If state pool championships are the measurement device, then Mike Davis is the best pool player in North Carolina. He owns back-to-back titles in the state’s 9-Ball Championships and on the weekend of November 4-5, he chalked up his third straight NC State 8-Ball title.

 

Say what you will about competing in a small field, Davis locked up his third 8-Ball title by defeating one of the game’s better known veterans, Mark Tademy, cited by The Hyper Texts (http://www.thehypertexts.com) as one of a list of “unknown monster players who could play with anyone on a given day.” A little over 10 years ago (2006), Davis and Tademy were among a  world-wide cast of the best in the International Pool Tour’s (IPT) North American Open Championship in Las Vegas. Finishing in the tie for 61st, and pocketing $5K, Tademy was in tied company with (among others) Keith McCready, Mike Sigel, George “Ginky” Sansouci, Shannon Daulton, Allison Fisher, Loree Jon Hasson, Jeremy Jones, Allen Hopkins and Gerda Hofstatter. Davis, who finished 121st, and pocketed $2K, was in tied company with (among others) Grady Mathews, Jose Parica, Mike Massey, Tommy Kennedy, Warren Kiamco, Ewa Mataya Laurance, Tony Robles, Shane Van Boening, Karen Corr, and Billy Incardona.

 

And so, the hot seat and finals of the 2017 NC State 8-Ball Championships, held under the auspices of the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, featured two of the sport’s more prominent competitors; one (Tademy), a little more old-school than the other (Davis). The $300-added event drew 23 entrants to Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC. It should be noted that the weekend of November 4-5 played host to at least two other major 8-Ball Tournaments, which are about as rare as teenagers who don’t play video games – NYC’s BCA-sanctioned 8-Ball Championships, which drew 241 entrants (with some duplication over six separate events) and Maryland State’s 8-Ball Championships, which drew a full field of 128 entrants. North Carolina appeared to have drawn the ‘short straw’ on available 8-ball competitors.

 

The tournament did, however, draw two marquee players into its final two matches. Davis and Tademy met first in the hot seat match, once Davis had sent Jim Lewis to the loss side 7-3 in one winners’ side semifinal and Tademy had dispatched former NC State 9-Ball Champion Jeff Abernathy 7-4 in the other one. Davis claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Tademy and waited for round two.

 

On the loss side, Abernathy picked up Eddie Little, who’d gotten by Kenny Daughtrey 7-3 and Steve Page 7-4. Lewis drew Joshua Padron (winner of the 2016 Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour Championships this past January), who’d defeated Brown’s Billiards’ owner Dave Huffman 7-2 and Tyler Chappell 7-5.

 

Little and Padron eliminated winners’ side semifinalists Abernathy and Lewis, respectively; Little, 7-4 over Abernathy and Padron, 7-3 over Lewis. Little dropped Padron 7-5 in the quarterfinals that followed, before having his two-match, loss-side run ended by Tademy 7-3 in the semifinals.

The two veterans, Davis and Tademy, fought back and forth in the early going of the finals to a 5-5 tie. Davis, though, took command at that point and chalked up the next four in a row to win it and claim his third straight NC State 8-Ball title.

 

Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Brown’s Billiards’ owner Dave Huffman and his staff for their hospitality, 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 November 11-12, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA.

As a pool player, Chad Pike is what you might call a journeyman, defined by Merriam-Webster as “an experienced, reliable worker, athlete or performer, especially as distinguished from one who is brilliant or colorful.”  Pike has been appearing on AZBilliards’ pool payout lists for about 13 years, though it wasn’t until January of 2016, that the indication of “2nd” appeared next to one of his numerous entries, dating back to 2004. That occasion was a stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. Three weeks later, on the same tour, “1st” appeared next to his name for the first time. On Saturday, September 30, Pike chalked up another win on the tour, with an undefeated run at a $500-added event that drew 15 entrants to Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, VA.

 

Pike had to get by Tyler Chappell twice to win this one. They met first in a winners’ side semifinal that Pike won 9-3, as Collin Hall downed Daniel Adams 7-3 in the other one. Pike claimed the hot seat over Hall 9-4 and waited for Chappell to complete the three-match, loss-side run that gave him a second shot at him.

 

On the loss side, Chappell picked up Scott Roberts, who’d shut out Jimmy Melson and defeated Graham Swinson 9-3 to reach him. Adams drew Jacob Cantu, who’d eliminated Paul Swinson (father to Graham) 7-5 and Luther Pickeral 7-2.

 

Chappell and Roberts locked up in a double hill fight, won by Chappell. He was joined in the quarterfinal match by Adams, who’d defeated Cantu 7-3. Chappell took that quarterfinal match 8-5 over Adams, and then, downed Hall 8-2 in the semifinals.

 

With a single rack on the wire at the outset in a race to 9, Chappell improved on his winners’ side semifinal performance, by a lot. He forced a deciding, 16th game, which Pike won to claim the event title.

 

Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Peninsula Billiards, 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 October 7-8, will be hosted by The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.