Small town - Big Action. Top Dawg Billiards of New Braunfels, Texas hosted a grand opening $1500 added tournament on September 6-7. Although, the room has only been open a short time, it already has the reputation of being "Action Central" in South Texas. Rocky Esquivel and Marc Campos, the owners of Top Dawg, worked very hard to put together a very nice poolroom.
Forty plus of the talented Texas elite showed to do battle on the new Olhausen tables. The top picks were Ernesto Dominguez of Los Angeles, Charlie Bryant, Robert Almaraz, Gilbert Martinez, David Henson and Mark Garza, who recently achieved second place in the Texas State 9 Ball Open. Two Ladies, Amanda Lampert and Diana Cardona, even entered the fray.
Finishing in the 7-8th position were Ernesto Dominguez and Candy Ramos. Candy keeps showing up more and more on the money charts. Keep it up!
5-6th placements were filled by Chelo Carbaual of Austin and Robert Newkirk of Fort Worth. Nice finish, guys!
David Henson took the scenic tour on the road to a nice fourth place finish. David won his first two matches against Dennis Bolding, 9-1, and Amanda Lampert, 9-1, only to be sent to the other side by Robert Newkirk, 9-7. In the brutal bracket, David had wins over Jeff Haskin, 7-1, Jay Calhoun, 7-2, Bill Fuller, 7-3, Candy Ramos, 7-2, and Robert Newkirk, 7-0, before running into Charlie Bryant for his final loss, 7-4.
Third Place went to Gilbert Martinez of Austin with triumphs over Jeff Haskin, 9-3, Pat "Chicago" Castro, 9-5, Jesse Mata, 9-2, Fernando Colunga, 9-0, Robert Newkirk, 9-6, to earn a seat in the finals of the winner's bracket against Robert Almaraz. Robert prevailed, 9-5, to send Gilbert to the finals of the one loss side where he lost to Charlie Bryant, 7-3.
Robert Almaraz of San Antonio took the short route to the hot seat with wins over Rocky Esquivel, 9-4, Phil Carter, 9-1, Candy Ramos, 9-6, Charlie Bryant, 9-7 and Gilbert Martinez.
Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant of Houston prevailed over Eduardo Ramirez, 9-8, Lewis Jones, 9-6, Mark Garza, 9-1, Bill Fuller, 9-1, before being vanquished to the one loss side by Robert Almaraz. Once there, Charlie kicked it into overdrive with wins over Chelo Carbaual, 7-1, David Henson, 7-4, and Gilbert Martinez, 7-3, to again meet Robert Almaraz in the finals.
With the finals being a double race to nine format, Charlie went to work winning the first set 9-5. A great defensive battle ensued in the second set with both players showing the skills that got them to the finals. With the score tied at 8-8 and the championship down to a race to one, Charlie reigned supreme. Congratulations to both these fine competitors!
A special "THANKS" to Rocky Esquivel, his wife Leigh Ann, Marc Campos and his wife Claudia, for hosting a great event. Let's do it again, soon!
Payouts:
1st Charlie Bryant $2625
2nd Robert Almaraz $1725
3rd Gilbert Martinez $1105
4th David Henson $645
5th/6th Chelo Carbaual, Robert Newkirk $250
7th/8th Candy Ramos, Ernesto Dominguez $70
