As it turned out, both finalists in the 4th Annual Royce Bunnell Memorial Tournament, held over the long weekend of December 13-15, were looking to boost their 2019 resume; one, by chalking up only his second (recorded) victory of the year and the other, with a first (recorded) cash finish anywhere in over two years. Given the date, it was likely to be their last 2019 tour/event victory and/or cash finish. Shane McMinn, who went undefeated to claim the title, had won the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s season opener back in January. For runner-up Gary Abood, the Bunnell Memorial became his first (recorded) cash finish in any event since he finished 4th at the inaugural Scotty Townsend Memorial 9-Ball Tournament in March of 2017. The $2,000-added Bunnell Memorial, organized and sponsored by OB Cues, drew 68 entrants to the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
Shane McMinn’s path to the winners’ circle opened with a bye and three straight matches in which he allowed his opponent – in order, Greg Sandifer, Noel Villalobos and Isaac Wooten – only a single rack. McMinn advanced to down Ryan Robinson 7-3 and draw his first match against Abood in a winners’ side semifinal. Abood had arrived after chalking up one 7-2 victory over Alberto Nieto and three, 7-3 wins over Jason Judd, Billy Pinion and Corey Flud. Randy Staggs, in the meantime, squared off against Steve Raynes in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Staggs got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Raynes. Abood chalked up twice as many racks against McMinn in the winners’ side semifinal than all of McMinn’s previous opponents combined, necessitating a 13th deciding rack. McMinn dropped the last 9-ball and moved on to the hot seat match. McMinn returned to form, allowing Staggs only a single rack as he claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Raynes picked up Gerardo Perez, who’d lost his opening match to TJ Davis and was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals and had most recently included victories over Ryan Robinson 7-5 and, in a successful rematch, TJ Davis, 7-4. Abood drew Juan Parra, who was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had included recent victories over Jeff Sullivan 7-3 and Walter Huenerfuerst 7-2.
Abood and Perez advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 7-5 victories over Parra and Raynes, respectively. Abood then ended Perez’ loss-side winning streak 7-4 in those quarterfinals and earned a second shot against McMinn with a 7-4 victory over Staggs in the semifinals.
Unlike their double hill, winners’ side semifinal match, the finals saw McMinn return, once again, to the form that ultimately earned him the event title. He gave up two racks to Abood in the 7-2 finals, ending with an aggregate score of 35-15; a 70% winning percentage. To Abood’s credit, his runner-up finish came as the result of having won just over half of the racks that McMinn had lost.
McMinn and Abood figured prominently in two other events that were part of the 9-Ball Royce Bunnell Memorial. The weekend began with a 32-entrant, 8-Ball Mini Tournament, which was won by Gary Abood with OB Cues President Jesse Garcia as the event’s runner-up. There was also a Banks Ring (Chip style) Tournament, won by McMinn, with Jeff Sullivan finishing as runner-up and Chris “Woody” Smith in 3rd place.
David “Doc” Reyes, Customer Service Manager for OB Cues, who’s been the main promoter and ‘head of the spear’ in the organization of this annual memorial event, along with the President of OB Cues, Jesse Garcia and CEO Mark Griffin (both of whom competed) thanked Marci Rothberg and her Billiard Den staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors (representatives), OB Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore (Albert Trujillo), John Eagle Honda Dallas (JP Kinman, GM), Outville Racks (Chris Renfro), Granite Guyz and Dallas 8-Ball League. Reyes and Jennifer Hooten directed the event, while RackemTV sponsored the stream with commentary by Billy Guy and Marc Gonzalez as commentators.
OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour held their 7th and final tour stop November 7th – 8th at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas. 34 players from as far away as California were ready for the opportunity to earn a Qualifier spot at the 2016 WPBA Masters event in February. The owner and manager, Jeff Pitts and Tim Gildon and all the bar and wait staff did a wonderful job taking care of all the ladies! We greatly appreciate Rusty’s hosting yet another superb event.
Every year, the OB Cues Ladies Tour has 3 major awards given during the final tour event. The awards are Regional Tour Champion, Most Improved Player and Best Sportsmanship. Our worthy and deserving recipients are:
The Best Sportsmanship award, voted on by the tour players, selected Jennifer Yo of Austin for this year’s award. She always has a cheerful and positive attitude that persists throughout every match she plays. Whether winning or losing, you can always count on support, cheering and a big smile from Jennifer.
The Most Improved Player award, voted on by the tour’s board of directors, is Gail Roles of College Station. Gail has shown perseverance and dedication to the game as well as to the ladies tour, that she stood out amongst the rest of the candidates. In the past few years, she has improved her rank consistently year over year to unanimously be voted as the Most Improved Player for 2015.
Unlike the previous year, this year there was no contest as to who this year’s tour champion would be. Tara Williams of Fort Worth secured her first place ranking starting with the first event of 2015 and never looked back. With her four back-to-back tour stop wins to start 2015, no other player would be able to secure enough points to be able to threaten her second tour championship.
On Saturday, thirty -four players were reduced to eight ladies returning on Sunday morning. The final four remaining in the winner’s bracket were Michelle Cortez (Austin) vs. Tara Williams (Ft. Worth) and Melinda Bailey (Ft. Worth) vs Julie Stephenson (Keller). The four ladies returning on the one loss side were Terry Petrosino (Houston) vs. Chris Fields (Ft. Worth) and Corina Campbell (Dallas) vs. Kawania Watson (San Antonio). Of the 9 players who were vying for the Qualifier event at Soaring Eagle, only three players remained standing – Michelle, Kawania, and Terry.
Eliminated first round Sunday morning at the 7th-8th position were Terry Petrosino and Corina Campbell. In the winner’s side matches, Omega Tour Founder and Tournament Director Melinda Bailey defeated Julie Stephenson and Michelle Cortez defeated Tara Williams to set the hot seat match. Moving over to the one-loss side, for the 5/6th place matches Julie fell to Chris and Tara came out the victor against Kawania. With Kawania’s elimination, Michelle Cortez of Austin secured the $500 qualifier for the WPBA Masters event. For the fourth place match, Tara once again persevered, leaving Chris to settle for the 4th place spot.
Melinda made her way through Saturday with wins over Merry Viau (7-2), Chris Fields (7-1), and Snowy Belt (7-5). On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Michelle was making her way through her Saturday matches with her steady and consistent play. She posted wins over Shayla Neris (7-4), Corina Campbell (7-0), and Sophia Lopez (7-1). In the hot seat match, it was a steady race to the finish line for both players. Michelle won the match 7-4 against Melinda and waited to see who would be coming through the one-loss side to meet her in the finals.
For the 3rd place match, it appeared that Tara was determined to continue her winning streak. She made quick work of the match against Melinda, winning with a final score of 7-0. Congratulations to Melinda for a great, great tournament!
With Michelle and Tara in the finals, it was a repeat of last year’s finals match for the championship stop. Just like the previous year, Tara would need to double-dip Michelle to secure the tour stop win and $775 in first place prize money. However, unlike last year, where the two players went back and forth, this year, Tara came on strong and never let up. Michelle put forth her best effort to try and stop the tour champion’s effort, but came up short in the first set losing 7-4. In the second set, Tara once again turned it on, but this time, Michelle was unable to fight off the effort and succumbed to Tara in the final set 7-1. Congratulations to both ladies for another exciting finals match and great tournament finish! With this sixth tour stop win of 2015, Tara Williams breaks her own OB Ladies Tour record by becoming the only player to win six stops within a calendar year. Congratulations to Tara for an incredible season!
Thanks again to Rusty’s for our first and last tournament this year, and to all our board members who do a fantastic job all year around. A special year-end thank you to the man behind the tour, always supporting the ladies and feeding us bananas, Godiva chocolates, and all kinds of snacks, a great friend and wonderful person, Carter. We love you so much Carter!
Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor. It was a pleasure to see Royce Bunnell on Sunday. You do us proud and we can thank you enough for all that you do. We love OB Cues. If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at www.obcues.com
Additional thanks to our sponsor MzTam.com. Tam Trinh of Austin, TX, is one of our tour regular players and also supports our tour with her many creative billiard products and accessories. You can see all of her products as mztam.com. Thank you Tam for your awesomeness.
Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters—we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/players/friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again in 2016. Our first stop of the 2016 season will at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas, February 6-7th weekend.
Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!!
Sophia Lopez, Terry Petrosino, Tara Williams and Michelle Cortez
Twenty-eight players showed up ready for pool action August 15-16th weekend at P.O.E.T.S. Billiards in College Station, TX. This was the first time the tour was at P.O.E.T.S Billiards. Special thanks to John Wine and his staff for taking care of all the ladies, fan and supporters. They were gracious in their service and hospitality. The equipment was great and lots of room to feel at ease for this two day event. Extra special thanks to longtime tour player Gail Roles for all her assistance in securing this site and making us all feel welcome in her hometown. P.O.E.T.S. added $2K to this event and everyone was certainly appreciative of the warm welcome!
By day’s end on Saturday, six ladies would be returning to continue their winning ways in the Main Event on Sunday morning. The two undefeated players in the winner’s bracket were Michelle Cortez (Austin) and Terry Petrosino (Houston). The four ladies returning on the one loss side were Sophia Lopez (San Antonio) vs. Julie Stephenson (Keller) and Jennifer Kraber (Austin) vs. Tara Williams (Ft. Worth). Placing in the money, but not returning to Sunday, were the 7/8th finishers Angie Payne (Austin) and Kawania Watson (San Antonio).
Eliminated in the first round Sunday morning at the 5th-6th position was Julie Stephenson (Keller) and Jennifer Kraber (Austin). For the second tournament in a row, Sophia Lopez (San Antonio) took 4th place and showed she will be a consistent top finisher on the tour. Good tournament to one and all!
Terry made her way through Saturday with wins over Shayla Neris (7-5), Michelle Yim (7-6), Amanda Lampert (7-4), and Tara Williams (7-6), besting the tour champion in her first match loss since the first match of the first tour event of 2015. On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Michelle was making her way through her Saturday matches with her steadily consistent play. She posted wins over Helen Hayes (7-6), Julie Stephenson (7-5), Leslie Anne Rogers (7-6), and Sophia Lopez (7-5). In the hot seat match, it was a slow and steady race to the finish line. Both players displayed their superior skills at the table, but a few missed opportunities by both ladies, kept the match close throughout. Michelle ended up on top in the match 7-4 and got to wait to see who would be coming through the one-loss side to meet her in the finals.
For the 3rd place match, Terry once again met up with Tara. Just like when they met in the winner’s side on Saturday, Terry jumped ahead quickly in the match and never looked back. With solid play and some great kick-shots, she shut down the tour champion’s winning streak, leaving Tara to settle for a 3rd place finish by a final score of 7-4.
At this event, Terry showed us why she was so successful on the tour in the past. Her last event to win on the OB Cues Ladies Tour was in 2011. In early 2012, she decided to take a break and did not participate on the tour in the last two years, but she decided that this was the year to come back and try her hand again at being competitive in women’s events. We are glad she did as it was a pleasure to watch the finals match between Michelle and Terry. In this true double elimination format, Terry would need to beat Michelle twice to take the win and she intended on just doing that. She quickly got up early 4-0 in the match during the first set, but Michelle was down, but not out. Michelle focused on getting control in the match and came back to close the gap 4-3. On the next game, it looked like Michelle would tie the score up, but a missed opportunity on an 8-ball allowed Terry to gain another game. After that, they traded racks back and forth, with Terry coming out ahead in the first set 7-5 and forcing one final set for the title. In the second set, Terry once again dominated the match early with her solid play and run-outs. This time, she did not allow Michelle to come back in the match and finished out the final set with a score of 7-4. Congratulations to both ladies for a great tournament!
Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor. Don Owen, Royce Bunnell, we couldn’t have all our fun and excitement without you. OB Cues makes the best low defection shaft in the market. They also have a fine line of cues with special Infinity inlay features. Corporate office and factory based in Plano, TX and all products made in the USA. If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at www.obcues.com.
Thanks again to P.O.E.T.S. Billiards. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, be sure to check them out. Also grateful to our other sponsors: Ozone Billiards, Mz Tam Trinh at mztam.com for all your personalized and custom pool cases, chalkers, many more goodies. And the one and only Carter Nakashima, our mentor, our photographer, our #1 fan and mainly our forever friend! We love you, Carter. We love you one and all.
Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters—we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/ players/friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again at Stop #6 – Slick Willie’s Billiards in Austin, Texas, September 19-20th weekend.
Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!!
Check us out at www.obcuestour.com or stay up to date with instant news by adding us on Facebook/obcuestour
Plano, Texas – Hall of Fame player Allison Fisher and cutting edge Texas based billiard manufacturer OB Cues proudly announce the signing of Allison to the OB Pro Team of Players.
“As a fan of pool, I have always admired Allison’s game but how she conducts herself away from the table is equally as impressive” said Royce Bunnell, President of OB.
“I am proud to have accomplished what I have so far in both snooker and pool but I am not done yet! I love my OB equipment and truly believe that the consistency and accuracy of my equipment will play a big part in my future success on the table” said Allison Fisher.
“Allison is quite simply a living legend in the world of pool. Her tournament success is unequaled and she has a fan base that is unmatched. Having Allison join our team and trust her game to OB products is a great honor” said Shane Sinnott, Director of Sales and Marketing for OB.
Allison can be seen competing on ESPN and on International television networks on a regular basis. She also has been known to stop by the OB booth to sign autographs, take pictures and play challenge games with fans and will continue to do so whenever possible.
OB is headquartered in Plano, Texas and is a leading manufacturer of high performance pool cues and pool cue shafts made 100% in the USA since 2005. For more information on OB Cues or OB shafts or to become an authorized dealer, please visit www.obcues.com and for all the latest OB news you can like OB on Facebook at www.facebook.com/obcues
Allison Fisher was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 2009. She has won over 80 national titles and 11 world titles in Snooker and in Pool she has an unequaled record, winning 50 WPBA titles, which includes 4 World 9-Ball championships. Despite her busy schedule, Allison still manages to offer private lessons, group lessons, public appearances, keynote & public speaking. For more information on Allison visit her website at www.allisonfisher.com and don’t forget to like Allison on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AFathlete
