(l to r): Juan Parra, Jr., Daniel Herring & Tony Top
Daniel Herring has been at the Texas tables for about a decade now, chalking up his first recorded appearance on a payout list at a stop on the Fast Eddie’s Tour in January, 2008. He started appearing on the payout lists of Melinda Bailey’s Omega Tour a few years after that and in February, 2015, he broke through to win a stop on that tour; his first, and until this weekend (Sept. 8-9), his only recorded victory on a tour. At stop #9 on the DFW 9-Ball Tour (which grew out of the Omega Tour), he went undefeated through a field of 89 entrants, on-hand for the $1,500-added event, hosted by Clicks in Arlington, TX.
Herring started strong, giving up only two racks over his first 19 games, and seven over his next 23 (four of those to his eventual finals’ opponent, Juan Parra) to arrive at what proved to be his first double hill challenge in a winners’ side semifinal against Angelo Inness. Tony Top, in the meantime, who played an extra match in a preliminary round to get the field to a 32-match opening round, gave up 12 racks in the 52 games that it took him to reach the other winners’ side semifinal against Philip Palmer.
Herring survived the double hill battle over Inness and advanced to the hot seat match and a battle against Top, who’d sent Palmer to the loss side 8-5. Herring claimed the hot seat 8-6, and waited on the return of Parra.
On the loss side, Palmer picked up Parra, who, following his defeat at the hands of Herring, had eliminated Tommy Ulbik 7-3 and the tour’s #2-ranked competitor, CJ Wiley, double hill (in the absence at this event of the tour’s #1-ranked player, Chase Rudder, Wiley’s finish in the 7/8 slot moved him into the #1 ranking spot). Inness had the misfortune of running into Tim Larson, who, following a defeat in the event’s opening round (to Josh Keller) was in the midst of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals.
Parra and Palmer locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Parra to the quarterfinals. Larson chalked up what proved to be his last victory 8-4 over Inness and joined him. Parra ended Larson’s loss-side run 7-4 in those quarterfinals, and then, double hill, stopped Top’s short-lived, loss-side run in the semifinals.
Herring completed his undefeated run with an 8-4 victory over Parra in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Click’s for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ft. Worth Billiard Superstore, JB Custom Cue Cases, Solutions, Granite Guyz, BCAPL, CSI, Dallas 8-Ball, Accu-Rack and Fargo Rate. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Oct. 20-21, will be a $1,500-added event, hosted by Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
