Moving into the winners' side semifinals of a Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour stop, held on the weekend of March 4-5, it took two double hill wins against separate opponents for Billy Fowler to go undefeated and claim the title. The $500-added event drew 59 entrants to Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC.
The first of those two double hill wins came in one of the two winners' side semifinals, as Fowler sent Matt Bulfin to the loss side 7-8 (Bulfin racing to 9). Kirk Hixon, in the meantime, sent Fowler's eventual finals opponent, Bobby McGrath, to the loss side, in another double hill match (6-9; Hixon, racing to 10). By comparison, Fowler got into the hot seat easily, defeating Hixon 7-2.
Bulfin downed Davis, double hill (9-5), and in the quarterfinals, met up with McGrath, who, in a straight-up race to 10, had eliminated Hawkes 10-5. In a 10-9 race, McGrath then defeated Bulfin 10-3. With Hixon racing to 6 in the semifinals, McGrath ended his run 10-4 for a shot at Fowler in the hot seat. With McGrath racing to his 10, Fowler completed his undefeated run with a 7-7 victory in the finals.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (March 11-12), will be hosted by Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC.
Chris Walsh and Daniel Gambill played two matches during the Saturday, February 4 stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour. Walsh took the first one to claim the hot seat and Gambill won the second in the first set of a true double elimination final. They opted out of a second set and split the top two prizes, leaving Walsh as the official winner. The event drew 45 entrants to Randolph's Billiards in Hickory, NC.
The first match followed a 9-3 victory by Gambill over Dustin Barkley, and a 7-2 win by Walsh over Rick Roper in the two winners' side semifinals. Walsh claimed the hot seat and his last match victory 7-3 over Gambill.
Barkley and Roper moved to the loss side and met up with Tim Monk and Brandon Canipe, respectively. Monk had downed Rocky Hawk 7-3 and Brian Capps 7-6 (Capps racing to 10) to draw Barkley. Canipe eliminated Jake Medlin 6-1 and Jeff Young 6-2 to draw Roper.
Barkley and Roper advanced to the quarterfinals; Barkley 6-1 over Monk, and Roper 7-5 over Canipe. Barkley gave up only a single rack to Roper in the quarterfinals that followed, and then had his short, loss-side streak ended 9-3 in a re-match against Gambill in the semifinals.
As noted at the outset, Gambill took the opening set of the finals 9-5 over Walsh. They left it at that, allowing to Walsh to claim the official event title, while the two split the first two cash prizes.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Randolph's Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, GoPlayPool.com, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. Parker also noted that through a combination of cash donations (approximately $800) and goods and services ($500) by local businesses, the tour was able to raise money to help long-time tour member and supporter, Josh Newman, in support of medical expenses for his mother, who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer.
The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of February 11-12, will be a guaranteed $500-added event ($1,000-added with a full field of 48), hosted by Mister Cues II in Atlanta, GA.
They played against each other only once. Josh Williams was in the hot seat at the January 28 stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, and Rocky Hawks came from the three wins on the loss side to meet him in the finals. Hawks took the double elimination opening set before they both decided to call it a 'one-loss draw' and split the top two prizes. The event drew 31 entrants to Gate City Billiards in Greensboro, NC.
They missed an earlier meeting, when Travis Duncan defeated Hawks in a double hill (4-6, Hawks racing to 7), winners' side semifinal, moving Duncan into the hot seat match against Williams, who'd just defeated Morgan Sutherland 5-3. Williams claimed the hot seat (and what proved to be his last win) 5-1 over Duncan.
On the loss side, Hawkes began his trip back to the finals with a 7-1 victory over Tim Nelson, who'd previously shut out Michael Fogelman and survived a double hill battle against Tyler Mayfield to reach him. Sutherland drew Bo Blakely, who'd gotten by Travis Guerra, double hill, and Randall Bowman 5-3. Sutherland eliminated Blakely 5-3 to join Hawks in the quarterfinals.
Hawks then defeated Sutherland 7-3 to earn his re-match against Duncan in the semifinals. Hawks balanced the earlier, double hill defeat, with a sound 7-2 win over Duncan that gave him a shot against Williams.
Hawks took the opening set of the double elimination final 7-4, and that, as they say, was all she wrote. They opted out of a second, deciding match, choosing to lower the potential winners' prize ($550) by $100 and raising the potential losers' prize ($350) by the same amount; they split the $900.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership of Gate City Billiards and staff for their hospitality as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, Ruthless Billiards, GoPlayPool.com, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of February 4-5, will be hosted by Randolph's in Hickory, NC.
In what Tour Director Herman Parker said was the best-attended event in the history of the Q City 9-Ball Tour, 17-year-old Justin Martin survived a double elimination challenge by Shannon Fitch to claim the title. The event, held over the July 4th weekend, broke a previous entrant record of 67 by drawing 69 entrants to Chandley's Chalk & Cue in Statesville, NC.
While his father (Jason) was at work on the loss side, Justin Martin was busy advancing to a winners' side semifinal versus Rocky Hawkes. Fitch and Chris Walsh squared off in the other winners' side semifinal. Martin downed Hawkes 9-5, as Fitch sent Walsh over 11-5. Martin claimed the hot seat 9-2 over Fitch and while likely keeping an eye on his Dad's progress, waited on Fitch's return.
Jason Martin got out of the 9/12 battles with a 5-0 shutout over Travis Duncan, but was defeated 6-1 in the 7/8 contests by Christy Norris, who'd defeated Mike McDonald 6-4 to reach him. Norris advanced to pick up Walsh. Hawkes drew Tim Gill, who'd benefited from a forfeit by Jeff Abernathy and then survived a double hill battle against Clay Davis.
Gill and Walsh moved on to the quarterfinals; Gill, 6-4 over Hawkes and Walsh, 7-5 over Norris. Walsh downed Gill 7-3 in those quarterfinals, but then had his loss-side streak ended 11-4 by Fitch in the semifinals.
Fitch dominated the opening set of the true double elimination final 11-2 to force a second set. Martin, though, caught a gear in the second set, and though not quite as dominant a performance as Fitch's in the opening set, he did win it 9-6 to claim the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Mike Chandley and his staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks and GoPlayPool.com. The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for July 9-10, will be hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
