Jonathan Rawlins, Curtis Cardwell and Joshua Paredes
The DFW 9-Ball Tour was back in action over the July 22nd – 23rd weekend with a field of 59 players at the VFW in Sherman Texas for stop 7 on the 2023 tour. As has been proven at past stops this season, the roster of players who compete regularly on the tour is a wide one. Rarely will the same player dominate multiple tour stops, and this month’s stop was no different. Stop 6 winner, Max Sun went “two and out” in this one, and stop 4 winner Gus Briseno was out quickly with a “three and out” performance.
Dominating this event early, was Jonathan Rawlins. These must be something about competing in the heat of July for Rawlins, as his last win on the DFW Tour was almost a full year ago, back in July of 2022 at Stop 7 in Lewisville, Tx. He was looking for another tour win this time, with six straight wins out of the gate, culminating in a 7-1 win over Joshua Paredes in the hot-seat match.
Coming out of the one loss side, was tour regular Curtis Cardwell. Cardwell had been undefeated through Saturday, but dropped his first match of the day on Sunday, to Paredes, 6-5. Cardwell has been a regular competitor on tour, going all the way back to 2018, with his best finish being a 3rd place finish in mid 2021. After putting together a five match winning streak on the one loss side on Sunday, including a 7-3 win over Paredes in the semi-finals, Cardwell was on his way to the finals and his best ever tour finish.
As the tournament format is true double elimination, Cardwell would have to beat Rawlins twice for his first tour stop win. That is just what he did, with a 7-4 win in the first set, and a hill-hill win in the second set for first place. Tour director Monica Anderson commented after the event on Cardwell and his first win, “Curtis is a very long time DFW 9-Ball Tour player. We’ve had the tour for 6 years and he has been with us all those years. Very loyal, very dedicated, always a contender at every event he’s ever played in—and just a damn nice guy! His 1st win has been a long time coming.”
In 4th place was one of the highlights of the weekend, 9 year old Gavin Mathew. Mathew, only a Fargo 427, was knocking off opponents all weekend. He defeated former tour champion Tim Larson, a Fargo 716, by the score of 4-1 late on Sunday, before finally being eliminated by Parades who finished in third.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership at the VFW for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of August 19-20, will be hosted by the Rusty’s Billiards in Fort Worth, Texas.
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