JT Ringgold
JT Ringgold lost an opening round match on the most recent Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour stop, won seven on the loss side and then, double-dipped hot seat occupant, Larry Faulk to claim his 13th overall title on the tour. Racing to 10 in all of the matches, his loss-side run involved 90 games, and he lost only 16 of them. The next time he competes, said tour director Herman Parker, he’ll be racing to 11. The $250-added event, held on Saturday, Oct. 20, drew 18 entrants to Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
With Ringgold at work on the loss side, Faulk advanced to a winners’ side semifinal matchup against Mickey Milligan’s owner, Gerry Shepherd. Robert Perez and Graham Swinson battled in the other winners’ side semifinal. Faulk shut out Shepherd 7-0, as Perez and Swinson locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Perez to the hot seat match against Faulk. Faulk claimed the hot seat, and as it turned out, his final match victory with a 7-4 win over Perez.
Ringgold, in the meantime, was slicing through the loss side field, and after chalking up wins #3 and #4 against Paul Swinson (father to Graham; 10-3) and Scotty Johnson 10-1, he drew Shepherd. The younger Swinson picked up Jack Whitfield, who’d defeated Jeff Matthews 7-4 and Wayne Miller 7-3 to reach him.
Ringgold added win #5 against Shepherd 10-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Whitfield, who’d eliminated Swinson 7-5. According to TD Parker, Ringgold, in spite of the event’s alternate break format, didn’t miss a ball in his shutout over Whitfield in the quarterfinals. He gave up three racks to Perez in his 10-3 semifinal win.
With Faulk racing to 7, Ringgold had to beat him twice to claim the title, and did so, easily. He gave up only three racks in 23 games (10-2, 10-1) to claim this 13th Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Gerry Shepherd and his Mickey Milligan’s staff for their hospitality, 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 (Oct. 27-28) will be a $500-added event (with a full field of 48 entrants) hosted by Randolph Billiards in Hickory, NC.
