Junior Gabriel
Junior Gabriel appears to have made a victory on the PremierBilliards.com’s Q City 9-Ball Tour an annual event now. His appearances on the tour (at least those in which he has won any money) date back to 2018, when he recorded his first cash payout. In all, he’s recorded eight cash-worthy appearances on the tour, one in ’18, two each in ‘19’ and ’20, and one tour win in each of the last two years. This past weekend, Saturday, April 15, he added his now ‘scheduled’ yearly tour victory to the list with an undefeated run in a $250-added event that drew 29 entrants to West End Billiards in Gastonia, NC.
Gabriel’s annual win was almost derailed in the finals by a competitor looking for his first (recorded) victory, anywhere, Jacob Blake. Blake had sent tour veteran Billy Fowler to the loss side in the second round. Fowler (speaking of annual events), with one exception (2021), has recorded two tour wins every year since 2019. He recorded one a year between ’16 and ’18. Thanks to Blake though, twice, he’s still in the hunt for his first 2023 tour win.
Blake moved on, eventually showing up in one of the winners’ side semifinals against Thomas Sansone. Gabriel squared off against TJ Peeples in the other one.
Blake and Sansone battled to double hill before Blake moved into the hot seat match. Gabriel joined him after dispatching Peeples to the loss side 6-3. Gabriel defeated Blake 6-4 and claimed the hot seat.
Sansone arrived on the loss side and drew Fowler, who’d recently eliminated loss-side opponents #2 and #3; Reid Vance 10-4 and Chris Clary, double hill. Peeples picked up JonJon Newman (brother to West End Billiards’ previous owner, Josh Newman), who’d defeated David Duncan 7-2 and shut out Jess Draper to reach him.
Fowler downed Sansone 10-4, while Newman and Peeples were engaged in a double hill match that did, eventually, send Newman to the quarterfinals against Fowler. Fowler sent Newman home 10-5 and turned to his rematch against Blake in the semifinals.
There were a few story lines at work in that semifinal. One of the competitors was looking for his first (recorded) victory on a regional tour. The other, the tour veteran with multiple tour victories, was invested in ‘payback’ for the indignity of time spent on the loss side. They were both looking to chalk up their first 2023 tour win, although that was likely more significant for the ‘new guy’ (Blake) than the veteran (Fowler), because for the ‘new guy,’ it was a stepping stone to his first win ever. And then of course, there was Junior Gabriel, waiting in the hot seat for one of them.
It’s been said that the result of any individual match in ‘pressure’ situations is always going to boil down to who wants it more. Financially, it was a matter of, at minimum, $125 (the difference between finishing 3rd or 2nd) and at maximum, $275 (the difference between 3rd and 1st). That might have crossed both of their minds, but again, with Blake, the prospect of appearing in the finals of a regional tour event for the first time, along with the possibility of taking it a step further and actually winning it, added a little spice to his motivation.
All of that came to bear in a semifinal match that went double hill. But the ‘new guy,’ Blake, seemed to want it more, because he defeated the veteran to get a second shot at Gabriel, waiting for him in the hot seat.
Many of the same dynamics came into play in the finals that followed. Same financial considerations at stake ($500 vs. $350), same veteran/new guy matchup, same ‘who wants it more’ question on the table. Like the semifinals, it went double hill. But the motivational spice Blake brought to bear on the semifinals wasn’t quite enough to overcome his last hurdle to a regional tour title. Gabriel won it to claim his first 2023 tour win.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Ricardo Cocamo and his West End Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor PremierBilliards.com, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and TKO Custom Cues. The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (April 22-23), will be a $250-added event, hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
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