One game away from being double-dipped in the finals of the Saturday, July 9 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, Junior Gabriel rallied from 4-1 down to chalk up five racks in a row and claim his second tour title. It marked his 6th cash finish on the tour since he started showing up on its payout lists in 2018. He went undefeated last November on the tour to claim his first major title. The $500-added event drew 35 entrants to Overtime Billiards in Columbia, SC.
Gabriel’s three-time nemesis at this event was PJ Stabler, who won the opening set of the true double elimination final and brought him to the brink in the second set. Stabler had defeated Larry McGee 5-3 in one of the winners’ side semifinals, as Gabriel was busy sending Michael Thompson to the loss side in the other one 6-5 (Thompson racing to 7). Gabriel claimed the hot seat 6-3 over Stabler.
On the loss side, Thompson picked up Calvin Lee, who’d defeated Adam Springs 6-3 and Rocky Guell 6-2 to reach him. McGee drew a rematch against the player he’d sent to the loss side 6-2 in the third winners’ side round, Thomas Sansone. Sansone moved over to begin a six-match, loss-side streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. Before picking up McGee for the second time, he’d eliminated (loss-side wins #3 & #4) Brandon Powell and Russell Scott, both 6-4.
Sansone chalked up his fifth loss-side win, downing McGee 6-2. Thompson joined him in the quarterfinals after surviving a double hill bout against Lee.
Sansone took the quarterfinal match 6-3 over Thompson, before locking up in a double hill, semifinal battle for a seat in the finals. Stabler came into the match with a single bead on the wire in a race to 6. He chalked up the five he needed to advance.
With the same handicap (Stabler racing to 5, Gabriel to 6), Stabler took the opening set of the true double elimination final 5-2. On a bit of a figurative and literal roll, Stabler jumped out in front in the second set and reached the hill, ahead by three at 4-1. Gabriel won the next five racks to snatch victory from the proverbial jaws of defeat and claim the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Overtime Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Ridge Back Rails, and Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend, July 16th, will be the $500-added Princeton Summer Classic, hosted by Sonny’s Billiards in Princeton, WV.
In the absence of Shaun Wilkie, Brian Deska took command of the Action Pool Tour rankings with a third straight win on the tour. He became the first in the tour's history to accomplish the feat, during the 6th stop on the tour; June 7-8, in a field of 54, hosted by Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA.
Though he would go undefeated, Deska did not go unchallenged. He gave up an average of five racks per match; 30 over six matches and 48 games, prior to the finals. Kim Whitman challenged him with six in the opening round and Tuan Chau battled him to double hill in a winners' side semifinal. In the hot seat match, challenged by Troy Miller, who'd defeated Paul Oh 8-6, Deska gave up his match average, but there he sat, in the hot seat, on the brink of three straight.
Tuan Chau moved over and picked up Alan Duty, who'd gotten by Rocky Guell 7-4 and Jimmy Endara 7-5, to reach him. Oh drew Pooky Rasmeloungon, who'd shut out Jeremy Perkins and defeated Rich Glasscock 7-3. Chau defeated Duty 7-4, as Rasmeloungon eliminated Oh 7-3. Chau survived a double hill quarterfinal against Rasmeloungon, and then had his four-match, loss-side winning streak ended by Miller, 7-5, in the semifinals.
Deska brought his 61% winning average into the finals and completed his undefeated run by winning 71% (10) of the final 14 games. Runner-up Troy Miller, from Virginia Beach, finished with an overall winning average of 56% percent, winning 48 of the 86 games he played.
Shaun Wilkie (former #1), Larry Kressel (#9) and Raymond Walters (#10) were not on-hand for this event, while Alan Duty (#5) and Paul Oh (#7) finished in the tie for 5th place. Rick Glasscock (#8) finished in the tie for 7th place. Dan Madden (#3) and Steve Fleming (#4) finished out of the money, among the four tied for 13th place, while Pat Carosi (#6) also finished out of the money in the tie for 33rd place.
Stop #7 on the Action Pool Tour will again be hosted by Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA. The 10-ball event is scheduled for September 6-7.
Mike Davis followed his win in the Open portion of the George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament on Labor Day weekend by traveling four hours south to Herndon, VA and winning the season finale of the Action Pool Tour. In so doing, Davis stopped an eight-match, loss-side winning streak by Danny Green, who faced him in the finals. The event drew 64 entrants to Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA.
Davis started strong, winning his first four matches by an aggregate score of 28-6. He shut out Steve Luskey and Doug Grams, while giving up three racks each to Jimmy Varias and Dan Madden. This set him up to face Chris Bruner in one winners' side semifinal, as Larry Kressel and Jimmy Endara squared off in the other. Davis was tested by Bruner and had to win a deciding 13th game to advance to the hot seat match, where he was met by Endara, who'd sent Kressel west 7-2. Davis then prevailed 7-4 over Endara and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Green.
Meanwhile, on the loss side, Green, who'd won his opening match and then fell to Brandon Shuff 7-4 in the second round, was chalking up the wins. He was tested by Sean Sporleder in his opening, loss-side match, but survived a double hill battle to move on and shut out Rocky Guell. He followed up with victories over Kim Whitman, Matt Kravitz, Dave Hunt and Brian Dietzenbach to pick up Bruner, coming over from the winners' side semifinal. Kressel came over and met up with Dan Madden, who, following his loss to Davis, had defeated Dominic Noe 5-3 and just did get by Brandon Shuff, double hill.
Madden won a second straight double hill match, defeating Kressel, as Green was busy getting by Bruner 5-2. Green took the quarterfinal match 5-3, and then got a shot at Davis with a 5-2 win over Endara in the semifinals. Davis, though, stopped the streak with a 7-4 win in the finals that, in effect, ended the regular season of the Action Pool Tour.
Brett Stottlemyer, who finished in this event in the tie for 13th place, finished the season at the top of the Action Pool Tour rankings, and as a result, earned free entry to next month's US Open 9-Ball Championship. Dan Madden's fourth place finish in this event moved him up to second place. Tour director Ozzy Reynolds and Dominic Noe entered the tournament in second and third place, respectively, and finished with their positions reversed; Noe in third, and Reynolds in fourth, as Noe finished in the 9/12 slots, and Reynolds in the tie for 17th place.
Though this was the last point-earning stop on the tour, there is one more event left on the tour calendar – the Lambros Cue Round Robin tournament, scheduled for September 28-29 at First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA. The tour's top 10 players will participate in a series of round robin matches, and this year (unlike in the past), the top four finishers in the round robin will square off in a single elimination event, leading to a winner, who'll receive a $2,000 Lambros Cue. Prizes will be awarded at the event to the top players of the season, as well as awards for Best Sportsman, overall participation, top female performer, best sponsor and best room.
