They certainly do things big in Texas. There are any number of pool tours throughout the country that would sell their souls to the devil to draw 50 entrants on any given weekend. And the ones that do draw that many on average would love to have at least an event per month with 80 entrants. The Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour opened its 2023 season with $2,000-added event at Rusty’s in Arlington, TX that drew 100 entrants. The event paid the eight competitors who finished in the tie for 17th place their entry fee and enough gas money to get some of them home, at least one way, possibly both ways dependent on distance traveled.
Greg Sandifer had to get through eight matches (six opponents) to claim the event title, one of which occurred on the loss side of the bracket. After a bye, Sandifer started strong, giving up only five racks to his first three opponents; Ricky Ferguson (2), Robin Barbour (2) and Anna Weems (1). He then downed Clint Freeman 9-4 and drew Johnny Garcia in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Randy Staggs, in the meantime, destined to face Sandifer three times, got by Steven Thorne (3), Jimmy Fujimori (2), Tony Matthew (4), Don Baker double hill (7-5), and Mark Lawson (5) to draw Telly Shackelford in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Staggs battled Shackelford to double hill before closing it out and advancing to the hot seat match. Sandifer joined him after sending Garcia to the loss side 8-5. Staggs took the first of his three against Sandifer 7-2 and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Shackelford picked up Clint Freeman, who’d followed his loss to Sandifer with a 9-6 victory over Ryan Lane and a shutout versus Brandon Denman. Garcia drew Jeff Sullivan, who’d defeated Tony Top 8-3 and Mark Lawson 8-2 to reach him.
Sullivan advanced to the quarterfinals 8-2 over Garcia and was joined by Shackelford, who’d eliminated Freeman 8-4. In a straight-up race to 8, Shackelford and Sullivan battled to double hill in those quarterfinals before Sullivan advanced to meet Sandifer. Sandifer got a second and necessary third shot at Staggs with an 8-5 semifinal win over Sullivan.
With Sunday night moving into Monday morning, Sandifer took the opening set of the true double elimination final 8-4 over Staggs. He claimed the event title with an 8-2 victory in the second set.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore and Rasson Billiards. The next stop (#2) on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of February 18-19, will be hosted by Tailgaters (formerly Snookered) in Frisco, TX.
At the start of the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s 2022 season, Neil Saidawi was headed in the wrong direction, so to speak. In the season opener, he finished in the tie for 13th place. In February, he slipped down to 17th and in March, he finished in the tie for 33rd place. In April though, he changed direction, finishing in the tie for 9th place, still a long way in tour standings from Daniel Herring, who sat atop the leaderboard. Last weekend (June 18-19), Saidawi went toe-to-toe against Herring three times, taking the last two in a double elimination final to claim his first (recorded) event title anywhere. The $1,750-added event drew 75 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Until Herring reached the hot seat match to face Saidawi for the first time, none of his six previous opponents had chalked up more than four racks against him, and that, only once, in his winners’ side semifinal match against Telly Shackelford. He’d given up an average of just over asingle rack per match to Cameron Cummings (0), Monica Anderson (2), Jennifer Cayot (1), Tony Ignomirello (1), Surmin Overovic (1) and finally, Shackelford (4).
Saidawi, in contrast, had to battle right from the start. After a bye, he played five matches to get to the hot seat match, three of which went to double hill, including his opening match versus Frank Granados. He followed that with wins over Joshua Paredes 6-4, Isaac Ruiz and Travis Arredondo (both double hill) and in his winners’ side semifinal, Greg Sandifer 6-5 (Sandifer racing to 8). As he came into the battle for the hot seat, he was four matches away from claiming the title and two of those would go to double hill, as well.
One of those two double hill matches was his first encounter with Herring. Herring won it 8-4 (Saidawi to 5) to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Shackelford picked up Arredondo, who’d followed up his loss to Saidawi with victories over Robin Barbour 7-4 and Jesse Moore 6-3. Sandifer drew Juan Parra, who was working on a modest, four-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently eliminated Tony Top (#2 in tour standings) 7-2 and Surmin Omerovic 8-0.
Shackelford downed Arredondo 7-4, as Sandifer was stopping Parra’s loss-side streak 7-3. Sandifer defeated Shackelford 7-3 in the subsequent quarterfinals and walked right into a semifinal rematch against Saidawi, who chalked up his fifth and final double hill match of the event to earn his spot in the finals.
Saidawi started both of the final two matches with three ‘beads on the wire’ in races to 8 against Herring. He didn’t need them. Saidawi took the opening set 5-2 and claimed the event title by winning the second set 5-3.
Though both Herring and Top, at the . . . top of the tour standings, remained there, advancing further in points, Saidawi’s victory advanced him among the tour’s top 10. And arguably put his fellow competitors in the top 10 on notice that with the 2022 Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour now past its midway point, he’s only half done.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of July 23-24, will be a $1,750-added event, hosted by Stixx & Stones in Lewisville, 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.
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.
If attendance at a premiere tour stop is any indication, the newly-established DFW 9-Ball Tour is off to a good start. Formed after the retirement of Melinda Bailey’s Omega Billiards Tour, and losing very little time in transition, the DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 9-Ball Tour opened its already-solidified schedule of 12 events with a $1,700-added stop at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX, on the weekend of January 13-14. The venue played host to an opening field of 93 players, out of which emerged CJ Wiley, who was defeated in the hot seat battle by Paul Guernsey, and returned from the semifinals to win both sets of a true double elimination final and claim the tour’s first title.
Wiley, racing to 9, and Guernsey, racing to 8, advanced to the winners’ side semifinals having given up an identical average of racks per opponent (3), earned in different ways. Wiley opened his campaign with two 9-3 wins over Juan Batista and a 9-1 victory over Steve Raynes. He then gave up two racks to Jessie Wilcoxson before Tony Sulsar chalked up six against him in a winners’ side quarterfinal that advanced Wiley to a winners’ side semifinal against Jersey Jack Lynch.
Guernsey’s track to the winners’ side semifinals would see him give up three racks to Garrett Dalton and one to Monica Anderson before he shut out Scott Forgason. An 8-4, winners’ side quarterfinal win over Steve Horne was followed by a narrow, double hill win over TJ Davis, which set Guernsey up to face Isaac Leyendecker in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Guernsey sent Leyendecker to the loss side 8-2, as Wiley was busy sending Lynch west 9-1. Guernsey claimed the hot seat (and his last match win of the event) 8-6 over Wiley, and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Leyendecker drew Sulsar, who, following his loss to Wiley, had shutout Peter Villatoro and eliminated Curtis Caldwell 8-5. Lynch picked up Robin Barbour, who’d gotten by Wilcoxson and Daniel Herring, both 7-3.
With Leyendecker racing to 6, and Sulsar racing to 8, the two locked up in a double hill battle that eventually (6-7) sent Leyendecker to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Lynch, who’d defeated Barbour 7-2. Leyendecker advanced one more step, defeating Lynch 6-4, before having his run stopped by Wiley 9-2 in the semifinals.
Wiley and Guernsey pretty much left it all out on the table in the opening set of the true double elimination final. They battled to double hill (Wiley ahead 8-7), before Wiley finished it to force the second set. Wiley edged out ahead in that second set and stayed there, completing his single-loss run with a 9-5 win that earned him the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s first event title.
Tour representatives awarded $50 to the event’s top finishing female, Ricki Casper. They also thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, JB Cases, Dallas Eightball League, Outsville (AccuRack), Fargo Rate, BCAPL/CSI, and Internet Marketing Solutions. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for February 17-18, will be hosted by Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
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.
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.
It's been 14 years since Jeremy Jones climbed to the # 8 spot on the AZB Money Leaderboard. He won the US Open 9-Ball Championships and Texas Open that year (2003), as well as a stop on the Fast Eddie's Tour. He was also a member of the winning USA Mosconi Cup team and was among the top ten finishers in 11 of the 13 events in which he went home with cash. Jones has added earnings to his AZ database page every year since 1998, when he finished in the tie for 17th at the US Open.
Though 2017 has been something of a slow year (so far) for Jones, he has chalked up a few top 10 finishes in a number of events, including (in descending, cash earnings order) the Derby City Classic (5th in One Pocket), the Big Tyme Classic (5th in Main Event and One Pocket), and the inaugural Scotty Townsend Memorial 9-Ball Tournament (7th). On the weekend of August 5-6, he joined a record field of 123 entrants on the Omega Billiard Tour's 8th stop (previous record on the tour was 105 entrants), and after winning his first three matches (over Victor Sorto, Curtis Caldwell and Joe Pelayo), was sent to the loss side by Crispian Ng. From there, he mounted a seven-match, loss-side winning streak, culminating in an appearance in the finals in which he double dipped hot seat occupant Danny Williams to claim his first 2017 event title. It was only his second appearance in an Omega Billiard Tour final. His first was in the tour's inaugural year (2102) and he was the runner-up. There is some suspicion that in this most recent second appearance in an Omega Billiard Tour final, he was (somehow) motivated by the fact that he'd recently, in July, become a newlywed. The $1,700-added event that led to his first 2017 win was hosted by Wizard's in Richardson, TX.
Williams sent Hasan to the loss side 8-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Wilcoxson, who'd survived a double hill fight against Turney (6-6; Turney racing to 7). The battle for the hot seat proved to be Williams' last win of the weekend, and he made the most of it, shutting Wilcoxson out 8-0 to claim that hot seat, and await the return of "Double J."
"Double J," in the meantime, was working his way back. On the loss side, he got by Douglas Pitts, Justin Whitehead, Denny Snead, and downed familiar foe, David Gutierrez 9-6 to draw Hassan. Turney drew Crispian Ng, who'd recently defeated Luis Lopez and Tony Sulsar, both 8-4, as a Ng/Jones re-match in the quarterfinals loomed on the horizon.
It didn't happen. Jones did his part, downing Hassan 9-3, but Turney eliminated Ng 7-5. Jones took the quarterfinal match versus Turney 9-2, and then brushed Wilcoxson aside, allowing him only a single rack in the semifinals.
Over the next 23 games, in two double elimination final sets, Jones gave up only five racks. He gave up two in the opening set against Williams, and allowed him only one more than that in the second set to claim the event title, and his first 2017 win.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Wizards 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, scheduled for Sept. 9-10, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by Speeds in Arlington, TX.
Rick Stanley came into the 7th stop on the Omega Billiard Tour as its top player, ahead of Mike Voelkering by 70 points. At the end of that July 15-16, $1,700-added event that drew 64 entrants to Open Table in Azle, TX, Stanley had held on to that top spot, with Voelkering, finishing fourth, maintaining his position in second place. Stanley went undefeated through the field to capture the event title.
After four wins each, Stanley and Voelkering went head to head in one of the winners' side semifinals of this most recent event, as Jesse Hernandez (#17 on the tour's rankings list) and Robin Barbour (#16) squared off in the other one. Stanley (racing to 9) sent Voelkering (racing to 7) to the loss side 9-4. Hernandez sent Barbour over 7-3 to join Stanley in the hot seat match. Stanley put an exclamation point onto his victory in the hot seat match by shutting Hernandez out.
Over on the loss side, Voelkering opened his loss-side trek against Fahad Alrawi, who'd defeated Chris Rickman, double hill, and Justin Whitehead 5-2 to reach him. Barbour drew Douglas Pitts, who'd been defeated in the opening round of play and was on a nine-match, loss-side winning streak, that would include, most recently, victories over Jay Murillo 7-1 and Luis Lopez 7-4.
Voelkering and Pitts advanced to the quarterfinals; Voelkering 7-1 over Alrawi, and Pitts, chalking up loss-side win #8, 7-4 over Barbour. Voelkering's opportunity to gain ranking ground on Stanley was spoiled by Pitts, who won his last match of the weekend with a 7-5 win over Voelkering. Hernandez, though, spoiled any hopes Pitts may have been entertaining about an event victory by defeating him 7-2 in the semifinals.
After being shut out in the hot seat match, Hernandez put up a fight in those finals. He managed to chalk up four, but Stanley chalked up his requisite nine, claimed the event title and maintained his top-ranking on the Omega Billiard Tour.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Open Table, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiards Tour, scheduled for Aug. 5-6, will be hosted by Wizards in Richardson, TX.
A frequent competitor over the years in the annual US Bar Table Championships, Oklahoma's Justin Whitehead brought his small-table skills to the fourth stop on the Omega Billiards Tour on the weekend of April 29-30. Played on 8-foot tables, the $1,700-added event drew 95 entrants to JR Pockets in Denton, TX. Whitehead, who chalked up what proved to be his first major tour win four years ago, downing Sylver Ochoa in the finals of a Poison by Predator Tour stop in Houston, and this past February, was runner-up to Manny Chau in a stop on the Lone Star Billiards Tour, came within a single match of going undefeated in this most recent event. The single loss came in the opening set of a true double elimination final at the hands of Paul Geurnsey, who, following a defeat at the hands of Donnie Gregory in the opening round, won 11 matches on the loss side to challenge Whitehead in the finals. Whitehead came back from the first set loss to give up only a single game in the second set and claim the event title.
Whitehead's journey to the winners' circle was almost re-routed in the second round, when Jeremy Jones battled him to double hill. Whitehead prevailed, though, and arrived at a winners' side semifinal against Chuck Dement, having given up, on average, only 3.5 racks per match (the figure would have been less than 2, had it not been for Jones chalking up eight against him). Roman Bayda, in the meantime, who, like Whitehead, had been challenged in a double hill match in the second round by the tour's ranking leader, Rick Stanley, advanced for a winners' side semifinal match against Crispian Ng.
As is often the case, the challenges increased for Whitehead as the winners' side matches narrowed. He downed Dement 8-5, as Bayda was busy sending Ng to the loss side by the same score. Whitehead faced his second double hill challenge, battling Bayda for the hot seat . He won it and waited on Guernsey.
Moving to the loss side, it was Dement who had the misfortune of picking up Guernsey, who was eight matches in to his 11-match, loss-side streak, which had included the elimination of Stanley, and more recent victories over Cody Wright 8-4 and Robin Barbour 8-3. Guernsey's hopes for a re-match against Gregory fell short by a single match, spoiled by Barbour, who'd defeated Gregory 7-2 in the 9/12 matches. Ng drew Mike Nagaki, who'd just eliminated Brandon Thrasher and Albert Nieto, both 7-4.
Guernsey, apparently on something of a mission, shut out Dement, as Ng downed Nagaki 8-4. In a straight-up race to 8, Guernsey defeated Ng 8-4 in the quarterfinals, and in another straight-up race to 8, gave up only a single rack to Bayda in the semifinals.
Whitehead managed to slow Guernsey down a bit in the opening set of the true double elimination final, though not by enough, as Guernsey took that opening set 8-5. Whitehead dominated the deciding set, allowing Guernsey only a single rack on his way to claiming the event title.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff of JR Pockets, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiards Tour, scheduled for May 27-28, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by Puckett's in Fort Worth, TX.
