Sam Manole and Danny Almaraz battled twice during the July 6-7 stop on the Fast Eddie's 9-Ball Tour; once in the hot seat and again, in the finals. Manole won them both to complete an undefeated run through a field of 19 that had signed on for the $500-added event, hosted by Fast Eddie's San Antonio Braun facility.
Among the winners' side final four, Manole handed Vivian Villareal the first of two straight losses, 9-6, which, to her chagrin, knocked her out of contention, relatively early in this one. Almaraz defeated Victor Nabu 9-7 in the other winners' side semifinal. Manole got into the hot seat with a 9-6 win over Almaraz and waited on his return.
Villareal moved over and picked up Neal Kahn, who'd defeated Richard Wuarte 7-5 and Ariel Aqino 7-4. Nabu faced John Mize, who'd gotten by Joe Ruiz 7-5 and survived a double hill fight versus Roland Martinez. Kahn eliminated Villareal 7-5, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Nabu, who defeated Mize 7-3.
Nabu earned himself a rematch against Almaraz with a 7-4 win over Kahn in the quarterfinals, but fell two racks short a second time, when Almaraz won their semifinal match 7-5. Manole duplicated his hot seat performance with a second 9-6 win over Almaraz in the opening set of the true double elimination final and claimed the event title.
