Sylver Ochoa and Justin Whitehead
Oklahoma’s Justin Whitehead captured the fourth stop and his first win on the Poison by Predator Tour held at Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar this past Sunday, November 3rd, 2013. A plethora of pool talent converged on the Houston pool room to compete in the $500 added, races to 6 format, which produced a one-day prize fund of over $2,400. Whitehead made his mark on the city defeating Houston professional Sylver Ochoa in the second set of the true double elimination finals, 6-5. Notable participants in this event also included Manny Chau, Ernesto Bayaua, Mike Alonzo, Blaine Barcus, and veteran player Lanny Herrin. From the word “go” Whitehead had his work cut out for him. On his path to victory, he left a wake of destruction including wins over Barcus, 6-4, Bayaua, 6-5, and Ochoa, 6-3. On the bottom side, Chau was upset by Sonny Bosshamer, 6-4, and Herrin defeated Sonny Demetro, 6-4. Herrin went on to shut out Bosshamer, 6-0, and meet Whitehead for the hot seat match. After suffering a second round loss to Ochoa, Houston’s own David Taylor came back to finish 7th-8th with wins over Richard Hernandez, Eric Gauthier and Mike Alonzo until he was eliminated at the hands of Bayaua, 6-1. Demetro was sent home by Chau who in turn was decimated by Ochoa, 6-1. Bayaua went on to oust Bosshamer, 6-5, but fell to Ochoa, 6-2. Back on the east side, the hot seat match was as close as they come as Whitehead squeezed by Herrin, 6-5. On the flip side, Ochoa was on fire with two landslide wins. Making Herrin his third, consecutive victim, 6-5, he set the stage for a bitter rematch with Whitehead. In the first set it was bloody revenge as Ochoa annihilated Whitehead, 6-1. In the second set, Whitehead took a brilliant 4-1 lead until a brutal roll cost him two games, bringing the score to 4-3. Justin answered back with a game bringing the score to 5-3. Sylver replied with two games of his own upgrading the match to hill hill status. In turn, Whitehead responded winning the final game and ending the event with 2 out of 3 sets won against the local champion. Congratulations to Justin Whitehead on his first Poison by Predator Tour victory!
The tour would also like to recognize female competitors Teresa Garland and Ricki Casper who split “Top Lady Finisher” at this event. Well done ladies!
The PxP Tour would like to thank Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar and their entire staff for hosting another first-rate event. The PxP Tour is title sponsored by Poison by Predator cues, www.poisonbilliards.com, sponsored by Delta-13 Rack, www.delta-13.com, and the APA of North Harris County. The Tour Championships will be held November 9th-10th and Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, Texas with Open and Amateur 9-Ball divisions.
