Mike Alonzo and Joey Torres
Slick Willies (Westheimer) hosted the Texas Amateur Tour event on the weekend of Nov.6-7th, and it was a spectacular event. There was $500 added to the Amateur event and $300 to the Ladies open event.
In the Amateur 9-Ball Event we had 61 players show up and we played down to the final 16, all of whom made the cash. The races were 9/7 on Saturday. On this weekend there wasn't anyone more dominant than Joey Torres, he actually had the toughest draw of anyone in the field and he took no prisoners. He blasted thru em starting off with Bill Fuller, then Danny Lee ( in this match he was down 7-3), and Roy Payton, this set Joey up in the final 8 of the winners side on Sunday. Other notables making runs to the final 8 were Bobby Gonzales, Greg Sandifur (he came along way from Ft. Worth) , Jim Walker, Machine Gun Mike Alonzo, Victor Rojas, Brock, and Leon Contreras.
The one loss side had their own fights going on trying to get into Sundays final 16 and the chase for the cash. Players who made this long journey on the other side of the brackets were Stefan Slisz (from Ft. Worth), Mark Kopsie, Brian Rosenbaum, Grady Cooper, David Parker, Rodney ”Houdini” Stewart, Roy Payton, and Fast Eddies Tour Co-Tourney Director Bill Fuller whom lost his 1st match and made a great run.
So Sunday the races are extended to 11/9 and we saw Machine Gun Mike Alonzo mow down his first two opponents Jim Walker 11-0, and Bobby Gonzales 11-1, very impressive. On the other half of the winners side it was Joey Torres doing his own damage as he defeated Victor Rojas 11-8, and Brock11-7 to set himself up against Machine Gun Mike. This is where it looked like the Machine Gun had emptied all his bullets out earlier and had no ammo left as Joey got the win 11-6.
The one loss side did not see anyone make any real runs thru on Sunday, and at the end it was Bobby Gonzales getting a rematch with Machine Gun Mike, Mike came out on top again 11-4, to set up his rematch with Joey. Mike and Joey played a thriller all the way to the end, it was a super match that went Joeys way 11-10. Congrats to Mike for a great run. And to Joey for his first big win, and he will have many more believe that!
The Ladies event saw 8 players show up, but it was a strong field of 8. There was Ob tour regular Rebecca Riley, Belinda Lee, Heather Bryant, Ricki Casper, Yvette Reyes, newcomer Jaycee Torres , former WPBA touring pro Ming Ng, and Michelle Yim who has been off the tourney trail for awhile. At the end of the day we saw Ng playing Yim for the hotseat and Ng got there in a close one 7-5. Yim battled tough in her next match and won to get another shot at the crown. Ming came out on fire and it was over before you could blink. Congrats to Ming on the win, as well as Michelle for a great finish too.
We would like to thank everyone that came out to play and we appreciate the support, if there is anything that you would like to be implemented into the rules or anything you would like changed please bring it to our attention.
We would also like to thank our sponsors Htownbilliards.com, kamuitips.com (Kamui Tips), and Jay Helfert, Author of pool wars which you can find at JayHelfert.com.
Also a special thanks to Gaylan Spreen and his staff at Slick Willies, they did and always do a superb job. This is one of the best venues in Houston to host events.
