 over Ferney and watched, as Clark continued and eventually completed the loss-side run that would put him into the finals.
On the loss side, it was Gartenberg who drew Clark, seven matches into his loss-side run that had most recently eliminated the tour’s top-ranked competitor, Daniel Herring 8-5 and shut out Ruben Flores. Barbour, who’d originally sent Herring to the loss side after a double hill, winners’ side quarterfinal battle, picked up Brandon Sizemore, who’d defeated Greg Sandifer, double hill, and Jesse Hernandez 7-5 to reach him.
Barbour and Sizemore battled to double hill before Barbour advanced to the quarterfinals. Clark joined him after chalking up loss-side win #8 over Gartenberg 8-4. Clark then eliminated Barbour 8-3 and then effectively dashed any hopes Chase LaFerney may have been entertaining about a rematch versus Rienhold, by shutting him out in the semifinals.
Given Reinhold’s performance up to and including his claim of the hot seat, it’s unlikely that Clark caught Reinhold by surprise in the opening set of the true double elimination final. Clark did, though, come into those finals with that hard-to-define boost of momentum from winning 10 straight. It helped him to an 8-6 victory in the opening set. Reinhold defeated him 9-5 in the second set to claim the event title, his first in almost exactly two years, when he won the 7th Annual Cole Dickson 9-Ball Tournament on the weekend of June 29-30, 2019.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Snookered for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and Fort Worth Billiard Superstore. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of July 24-25, will be hosted by Rusty’s in Arlington, TX.
Roman Bayda, Jason Dutchover, Robert Clark and Gus Briseno
Jason Dutchover’s victory on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour this past weekend (April 17-18), only his second appearance on the 2021 tour, rocketed him from tour-ranking obscurity among the 18 tour competitors who share #116 on the points list to #5 on the tour’s list (a three-way tie with Erik Smith and Jeff Sullivan). Had it not been for the 20 points Dutchover chalked up for his appearance in the season opener, this most recent victory would have tied him with the late Jalil Al Sarisi, who won the tour’s season opener back in January, before losing his battle to COVID on April 12. Al Sarisi was awarded a moment of silence at this event and an impromptu collection was taken up for his family.
Dutchover and Roman Bayda, who won seven on the loss side to meet him, fought to double hill twice in the finals of this event. Dutchover won the second set to claim the event title. The $1,500-added event drew 96 entrants to Snookered Billiards, Bar & Restaurant in Frisco, TX.
Dutchover’s path went through Jason Dixon, Calaia Jackson, Charlie Smith, Darrell Smith and Robin Barbour to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match versus Chris Gaither. Dutchover had chalked up an aggregate score over those five matches of 45-14, or, having won three out of every four games he played. In the meantime, Gus Briseno had gotten by Jordan Gartenberg, Casey Dawson and Don Baker before sending eventual-finalist Roman Bayda to the loss side. Briseno advanced to defeat James Davis, Jr. in a winners’ side quarterfinal (aggregate score now at 45-17; 73%) to draw Harold “Woody” Paine in their winners’ side semifinal match .
Dutchover downed Gaither 9-6, while Briseno was busy shutting out Paine. Dutchover claimed the hot seat 9-5 over Briseno and waited on the return of Bayda.
On the loss side, Gaither picked up Robert Clark, who’d lost to Bayda in the opening round and was working on a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently eliminated Clint Palaci 8-6 and, double hill, James Davis, Jr. “Woody” Paine drew Bayda, who was four matches into his loss-side run and had recently defeated Crispian Ng 8-6 and Tony Loeper 8-1.
Bayda got into the quarterfinals with an 8-2 win over Paine. Clark eliminated Gaither 8-6 to earn himself a rematch against Bayda. Bayda, though, stopped Clark’s run and defeated him a second time, this time 8-6.
He’d come a long way and Bayda’s final hurdle had to leap over the competitor who’d increased the number of matches he’d had to win, considerably. The Bayda/Briseno rematch went Bayda’s way 8-3, as did the opening set of the true double-elimination final versus Dutchover, which went double hill (8-8). Now both with a single loss, they went into a second double hill match, won by Dutchover to claim the event title.
In addition to the ‘finish’ payouts, $60 went to the last player standing at Skill Levels 4 (Phoebe Simon), 5 (Matt Wilson, Dennis Hall), 6 (Carson Jeffrey, Darrell Smith) and Last Lady (Phoebe Simon, Tina Soto). A $100-added Second Chance tournament drew 20 entrants and was won by Sean King ($200). Jerry Yang was runner-up ($140), with Nayan Tamrakar in 3rd place ($80), Blake Kamiab in 4th ($40) and Phoebe Simon and Ruben Flores in the tie for 5th ($20).
Tour representatives thanked Craig and Jana Lucas and the Snookered Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and Associate Title sponsor Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for May 22-23, will be hosted by Rusty’s in Arlington, TX.
Restricted to competitors who had played in at least one event throughout the year, the $2,500-added 2020 DFW 9-Ball Tour Finale drew 60 of the tour’s ‘heavy hitters’ to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX this past weekend (Nov. 14-15). A heavy hitter rated at ‘9’ (one of only two ‘9’s that competed) took on a heavy hitter with an ‘8’ rating in the hot seat match and finals. The ‘9’ (Gus Briseno) prevailed in both, going undefeated to claim the title. Greg Sandifer (8) took runner-up honors into the winners’ circle.
The event paid out to 12 spots and also awarded cash prizes to the top-finishing SL4 players – TD Monica Anderson & Jennifer Hooten – who also won and split the last female standing cash award. Matthew Kindley and Ryan Schmidt split the cash prize for the last SL5 standing and Miguel Hernandez won the prize as the last SL6 standing.
In addition to the cash prizes associated with the main event, the tour also awarded its top three 2020 players with CueTec Cues; Tony Top (8, 3rd place) received a CueTec Jumping Cue, Donnie Gregory (8, 2nd place), got a CueTec Break Cue, and the tour’s top player, Clint Palaci (7), was awarded a CueTec Playing Cue and will receive free entry to every 2021 tour stop.
Briseno’s path to the win went through Joshua Perez, Chris Ferguson, Neil Nabil Saidawi and Daniel Herring (with an aggregate score of 36-7) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against John Carlo Tuazon. Greg Sandifer was awarded an opening round bye and then got stuck chalking up 8-3 wins over Brendan Fuller, Chris Gaither and Clint Palaci (24-9), before running into Robert Clark in the other winners’ side semifinal.
In a straight-up race to 8, Clark knocked Sandifer out of his 8-3 rut with a double hill match, but Sandifer finished it, advancing to the hot seat match. Briseno joined him, after sending Tuazon to the loss side 9-5. Briseno then grabbed the hot seat, with emphasis, 9-1.
On the loss side, Clark drew Tony Top, who’d followed his 7-4 loss to Tuazon in a winners’ side quarterfinal with wins over Miguel Hernandez 8-4 and Juan Parra 8-6. Tuazon picked up Clint Palaci, who’d followed his 8-3 winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Sandifer with victories over Robbie Smith 7-3 and a shutout versus Roman Bayda.
Clark locked up in a second straight double hill match, only this time, against Top, he advanced to the quarterfinals. Palaci joined him after eliminating Tuazon 7-1. Any momentum Palaci had earned in his decisive win over Tuazon got lost in his subsequent 8-1 loss to Clark in the quarterfinals.
The ‘momentum loss’ scenario spilled over into the semifinals, as Clark followed his decisive 8-1 victory over Tuazon with an 8-2 loss at the hands of Sandifer, who turned back for a second shot at Briseno in the hot seat.
Sandifer began the final match with a single ‘bead on the wire’ in his race to 9 against Briseno. They battled back and forth and came within a game of double hill, as Sandifer added 6 to his one ‘on the wire,’ which eventually forced a 15th and final game. Briseno closed it out to finish his undefeated run and claim the Season Finale title.
Tour representative Monica Anderson thanked Jeff Pitts and his Rusty’s Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsors Cuetec (which provided two cues for a raffle) and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. According to Anderson, the tour’s 2021 tour schedule will be out in the middle of December. They are securing host venues with plans (Covid permitting) for 11 stops, and five ladies-only stops, as well.
It’s been a while since Jeff Franklin has made an appearance in our AZBilliards database that records all cash payouts for listed players; a little over five years ago, to be precise, when he finished in the tie for 13th place at the 1st Texas 10-Ball Championships at Skinny Bob’s in Austin, TX. His record in our database dates back 15 years to his first entry, finishing third at the 2005 Houston Open. He updated that database resume last weekend (Sept. 19-20) when he went undefeated to win a stop on the CueTec DFW 9-Ball Tour. The $1,000-added event drew 68 entrants to Snookered Billiards & Bar in Frisco, TX.
According to tour director, Monica Anderson, the event drew a lot of Texan ‘heavy hitters,’ which, in spite of his protracted absence, Franklin took down with relative ease; “slaying the masses,” as Anderson described it. He advanced through the double elimination bracket to down Daniel Herring 8-6 in a winners’ side quarterfinal to pick up Alex Acosta in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Gus Briseno, in the meantime, sent Juan Parra to the loss side 9-2 in his winners’ side quarterfinal to draw Robert Clark in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Franklin defeated Acosta 8-1, as Briseno sent Clark west 9-4. On a bit of a ‘roll,’ Franklin gave up only a single rack to Briseno in the hot seat match, to claim the seat and wait for Briseno’s eventual return.
On the loss side, Acosta drew Greg Sandifer, who’d recently defeated Jesus Sorto and Alberto Nieto Garcia by an aggregate score of 16-3; giving up two to Sorto and only one to Garcia. Clark picked up Herring, who, following his defeat at the hands of Franklin, had eliminated Curtis Cardwell 8-3 and Mohammed Alrawi 8-2.
Sandifer leapfrogged into the quarterfinals, when Acosta forfeited. He was joined by Clark, who’d sent Herring home 8-5. By the same score, Clark then sent Sandifer home in those quarterfinals.
Briseno put a stop to Clark’s brief sojourn on the loss side, downing him 9-5 for a second shot at Franklin in the hot seat. It was the second time in a row that Clark finished in 3rd place, having done so at the last stop in August.
The ‘second verse’ of the Franklin/Briseno competitive ‘song’ was nothing like the first. With Briseno racing to 9, Clark forced a deciding final game at 7-8, to win it 8-8 and claim his first-time-in-a-long-time event title.
In addition to the cash winnings they earned for their finish positions in the event, Mohammed Alrawi, who finished 7th, and Jennifer Hooten, who finished in the tie for 13th place, picked up some extra cash. Alrawi added $60 for being the last-standing Skill Level 6 in the event. Hooten picked up $60 cash twice, for finishing as the event’s last-standing lady and its last-standing Skill Level 4.
Tour director Monica Anderson thanked Craig and Jana Lucas and their Snookered staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor CueTec and Fort Worth Billiards Store. The next stop on the CueTec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of October 17-18, will be hosted by The Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
Pool came back to Texas in the form of the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s first stop since the weekend of February 22-23. Unwittingly, the tour paid homage to that last stop on the tour by repeating the final circumstances, albeit with different players. In the earlier event, Brian Cady took two out of three matches over Louie Pacheco, claiming the hot seat and the second set against him in the finals. On this past weekend (Aug. 22-23), it was Jim Ryan taking the same two out of three over Donnie Gregory to claim the event title. Both competitors were looking for their first tour win. Ryan, who was a member of the BCAPL’s 2017 National Championship Team (Top Shelf) was looking for his first cash finish on the tour. The $1,000-added event drew 63 entrants to Snookered Billiards, Bar and Restaurant in Frisco, TX.
Ryan’s path to his first appearance in the winners’ circle was no luck-of-the-draw walk in the park. After a shutout over Brendan Fuller in the opening round, Ryan survived his first of three double hill matches against JP Kinman. He then sent Texas veteran Greg Sandifer to the loss side 7-4 and Jersey Jack Lynch 7-1 to draw Doug Winnett in a winners’ side semifinal.
Gregory, in the meantime, had defeated Jim Tallman 7-3 and survived his first of three double hill matches versus Daniel Herring. He advanced to down Sabrina Henson 7-2 and his second double hill match versus Hector Guerrero to draw Robert Clark in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Ryan won his second double hill match versus Winnett and advanced to the hot seat. Gregory downed Clark 7-4 to join him. Ryan chalked up his third double hill fight, against Gregory, and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Winnett picked up Tony Top, who, after being defeated in the opening round by Fahad Alrawi, set out on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He’d recently eliminated Jamie Cummings 8-4 and Greg Sandifer 8-6. Robert Clark picked up Jersey Jack Lynch, who, following his defeat at the hands of Ryan on the winners’ side, had defeated JP Kinman 7-6 (Kinman racing to 8) and Chris Ferguson 7-3.
Clark downed Jersey Jack 8-2 and was joined in the quarterfinals by Top, who’d survived a double hill fight versus Winnett. In a straight-up race to 8, Clark then ended Top’s winning streak 8-5 in those quarterfinals.
In the semifinals that followed, Gregory faced his third double hill challenge, which almost turned out in favor of Clark. In the flurry of shots in the final moments of the deciding game, after Gregory had snookered himself shooting at the 8-ball, Clark, with the table and the win staring at him, hit a ball too hard and ended up turning the table back over to Gregory, who proceeded to win his third double hill challenge.
The momentum from that semifinal, double hill win sent Gregory into the finals on a bit of a roll. He won the opening set of the true double elimination final 7-2. Ryan, though, collected his thoughts in time to challenge strongly in the second set. It came within a game of becoming, for each of them, their fourth double hill challenge. Ryan pulled out in front near the end and claimed the title with a second-set 7-5 win.
Nestled among the four players who shared the tie for 13th place in this event was Sabrina Henson, who, in addition to the $80 she earned for finishing in that spot, proved to be the event’s top female finisher and the best finisher at Skill Level 5. Each of those accomplishments earned her an extra $60, making her take-home at this event an even $200.
Tour director Monica Anderson thanked Craig and Janna Lucas for being the “hosts with the most,” along with title sponsor CueTec and the Fort Worth Billiards Store. The next stop on the CueTec DFW 9-Ball Tour is scheduled for the weekend of September 19-20, although the site for the event is yet to be determined. Local ordinances related to the Covid-19 epidemic could affect the choice. Visit the tour’s Facebook page or their Web site at http://www.dfw9bt.com.
After eight stops on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, Tim Larson has retained his top spot in the tour standings. On the weekend of August 3-4, however, the owner of the #3-spot in those tour standings, Greg Sandifer, went undefeated, downing Larson twice (hot seat and finals) to claim the event title and edged up a single spot to take over the #2 spot in the standings. TJ Davis, who owned that #2 spot prior to this past weekend’s event, finished in the tie for 7th/8th, which earned him enough points to slip only a single spot into third place. The $1,500-added event drew 77 entrants to CK Billiards in Dallas, TX.
Sandifer’s seven-match path to the winners’ circle saw him give up more than three racks to an opponent only three times. After an opening round bye, he advanced through Casey Dawson 8-2, Mohammed Alrawi 8-3, Ricki Casper 8-2, and Amos Bush 8-5 to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against JP Kinman. Larson, in the meantime, though after a bye, he’d open with a 9-2 win over Darrell Smith, found himself facing stiffer opposition. He got by Robin Barbour 9-6, Randy Staggs 9-1 and Jesus Sorto 9-6 to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Robert Clark.
Sandifer and Larson advanced to the hot seat in matches that reflected their earlier efforts. Sandifer downed Kinman 8-2, as Larson held off Clark 9-6. Sandifer, who’d had only one opponent reach as far as five racks against him until he played in the hot seat match, gave up six to Larson, but he claimed the hot seat 8-6 and waited on Larson’s return.
On the loss side, Kinman picked up the always-dangerous Jeremy Jones, who’d been defeated in a double hill, winners’ side quarterfinal match by Robert Clark and then downed Andrew Talton 10-2 and TJ Davis 10-5 to face Kinman. Clark, in the meantime, drew Doug Winnett, who was in the midst of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that included recent victories over Jeffrey Wadsworth 7-1 and Amos Bush 7-2.
Winnett spoiled any potential rematch between Clark and Jones by defeating Clark 7-5. Jones, in the meantime, eliminated Kinman 10-5. Jones then put an end to Winnett’s loss-side winning streak, double hill, in the quarterfinals; 10-6, Winnett racing to 7.
As of this past weekend, 260 players had figured in the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s eight events so far, some of them, multiple times and many of them, all eight times. It was Jones’ first recorded appearance on the 2019 tour and as he moved into the semifinals, he was looking at the possibility of moving into the top 20 of the tour’s standings (if he ended up claiming the event title), among the top 27 or so if he finished as the runner-up and among the top 37 or so if he finished in third place.
He and the tour’s #1 player in the standings, Larson, battled to a predictable double hill point, before Larson (who started with ‘one on the wire’ in a race to 10) dropped the last 9-ball in the match’s 17th rack to earn himself a second shot at Sandifer in the hot seat. Larson, who’d finished as runner-up in the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s stop in June, repeated as runner-up in this one. Sandifer shaved a rack off of Larson’s performance against him in the hot seat match, downing him 8-5 to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at CK’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball, FargoRate, BCA Pool League, Internet Marketing Solutions (IMS), CSI, Accu-Rack and JB Custom Cue Cases. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Sept. 7-8, will be hosted by Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX.
According to records available to us, until May of this year, TJ Davis hadn’t cashed in a tournament in four years. His last recorded payout came when he was runner-up in a Lone Star Billiard Tour stop in July, 2013. He broke that absence chain and got busy again this past May on the fifth stop of The Omega Billiards Tour when he finished fifth. He followed that with a 9th place finish in June, a 17th place finish in September and last month (October), took third on the tour’s 10th stop. All of which put him in 16th place in the tour rankings. On the weekend of November 11-12, Davis leapfrogged over 11 competitors on that ranking list (from 16th to 6th place) with an undefeated run through 98 entrants on the tour’s 11th (second-to-last) stop. Davis’ opponent in the finals, Crispian Ng, did a little leapfrogging of his own, jumping from eighth place to two ahead of Davis in 4th place. The $1,700-added event drew its 98 entrants to The Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
Davis opened his undefeated run with a victory over Tony Sulsar (8-4), who started the weekend 11 spots ahead of Davis in the tour rankings and ended up one spot behind him in 7th place. Davis moved on to defeat Hector Guerrero, Jersey Jack Lynch, and Albert Nieto, who started and finished the weekend in third place in the tour rankings. This set Davis up in a winners’ side semifinal against Ricki Casper, who’d just sent Ng to the loss side. Robert Clark, in the meantime, faced Jalal Yousef in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Davis defeated Casper 8-3 and was joined in the hot seat match by Clark, who’d sent Yousef to the loss side 8-6. In a straight-up race to 8, Davis claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Clark, and waited for Ng to complete a five-match, loss-side run and face him in the finals.
On the loss side, Ng opened his five-match march to the finals with an 8-6 win over Justin Whitehead, and followed it with an 8-3 win over Nieto, to pick up Yousef. Casper drew Chris Rickman, who’d much earlier, on the winners’ side, handed the tour’s #1-ranked player, Rick Stanley, his first loss, and then, on the loss side, defeated Juan Bastista 6-5 (Batista racing to 7) and Mike Voelkering 6-4 (Voelkering, #2 in tour rankings before and after this stop, had handed Stanley his second loss).
Ng advanced to the quarterfinals with a double hill win over Yousef (8-8; Yousef, racing to 9). He was joined by Rickman, who’d eliminated Casper 6-2. Ng gave up only one rack to Rickman in the quarterfinals and in a straight-up race to 8 in the semifinals, gave up only three to Clark. Davis completed his undefeated run with an 8-6 win over Ng in the finals.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at The Billiard Den for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiard Tour will be the tour’s Season Finale, restricted to players who have played in at least five stops on this year’s tour. The $5,000-added event will be hosted by Rusty’s Billiards in Fort Worth, TX on December 16-17.
Rick Stanley cemented his hold on the top spot in the Omega Billiards Tour rankings with an undefeated win on the weekend of October 14-15. It was his fourth overall win on the tour since February, and his third undefeated trip. The $1,700-added event drew 64 entrants to The Hideaway in Dallas, TX.
Stanley had to face a relatively unexpected opponent in both the hot seat match and finals. Tony Top, who made his first appearance on the 2017 tour in September, finishing well out of the money, successfully navigated his way through six opponents – five on the winners’ side and one on the loss side – to challenge Stanley and in finishing second, rocketed from #170 on the rankings list to somewhere among the tour’s top 40 players.
Stanley sent Davis to the loss side 9-3, as Top was busy sending Guerrero over 7-3. In their first of two, Stanley claimed the hot seat over Top with a 9-4 win.
On the loss side, Davis picked up Robert Clark, who, following a defeat at the hands of Top in one of the winners’ side quarterfinals, had defeated Mike Voelkering (#2 in the tour rankings) 8-3 and Alberto Nieto 8-1. Guerrero drew Gerardo Perez, who’d dropped a winners’ side quarterfinal match against Stanley and then, over the next two matches, gave up only two racks; none at all to Michael Thomas and two to Curtis Cardwell.
Davis downed Clark 8-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Perez, who’d eliminated Guerrero 7-4. Davis ended Perez’ three-match, loss-side streak 8-6 in those quarterfinals, and then had his two-match, loss-side streak ended in a double hill battle against Top.
The wait did nothing to slow Stanley down. He’d given up four racks to Top in the hot seat match, and reduced that number to one in the finals, claiming the event title.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at The Hideaway, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiard Tour, scheduled for November 11-12, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by The Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
