Bayaua, Ramoz, Price, Yi, Lai, Shabib, Cantrell, Porter
Kenneth “Kenny” Price went undefeated in the 64-player, open 9-ball division, marking his first win of the season, while Bill Fuller snapped off the 64-player, amateur 9-ball division, securing his second victory of the year. Ernesto Bayaua finished second to Price, and one of the newest players on Tour, Aquaman Lai, took a backseat to Fuller.
On July 8th-9th, 2023, title sponsor Poison by Predator Cues, Predator Cues, Outsville Inc., Team Straight Pool Eye, and Brutal Game Gear USA, facilitated another successful event, drawing full fields in each division, and paying out over $ 9,000 in prize money. Big Tyme Billiards located at 100 Cypresswood Drive, in Spring, Texas, provided twenty-four, 7’ bar tables for tournament play, covered in Predator Arcadia Reserve, tournament blue cloth, in a non-smoking environment. Predator sponsored the Arcos II ball sets used on each table, and Accu-Racks were provided by Outsville Billiards, for discussion-free racking.
In the open 9-ball division, winners’ side final eight, Kenneth Price bested Chris Ramoz, 6-4, and Aquaman Lai detoured Brandon Tang, 6-5. Raed Shabib ousted Andrew Rodriguez, 6-4, and Eric Cantrell defeated Will Felder, 6-4. In the following round, Price shut out Lai, 6-0, and it was Shabib over Cantrell, 6-3. Hot seat action witnessed another shut out by Price, sending Shabib to the west side. On the one-loss side, down to the final 8 players in the event, Bayaua eliminated Porter, 5-2, and Lai, 5-1, while Ramoz ended Yi, falling in turn to Cantrell, 5-2. Bayaua dusted off Cantrell, 5-1, and Shabib, 5-2, to meet Price in the finals. In the first set of the true, double elimination final, a focused Price played tight, while Bayaua fell behind. Price closed out the set, 6-4, earning his first, open division win of the season.
Hudson, Felder, Price, Lai, Porter, Fuller, Tang, Ramoz
In the amateur 9-ball division, winners’ side final eight, Joe Hudson defeated Chris Ramoz 5-3, and Aquaman Lai slid by James Costello, 5-4. Ray Porter denied Kenneth Price, 5-3, and Brandon Tang sent Trung Nguyen west, 5-4. In the following round, it was Lai over Hudson, 5-1, and Porter surpassed Tang, 5-2. Hot seat action witnessed Lai overcome Porter, 5-3, to secure his first, division hot seat. On the west side, in the final eight, Will Felder sent Price packing, 4-2, along with Hudson, 4-3, while Fuller eliminated Ramoz, 4-1, and Tang, to meet Felder. Fuller won an incredible 7 matches to reach the final four. Felder and Porter became his next victims, 4-0, 4-3, respectively, and with 9 match wins, Fuller moved on to Lai, and the finals. Fuller was on fire, and that fire carried into the final sets. An undefeated Lai fell to Fuller in the first set, 5-2, and Lai failed to recover, losing the second set, 4-2. Fuller won a total of eleven matches, to capture his second win of the Tour season. The Tour would like to congratulate Kenneth Price on his first victory of the year, and Bill Fuller who captured his second event this season.
Finally, the Tour would like to thank all the players who came out to support this event, especially those who attended their very first event, and invite them back at every opportunity.
Open Division – $4,095
1st Kenneth Price $610 / $870
2nd Ernesto Bayaua $400 / $550
3rd Raed Shabib $280 / $375
4th Eric Cantrell $190 / $200
5th-6th Chris Ramoz, Aquaman Lai $90 ea
7th-8th Kyle Yi, Ray Porter $60 ea
9th-12th Andrew Rodriguez, Aaron Sandoval, Will Felder, Brandon Tang $45 ea
13th-16th Steven Tinsay, Ernesto Contreras, Joshua Pangilinan, Chuck Adams $35 ea
Amateur Division – $4,980
1st Bill Fuller $585 / $1,200
2nd Aquaman Lai $350 / $925
3rd Ray Port $225 / $650
4th Will Felder $140 / $425
5th-6th Joe Hudson, Brandon Tang $70 ea
7th-8th Kenneth Price, Chris Ramoz $50 ea
9th-12th Andrew Rodgriguez, Steven Kay, James Costello, Trung Nguyen $35 ea
13th-16th Chad Reece, David Twitty, Joshua Pangilinan, Johnny Griffin $25 ea