Fast Eddie's Olhausen 9-Ball Tour Sponsored by Schuler Legacy Cues, in its fifth year, gathered in San Antonio Texas on September 15-16 for another great and exciting event.
The $1750 added Open event drew 93 players from all over the region. The action again proved to be hot and often both predictable and unpredictable. That's pool playing.
Top picks were Jeremy Jones, a very familiar name, Charlie Bryant, another very familiar name, Jui Lung Chen, James Davis Sr., Danny Almaraz, Destry Ensley, and newly crowned Texas Open Champ, Sylver Ochoa who is playing better and better.
Finishing in the 17-24th positions were Kevin Delaney, Destry Ensley, Rick Castillo, Shane Waltrip, Alston Chang, Eduardo Ramirez, Daniel Fairburn, and Danny Lee. All played very hard for a nice finish.
The 13-16 slots were filled by, Jacob Pena, Mel Herrera, Frank Ferrer Jr., and Bill Kester.
The 9-12th positions were claimed by James Davis Sr., Eric Acinena (in a heartbreaker hill-hill loss to Rick Stanley), Danny Almaraz, and Chris White. Impressive play by each.
The 7-8th finish went to Jui Lung Chen, last year's Player of the Year, and Marc Garza. These two are classy gentlemen and continue to finish impressively in any event they attend.
The 5-6th spot is always tough to reach and this weekend was no exception as everyone was playing very well. Ismael Ramirez and Andy Jethwa proved this very well. Both these guys are very tough 9 ballers and fought hard to get as far as they did. Nice job by both these gentleman.
Rick Stanley finished in the 4th place position and made some noise doing it. Rick plays fast and loose and seemingly has a lot of fun doing it. No time is wasted by the man from Austin. He continues to be very consistent on the tour.
Third place can often be a gut wrenching finish and this one proved to be just that. “Double J” and Charlie Bryant were at hill-hill and Charlie looked well in control of the game and match when he suddenly got very peculiar on a six ball. He studied and studied and opted to fire the six in the corner and draw the cue ball around the table three rails for position on the seven. No problem with his powerful stroke, but, the cue ball just caught the point on the side pocket and left him way out in centerfield. He made a valiant attempt to bank the seven, but just missed and left Jeremy in a routine situation. Quite a finish for a top notch match. Charlie did well.
This sent Charlie to deal with the New Texas Open Champ, Sylver Ochoa who is playing very, very well. Sylver just proved to be a little much on this day and his win over the Hillbilly set up the finals between Sylver and Jeremy Jones. Neither is a stranger to this setup on this Tour.
Along the way, Sylver dealt blows to Roland Martinez, Destry Ensley, Mark Garza, and Eric Aiciena, before being derailed by the JJ. On the left side, he dealt with “Hillbilly” and on to the finals.
Meanwhile Jeremy Jones handled Buddy Chilton, Cesar Arechiga, Jacob Pena, James Davis Sr., and Sylver to capture the Hot Seat.
The finals seemed to be another nail biter and these two played some tough 9-ball. At one point, Jeremy led 5-2, and here came Sylver taking over the lead at 7-6. Suddenly, on a very routine 7 ball, he rattled it and Jeremy took the 7-7 lead and never looked back.
Congratulations to Sylver on a well played tournament as it has been an eventful month for the young man from McAllen.
Jeremy Jones is no newcomer to the winner's circle and it was nice to see him there again. He graces this game.
A special thanks to Olhausen Billiards and Ray Schuler Legacy Cues for making this possible. Both these companies and their people are just great.
Thanks to Ron Geyer of the Custom Cue Connection, Jack Kompan of Mystick Cues, and Jerry Olivier of Oliver Custom cues for their support.
Thanks again to Jill and her crew at Fast Eddie's Embassy location. You guys are just great. Michelle, Marissa, and Christine make it a great and fun place.
Of course, thanks to Fast Eddies for allowing us to invade them each and every month for 5 years now. It has been great and continues to grow and grow.
Remember: College Station, Texas, September 29-30. Be there!
