A week before Christmas in 2019, Ryan Fossum finished as runner-up to Hank Powell at a stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. It was only the second time, according to our records, that Fossum had cashed in any tournament. The year before, he’d finished 4th; same tour, same location (Borderline Billiards, Bristol, TN). On Saturday, April 10, Fossum broke through to chalk up his first tournament win; same tour, same state, different location – Jac’s All-American Billiards in Newport, TN. Fossum went undefeated through a relatively short field of 26 entrants and won almost three out of every four games he played (30-11; 73%).
Fossum and Dustin Lackey worked their way through three opponents to arrive at their respective winners’ side semifinal matches; Fossum, facing Montez Lloyd and Lackey meeting up with Rodney Huskey. Fossum downed Lloyd 5-1 and in the hot seat match, faced Lackey, who’d sent Huskey to the loss side 7-2. Fossum claimed the hot seat 5-3 over Lackey.
On the loss side, Huskey picked up Matt Marrisett, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal match to Fossum and then won all but one of the subsequent matches he played on the loss side, double hill. He began by defeating Reid Vance (5-6) and Corey Morphew (5-8). Lloyd drew Tony Miller, who’d lost to Huskey in a winners’ side quarterfinal and defeated Ricky Bingham and Yoshiaki Kanamura, both 6-4.
Miller and Marrisett handed Lloyd and Huskey their second straight loss; Miller, double hill over Lloyd and Marrisett defeating Huskey (not double hill) 5-3. Marrisett stopped Miller’s run in the quarterfinals with his third straight double hill win (5-5).
Marrisett chalked up his fourth straight double hill win, downing Lackey in the semifinals (5-6). Fossum put a stop to Marrisett’s run with a 5-2 win in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Jac’s All-American Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, AZBilliards, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and Dirty South Grind Apparel Co. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (April 17-18), will be hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
Winner Hank Powell came looking for his second win on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. Runner-up Ryan Fossum came in search of his first. Powell went undefeated at the December 7-8 event that drew 41 entrants to Janet Atwell’s room, Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN. Fossum settled for runner-up and his first cash win on the tour.
They battle twice in the event; hot seat and finals. Powell advancing to the match after a double hill (7-5) win over Keith Young, and Fossum joining him after sending Rick Chitwood to the loss side 5-1. Powell claimed the hot seat 6-3 and waited in it for Fossum to return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Chitwood picked up Chris Stump, who’d eliminated Anthony Mabe, double hill, and Robert Hall 5-1 to reach him. Young drew Jackson Hurst, a 16-year-old junior player, who’d been defeated in the event’s second round by room owner Janet Atwell and launched a seven-match, loss-side winning streak to the quarterfinals. He’d recently eliminated Mike Kirby 5-3 and Bobby Jack Conner 5-6 (Conner racing to 8).
Hurst got into those quarterfinals with a 5-4 win over Young (Young racing to 6). He was joined by Chitwood, who’d defeated Stump, double hill.
Chitwood then ended Hurst’s loss-side streak 6-3 in those quarterfinals, before himself being eliminated by Fossum, double hill (5-5) in the semifinals.
In the opening and what proved to be only double-elimination set necessary, Fossum was able to muster a couple more racks against Powell than he had in their hot seat match, but they weren’t enough. Powell took the opening set 7-4 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for December 14-15, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by the newly-renovated Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
Like criminals to a crime scene, pool players love returning to the sites of previous triumphs. It could be a home room, near to their actual home, or just a place where, for whatever reason, the balls were rolling well on a given day. On the weekend of July 13-14, Raed Shabib returned to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN, where he’d won the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour Championships last December. He went undefeated through a field of 39 entrants this time and got by Brian Bagwell twice to claim the event title.
They met first in the hot seat match. Shabib had defeated Ron Frank 9-6 in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Bagwell, in the meantime, accepted a forfeit from his son, Josh Miller, in the other winners’ side semifinal and advanced to the hot seat match against Shabib. Shabib defeated Bagwell the first time 9-5.
On the loss side, Frank picked up Gary South, who’d defeated Mark Hurst 7-3 and John Pallaria 7-4 to reach him. Miller, looking to work his way back to a possible finals rematch against his Dad, drew Jeff Abernathy, who arrived having just given up only three racks in 21 games (Abernathy racing to 9); two to Ryan Fossum and only one to Doug Schulz.
South downed Frank 7-3, whiLe Miller was busy chalking up more racks against Abernathy than his previous two opponents combined. With Abernathy again racing to 9, Miller advanced to the quarterfinals 5-6.
South ended any hopes for a father-son final by defeating Miller 7-2 in the quarterfinals. Bagwell then put an end to South’s run 7-3 for a second shot against Shabib in the hot seat. Shabib completed his undefeated run with a second victory over Bagwell; this time 9-4.
Herman and Angela Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards staff, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (July 20-21), will be hosted by the Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
Event Directors note growing field for Beasley Custom Cues 9-Ball Open in June
In his first appearance and win on the Viking Cues’ Q-City 9-Ball Tour, Daniel Moore came back from a winners’ side quarterfinal loss against Mark Hurst to meet and defeat him twice in a double elimination final during the May 5-6 stop on the tour. The event drew 53 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Once Hurst downed Moore 6-5 in their first of three matches (Moore racing to 7), he advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Ryan Fossum. Steve Dye, in the meantime, squared off against Brady Brazell. Hurst got into the hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Fossum. Dye joined him after downing Brazell 5-4 (Brazell racing to 7). Hurst claimed the hot seat 6-3 over Dye and waited in it for the return of Moore.
Moore opened his loss side trip with a 7-1 victory over Justin Clark, and followed it with a double hill win (7-5) over Brandon Stiltner. This set him up to face Brazell. Fossum drew John Hoge, who’d defeated Shawn Martin, double hill (5-5), and shut out Mike Skeens to reach him.
Both matches for advancement to the quarterfinals went double hill; Fossum over Hoge and Moore over Brazell. Moore took the next two, 7-3, downing Fossum in the quarterfinals and Dye in the semifinals.
Moore also took the opening set of the true double elimination final against Hurst 7-3. Hurst got an extra rack in during the second set, but Moore claimed his first Q-City 9-Ball title with a 7-4 win in that second set.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her staff at Borderline Billiards (which will host the Tour Championships later this year), 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 the weekend of May 12-13 will be hosted by Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC.
$10,000-added Beasley Custom Cues 9-Ball Open, set for June, is filling up
With a little over a month to go, the Beasley Custom Cues 9-Ball Open (formerly, the Don Coates Memorial) has already attracted some of the sport’s top names. Scheduled for the weekend of June 13-17 (commencing on a Wednesday) at Brass Tap & Billiards in Raleigh, NC, the $10,000-added (guaranteed) event has already signed up Johnny Archer, Sky Woodward, Rodney Morris, Brandon Shuff, and from the Philippines, Zoren James Aranas (Warren Kiamco is expected to join, but hasn’t done so, as yet). Also competing will be young, Albanian sensation Eklent (“Klenti”) Kaci, who finished as runner-up to Jayson Shaw in last October’s US Open 9-Ball Championships and chalked up two wins on the 2017 Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour.
Event directors Herman and Angela Parker are advising those who want to compete in this event to get in touch as soon as possible, as the event will be capped at 128 entrants. Anyone interested should call them at 336-686-5360.
