Roberto Gomez
Arena Billiards in West Monroe, LA was the destination of choice this past weekend as owners Al Dahal and Subash Khadka presented the 7th Annual Scotty Townsend Memorial Pool Tournament.
Adding $12,000 to this event to be played on Diamond seven footers were sponsors Golden Corral, Agnew Sign & Awning, We Bye Used Cars, Denny’s, Silver Water Plumbing, TravelCenters of America, Billiard Buddy, Bailey’s Crispy Fried Chicken, Himalayan Cafe and Magic Grill in addition to Arena Billiards and PoolActionTV.com.
A few familiar faces roamed the room including last week’s Big Tyme Classic’s Nine Ball runner-up and current Music City Classic champ Jonathan (“Hennessee”) Pinegar, last year’s Big Tyme Classic Nine Ball champ Roberto Gomez, two-time winner on 2024’s DFW 9-Ball Tour Shane McMinn, current Skinny Bob’s and Big Tyme Classic’s Ladies 9-Ball champ Eylul Kibaroglu, Billiards Spotlight’s Jason Bowman and Jeffrey De Luna. Also spotted were legends “Country Calvin” Harcrow and Scotty Boggs hoping to catch a flashback.
The event kicked off on Friday night with a $1,000 added ten ball mini-tournament. Racing to seven, nineteen players anted up $125 to play in this single elimination event. After the auction, players meeting and draw, play began.
Jessie Moore took top honors with Michael Niver grabbing second place. Joe Keith and Adam Pendley tied for third.
The $10,000 added Open 9 Ball began on Saturday morning with 49 players posting their $150 entry fees. The format in this event was double elimination and races to 9/7 with alternate breaks. After a players auction, meeting and draw, play ensued.
The top portion of the bracket was loaded with heavy hitters. De Luna and Hennessee met in the fourth round as did Gomez and Kibaroglu. Hennessee and Gomez took their matches – both scores were 9-6.
In the lower part of the chart, Adam Pendley and Boog Long duked it out – Pendley prevailed 9-5. Meanwhile, former junior champ McMinn cruised to victory over Carlos Mendoza with a 9-1 win.
Now down to four on the winners side, Hennessee vs. Gomez and Pendley vs. McMinn battled to get into the hot seat match. Gomez and McMinn advanced 9-5 and 9-4, respectively.
There were no surprises on the one loss side as Hennessee and De Luna defeated their opponents and met again. This time it was De Luna who exacted revenge as he eliminated Hennessee in a tight match – final score 7-5. He finished in fourth place and De Luna awaited the results of the hot seat match.
Fighting to see who’d get into the finals, it was neck and neck until Gomez pulled away at the end of the match and took it down 9-7.
Waiting for McMinn was De Luna who proved to be no contest as Shane smoked him 7-1 and just like that, returned to face Roberto for the title. De Luna finished in third place.
Since this was true double elimination, McMinn would have had to win two sets to claim the title. Gomez, however, took no prisoners and the finals were over in a flash – score 9-2!
The final event, the $1,000 added Women’s 9 Ball began on Sunday morning. Nine ladies paid $100 to play in this double elimination tournament. Races were 7/5 with alternate breaks. Play began immediately after the players auction, meeting and draw.
Monica Stillwell and Eylul Kibaroglu
To no one’s surprise, Turkish star Eylul Kibaroglu – after receiving a first round bye – raced through the field to arrive at the hot seat match where she met Natasha Green.
Also getting a first round bye, Natasha’s path included defeating Niki Nugent 7-5 and blitzing Karla Cox 7-0. Meeting Eylul for a chance to advance to the finals, she lost 7-2 and headed over to the one loss side to await an opponent.
Earlier in the day, Monica Stillwell had received a first round bye and then lost her next match to Lacey Suire 7-5. After arriving on the west side, she defeated Ashlee Robinson 5-1 and then edged out Karla Cox and Niki Nugent – both 5-4. Waiting for her was Natasha – both players battling to get to the finals. It was a close one but it was Green who was eliminated 5-3 and finished in third place.
As with the men’s finals, this one was over quickly as well. Monica’s hopes were dashed as Eylul won the match 7-1 and she added yet another title to her resume.
Tournament Director Ray Hansen and his assistant, Jason Hill, ran the various events and professional commentary was provided by Larry Schwartz and Ray Hansen.
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank owners Al Dahal and Subash Khadka as well as General Manager Denise Allen and her staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We look forward to returning next year!
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