JOB’s Billiards – Madison, TN. The 30th Annual Music City Open. Barbox 9 ball – winner breaks, true double elimination. Sure doesn’t get much better than this!!!
The event kicked off on Wednesday night with a 64-player mini tournament. When the smoke had cleared, Nick Hickerson had taken it down after defeating Sean King in the finals.
The women’s division started on Friday night with 41 players. In the end, it came down to Allison Hardwick winning a hill-hill thriller with a break and run on the final rack. Congratulations, Allison! Jessica Mollinet took the well-deserved runner-up position with Lisa Porter in third and Robin Parker in fourth place.
The Midnight Madness Mini kicked off Saturday night – eight players putting up $500 apiece to play – winner take all. Sky Woodward took the cheese over a strong Roberto Gomez in the finals.
The main event had a full field of 128 players. After a raucous player auction on Thursday evening, play began. By Sunday night, the field had whittled down to an undefeated Sky Woodward and Johnathan Pinegar. The smart money was on Sky to take the title as he had played phenomenally throughout the entire event – including two 10-packs.
Hennessee had to defeat Sky twice and won the first set convincingly 11-5. A determined Sky rocketed out to an 8-1 lead in the second set but but never won another game. Henny slowly but surely won game after game to tie the match at 8. From there, he went on ahead to close out the set 11-8, adding a fourth Music City Open title to his resume and leaving a disappointed Sky Woodward in second place. Congratulations to Hennessee for a great tournament!!! Solid performances in a super tough field were turned in by Roberto Gomez for third and Shane Winters for fourth place.
As always, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank JOB’s Billiards and their staff for doing all they could to make everyone feel welcome. Owner Ricky Gamble and Tournament Director Steve McDonald went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly and make us feel at home.
We’d also like to thank our sponsors – Lomax Custom Cues, EnviroAssessments.com, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Hanshew Custom Cues, Simonis, Diveney Custom Cues, GoPlayPool.com, Kamui, Outsville, Diamond Billiard Tables and Club Billiards of Wichita, KS. Thank you all for your continued support.
Our next stop is the Derby City Classic at the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, IN!!! Come on by and sweat the action in our Aramith Action Room!!! Dates are January 20-28th!!! Hope to see you there!!!
Following a series of third place finishes, earlier this year, including the Derby City Classic's 9-Ball Banks event, Alex Olinger must have figured it was time to move up. On the weekend of June 11-12, he joined 63 competitors in Wichita, KS for the Midwest 9-Ball Tour's $2,600-added, 12th Annual Bobby Wells Memorial, hosted by Side Pockets in Wichita. After winning five on the loss side, Olinger double dipped hot seat occupant, Marshal Roney, to claim the title.
In a concurrently-run, $400-added Ladies event that drew 11 entrants, Tama Collins went undefeated to claim that title. Collins had narrowly defeated Taelor Parish in the hot seat match, double hill. On the loss side, Paula Goulden downed Debra Jennings 7-5 in the quarterfinals to face Parish in the semifinals. Goulden defeated Parish 7-2, and then, in the finals, fell to Collins in a single set 7-4.
In the Open event, Olinger was sent to the loss side in a winners' side quarterfinal by Sean King. King advanced to meet Terry Young in a winners' side semifinal, as Roney faced Cody Myers. Roney survived a double hill battle versus Myers, and in the hot seat match, met King, who'd sent Young over 9-5. Roney claimed the hot seat 9-4 and waited for Olinger to complete his five-match march on the loss side.
It was Myers who had the misfortune of picking up Olinger, three matches in to his loss-side run. Olinger had eliminatEd Scott Brown 9-1 and David Matlock 9-6. Young drew Manny Perez, who'd defeated Jason Sisler and Ken Jennings, both 9-4, to reach him.
Olinger moved into the quarterfinals after defeating Myers 9-4. Perez joined him with a 9-6 win over Young. Olinger's 9-7 win over Perez in those quarterfinals gave him a second chance against King, and he took full advantage. He defeated King 9-5 and moved into a double elimination final against Roney.
Olinger took the opening set 9-4. He repeated that score in the second set to claim the 12th Annual Bobby Wells Memorial title.
In what might be arguably described as his biggest tournament win ever, Zion Zvi worked his way undefeated through a field of 53 Open/Pro competitors, on-hand for the 6th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament. Held over Memorial Day weekend, under the combined auspices of the Predator, Tri-State and Mezz Tours, the $2,000-added 10-Ball event, run concurrently with a $2,000-added Amateur event that drew 190 entrants (separate story), was hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
It was the fifth time that Zvi had cashed in this annual memorial event, finishing 5th twice (2013, 2011), 4th once (2012) and last year, finishing in the tie for 13th. He'd won three stops on the Predator tour last year, but this year's Ginky Memorial proved to be his first 2016 victory on the tour. According to tour director Tony Robles, the win should elevate Zvi to an A++ rating, on the tour, which, he said, means that going forward "he'll have to win two more games to beat me."
In a post-match interview, Zvi was still a little stunned. Not only that had he won, but had done so by beating The Iceman, Mika Immonen, twice.
"I need to adjust to (the win),' he told Upstate Al from AZBTV, minutes after the final. "To beat Mika once is tough.
"When I played him in the hot seat match, I felt the heat," he added, "but I just kept grinding."
As every winner of this tournament has done since the tradition began in 2011, Zvi acknowledged the tournament's namesake – George "Ginky" Sansouci.
"I'd known Ginky since 2006," Zvi said, referring to the year he arrived here from Tel Aviv. "He always treated me like I'd grown up with him. I was blessed to know him and grinded every match because of him. He motivated me to win."
By Sunday afternoon, Zvi had advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Jonathan Smith, while Tony Robles squared off against The Iceman. It was already the first time that in six years, Robles was in line for prize money at the tournament he'd helped to create. Zvi downed Smith 9-4, as Immonen was sending Robles to the loss side 9-5. Zvi claimed the hot seat 9-5 over Immonen and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Robles and Smith ran into two juggernauts; one, a two-time former Ginky Memorial winner, Mike Dechaine, who'd eliminated Fernando Paulino 9-4 and Bucky Souvanthong 9-5 to draw Robles, and the other, Alan Rolon, from Puerto Rico, who was on a loss-side streak that would take him to the semifinals, who'd downed Sean King and John Morra, both 9-7 to pick up Smith.
Though he'd jump out to an early 4-0 lead in a bid to reach the quarterfinals, Robles eventually succumbed to Dechaine 9-4. Rolon eliminated the veteran Smith 9-7. A thrilling double hill quarterfinal followed, which ended with Dechaine settling for fourth place.
Over his last four matches to reach the semifinals against Immonen, opponents had averaged seven racks against him in the races to 9. The Iceman allowed him only two and earned himself a second shot against Zvi, in the modified race to 11, meaning that if Immonen, from the loss side, reached 9 first, the match would extend to 11 games. If Zvi, in the hot seat, reached 9 first, it would be over.
The final match was delayed in order to have it play out on the AZBTV table, which, at the end of the Open/Pro semifinals, was featuring the Amateur finals between Tony Liang and Juan Guzman. Though hard to measure, the short delay seemed to benefit Immonen, who opened the finals with two straight racks. Zvi caught up quickly to create the first of five tie scores in the match.
Mika took game #5, but Zvi came back with two, the second of which entailed a 1-10 combination that Immonen had literally handed to Zvi by attempting the combination himself and missing it. Immonen, known to have a bit of a temper, was visibly unhappy. Over the course of games #8 and #9, they both started missing relatively easy shots, and at the end of game #10, Zvi was ahead by two (6-4).
Immonen used a 2-10 combo to pull within one, and then used a 6-10 combo that Zvi had given him to knot things at 6-6. They traded racks to 7-7, Zvi reached the hill first and The Iceman followed suit. Zvi completed his undefeated run in the case game to claim his first 2016 title, at the 6th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial.
In addition to thanking everyone who came down to Steinway Billiards to honor George "Ginky" Sansouci, Tony Robles thanked both the Tri-State and Mezz Tours for their cooperation and assistance, along with Steinway Billiards' owner, Manny Stamatakis, and his staff. He also extended his thanks to sponsors Predator Cues, National Amateur Pool League, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 racks, Gotham City Technologies, PoolOnTheNet.com, The DeVito Team, Billiards Press, AZ Billiards, Billiards Digest, and Pool & Billiard Magazine. He also thanked William Finnegan, Mandy Wu, and Irene Kim for their assistance with the tournament, as well as his wife, Gail Robles.
Dennis Orcollo (Photo courtesy of RE Visual Concepts)
World champion Dennis Orcullo went undefeated to capture his first Space City Open 9-Ball title, besting Ohio’s Shane Winters in the final set, 9-4. In the one pocket division, Chip Compton overcame Jeremy Jones, 3-1, 3-1, taking home his first title, and Jones captured his second, consecutive, 9-ball banks title, outlasting Orcullo in overtime, 3-2, 3-0. Wrapping up the event, Gail Eaton overcame Kia Sidbury in the ladies 9-ball finals, 7-4, 5-2.
The 4-day, 4-division, Space City Open IV (SCO) was held at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, Texas, December 3rd-6th, 2016. In its fourth year, SCO continues to increase in talent and value, and professional players from across the U.S. flew in to take advantage of a payout exceeding $56,000. New blood included Dennis Orcullo, Shane Winters (OH), Shane McMinn (TN), Jerry Calderon (FL), Mike Massey, and Tony Chohan (MI), who along with more than 120 players, entertained a packed house and hundreds of at-home viewers tuned in to the HD live stream provided by OnSitePoolNetwork.com.
Everyone in Texas knows the place to be during the first week of December is the Space City Open. The annual event has showcased some of the greatest billiard talent in the U.S., including U.S Open Champions, World Champions, and Mosconi Cup team players. The SCO is a serious competition and players mean business, which makes for an intense, competitive environment, and great entertainment for the fans. Without a doubt, this was the toughest SCO 9-ball division to date, and simply losing the flip could cost a player the set, in this winner break, rack your own format.
In the 101-player 9-ball field, the famed Dennis Orcullo won 8 consecutive matches on his way to the hot seat, defeating Robert Cruz, 9-1, Jonathon Romero, 9-0, Vu Pham, 9-3, Charlie Bryant, 9-4, Shane McMinn, 9-8, and Sylver Ochoa, 9-5. Jerry Calderon won his bid for the hot seat with wins over Cliff Joyner, 9-6, Alex Cardenas, 9-1, Richard Hughes, 9-1, Joey Gray, 9-1, Shane Winters, 9-3, and Tom Mooney, 9-5. After a 9-7 upset by Tom Mooney in the first round, Tony Chohan won an incredible 7 consecutive matches with wins over Ernesto Bayaua, 7-3, Jeremy Jones, 7-4, Gabe Owen, 7-6, and Abel Lara, 7-5. Other upsets included John Lassek over Jamie Baraks, 9-6, and Abel Lara over Mike Massey, 9-6. New Mexico’s Tommy Tokoph lost his first round to Winters, 9-6, but came back strong with 6 wins, along the way, eliminating two-time 9-ball champion, Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant, 7-3. Winters ended Tokoph, 7-3, and made quick work of Ochoa, 7-1. After a fourth round loss to Winters, 9-8, Robb Saez ousted defending 9-ball champion James Davis, Jr. with a quick 7 pack, Baraks, 7-5, and McMinn, 7-2. Chip Compton, who suffered an earlier 9-5 loss at the hands of Ochoa, eliminated Jamie Farrell, 7-3, but fell to Saez, 7-6. Saez bested Mooney, 7-2, for a rematch with Winters. Once again, Winters advanced, 7-3. Back on the east side, the hot seat match commenced with Orcullo and Calderon. Orcullo played near flawless, and unforced errors on Calderon’s part sealed his fate. Orcullo closed the set out, 9-4. Winters anticipated a shot at redemption, and now it was here. This time, Calderon stepped up to the plate, only to be struck out by Winters, 7-5. In the final, both players came out of the gate running, but Orcullo proved too much for Winters, ending the race, 9-4. Congratulations to Dennis Orcullo on his first SCO 9-Ball title.
The 40-player one pocket field (limited to 40) featured an all-star cast with phenomenal talent going head to head in a test of wills and stamina. Oklahoma’s Chip Compton made his way through the winners’ side with wins over Joe Pelayo, 3-0, Jon Demet, 3-0, Shane McMinn, 3-0, and James Davis, Jr., 3-1, while Jeremy Jones bested Tony Chohan, 3-1, Robb Saez, 3-2, Denis Strickland, 3-0, and Joey Gray, 3-1. On the one-loss side, Chau took out Saez, 3-1, but fell to Joey Gray, 3-1. Again, Chohan was on a roll with 6 consecutive wins, including victories over Tommy Tokoph, 3-1, Ernesto Bayaua, 3-1, Chase Rudder, 3-2, Gabe Owen, 3-0, and James Davis, Jr., 3-0. On the east side, Compton defeated Jones for the hot seat, 3-1, while Gray ended Chohan’s run, 3-0. Gray fell to Jones, 3-1, pitting a rematch between Jones and Compton. A focused Jones stepped up to the final table with the intent of taking back what he had lost. Compton knew he couldn’t let this one get away, but as the first set came to a close, it was Jones who came out ahead, 3-1. In the second set, Compton remained composed, his mind on the task at hand. Compton defeated Jones in the final set, 3-1, to capture his first SCO One Pocket title.
Kicking off Space City Open IV was Thursday’s 29-player, 9-ball banks division. Again, it was Orcullo, attempting to go undefeated with wins over Richie Richeson, 3-0, Luke Sutliffe, 3-0, Tommy Tokoph, 3-1, and Shane Winters, 3-1. Gabe Owen took down Chase Rudder, 3-1, Sylver Ochoa, 3-0, Shane McMinn, 3-2, and Manny Chau, 3-2. Following a loss to Winters, 3-1, Cliff Joyner eliminated Tom Mooney, 3-0, James Davis, Jr., 3-2, and McMinn, 3-1. After suffering a loss to Winters, 3-0, Robb Saez eliminated Jamie Farrell, 3-1, but fell to Jeremy Jones, 3-1. Jones eliminated Chau, 3-1, earning himself another shot at Chohan, the player who had sent him to the one-loss side by a score of 3-1. Jones wasted little time exacting his revenge, taking out Chohan, 3-1. On the east side, Orcullo and Owen teed off for the hot seat, Owen coming up short, 3-1, and again with Jones, 3-1. Jones captured the first set of the true double elimination final, 3-1, finishing Orcullo off the second set, 3-0, earning his second, consecutive banks title. Due to a hand injury, it was uncertain if Jones would compete in this year’s SCO. However, Jones competed in all three divisions, with a very swollen hand to show for it. Congratulations to Jeremy Jones on successfully defending his banks title!
Rounding out the event, 22 women battled it out on Sunday for almost $2,300 in cash in the ladies 9-ball division. WPBA player Kia “Primetime” Sidbury (MD) made her way to the hot seat, defeating Veronica “Pistol” Perez, 7-0, Terry Petrosino, 7-1, and Robyn Petrosino, 7-4. Natalie Rocha made an impressive run, ousting Erica Nicole Walker, 7-1, Gail “Virginia Slim” Eaton, 7-5, Linda Garza, 7-1, and Marie Rodriguez, 7-0. On the one-loss side, Eaton ran through D’Andrea McQuirter, 5-1, Ginger Abadilla, 5-2, Terry Petrosino, 5-1, Belinda Lee, 5-0, and Rodriguez, 5-3. After a second round loss to R. Petrosino, 7-4, 2015 Gulf Coast Tour Champion, Ricki Casper, made an impressive run on the one-loss side with wins over Yvonne Asher, 5-3, Teresa Garland, 5-1, Garza, 5-2, and R. Petrosino, 5-3. On the east side, Sidbury overcame Rocha for the hot seat win, 7-5, while Eaton ended Casper’s run, 5-3. Former WPBA pro Eaton made quick work of Rocha, 5-2, and moved on to the finals. The two seasoned players dug in, and fought to the finish. Eaton captured the first set, 7-4, and although Sidbury attempted to recover in overtime, lost the final set, 5-2. Congratulations to Gail Eaton on her first SCO Ladies 9-Ball title!
“Once again, this event has shown a significant increase in numbers and visibility, across the board. Growth is our primary focus, and it takes the support and dedication of the players, fans, sponsors, and pool room, to make an event like this work, and thrive. That’s what gets the job done”, says Kim Newsome, SCO founder and tournament director. Support staff for this event included a number of dedicated individuals including John Newsome, Teresa Garland and Chuck Adams.
The Space City Open extends a heartfelt “thank you” to sponsors, vendors, and supporters; Bogies Billiards and Games’ owners David and Shannon Richardson, and their entire staff, Simplified Electronics, APA of North Harris County, Vapor Knights, Ozone Billiards, Zach Goldsmith and “Lucky Luke” Sutliffe with OnSitePoolNetwork.com, Bobby Garcia with RE Visual Concepts, and vendors, Mike McDonald with Vapor Knights, Ron Geyer Cue Repair, Joe Salazar Connoisseur of Custom Cues, and Sean King with King Billiards. Special supporters of this event included Charlie Brown, Mark Stubbs, Chase Rudder, Maurice LeBlanc, Kelly Plunkett, Tom Welch, Doug Stone, Jason Watson, David Taylor, Carlos Sanchez, Willie Duran, Dave Ford, David Hardee, Dennis Perry, Adam Cooper, Fabian Gardin, and Erica Nicole Walker.
Space City Open V will take place December 1st-4th, 2016. For more information about the Space City Open, visit www.SpaceCityOpen.com or email spacecityevent@gmail.com.
On the hill at 8-7 in the opening set of a true double elimination final at the 41st Annual Texas Open over Labor day weekend, Robb Saez took aim at a 9-ball that was to have forced a second set against hot seat occupant, Charlie Bryant. The 9-ball dropped and the second set was . . . wait a minute . . . the cue ball is still traveling, and it drops, too, producing an audible gasp from a roomful of spectators, stunned commentary from the PoolActionTV commentators and a flurry of comments from the on-line chat room, watching the live stream. Bryant followed this most dramatic moment with a less dramatic, though decisive break-and-run rack, which earned him his second Texas Open title, and denied Saez his second. Bryant had won in 2010, Saez in 2011. Chip Compton took the title in 2012 and last year's champion (defeating Bryant in the finals) was Warren Kiamco.
One of the oldest, if not the oldest, pool tournaments in the country, the annual Texas Open has had its share of top name winners, including Shane Van Boening (2008), Buddy Hall (1998), Gabe Owen ('99), three-time winners Gilbert Martinez, Jr. ('90, '92 and '93) and Jeremy Jones ('94, '02, '03), and two-time champions CJ Wiley ('96, '97), and now, Bryant, of course. The Texas Open Trophy was named after Bob Vanover, who won the event a total of eight times, including six straight from 1981 to 1986.
The $3,000-added Open event drew the full field of 128 entrants to Skinny Bob's Billiards in Round Rock, TX. The $1,000-added Ladies event, in which Vivian Villareal successfully defended the title she'd won last year, drew 32 entrants.
In the Open event, the Hillbilly and Robb Saez met first in the hot seat match. Bryant had worked his way through five opponents to meet and defeat James Davis, Jr. 9-5 in a winners' side semifinal. Saez, whose five-match march to the winners' side semifinals had included wins over two former Texas Open champions (Jeremy Jones and David Henson), met and defeated Sean King 9-7. In their first of two, Bryant took the hot seat match 9-6.
The loss side still had some lurking former champions (Al Mason, Chip Compton, Henson and Jones, for example), but by the time James Davis, Jr. arrived from the winners' side final four, there was only the one – Jones – left. Davis drew Manny Chau, who'd defeated Barry Emerson and Junior Jueco to reach him. King drew Jones, who'd gotten by Tuan Tran and survived an epic, double hill battle against Shane Manaole.
Davis eliminated Chau 9-5 and in the quarterfinals, faced King who'd finished Jones' bid 9-3. King defeated Davis 9-7 and got a second chance against Saez in the semifinals. In another epic, live-streamed, double hill battle, Saez took down King a second time, and got his second chance at Bryant.
Neither player in what proved to be the only set of the finals ever had more than a two-game lead, and just when observers were beginning to feel a shift in momentum, the player down by two (Bryant or Saez, at different times) took command to tie things up. Saez took the lead at 8-7, and was hoping that the next game would not only re-establish a two-game lead, but win the opening set. The stunning drop of the cue ball as he shot at the 9-ball effectively ended the match, as Bryant followed up with a flawless rack to claim his second Texas Open title.
Texas Tornado repeats as Texas Open Ladies Champion
The ladies' event almost came to a Vivian Villareal versus Belinda Calhoun final. The Texas Tornado worked her way through five opponents to be in the hot seat for those finals. Belinda Calhoun dropped her opening match and won seven on the loss side before being eliminated in the semifinals by Julie Comitini.
Villareal had sent Nicole McDaniel to the losers' bracket 7-2 in a winners' side semifinal and in the hot seat match, faced Comitini, who'd defeated Emma Stewart-Davis 7-5 (No confirmation of this, but Stewart-Davis and James Davis, Jr. may have been the Texas Open's premier newlyweds). Villareal took the first of two against Comitini 7-2, and was a single match away from reclaiming the Texas Open Ladies title.
The newlywed bride was the one who ran into Calhoun, who'd just eliminated loss-side opponents # 3 (Cindy Cole) and #4 (Kim Pierce). McDaniel picked up Michelle Cortez, who'd defeated Kim Sanders and Ricki Casper. Calhoun and McDaniel advanced to the quarterfinals, where Calhoun chalked up her final loss-side win 7-3.
Calhoun's run came to an end against Comitini in the semifinals, but not without a double hill fight. The Texas Tornado descended on the finals table, and swept Comitini out of contention, giving up only a single rack to defend her title.
Great 9-ball pool action finished Tuesday morning September 2nd as 128 elite players from around the US and Texas competed for over $10,000 in Open Division prizes at the longest running 9-ball tournament in US history in Round Rock, TX.
No one was falling asleep this time as the action kept the spectators on the edge of their chair all evening.
The big story was the super play of the newcomers and local players. After 16 years, James Davis Jr.(Austin) had his best finish losing to Sean King (Oklahoma City) in the quarter-finals to grab 4th place. The match went back and forth, but Sean got the break he needed to face professional pool player Rob Saez in the Semi-finals. Sean is a Desert-storm vet making his first Texas Open appearance.
Rob and Sean were wearing the same shade of red shirt and it was difficult to tell them apart from a distance. Fortunately, every seat in the house at Skinny Bob’s billiards was a great seat and many people were standing on the bleachers watching the finals from the other side. Rob was wearing the latest edition championship pocket polo shirt that was sold in 6 colors this year.
Sean never trailed the entire match, but broke dry Hill-7. Rob was hooked on the 1 ball and had to jump to make the 1 ball and drew it back perfectly for shape on the 2 ball, then made perfect shots back to back, including a 3 ball bank to side pocket to tie the match 8-8. Rob made the 1 ball on the break and ran to the 8 but the cue ball ran a little too long. After cutting the 8 ball thin to the corner, the cue ball hit the edge of the side pocket preventing perfect shape on the 9 which is unusual for Rob as his 9 ball shots are usually perfect. Rob had missed a 9 when it was tied 5-5 with similar shape, but this time he made it. The crowd erupted in appreciation for both players who played their hearts out for the respectful crowd of about 150 patrons.
Charlie Bryant, professional pool player/instructor at American Pool Players Association, was competing with a new custom-made James Hanshew cue stick during the tournament. Rob was kicked to the elimination side by Charlie Bryant (Houston) in the hot-seat match and had to win twice if he was to claim the championship a second time in 4 years. Charlie Bryant was down 5-7 when Bryant breaks dry (nothing falls). Rob cuts the 1 thin to the corner, and cue ball runs too far for good shape on 2. The 2 and 7 were tied up on the side rail, and he plays a carom to pocket the 7 ball. He kicks the 2 ball two rails for side pocket and it falls but the 3 ball is hooked, and he kicks it safe leaving cue ball hidden behind the 8 and the 3 is near the 9 ball. Bryant is hooked on the 3 ball after the classic Rob Saez safety he had been making successfully all weekend. Bryant made a seemingly impossible jump-carom 3-9 ball combination across the length of the table to pocket the 9 in the corner pocket! The crowd goes wild! And yes he did plan it; it was not luck. Holy 9-ball combination batman! Maxifantasincredulous! Really, there ain’t enough superlatives in the Texas book to describe how great that shot was, y’all. 😉
The finals game-1 match was nearing the 2-hour mark and Bryant was down 7-8 when Rob breaks and makes the 7. Rob runs to the 9 and cue ball runs long of perfect shape. He makes the 9 in the corner but the cue ball spins off the side rail and falls in the top right-hand corner pocket for a foul and loss of game. And yes Bryant did yell “Hillbilly-on-the-hill after all” in a modest kind of drawl realizing that he might have had to fight it out another 2-hours if Rob had made that shot.
Hill-Hill. Bryant breaks and makes the 5 but the 1 ball appears to be hooked because the 6 and 7 are tied up with the cue ball. Bryant cuts the 1 ball thin enough to make it in the corner, but the cue ball kisses the 4 ball near the side pocket on its way to the 2 ball and almost scratches. His shape comes up short, but he cuts the 2 ball that was frozen against the side rail down the rail to the corner with perfect speed and angle, and makes the 6-7 combo, then has perfect position on the 8 ball. He makes a fist pump after making the 6-ball and points to the sky to thank the heavens for his good fortune after the 9 ball falls. He was presented with the beautiful Bob Vanover Trophy by Skinny Bob’s John Cielo at 2:20am Tuesday morning and smiling under that huge hillbilly beard. All competitors deserve a tremendous amount of applause for fantastic action all weekend, the 41st year of the annual championship.
2012/2013 Women’s Classic champion Vivian “The Texas Tornado” Villarreal (San Antonio, TX) faced a rematch of the hot-seat match against Julie Comitini in their race-to-7 final game 1. Vivian won the 1st meeting 7-4, and had to sit waiting for the elimination side final to finish. That game went Hill-Hill with Belinda Calhoun getting an early lead, but Julie kept her head down and stayed focused to come from behind. Comitini couldn’t get enough height on a jump shot in the Hill-1 game after an amazing safety by Vivian. Vivian had to break up a 7/8/9 tie-up to get shape and run out that last game to win 7-1 and claim her third Women’s championship in a row! Popular local ladies Nichole McDaniel G.t 4th place and Michelle Cortez and Emma Stewart-Davis got 5-6 place prizes.
Another big story that had everybody talking was popular young-gun player Junior Jueco (Austin, TX) who beat favorite 2012 champion Chip Compton (Oklahoma City) in a late Sunday winner-side match after being down 0-7. He won 9 in a row and will be an instant classic match on the PoolactionTV.com replays. Jueco lost to Sean King and received the 7-8 place prizes. Jueco looks like he has so much fun when he plays week after week, no wonder he’s so popular .
Congratulations to all!
Again this year they provided players with the Magic Ball Rack which is a diamond-shaped, thin vinyl template that has holes where you place the Aramith Belgium tournament billiard balls and get a perfect rack every time. The table has 2 spots marked on the felt where you align the top and the bottom hole, then just place the ball on a hole, and it self-centers itself to perfect spot. On TV, they have a surrogate racking specialist, but here the loser racks for the winner. It is important to have the head ball (one) touching the two balls directly behind it to get a good solid break. It is required to drive 4 balls to a rail on the break, else it is a foul.
Thursday night, the warm-up tournament was held and it was won by Tommy Tokoph (Albuquerque, NM) . Tommy was working on running his second rack in a row and missed a 9-ball in the 3rd game that would have won the match, but let his competitor James Davis Sr. (Austin, TX) to the table for a safety and Tommy fouled and conceded the game. In the 5th game, tied 2-2, Davis runs to the 6b and missed a tough rail shot to let Tokoph back to the table, who then made the 6b on a tough cut to the corner pocket and used 3 rails to get shape on the 7 ball and ran out to make a great comeback victory 3-2 in the single-elimination race-to-3 format.
Bob also raffled a handmade “41st Annual Texas Open Championship” cue from James Hanshew of Hanshew Custom Cues. The lucky winner was Jeremy Jones. This cue will be part of the Open history and Charlie Bryant donated a new jump cue to the raffle making it doubly special.
Trivia question: Who made the Texas Open famous by running out 11 racks in a row in the championship bracket without missing a shot? The Texas Open trophy is named after him: The Bob Vanover trophy.
Tournament organizers could not have asked for a better marquee set of matchups than what they got during the $5,000-added, 7th Annual Oklahoma State Bar Table 9-Ball Championships on the weekend of November 9-10. In both the hot seat and finals, Warren Kiamco faced Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant. Kiamco won them both. The event drew 128 entrants to Jamaica Joe's in Midwest City, OK.
The tournament brought out the usual list of Midwest 9-ball suspects, including Bryant, Chip Compton, Shane McMinn and John Gabriel (to name just a few). When it got down to the winners' side final four, Compton drew Kiamco, while Bryant squared off against Canadian shooter, David Parker. In identical 9-4 wins over Compton and Parker, Kiamco and Bryant advanced to the hot seat, from where Kiamco took the first of their eventual two 9-7.
Parker and Compton moved west and met up with Mark Shelton and John Gabriel. Shelton, who'd been sent over by Sean King and was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him to the semifinals, had defeated Nick Tafoya 9-7 and Steve Raynes 9-6. Gabriel had eliminated both Shane McMinn and King, double hill.
It was Shelton and Gabriel who advanced to the quarterfinals, handing Parker and Compton their second straight defeat, both 9-6. Shelton completed his loss-side run with a 9-7 win over Gabriel.
The event, originally scheduled to be completed on Sunday night, was extended into Veteran's Day on Monday when one of the matches determining the tie for ninth place (Steve Raynes vs. Bill Roberts) went three hours, delaying advancement on the loss side. They concluded the Sunday night proceedings after the quarterfinal match and resumed with the semifinals on Monday. So, rested and ready to go, Bryant defeated Shelton 9-7 in the semifinals for a second shot at Kiamco. Kiamco, though, eliminated the need for a two-set final and defeated Bryant 9-7 to claim the event title.
Melissa Little went undefeated to win the Ladies portion of the 2nd Annual Summer Heat 9-Ball Classic, held under the auspices of the Midwest 9-Ball Tour and hosted by Jamaica Joe's in Midwest City, OK. Sean King gave up the first set of the double elimination finals, but came back to win the second and claim the Open title. The $2,000-added Open event drew 45 entrants, while the $500-added Ladies event drew 12.
King faced Chip Compton three times; the first, in a winners' side semifinal, as Mark Haddad and Richard Pierce squared off in the other. King sent Compton west in the first of their three 9-7, and in the hot seat match, met Pierce, who'd sent Haddad over by the same score. King and Pierce fought to double hill before King prevailed.
Compton moved over and picked up John Gabriel, who'd defeated James Walden 9-7 and survived a double hill battle against Ken Jennings to reach him. Haddad drew Shane McMinn, who'd gotten by Greg Hogue 9-7, and J.C Riley 9-3. Compton and Haddad advanced to the quarterfinals; Compton with a 9-6 win over Gabriel and Haddad 9-7 over McMinn.
Compton advanced to the semifinals with a 9-6 victory over Haddad, and then, denied Pierce a re-match against King with a 9-5 win. With momentum on his side, Compton took the opening set of the finals 9-1. King, though, came back in the second set to win it 9-5 and claim the event title.
In the Ladies' event, Melissa Little's undefeated run ended with two wins over Rhonda Pierce. They met first in the hot seat match, when Little sent Pierce to the semifinals 7-4. On the loss side, Debi Aldridge won the quarterfinal match over Michelle Davis 7-3, but was stopped by Pierce in a double hill, semifinal match. Little and Pierce fought to double hill in the finals, but Little survived to claim the Ladies' title.
Sean King, Cindy Cole (TD), Daniel Johnson and Walter Hawley (Owner)
Oklahoma City’s Sean King took Dallas, Texas by storm venturing into uncharted territory, becoming the first player on the Lone Star Tour to win both the Amateur and Open 9-Ball divisions in a single event. It was a long and winding road to victory, fending off Dallas’ T.J. Davis in the Open final and Daniel Johnson in the Amateur final. King bested 35 Open and 53 Amateur players at the $1,000 added Lone Star Billiards Tour 9-Ball Event, held July 6th-7th, 2013, at Hawley’s Billiards in Dallas, Texas. The Open division included Texas notables Joey Barnes from Arlington, David Gutierrez from Austin, Tony Barrington from Lewisville, Eric Brown from Killeen, Greg Sandifer from Fort Worth, Lance Sullivan from Dallas, and local favorite T.J. Davis who returned to defend his 2012 LSBT Open 9-Ball title.
From the plethora of Open division talent, it was hard to discern a winner. Hometown player and defending champion T.J. Davis came on strong, besting Eric Brown, 9-7, and Sean King, 9-7, on his road to the hot seat. As King was fighting through the one-loss side, Tony Barrington was making his way through the winners’ side with wins over Greg Sandifer, 9-5, and Nick Conner, 9-8. Upsets included Joey Barnes who suffered an early hit at the hands of Conner, 9-8. Barnes went on to capture 4 consecutive wins until King ended his role, 7-6. Texas Open Champion David Gutierrez was dealt a second round blow by Doug Pitts, 9-8, but rose again with 6 consecutive match wins until Brown sealed his fate, 7-5. Brown went on to eliminate Raynes and Conner, 7-6 respectively, but was also stopped short by King, 7-4. On the east side, hot seat action saw Barrington fall to Davis, 9-2, staging a Barrington v. King semi-final. Paving his road to payback, the Oklahoma kid made quick work of Barrington, 7-3, the final obstacle between him and Davis.
The intensity of the players made for a suspenseful final. In the first set, Davis and King exchanged blow for blow until King pulled ahead 4-2. Davis was not deterred, but failed to keep pace, losing the set, 9-6. After regrouping, Davis came out firing the second set. The same story unfolded as players exchanged games until it was 6-6 with King breaking. With ease and control, King broke the balls superbly, pocketing a ball. Staying true to form, he ran the final rack to capture his first Lone Star Tour 9-Ball title, 7-6.
King was far from finished. On his trek to clenching the Amateur division title, he bested Ken Jennings, 7-2, Steve Raynes, 7-6, and Lance Sullivan, 7-2. Jonathan Davis was creating havoc of his own with wins over Walt Anderson, 7-4, Greg Sandifer, 7-4, and Zack Shapiro, 7-2, to face King for the hot seat. After a final 8 winners’ side hit from Sullivan, Daniel Johnson began to plow his way through the one-loss side. In the same fashion, after a second round loss to Johnson, Crispian Ng won an incredible 9 consecutive matches to meet his nemesis, Johnson. Ng lost his fight for third, terminated by Johnson, 5-1. King secured the hot seat over Davis, 7-4, who then suffered an elimination blow from Johnson, 5-4. In the final, King wasted little time defeating Johnson, 7-4, becoming the first player to win both divisions in a single Lone Star Tour event.
The Lone Star Tour would like to thank Cindy Cole and Lance Sullivan for directing the Dallas event, Hawley’s Billiards for hosting another successful Lone Star Tour stop, and Jerry Moore for providing an entire weekend of cue repair for the Lone Star players. Last but certainly not least, congratulations to Jennifer Pavlovick for her efforts in the Amateur division, earning “Top Lady” finisher.
The next event will be the annual Lone Star Billiards Tour Texas Open Warm-Up 9-Ball Event, August 10th-11th, 2013, at Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, TX. Visit us on facebook.com/lonestartour.
