Sean Sheehan and Eduardo Garcia
The Tiger Pool Tour held its regular trilogy of pool tournaments this past weekend (Aug. 17-18) at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA and played host to a total of 61 entrants with some duplication, which, of course, requires a bit of explanation because if the events are divided by Fargo Rate limitations, how can anyone play in more than one division? As usual, the events were divided up between a Division 1 tournament for Fargo rates of 526 and above ($300-added), which drew 16 entrants, and a Division 2 event (525 and under), which drew 37 ($300-added). Eight women showed up and entered the Division 2 tournament and were rewarded with a ‘freebie’ event of their own; a separate Ladies tournament ($200-added), accounting for the entrant ‘duplication’ phenomenon.
The winners of both Division tournaments went undefeated to claim their titles; Jimmy Bird in Division 1 and Sean Sheehan in Division 2. Shannon Conrad (who, by the way, would go on to finish in the tie for 5th/6th in the Division 2 event) had to come from the loss side, albeit a single match, to claim the Ladies title.
Sean Sheehan’s path through the Division 2 bracket set him up against three of the eight women competing, right out of the gate. Racing to 6, he opened with a 6-1 victory over Sandy Bonilla, before being challenged, double hill, in matches against Iris Cabatit and Cheryl Pritchard. He advanced to get back to some testosterone competition, defeating Dale Harvey 6-2 and drew Jeff Nixon in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Lewis Courtney, in the meantime, destined for the hot seat match against Sheehan, got there by checking all but the ’0’ box in the racks-against department; opening with a double-hill win over Eddie Gayden (5), moving on to down Brian Dunning (1), Ryan Martin (4) and in another double-hill match, Richard Thomas, to draw Christian Esmilla in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Sheehan got into the hot seat match with a 7-1 victory over Nixon and was joined by Courtney, who’d defeated Esmilla 6-2. Sheehan claimed the hot seat 6-3 over Courtney and waited on what turned out to be the return of Eduardo Garcia.
It was Garcia that Esmilla faced when he showed up on the loss side. Nixon arrived and ran into the Ladies division winner, Shannon Conrad, who’d lost her winners’ side quarterfinal match to Esmilla and chalked up wins over Billy Meacom 5-1 and Lucas Courtney, double hill. Nixon ended Conrad’s run 6-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals against Garcia who’d eliminated Esmilla 6-3.
Garcia downed Nixon 7-3 in those quarterfinals and then, sent Courtney home 6-4 in the semifinals. A fitting double-hill battle ensued for the Division 2 title, with Sheehan winning it.
Nigel Francis and Jimmy Bird
It’s all about the logistics, as Division 1 and the Ladies tournament run concurrently
This report and the event itself follow a pattern; the match progress going from start to finish and the report, working backwards, identifying winners first and tracing their paths through the brackets. All of which entails a kind of juggling act, with events and the report tossing results and bracket ‘movement’ around in a way that makes it seem as though the event itself ran effortlessly. It’s like the UPS package that shows up at your door with no indication of the work that went into getting it there. The pool room is a key factor in these multiple events that play out in a single day. Q Master Billiards has the tables to keep a lot of matches going at the same time, which helps, but it’s still down to the tournament directors (Tiger Baker and Kris Wylie) to coordinate who’s going where at what time and keep the whole ‘engine’ running smoothly to pull it off. Their work tends to go unnoticed unless and until there’s a snag in the proceedings and while they’re doing a job actually, the occasional ‘Thanks’ would not be inappropriate.
Jimmy Bird went undefeated to claim the Division 1 title on the basis of five straight wins, starting off with victories over Mark Nato 8-3, Mike Harvey 7-2 and in one of the winners’ side semifinals, Josh Craig 8-4. Joining him in the hot seat match was Nigel Francis, who’d sent Michael Mofield 7-3, Bruce Reed 7-2 and in the other winners’ side semifinal Leroy Ives 7-2 to the loss side. Bird claimed the hot seat over Francis 7-4.
On the loss side, Leroy Ives got right back to work, defeating David Gerald 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals. Bruce Reed, who’d won two straight, double-hill matches against Dwight Cherry and Scott Guschel to draw Josh Craig, defeated him to join Ives in the quarterfinals.
Reed downed Ives 6-2 in those quarterfinals and then, locked up in a double-hill fight versus Francis for a rematch against Bird in the finals. Bird put ‘pedal to the metal’ in that final match, defeating Francis a second time, 8-2, to claim the Division 1 title.
Shannon Conrad and Charisse Mullen
Shannon Conrad’s trip through the eight-player bracket started well, with a shutout over Cheryl Pritchard and was followed by a 4-2 win over Shannon Mofield, which put her (Conrad) in the hot seat match. Charisse Mullen, who’d defeated Iris Cabatit 3-1 and shut out Kaley Sullivan, joined Conrad in the hot seat match. She gave up just a single rack to Conrad and claimed the seat.
On the loss side, Kaley Sullivan followed her shutout loss to Charisse Mullen with victories over Bret Flores and in the quarterfinals, Iris Cabatit, before being eliminated by Conrad in the semifinals. Conrad claimed the Ladies title with a 5-3 win over Mullen in the finals.
Baker and Wylie thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards for their hospitality (not to mention all their tables) and title sponsor Tiger Products and their line of Fortis by Tiger Carbon Fiber Shafts. The next stop on the Tiger Pool Tour, scheduled for Saturday, September 21, will be the 2024 VA State 10-Ball Championships, hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
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