The beat, as they say, goes on.
Mackie Lowery moved into uncharted territory two months ago when he came back from a defeat in a hot seat match to win a stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. The win turned 2019 into his best earnings year since he first showed up on a payout list 13 years ago, finishing 7th in an earlier version of the Viking Cues’ tour. On Saturday, September 21, Lowery chalked up his second 2019 win on the tour, going undefeated through a field of 54, on hand for the $500-added event, hosted by Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC.
Lowery had to get by a competitor who was also in the midst of his best and also his first earnings year, and looking for his second win on the 2019 tour, Travis Worden. Worden had won his first-ever regional tour event last month at a stop, hosted by Buck’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC. They met first in a winners’ side semifinal, as Joey Fox and Sam Epps squared off in the other one.
Lowery and Fox advanced to the hot seat match with identical 7-4 wins over Worden and Epps. Lowery then downed Fox 7-2, claiming the hot seat.
On the loss side, Worden picked up Aaron McClure, who’d defeated Billy Fowler 6-6 (Fowler racing to 9) and Daniel Jones, double hill, to reach him. Epps drew a rematch against Clay Davis, whom he’d sent to the loss side in the event’s third round and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had included recent wins over Junior competitor Joey Tate 7-5 and Tommy Johnson 7-2.
Davis chalked up a successful rematch against Epps 7-3, as Worden was busy eliminating McClure 7-4. Worden then ended Davis’ loss-side run with a 6-5 win in the quarterfinals (Davis racing to 7).
Worden downed Joey Fox 6-4 in the semifinals for a shot at Lowery, waiting for him in the hot seat. He’d have had to win two to claim the title. Lowery, though, made the point moot. He won the opening and only set 7-5 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break & Run Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (September 28-29), will be a $500-added event, hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
