Zach Leonard got by Collin Hall twice to win the March 5-6 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour; once in a winners' side semifinal and again, in the finals. The event drew 58 entrants to Chandley's Chalk & Cue in Statesville, NC.
Their first of two, a 7-4 win for Leonard, put him into the hot seat match against Jonathan Ailstock, who'd defeated Jody Musselman 6-4. Leonard claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Ailstock and waited on Hall's return.
Musselman and Hall advanced to the quarterfinals; Musselman 7-5 over Baker, and Hall 6-8 over Lewis (Lewis racing to 10). With Musselman racing to 7, Hall survived a double hill quarterfinal match that sent him up against Ailstock in the semifinals.
Hall completed his loss-side run with a 6-4 victory over Ailstock and earned himself a second shot against Leonard. They fought to double hill just before dawn on Sunday morning, before Leonard prevailed to chalk up the event title.
Jonathan Ailstock ended 2015 with a third place finish in the Action Pool Tour's Season Finale, behind the tour's #1 and #2-ranked players, Brandon Shuff and Shaun Wilkie. He fell to Wilkie in the hot seat match, and then, Shuff (who went on to win the event) in the semifinals. Ailstock started 2016 on an equally positive note, going undefeated to take first place in the February 6 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. The event drew 55 entrants to Chandley's Chalk and Cue in Statesville, NC.
There were a couple of 'wild cards' in the race; professional Jeffrey Ignacio, who, while a majority of the players raced to anywhere from 6 to 9, had to reach 13 to win a match, and Jeff Abernathy, who had to reach 11 in his matches. They both advanced to the winners' side semifinals. Ignacio faced Ailstock (racing to 6), while Abernathy squared off against 17-year-old Justin Martin (racing to 9). Ailstock sent Ignacio to the loss side 6-7, while Abernathy downEd Martin 11-5. Ailstock claimed the hot seat 6-8 over Abernathy and waited on his return, which didn't happen until about 3 a.m. on Sunday morning.
On the loss side, Ignacio picked up Rick Roper, who'd gotten by Scott Lewis 7-5 (Lewis racing to 10), and Ron Frank 7-6 (Frank racing to 9). Martin drew Mike Hancock, who'd defeated Mike Robertson 6-3 and Jody Musselman, double hill. Roper ended Ignacio's day 6-6, while Martin survived a double hill match against Hancock (9-5).
Martin then defeated Roper 9-3 in the quarterfinals. Abernathy ended Martin's run 11-4 to earn a second shot against Ailstock in the hot seat. With Abernathy racing to 11, and needing to defeat Ailstock twice, Ailstock completed his undefeated run with a 6-7 victory in the only set necessary.
The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour will be the 2nd Annual North Carolina 9-Ball State Championships, scheduled for February 13-14. The $1,000-added event will be hosted by Brass Tap & Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
Having won the North Carolina State 10-Ball Championship back in July, Mike Davis returned to the Tar Heel State and chalked up an undefeated run to claim the NC State 8-Ball Championship on the weekend of November 7-8. The $1,000-added event drew 46 entrants to Chandley's Chalk and Cue, in Statesville, NC.
Davis was joined by a few familiar foes, a couple of whom – Stevie Moore and Justin Hall – he faced among the winners' side final four. As Davis was busy defeating Stevie Moore 9-4, Justin Hall was caught up in a double hill battle that he eventually won against Shannon Fitch. In the hot seat match that followed, Hall took an early and commanding lead that put him on the hill, ahead by six, at 8-2. Davis came back to claim the hot seat, where he waited for Hall's return.
On the loss side, Moore picked up Jundel Mazon, who'd been sent to the loss side by Hall in a winners' side final eight battle, and then defeated Jason "Jaybird" Brown, double hill, and Scott Lewis 9-4 (races shifted to 9 in the first, loss-side money rounds). Fitch drew Clint Clark, who'd defeated Andy Twichen 7-2 and survived a double hill battle against Dan Heidrich.
Clark and Mazon advanced to the quarterfinals; Clark with a 9-7 win over Fitch, and Mazon, eliminating Moore 9-3. Mazon downed Clark 9-7, before having his four-match, loss-side streak ended by Hall 9-6, in the semifinals. Davis completed his undefeated run with an 11-6 second victory over Hall in the finals.
The Q City 9-Ball Tour held a double header weekend; commencing with a Saturday, September 19 event that drew 59 entrants, and concluding with a $300-added event that drew 37, which actually began on Saturday night and finished up on Sunday, September 20. Neither event saw a final match, as all four competitors opted out of a final and split the money. The top prize in both events included qualification for a North Carolina 8-ball Championship, scheduled for November. The events were hosted by Chandler's Chalk and Cue in Statesville, NC.
Ryan Hollinsworth went undefeated in the Saturday opener, and finished in the tie for fifth in the Sunday event. David Tickle, who finished in fourth place on Saturday, was defeated in the hot seat match of Sunday's event, and returned from the semifinals to face Colin Hall. The match didn't occur. Tickle and Hall split the top two prizes, and while the undefeated Hall would normally have been declared the winner, Hall deferred to give Tickle the qualification prize to November's 8-Ball championship.
On Saturday, Hollinsworth advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Matt Shaw, while Terry Ringgold met up with Scott Lewis. With Lewis racing to 10, Ringgold defeated Lewis 4-7, as Hollinsworth was downing Shaw 7-4. Hollinsworth claimed the hot seat, and for all intents and purposes, the event title with his 7-3 win over Ringgold.
Lewis and Shaw moved to the loss side and were immediately handed their second straight loss. Lewis fell to David Tickle 8-7. Shaw ran into Brian Bryant, whom he'd sent to the loss side in an earlier round. Bryant faced and defeated Shaw 8-3 while in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side run that would propel him into the finals. Bryant moved on to defeat Tickle 8-4 in the quarterfinals and punctuated what proved to be his final match by shutting out Ringgold in the semifinals. He and Hollinsworth opted out of the final and split $1,330.
On Sunday, Colin Hall and Tickle would have met twice had they opted to play a final match, but they met only once, in the battle for the hot seat. Hall had sent Johnny Walker to the loss side 6-5, as Tickle was defeating Hollinsworth 8-5. Hall claimed the hot seat with a 6-2 win over Tickle.
Like Shaw and Lewis in Saturday's event, Walker and Hollinsworth moved to the loss side and were immediately defeated for the second straight time; Walker, 8-3, by Mike Bumgarner, and Hollinsworth 6-3 by Jamie Fells. Fells eliminated Bumgarner 6-4 in the quarterfinals, but was himself eliminated 8-4 by Tickle in the semifinals. Tickle and Hall split the top two prizes, amounting to $880.
The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Saturday, September 26, will be hosted by Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
Pete's Corner Pocket of Bristol TN hosted a high quality one pocket event on November 8 – good tables, good players, good purse, good fun. Spectators saw Brian White march to the hot seat in a most convincing fashion only to face an inspired performance by Scott Lewis who took first place with 3-2 and 3-1 wins. Favorites such as house cue repair technician Joe Blackburn and locals Mike Adams and Scott Howard fell by the wayside. Finishing third was Shane Hatley and fourth was Brandon Kidwell.
The next one pocket event will be January 10 on these same Gold Crowns, while on the alternating second Saturdays will be the nine ball event.
