Fast Eddies 9-ball Tour held it's 9th event of the year in spite of Hurricane Ivan, which threatened our borders as far as Beaumont. Television had spread the word that no hotel/motel accommodations were available as far west as Houston, which made many quite shaky and understandably so.
Still, Beaumont fielded 43 brave souls in two divisions who just love to play and we appreciate it.
As usual, the field and competition was very tough. Top picks were Jui Lung Chen. Charlie Bryant, David Gutierrez, Gary Abood, Doug Smith, Tommy Milburn, and Marc Garza, and Robert Newkirk.
Finishing 7-8th were Chase Rudder and Derek Fontenot. Both are fine young players and very competitive.
Finishing 5-6th were Russell Killgo and Robert Newkirk. These two are also always tough and play very well.
Fourth place went to Doug Smith of Dallas who played very well and along the way handled Ryan Walton, and John Weeks before being sent to one loss side by Russell Killgo. Once on the left side, Doug defeated Chase Rudder and Robert Newkirk, but fell prey to the always dangerous David G. Still, Doug made a fine showing.
David G. ended his day in third place, but David is one of the better players in the state and is always in the hunt. After losing his first match to Jui Lung Chen, David handed losses to Ernesto Arrendondo, Chico Colon, John Weeks, Derek Fontenot, Russell Killgo, and Doug Smith, before being upset by Lewis Jones.
Lewis Jones finished in a surprising second place and along the way defeated David Hynes, Steve Lenz, Chase Rudder, and Russell Killgo, He, then, meet Charlie Bryant for the winner's bracket and got drilled 9-3. This sent Lewis to the left side to face David G and scored the upset and sent him back after Charlie.
Things went a bit better in the finals, but not well enough.
Meanwhile, Charlie Bryant was breaking the balls with such force, that Paul and Lewis fined him twenty dollars for cracking two cue balls. Paul, then, hung a sign on the side of the table, which read, 30 MPH Speed Limit
Charlie went through the event undefeated and along the way handled, Bill Fuller, David Vanbaarle, Gary Abood, Robert Newkirk, and Lewis Jones to earn the hot seat.
The finals paired Charlie with Lewis and although Lewis put up a pretty good fight, Charlie and his thunderbolt break proved way too much as Charlie won by a score of 9-7.
In the AO Custom Cue Ladies Division, The format was a round robin with each of the ladies playing one another in the preliminary rounds. The top two finishers played a final race to seven for the championship.
Coming in third place was Elissa Jordan of Beaumont. This young lady has a lot of talent and with a little more seasoning will be a force to be reckoned with.
The top two finishers in the round robin were Kim Pierce of Bastrop and Corina Campbell of San Antonio. Both these ladies are always in the money. This set up a great final match.
Corina played very well but Kim was not to be stopped on her quest for a Tour victory as she came out on top, 7-3.
See y'all next month in San Antonio on October 8-10 at Fast Eddie's on N. W. Military.
OPEN DIVISION
1st Charlie Bryant $1200
2nd Lewis Jones $840
3rd David Gutierrez $500
4th Doug Smith $350
5-6th Russell Killgo, Robert Newkirk $150
7-8th Derek Fontenot, Chase Rudder $80
LADIES DIVISION
1st Kim Pierce $150
2nd Corina Campbell $80
3rd Elissa Jordan $30
