Ruben Adame came to last weekend’s (Feb. 18-19) Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour stop (#2) having cashed in a previous (recorded) event only once, in August of last year, sharing 5th place with Tina Malm. He went home this past weekend with the first (recorded) regional tour victory on his resume, having gone undefeated at the $2,000-added event that drew 78 entrants to Tailgaters Sports Bar in Frisco, TX.
Adame battled below, at and above his ‘weight’ (7) in the event. Through eight matches, he faced three opponents ‘below’ and three ‘at’ his level. In the hot seat and finals, he defeated two competitors ‘above’ his level to claim the event title. Three of his eight matches went double hill, including his opening match against Marc Oler (below), his third-round bout against Lucah Gianino (below) and his fourth round match, in a straight-up race to 7, against Jonathan Rawlins. He followed the win over Rawlins with a victory over Rodger Shaffer (below) that put him into a winners’ side semifinal against Peter Stovall in what would be another straight-up race to 7.
In the meantime, Josh Hemsoth was advancing to meet him in the hot seat match. Hemsoth, awarded a bye in the opening round, played five matches to get there, all of them against opponents below his ‘weight’ level of 8. With one exception, all of Hemsoth’s opponents on his way to the hot seat match got two ‘beads on the wire’ in races to 8. The exception was Jennifer Hooten, who got four ‘on the wire’ in Hemsoth’s first match. She battled him to double hill before he advanced, downing Joe Pelayo (2), Keith Diaz (3), and shutting out Chase LaFerney to arrive at the other winners’ side semifinal against Miguel Hernandez.
Adame got into the hot seat match with a 7-5 victory over Stovall and was joined by Hemsoth, who’d survived a double hill battle against Hernandez. Adame, facing his first opponent above his rank, was awarded a single ‘bead on the wire’ in a race to 8. He didn’t need it. He allowed Hemsoth only a single rack and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Clint Freeman, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Hernandez, went on a five-match run that propelled him all the way into the finals. He survived a double hill battle against Joseph Geesling and downed Rawlins 9-2 to draw Stovall. Hernandez picked up Tim Larson, who’d lost an opening-round, double-hill match to Jeff Turney and was working on a 10-match, loss-side streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals and had recently eliminated Rodger Shaffer 9-2 and Brian Cady 9-3.
Freeman advanced to the quarterfinals 9-3 over Stovall and was joined by Larson, who’d shut out Hernandez. Freeman ended Larson’s lengthy loss-side battles 9-4 in those quarterfinals and then, by the same score, downed Josh Hemsoth in the semifinals.
In the true double-elimination finals, Ruben Adame got two ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 9 against Freeman, which, as in his hot seat match, he didn’t need. He took the opening and, as it turned out, only set 7-4 to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Tailgaters for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and associate sponsor Fort Worth Super Billiards Superstore. The next stop (#3) on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of March 25-26, will be hosted by Rusty’s Billiards in Fort Worth, TX.
(l to r): Juan Parra, Greg Sandifer & Jeff Georges (Photo by Jesse Garcia, Bound by Imagination)
Juan Parra tried for a win on the 2019 DFW 9-Ball Tour three times; in May, June and October. His best effort was his first when he finished 3rd. His worst was the last in which he finished in the tie for 13th. At the tour’s season finale, on the weekend of November 16-17, he broke through to record a victory for the first time since he won a stop on the DFW 9-Ball predecessor, the Omega Tour in 2017. Parra had to get by the #2 player on the standings list going into the final event, Greg Sandifer, twice. The $3,000-added event, open only to tour members who’d competed in at least four of the tour’s 11 events in 2019, drew 56 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Parra and Sandifer wove their separate ways through the field to arrive at their first meeting, battling for the hot seat. Parra got an opening round bye before defeating Dario Gomez, Donnie Gregory and Curtis Caldwell to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Jesus Sorto. Sandifer’s path went through Gert Ehing, Chris Woody Smith, Jud Hunter and Jeff Georges to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup against Amos Bush.
Sandifer gave up only a single rack to Bush in an 8-1 victory that put him into the hot seat match. Parra joined him following his 7-5 win over Sorto. In their first of three, Sandifer claimed the hot seat 8-4.
On the loss side, Sorto picked up Jeff Georges, who, following his defeat at the hands of Sandifer in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had defeated Friday Abismo 7-5 and the #1 competitor in the tour standings, Tim Larson, double hill (7-8). Bush drew Jesse Hernandez, who’d lost his second match, double hill to Sorto, and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. Sorto and Hernandez would each fall one match short of a rematch.
In a straight-up race to 7, Georges downed Sorto 7-4. Bush and Hernandez battled to double hill before Bush prevailed to join Georges in the quarterfinals. Bush then won his second straight double hill battle in those quarterfinals.
Both combatants in the semifinals were looking for a rematch in the finals against Sandifer. If the score proved to be any measure of the desire, Parra apparently wanted it more and won handily 7-1.
With Sandifer racing to 8, Parra took the opening set 7-6. He did Sandifer one better in the second set, winning it 7-5 to claim the season finale title.
A Second Chance event drew seven entrants and was won Alberto Nieto Garcia. Billy Guy was runner-up and Rachelle Dytko was third.
In ceremonies following the event, Tim Larson, who’d competed in each of the tour’s 11 events, won two of them and finished as runner-up in a third, was acknowledged as the 2019 Tour Champion. Highway Sigadi won the tour’s 2019 Best Sportsmanship award.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards for their hospitality as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Super Store, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball, FargoRate, BCA Pool League, JB Custom Cue Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI and Internet Marketing Solutions. The 2020 DFW 9-Ball Tour season will begin where the 2019 season ended, at Rusty's Billiards in Arlington, TX on the weekend of January 18-19, 2020.
(l to r): Gerardo Perez, Daniel Herring & Kevin Guimond (photo:Jesse Garcia, Bound by Imagination)
While the top point leaders in the Predator DFW 9-Ball Tour’s standings list (#1 through #5) were languishing on the loss side of the Oct. 19-20 bracket of the tour’s 10th stop – only two of them finished in the money (#1 Tim Larson, tied for 7th and #5 Jay Ryda, tied for 17th) – #42 (Gerardo Perez) and #63 (Daniel Herring) advanced through the 88-entrant field and battled twice to claim the event title. Perez was the undefeated winner of the $1,500-added event, hosted by the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
All but one of the top five on the standings list – #4 Amos Bush – had competed in all nine of the tour’s events, and Bush had only missed one. It was Gerardo Perez’ sixth appearance on the 2019 tour and his best finish had been in a tie for 9th place last month. Herring had competed in only three of the tour’s stops, with a best finish of a tie for 13th place in August (He’d won a stop on the tour just over a year ago). They both battled players higher in the points list during their trek to the finals, but neither of them faced any one of the top five, though as it turned out, it was not for lack of trying. Greg Sandifer (#2) was on the loss side at the end of the opening round. Larson, Davis, Bush and Ryda all moved over after the third round.
Herring and Gregory battled to double hill before Herring prevailed and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Perez, who’d defeated Emerson 7-4 (Emerson racing to 8). With Herring racing to 8, as well, Perez claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on Herring’s return.
Over on the loss side, Sandifer and Bush had been knocked out before the first money round (33rd-48th). TJ Davis made it to that first money round (17th-24th), but went home with just the $160. Tim Larson, who’d been sent to the loss side by Emerson, was in the midst of a very brief winning streak that had started in the first money round and after three wins, including a 9-1 victory over Chris Rickman, had ended with a defeat at the hands of Jersey Jack Lynch, who advanced to pick up Emerson. Gregory drew Kevin Guimond, who, after losing to Larson in the third round, was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d recently eliminated Crispian Ng 9-6 and Walter Heunerfuerst 9-5 to draw Gregory.
Emerson downed Lynch 8-1. Guimond joined him in the quarterfinals after a 9-3 win over Gregory. In the semifinals, with Guimond racing to 9, he and Herring battled to a double hill standstill before Herring ended it for a second shot against Perez in the hot seat.
With Herring racing to 8, he and Perez fought to 6-7, double hill, before Perez ended it to claim his first event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at the Billiard Den, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues and main event sponsors Ft. Worth Billiards Superstore, JB Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball League, BCAPL, RackEm TV (streaming sponsor), FargoRate, and IMS (Internet Marketing Solutions). The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 16-17, will be the tour’s Season Finale at Rusty’s in Arlington, TX.
It seemed as though a majority of the nation’s pool players were competing in Texas over the September 7-8 weekend. Half of that hypothetical majority (93) was competing at the Houston Open in League City, while the other half (96) was apparently at Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX for the $1,500-added, 9th stop on the Dallas-Ft. Worth 9-Ball Tour. In both events, the eventual winner went undefeated, while the runner-up battled back from an early loss to challenge the hot seat occupant. In the Houston Open, it was Dennis Orcollo stopping an 11-match, loss-side winning streak by Roberto Gomez (separate story). In the DFW Tour stop, it was Tim Larson stopping the 10-match, loss-side winning streak of Jeremy Jones.
Larson’s victory, his second on the 2019 tour, added to what has already been his best earnings year to date and cemented his position at the top of the DFW Tour’s standings, ahead of Greg Sandifer and TJ Davis. Jones, whose best earnings year to date in a career dating back 21 years, was in 2003, was looking for his first win on the 2019 DFW Tour, having won the 2018 season final of the tour. Earlier this year, he’d won the Derby City Classic’s One Pocket Mini event, had three other cash finishes at Derby City and a 65th finish at the US Open 9-Ball Championships.
They almost met in the event’s third round. Larson opened with a 9-1 victory over Monica Anderson, as Jones was enjoying the benefits of an opening round bye. Larson then defeated Jim Smith 9-4 and advanced to face Juan Parra, who had just sent Jones to the loss side 7-5. Larson went on to defeat Parra, Jim Talmon and Jud Hunter to face TJ Davis in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Denny Sneed, in the meantime, squared off against Jesus Sorto in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Larson defeated Davis 9-6 and was joined in the hot seat match by Sneed, who’d sent Sorto to the loss side 8-3. Larson claimed the hot seat and waited (no doubt with some concerns) for Jones to complete his 10-match, loss-side winning streak.
On the loss side, Jones won his first four matches by an aggregate score of 40-6. Things tightened up a bit in his next three, which led him to pick up Davis, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. He defeated Jeff Georges, Amos Bush and Greg Sandifer by an aggregate score of 30-17 (5, 5, and 7, respectively) to face Davis. Sorto drew Chris Gaither, who was working on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had recently included victories over Jud Hunter 7-5 and Mohammed Alrawi 7-2.
Sorto ended Gaither’s streak 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Jones, who’d eliminated Davis 10-5. Jones, returning (for the moment) to earlier loss-side form, gave up only a single rack to Sorto in that quarterfinal match (10-1).
Jones didn’t give up many more than that to Sneed in the semifinals. Jones won it 10-3 for a shot at Larson in the hot seat.
Larson started the opening set of true double elimination finals with ‘one bead on the wire’ in a race to 10. He completed his undefeated run with a 9-6 victory over Jones to claim his second 2019 DFW 9-Ball Tour title.
A Second Chance event that drew nine entrants was won by Dakota McBride, with Cameron Cummings as the runner-up. The best female finisher in the event was 16-year-old Aryana Lynch, the BCAPL’s 2018 Women’s 9-Ball Singles Champion and 2019 Women’s 8-Ball Singles Champion, who finished in the tie for 13th amidst the field of 96. Along the way, as a skill level 6, she defeated skill level 7 players Juan Parra, Corey Flud and Rodney Williams.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Snookered Billiards, as well as tour title sponsor Predator Cues and main event sponsors Ft. Worth Billiards Superstore, JB Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball League, BCAPL, RackEm TV (streaming sponsor), FargoRate, and IMS (Internet Marketing Solutions). The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of October 19-20, will be hosted by the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
After eight stops on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, Tim Larson has retained his top spot in the tour standings. On the weekend of August 3-4, however, the owner of the #3-spot in those tour standings, Greg Sandifer, went undefeated, downing Larson twice (hot seat and finals) to claim the event title and edged up a single spot to take over the #2 spot in the standings. TJ Davis, who owned that #2 spot prior to this past weekend’s event, finished in the tie for 7th/8th, which earned him enough points to slip only a single spot into third place. The $1,500-added event drew 77 entrants to CK Billiards in Dallas, TX.
Sandifer’s seven-match path to the winners’ circle saw him give up more than three racks to an opponent only three times. After an opening round bye, he advanced through Casey Dawson 8-2, Mohammed Alrawi 8-3, Ricki Casper 8-2, and Amos Bush 8-5 to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against JP Kinman. Larson, in the meantime, though after a bye, he’d open with a 9-2 win over Darrell Smith, found himself facing stiffer opposition. He got by Robin Barbour 9-6, Randy Staggs 9-1 and Jesus Sorto 9-6 to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Robert Clark.
Sandifer and Larson advanced to the hot seat in matches that reflected their earlier efforts. Sandifer downed Kinman 8-2, as Larson held off Clark 9-6. Sandifer, who’d had only one opponent reach as far as five racks against him until he played in the hot seat match, gave up six to Larson, but he claimed the hot seat 8-6 and waited on Larson’s return.
On the loss side, Kinman picked up the always-dangerous Jeremy Jones, who’d been defeated in a double hill, winners’ side quarterfinal match by Robert Clark and then downed Andrew Talton 10-2 and TJ Davis 10-5 to face Kinman. Clark, in the meantime, drew Doug Winnett, who was in the midst of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that included recent victories over Jeffrey Wadsworth 7-1 and Amos Bush 7-2.
Winnett spoiled any potential rematch between Clark and Jones by defeating Clark 7-5. Jones, in the meantime, eliminated Kinman 10-5. Jones then put an end to Winnett’s loss-side winning streak, double hill, in the quarterfinals; 10-6, Winnett racing to 7.
As of this past weekend, 260 players had figured in the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s eight events so far, some of them, multiple times and many of them, all eight times. It was Jones’ first recorded appearance on the 2019 tour and as he moved into the semifinals, he was looking at the possibility of moving into the top 20 of the tour’s standings (if he ended up claiming the event title), among the top 27 or so if he finished as the runner-up and among the top 37 or so if he finished in third place.
He and the tour’s #1 player in the standings, Larson, battled to a predictable double hill point, before Larson (who started with ‘one on the wire’ in a race to 10) dropped the last 9-ball in the match’s 17th rack to earn himself a second shot at Sandifer in the hot seat. Larson, who’d finished as runner-up in the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s stop in June, repeated as runner-up in this one. Sandifer shaved a rack off of Larson’s performance against him in the hot seat match, downing him 8-5 to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at CK’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball, FargoRate, BCA Pool League, Internet Marketing Solutions (IMS), CSI, Accu-Rack and JB Custom Cue Cases. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Sept. 7-8, will be hosted by Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX.
(l to r): Juan Parra, Jr., Tim Larson & Jay Murillo
A regular competitor on the Omega Tour and once, according to our records, (six years ago, cashing) on the Lone Star Billiard Tour, Jay "Ryda" Murillo had yet to chalk up a major regional tour win until the weekend of June 22-23. He broke through at Stop #6 on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, going undefeated at the $1,500-added event that drew 82 entrants to Click’s Billiards in Arlington, TX and in the finals, downing the tour’s current #1 player, Tim Larson, who won Stop #5 in May.
Murillo’s path to the winners’ circle went through John Washington, Chase Wheeler, Daniel Herring and Mike Nagaki to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Yousif Ahmed. Juan Parra, in the meantime, got by Tommy Ulbik, Randy Darville, Jason Dutchover (a double hill win) and was responsible for sending Larson to the loss side in a winners’ side quarterfinal that also went double hill. Parra’s 7-8 victory over Larson (racing to 9) set Parra up to meet Amos Bush in the other winners’ side semifinal.
In a straight up race to 7, Parra got into the hot seat match over Bush 7-5. He was joined by “Ryda,” who’d sent Ahmed to the loss side 6-3. Parra ended up on the wrong side of this third straight double hill match, falling to Murillo 6-6 (Parra racing to 7).
On the loss side, Bush met up with Mike Nagaki, who, following his defeat at the hands of Murillo, shut out Alberto Nieto Garcia and eliminated Billy Pinion 7-6 (Pinion racing to 9). Ahmed drew Larson, who, sent over by Parra, defeated TJ Davis 9-5 and Sajal Ghimire 9-2.
Larson moved on to the quarterfinals with a 9-3 victory over Ahmed and was joined by Bush, who eliminated Nagaki 7-4. Larson then survived two straight double hill matches for a shot at Murillo in the hot seat. He won a double hill quarterfinal match against Bush 9-6 (Bush racing to 7), and downed Parra in the semifinals by the same score, with Parra, as well, racing to 7.
Larson’s campaign to wrest the title from Murillo in the potential double elimination final never quite got off the ground. Murillo had chalked up his required six racks, with Larson four racks away from his handicap goal of 9.
A Second Chance event drew 10 entrants and was won by Billy Guy. The runner-up was Marc Gonzales with Casey Dawson finishing third.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Click’s, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball, FargoRate, BCA Pool League, Internet Marketing Solutions (IMS), CSI, Accu-Rack and JB Custom Cue Cases. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for July 13-14, will be hosted by The Hideaway in Dallas, TX.
(l to r): Tim Larson, Walter Huenerfuerst & Angelo Innes
On the heels of his best recorded earnings year, to date (2018), Tim Larson opened his 2019 campaign with an undefeated run on the DFW 9-Ball Tour on the weekend of May 18-19. According to records here at AZBilliards, it is Larson’s first win on a regional tour since he first started cashing in tournaments about 10 years ago. A regular at the 8-ball and 9-ball BarBox Championship events in Reno, NV (5th in 9-ball in 2014), Larson finished in the money three times on the 2018 DFW 9-Ball Tour; 4th once and 7th twice. The $1,500-added event drew 62 entrants to Rusty Billiards in Fort Worth, TX.
Larson had to get by Walter Huenerfuerst twice in this one. Like Larson, Huenerfuerst was looking to chalk up his first major regional win, and as it turned out, his runner-up finish was his best showing, to date, in any tournament, dating back to his participation in events on the Omega Tour. It proved to be Huenerfuerst’s first cash win since 2016.
They met first in the hot seat match. Larson worked his way through four opponents, allowing each of them an average of two racks per match, to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against John Carlo Tuazon. Huenerfuerst, in the meantime, had a somewhat tougher route through his first four opponents, allowing each of them an average of five racks per match; to include his survival of a double hill match against TJ Davis in the third round. Huenerfuerst arrived at a winners’ side semifinal against Peter Villatorro.
Larson downed Tuazon 9-2, as Huenerfuerst sent Villatoro to the loss side 8-3. Larson claimed the hot seat 9-6 over Huenerfuerst and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Villatoro drew Donnie Gregory, who’d defeated TJ Davis 7-6 (Davis racing to 8) and Paul Guernsey, double hill (7-7) to reach him. Tuazon picked up Angelo Innes, who after a defeat at the hands of Davis, had gotten by Paul Villanueva 8-3 and Hector Guerrero 8-5.
It was Donnie Gregory advancing to the quarterfinals after a 7-5 victory over Villatoro. He was joined by Innes, who eliminated Tuazon 8-2. Innes was able to advance one more step, downing Gregory 8-3 in those quarterfinals, before having his loss-side streak stopped at four by Huenerfuerst, double hill, in the semifinals.
Larson completed his undefeated run with a second victory, 9-3, over Huenerfuerst in the finals.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsor Predator Cues. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for June 22-23, will be hosted by Click’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Going into the DFW 9-Ball Tour finale, held on the weekend of Nov. 10-11, the 2018 Tour Championship title was still very much in play. CJ Wiley stood atop the 10-stop point standings, poised to win it all, though Paul Guernsey and TJ Davis were a hair-width 40 and 80 points away (680-640-600). Had Guernsey won the final tour stop, with Wiley as runner-up, they’d have tied for first place. If Davis had won with Guernsey as runner-up, they’d have tied for first place. Had Wiley faltered in his quest for the event win and Tour Champion title, there were numerous ways it might have turned out.
But he didn’t falter. He faced seven opponents, including Jeremy Jones twice (early and late), played 84 games, winning (on average) three out of every four of them and finished undefeated to claim both the season finale and 2018 Tour Championship titles. The $5,000-added event drew 64 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
As it turned out, Wiley and Davis faced each other in the hot seat match. Wiley had gotten by Neil Nabil Saidawi and Douglas Pitts before running into Jeremy Jones for the first time. In races to 9, handicapped with Fargo Ratings, Jones chalked up more racks against Wiley (6) in their third-round meeting than any other opponent Wiley faced all weekend, including Jones in their later meeting in the finals. Wiley then advanced to meet and defeat Phil Auteri, which set him up to face Jordan Gartenberg in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Davis, meanwhile, had defeated Michael Montgomery, Cody Wright, Brian Horvath and Greg Sandifer to draw Jersey Jack Lynch in the other winner’s side semifinal. Davis sent Lynch to the loss side 8-2, as Wiley shut Gartenberg out to join him. Wiley assured himself a minimum second place finish by defeating Davis 9-2. Davis moved to the semifinals, having secured a minimum third place finish.
On the loss side, Jones was at work on the seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would earn him a re-match against Wiley in the finals. A victory over Denny Sneed put Jones into the first money round (13th-16th) where he defeated Oscar Araujo 9-4. He advanced to eliminate Greg Sandifer and Tim Larson, both 9-5, to draw Gartenberg, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Jersey Jack Lynch drew Corey Flud, who’d been sent to the loss side by Jones in the second round and was on his own seven-match, loss-side quest for a re-match, against Jones. Flud eliminated Billy Guy, Douglas Pitts, Suliman Abu Salem and Steve Raynes, before defeating Clint Palaci, double hill, and Phil Auteri 7-3 to draw Jersey Jack.
Flud earned his quarterfinal re-match against Jones with a 7-5 victory over Lynch. Jones did his part with a 9-2 victory over Gartenberg. Flud started the quarterfinal with two on the wire in a race to 9. Jones defeated him a second time 9-4, and then moved on to give up only a single rack in a semifinal win over Davis.
Their Fargo Rates are 37 points apart with Jones given the edge over Wiley, 749-712. Wiley defied the FargoRate Match odds, giving him a roughly 30% chance of winning (29.6% to be precise). Jones chalked up the second-highest number of racks against him in the tournament, but Wiley took the match 9-5 to claim both the event and Tour Champion title.
Wiley finished the event as he’d started it, at the top of the tour rankings. TJ Davis and Paul Guernsey (who finished the event in the tie for 25th) switched places; Davis, finishing second and Guernsey finishing third. In addition to awarding the Tour Championship to Wiley, the tour gave a Best Sportsman Award to Billy Guy.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty's Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Super Billiards Store JB Cases, Outsville (Accu-Rack), Granite Guyz, BCAPL/CSI and Dallas Eight-Ball League.
(l to r): Juan Parra, Jr., Daniel Herring & Tony Top
Daniel Herring has been at the Texas tables for about a decade now, chalking up his first recorded appearance on a payout list at a stop on the Fast Eddie’s Tour in January, 2008. He started appearing on the payout lists of Melinda Bailey’s Omega Tour a few years after that and in February, 2015, he broke through to win a stop on that tour; his first, and until this weekend (Sept. 8-9), his only recorded victory on a tour. At stop #9 on the DFW 9-Ball Tour (which grew out of the Omega Tour), he went undefeated through a field of 89 entrants, on-hand for the $1,500-added event, hosted by Clicks in Arlington, TX.
Herring started strong, giving up only two racks over his first 19 games, and seven over his next 23 (four of those to his eventual finals’ opponent, Juan Parra) to arrive at what proved to be his first double hill challenge in a winners’ side semifinal against Angelo Inness. Tony Top, in the meantime, who played an extra match in a preliminary round to get the field to a 32-match opening round, gave up 12 racks in the 52 games that it took him to reach the other winners’ side semifinal against Philip Palmer.
Herring survived the double hill battle over Inness and advanced to the hot seat match and a battle against Top, who’d sent Palmer to the loss side 8-5. Herring claimed the hot seat 8-6, and waited on the return of Parra.
On the loss side, Palmer picked up Parra, who, following his defeat at the hands of Herring, had eliminated Tommy Ulbik 7-3 and the tour’s #2-ranked competitor, CJ Wiley, double hill (in the absence at this event of the tour’s #1-ranked player, Chase Rudder, Wiley’s finish in the 7/8 slot moved him into the #1 ranking spot). Inness had the misfortune of running into Tim Larson, who, following a defeat in the event’s opening round (to Josh Keller) was in the midst of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals.
Parra and Palmer locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Parra to the quarterfinals. Larson chalked up what proved to be his last victory 8-4 over Inness and joined him. Parra ended Larson’s loss-side run 7-4 in those quarterfinals, and then, double hill, stopped Top’s short-lived, loss-side run in the semifinals.
Herring completed his undefeated run with an 8-4 victory over Parra in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Click’s for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ft. Worth Billiard Superstore, JB Custom Cue Cases, Solutions, Granite Guyz, BCAPL, CSI, Dallas 8-Ball, Accu-Rack and Fargo Rate. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Oct. 20-21, will be a $1,500-added event, hosted by Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
