Jeremy Jones, TJ Davis and Curtis Cardwell
Although one could spend a long time detailing the accomplishments of Jeremy “Double J” Jones on the local (Texas), national and international pool stage, a victory on the four-year-old CUETEC DFW 9-Ball Tour had eluded him. Until this past weekend, July 24-25. He joined 95 other competitors at the $1,500-added, Stop #7 on the tour, hosted by Rusty’s in Arlington, TX. Much to the surprise of quite a few, Jones had to come from the loss side to seal the deal, which he did to claim his first CUETEC DFW 9-Ball Tour title.
Jones seemed to be on a steady path toward the victory through his opening matches. A bye was followed by wins over Joe Pelayo 10-5, a shutout over Gert Ehing, a 10-3 win versus Eric Smith and a 10-5 win over Clint Palaci, which set him up to face Curtis Cardwell in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Cardwell had arrived, having won alternate 7-5, 7-4 wins over Jeff Turney, Ryan Lane, Bobby Martinez and Tina Soto. TJ Davis, in the meantime, had gotten by Benito Gutierrez 9-1, Monica Anderson 9-3, Friday Abismo 9-3, Greg Sandifer 9-5 and Jimmy Davis 9-6 to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Donnie Gregory.
Cardwell sent Jones off on a relatively short, three-match loss-side journey with a 7-5 win. Davis sent both Gregory and then, Cardwell over, both 9-5, claiming the hot seat, and, as it turned out, his last win.
On the loss side, Gregory picked up Jeff Franklin, who had started his tournament run in fine fashion, shutting out Charlie Roberts, only to have ‘fine fashion’ turn sour in the second round, when he lost to Jersey Jack Lynch in a double hill fight. Franklin then embarked on a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently included a shutout over Tina Soto and 8-6 win over Robert Clark to draw Gregory. Jones drew Jimmy Davis, who’d dropped a winners’ side quarterfinal match to TJ Davis (9-6) and then defeated Friday Abismo, double hill, and Daniel Herring 7-4.
Franklin chalked up his ninth and final loss-side win, eliminating Gregory 8-4. “Double J” joined him in the quarterfinals after dispatching Jimmy Davis 10-2. Franklin put up a fight in the quarterfinals, tallying seven racks against Jones, which, in the end, only happened twice; the first time, versus Cardwell in the winners’ side semifinal match that had sent Jones to the loss side. Jones moved on 10-7 to a rematch versus Cardwell in the semifinals.
Cardwell, like Franklin before him, put up a fight for a second shot against TJ Davis in the hot seat. He fell one rack short of duplicating his effort against Jones the first time, when he won 7-5. This time, he battled Jones to double hill (6-9) before Jones finished it and advanced to the true double elimination final versus Davis.
Jones left little doubt of the outcome in the opening set, allowing TJ Davis only a single rack to force a second set. Davis got a few chances in that second set, but Jones was at 10 before Davis was able to chalk up a sixth rack. Jeremy “Double J” Jones added a CUETEC DFW 9-Ball Tour title, his first, to his lengthy resume.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s, including Jeff Pitts, GM, for their hospitality, as well as their main sponsors, CUETEC and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. The next stop (#8) on the CUETEC DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Aug. 21-22, will be hosted by Snookered in Frisco, TX.
