The 24th annual Music City Open has concluded at JOB's Billiards in Nashville, Tennessee and our champion this year is Johnny Archer who had to overcome Jonathon Pinegar (Hennessee) by beating him twice in a true double-elimination final set.
Pinegar and Archer both took fairly direct roads to get to the finals. Pinegar arrived there undefeated so Archer's task was to beat him not just once but twice.
On Sunday, Archer first had to face Gabe Appollos and when he won that match, went on to face Nick Hickerson in the final match before the hot seat contest. But Hickerson, former Volunteer State Champion, had other ideas and used a powerful break shot to send Archer over to the one-loss side 11-8. Archer waited for an opponent as the one-loss side played out. In that bracket, John Gabriel defeated Gabe Owen 11-8 while Shane McMinn ended the voyage of Randy Vaughn on the hill 11-10. McMinn won the resulting matchup with Gabriel 11-7 and earned the right to fight Archer for the right to enter the finals bracket of four players.. This was a fight he could not win. By now Archer had found his break and he dominated 11-6 to enter the final set of match-ups
Once there, we had a classic match-up between two Hall of Fame members, Johnny Archer and Buddy Hall. Hall had been undefeated all week and playing great. Earlier Hall had dusted Shawn Putnam 11-3 but then could not overcome the breaking power of Pinegar and went left after suffering an 11-8 loss to him. Once left, Hall regrouped and beat Gabe Owen 11-6 to get his ticket punched into the final grouping.
Between them, Hall and Archer have an entire library of 9-Ball knowledge. This one stayed nip and tuck al the way to the end when Archer slid out to the win 11-10. Crowd favorite Hall left the room to the applause of fans who had been thrilled to see him enter the tournament and play so well all week long.
The hot seat match was contested between Pinegar and Nick Hickerson who are both from the same small town in Tennessee. You can certainly assume that they know one another's game. But Pinegar had the edge on the break shot and in barbox pool that is all it takes as he sent Hickerson left 11-8 to once again face Johnny Archer.
This match created the only controversy of the tournament. In rack number 4 Hickerson went for a very thin cut shot and it appeared to many of us that he completely missed the ball. Hickerson went to his chair and sat in silence. Archer, who had been sitting only three feet behind the shot, was certain that Hickerson had missed the ball and picked up the cue ball. Hickerson said nothing as Archer placed the cue ball for the shot. But a fan in the stands shouted that Hickerson had brushed the four ball and that the hit was good, no foul. Still Hickerson sat silent. Then more fans began to chime in and agree that the four ball had rocked ever so slightly. Archer appeared to feel that the crowd was pulling a move on him and began to silently steam. Now Hickerson began to murmur that maybe he had hit the ball. When the Tournament Director arrived to settle the argument the crowd shouted at him that Archer had fouled by picking up the cue ball after a good hit. The Director asked Hickerson about it and Hickerson said he felt he probably did brush the ball. At this point Archer said something to the effect that "if that's the only way you can win go ahead and take the table". Hickerson did and went out to a three-game lead from there.
But then Archer laid a six-pack on Hickerson and went on to win the match 11-9 to go take on Pinegar in the finals. Archer won the first set 11-6 to set up our final set.
Archer won the lag and broke and ran the first game. He treated the next rack the same way to lead 2-0. After the third rack surrendered as well it began to appear that breaking and running was the order of the day. Pinegar needed to do something other than spectate but Archer had no intention of allowing him to come to the table. However, Archer had to go three rails and fit into a window to make the two ball in rack four and came up just short. He made a nice safe but Pinegar kicked it into the corner to begin his campaign. When he completed the rack he stood at 3-1 in the match and breaking. He then broke and ran a rack of his own to draw close at 3-2.
Pinegar made a ball on the break but had to push out. Archer took the push and kicked a combo in to gain control of the table. He finished the rack strong and led then 4-2. On the next break Archer made four balls but the three was married up to the nine with no pocket to get to so Archer played a safety and wedded the cue ball to the nine. When Pinegar couldn't make the hit he conceded the rest of the rack to give Archer a 5-2 lead. Another break and run increased that lead to 6-2. That quickly became 7-2. Then Archer showed his true abilities and in the next rack banked the two ball off of the foot rail and combo'ed the nine ball into the side pocket for an 8-2 lead.
Pinegar then got an opportunity when the cue ball was kicked into a scratch on the next break. He made the most of it and won to bring the score to 8-3. But then Pinegar scratched on the next break and Archer ran out for a 9-3 score line.
Pinegar was not your ready to retire, however, and won the next rack to edge up to 9-4. Archer won an early safety battle in the next rack and took it to the hill with a 10-4 lead. Archer made three on the snap then and had a good shot on the one ball. Pinegar wouldn't again rise from his seat as he finished off the tournament with a 7-9 combination for an 11-4 victory to claim the championship.
While Pinegar settled for second place, he was able to win the midnight madness event, where he pocketed $4000 in prize money.
The Women's event was won by Junior World Champion Brittany Bryant, who defeated Nicole Keeney in the finals.
AZBilliards would like to thank Pat Fleming and his crew of Julian Roberts, Jim Fredericks and Bill GIbbs for their stream of this event and Lucasi Hybrid Cues, Simonis Cloth and the TAP league system for their continued support of these free live streams.
Open Payouts | Ladies Payouts
