After a fourth-round, 9-4 defeat at the hands of Andy Jethwa from among the winners' side final eight, Sylver Ochoa battled back from the one-loss side to survive four double hill battles, including the opening set of the true double elimination final against Derek Fontenot to win the Lone Star Tour stop on the weekend of November 21-22. The $1,000-added event drew 36 entrants to Parker's Billiards in Houston, TX.
Jethwa and Fontenot battled for the hot seat after Jethwa had sent Bobby Pacheco west 9-4 and Fontenot had survived a hill-hill struggle against Blaine Barcus. Fontenot advanced to the hot seat with a 9-7 victory over Jethwa and waited for Ochoa.
Ochoa began his one-loss side march to the finals with a 7-3 win over George Evans and followed it with a 7-6 win over Marc Garza, to meet Pacheco. Javier Franco, in the meantime, got by Lanny Herrin 7-3 and Ernesto Bayaua 7-6 for the right to face Barcus. Every match, from the battle for 7th place through to the semifinals was a hill-hill contest. Once Ochoa had dispatched Garza, and Franco got by Bayaua in hill-hill contests, Ochoa downed Pacheco, and Franco got by Barcus, double hill. Ochoa got his chance at redemption against Jethwa with a hill-hill win over Franco, and then came within a game of facing his third straight hill-hill match by defeating Jethwa 7-5.
It was back to hill-hill land in the opening set of the finals, and after winning his fourth in five matches, Ochoa came within a game of making it five in six, by defeating Fontenot 7-5 and taking home the first place prize.
