Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant picked up his third victory on the Lone Star Tour on the weekend of September 26-27, defeating Jui Lung Chen twice in the process. The $1,000-added event drew 61 entrants to Bradley's Billiards in San Antonio, TX.
From among the winners' side final four, Hillbilly sent Fred “Scooter” Goodman west 9-4, as Chen was sending Sam Manaole over 9-2. In the first of their two meetings, battling for the hot seat, Hillbilly prevailed over Chen 9-5, and then awaited his return.
Meanwhile, back at the Lone Star's one-loss side ranch, Bobby Gonzalez was working his way back to meet up with Goodman. He got by both James Garcia and Robert Almarez 7-4 from among the event's final 12 to do that. Zaid Thweib, after dropping Sylver Ochoa into the tie for ninth place 7-3 and Frank Ferrer into seventh place 7-4, was there to meet Manaole. Goodman and Manaole advanced to the quarterfinals; Goodman with a 7-4 win over Gonzalez, and Manaole with a 7-3 victory over Thweib. Manaole dropped Goodman into fourth place 7-4 and then ran into something of a buzz saw in the semifinals against Chen, who allowed him only one rack on his way back to Hillbilly.
Two sets of the true double elimination final were avoided, as Hillbilly closed out his third Lone Star victory and his fifth overall in 2009, with a 9-6 win.
A concurrent ladies' event, which drew 10 entrants, saw Helen Hayes defeat Yvette Reyes 5-3 in the finals to take home the first place prize of $150. Reyes picked up $50 for her second place finish. Cristina Delagarza finished third.
