The Fast Eddie's 9 Ball Tour hosted its eleventh event of the year in northwest Houston at their brand new location on FM1960. Seventy-one players with many new faces in the field showed in two divisions to get down and dirty on the felt.
The talent ran long and deep into the field. Top picks in the open division were Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant, David “G” Gutierrez, James Davis Sr., Jui Lung Chen, Sylver Ochoa, Javier Franco and Paul Guernsey.
Finishing in the 9-12th spots were Corey Anderson, Marc Garza, Russell Killgo, and Bill Fuller. A great showing for all!
James Davis Jr. of Austin and Javier Franco of Houston filled the 7-8th positions. Both gentlemen showed a lot of heart in their performances.
5-6th placements went to Sylver Ochoa of McAllen, winner of two previous events this year, and Jui Lung Chen of Dallas, also with a Tour victory this year under his belt. Both young men are forces to be reckoned with as their games achieve higher levels with each showing.
Robert Clark of Dallas jumped into the 4th place position with victories over Gilbert Rojas and Marty Farrell before falling to James Davis Sr. On the one loss side, he went to work with triumphs over Russell Killgo, Javier Franco and Sylver Ochoa before, again, falling to James Davis Sr.
Houston's own David “G' Gutierrez looked like he was on auto pilot with victories over Larry Maples, John Boudreaux, Beto Cavazos, Javier Franco, and James Davis Sr. In the finals of the winner's bracket, David ran into Charlie Bryant with Charlie pulling everything out of his bag to gain the victory, 9-7. In the finals of the one loss side, David met James Davis Sr. in a very close match with James winning 7-6. A great 3rd place finish for a fine gentleman and champion!
James “Bastrop” Davis Sr. of Bastrop, a previous Tour champion, gained a new name as the “Hill-Hill King” with his last three matches of the tournament all going down to a race to one. James started his run with victories over Chad Garland, Chris Walden, his son – James Davis Jr., and Robert Clark before being derailed by David “G”. In the brutal bracket, James had triumphs over Jui Lung Chen, 7-5, Robert Clark, 7-6 and, again, David “G”, 7-6, to gain his berth in the finals.
Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant has been on a crusade of late having defeated an outstanding field of competitors at the Glass City Open. Coming off that win and with two previous Tour victories, he's on a roll to say the least. Charlie cruised to the hot seat with victories over Brandon Spencer, Denis Strickland, Russell Killgo, Marc Garza, Sylver Ochoa, and David Gutierrez. With James Davis Sr. coming off the one loss side, it set up to be a great showdown.
Both gentlemen played methodically and brilliantly, but in the end, Charlie gained the victory in a real nail biter, 9-8. Congratulations to James for a hard fought second place finish. Charlie, what can we say but keep it going!
As always we are very grateful to our yearlong supporters who make this possible. They are Ron Geyer of Custom Cue Connection, Bubba and Steve of Cue Sales and Service, Jack and Elvie of Mystick Cues, Anne Mayes of AO Custom Cues, Barberio Music Company, Tino of Teodora's Tacos, Martin Salinas of Alamo Courier, Wayne and Robert of Quality Used Cars and Olhausen Billiards.
A special thanks to Big Lew, Tabitha (GM), Curtis and their great staff at the new Fast Eddie's World Class Billiards in northwest Houston for hosting a great event. If you're in Houston, go by and see this room. It's just not a poolroom; it is a work of art. Big Lew, it's going to be hard to improve on this one!
See y'all in two weeks, December 3-5, at the Fast Eddie's on Embassy Oaks in San Antonio for the 2004 Season Finale. Until then, keep knocking the backs out of those pockets!
Complete Results:
1st Charlie Bryant $1250
2nd James Davis Sr. $900
3rd David Gutierrez $600
4th Robert Clark $400
5-6th Jui Lung Chen, Sylver Ochoa $250
7-8th James Davis Jr., Javier Franco $150
9-12th Corey Anderson, Marc Garza, Russell Killgo, Bill Fuller $100
