In the open event David G. held off Jui Lung Chen in a very close 1st set finals race to 11. David ran out to an 9-6 lead and looked as if he was going to run away with it. Chen woke up and ran the score to 10-9 in Chen?s favor! Only needing 1 game to force the second set. David however won the next game to make it 10-10 with Chen breaking. Chen?s break comes up empty and David G. runs out for the Championship. Congratulations go out to both players for a great tournament.
In the Seniors event it came down to Jose Zaragoza and Gerald Walters placing in that order. Both players play a hard tournament and thier play was to be commended.
In the Women?s event what can we say Amanda, Amanda and will it be Amanda next year? Yes, two years in a row for Amanda Lampert of San Antonio.. Coming in second place was Sopie Lopez of San Antonio she played hard but was only able to get 6 games in the final match. Coming in 3rd was our Birthday girl Kim Pierce. Happy Birthday Kim!
Thanks to the South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau for adding $10,000 to the SPI 9-ball Championships. 117 players came out to play. The tournament was ran by The Academy of Billiards. The tournament director was Randy Goettlicher his assistant and head referee was Carl Oswald and finally the assistant referee was Leslie C.B. "Doc" Rogers.
The player auction was new for 2005 and ran by Denis Strickland. What a job Denis can do with an auction!! With the total payout at $29,200.00 this tournament should be on your schedule next year so look for it next January!!
Open Event
1st Place David Gutierrez
2nd Place Jui Lung Chen
3rd Place Shane Harvey
4th Place Erman Bullard
5th/6th Jay Hlvachek , Steve Smith
7th/8th David Henson , Steve Rector
9th/12th Darryl Smith, Dean O. Williams, Charlie Mora, and Barry Strickland
13th/16th Sylver Ochoa, James Davis Jr., Ted Dean.
Seniors Event
1st Place Jose Zaragosa
2nd Place Gerald Walter
3rd Place Dave Manson
4th Place Ronald Griffus
Women's Event
1st Place Amanda Lampert
2nd Place Sophie Lopez
3rd Place Kim Pierce
4th Place Erin Cano
