After joining Mike Dechaine, Carlo Biado and Rodney Morris in the tie for 13th place at the 40th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championships in Norfolk, Virginia, Jeffrey Ignacio traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina to compete on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. He joined 25 other competitors in the event, hosted by Brown's Billiards in Raleigh, and went undefeated to claim the title.
Playing as a 'pro' in the handicapped event, Ignacio had to win 13 games, every time he played; two more than he had to play in any of the eight matches he played at the Open. Ignacio lost his opening match, and then won six on the loss side, including victories over Earl Strickland, Shaun Wilkie, Mika Immonen and Jundel Mazon, before Ruslan Chinahov eliminated him from further play.
The handicapped advantage of some of Ignacio's adversaries in Raleigh almost cost him. He was forced to win a deciding game in his winners' side semifinal match against Buddy Fisher, racing to 6; final score 13-5. David Smith, in the meantime, sent Joe Cosky to the loss side 5-4 (Cosky racing to 7). Ignacio was forced into his second straight double hill match against Smith, battling for the hot seat. He prevailed 13-4, and waited on what turned out to be the return of Steve Page.
Page, who'd been sent to the loss side in an early round by Brad Shearer, won seven on the loss side to face Ignacio in the finals. In loss-side victories #3 and #4, Page defeated Taz Holiday 10-4, and shut out Jeff K, to draw Fisher. Cosky picked up David Brown, who'd defeated Thomas Michael and Brad Shearer, both 8-3.
Brown and Page advanced to the quarterfinals; Page 10-5 over Fisher, and Brown 8-4 over Cosky. Page then eliminated Brown 10-5, and chalked up his second shutout, this one over Smith in the semifinal. Ignacio, though, completed his undefeated run with a 13-7 win in the finals over Page, to claim the event title.
The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 7-8, at Chambley's Chalk & Cue in Statesboro, NC, will be the $1,000-added NC State 8-Ball Championships. It will be the first time that the tour has featured an 8-ball event. According to tour director Herman Parker, it's a feature that players on the tour have been requesting, and will likely not be the last.
