Anthony Shea, Tony Sulsar and Steve Raynes
On the weekend of December 14-15th, young gun Anthony Shea claimed the top prize on the newly inaugurated Omega Billiards Tour's Season Finale of 2013 at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX. Anthony went undefeated to capture the first place prize, making him the youngest winner yet, at a mere 20 years old!
Over $9,500 was given out in monies and prizes this weekend! (Tourney payouts + prizes + player’s auction.) Here is how it all went down….
Anthony started off his tournament run with an upset by defeating last month’s tourney winner, Coy Lee Nicholson, 7-7. Then he defeated Jay Murillo 7-1, TJ Klein 7-2, squeaked by Juan Parra 7-6 to last until Sunday. Steve Raynes was also on a tear and won his first match against the always formidable Crispian Ng 6-5, then William Howard 6-4, Danny Williams 6-3 and Jeff Georges 6-3 to last til Sunday. The always tough Tony Sulsar (after a bye) defeated his next three opponents 8-3 to meet Anthony on Sunday morning. Sky Massingill defeated his 4 opponents 7-4 to meet up with Steve Raynes Sunday morning.
13th-16th places were filled by Charlie Smith, Shannon Modesitt, David De La Garza and William Howard. HUGE shout out to David (“Spyder”) for capturing his highest finish to date!! 9th-12th place finishers were filled by Juan Parra, Willie Speed, Robert Sifuentes and Mike Nagaki. 7th and 8th place was hard fought and Curtis Cardwell and Dylan Weinheimer would fill those spots, with Jeff Gorges and David Josephson also having a great tournament by finishing 5th/6th.
On the winner’s side on Sunday morning, Anthony Shea would defeat Tony Sulsar 7-4, while Steve Raynes sent Sky Massingill left with a score of 6-4. Steve and Anthony would battle it out for the hotseat with Anthony coming out on top 7-2. Sky then defeated David Josephson 7-5 but was stopped by Tour Champion tough Tony Sulsar 8-5. Tony kept on his winning style by then defeating Steve Raynes hill-hill. Steve had a fantastic tourney placing his highest finish to date at 3rd place!!
In the finals, it looked like it would be pushed to two sets, as Tony Sulsar was ahead 7-2. But Anthony kept his composure and kept fighting back until the score was hill-hill. Anthony broke, and then ran out for the win! Hill-hill thriller and his FIRST Omega Billiards Tour title!!
Congratulations to ALL the players for their fine play and great finishes!
Anthony earned $725 plus a beautiful Lucasi Cue for First Place and Tony earned $525 for Second place. Steve Raynes earned $400 for 3rd place (payouts do not reflect the Player Auction).
This event was the Omega Billiards Tour’s Season Finale with $2,000 added! At this event, Predator prizes were given out to the top 3 ranked players and Tony Sulsar claimed 1st place and is now the VERY first Omega Billiards Tour Champion! Tony will get free entry fees into the 2014 Season AND a Predator Sport 4x8 Case, BK Break Cue, and Sport Playing Cue with 314-2 Shaft! Second place rankings went to Coy Lee who finished this last event in First to propel him to 2nd place! Coy Lee will get a Predator Sport 4x8 Case and BK Break Cue. Third place goes to Mike Voelkering who had a stellar year! He will get a Predator Sport 4x8 Case and 314-2 Shaft!
Fourth through eighth places will each receive a free entry into the 2014 BCAPL Nationals! Congratulations to 4th place ranked Crispian Ng, 5th/6th ranked Amos Bush and Jesse Hernandez, and 7th/8th ranked players Steve Raynes and Alberto Nieto!
A HUGE thank you to Predator Cues, BCAPL/CSI, and Lucasi and Players Cues. We would also like to give a big thanks to our additional sponsors, OB Cues, Irving Ink and Thread, Pro Billiard Service, APA of Tarrant County, AZBilliards.com, and BilliardsPress.com.
Tour Director Melinda Bailey would like to thank Rusty’s Billiards and their awesome staff for their great hospitality all weekend! A big thank you also goes out to Michael Hoang, main sponsor of the Tour and owner of Omega Billiards Supply in Hurst, TX. Michael and Omega Billiards Supply are well known for the huge booths at many of the large tournaments across the country.
The 2014 Omega Billiards Tour calendar is already set with 7 stops and a Season Finale. The first stop will be held at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas January, 11-12, 2014! Each stop is limited to 80 players (an increase from 64) and the monies guaranteed added has increased to $1,500 for each stop!! Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!!
The 2014 Schedule is online and payments can be received via the Omega Tour website.
Thank you to all the players, fans, sponsors and pool rooms!!!
http://www.omegabilliardstour.com/
