Jody Musselman survived a double hill opening set of the finals versus Scott Howard, who'd won five on the loss side for the right to meet him, and chalked up an undefeated win on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour on the weekend of October 22-23. The event drew 39 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
With his eventual finals opponent already at work on the loss side, Musselman advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Blade Best (who'd just sent Howard to the loss side). In the other winners' side semifinal, 15-year-old Dakota Harris, one of a few junior players who competed in the event, squared off against Mike Gann. Musselman sent Best to the loss side 6-1, and in the hot seat match, faced the teenager, Harris, who'd defeated Gann 6-6 (Gann racing to 8). Musselman sent Harris to the semifinals 6-4 and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Howard.
On the loss side, Howard opened his five-match, loss-side run with wins against Matt Shaw 7-1, and Dustin Coe 7-3 to draw Gann. Best drew another of the junior competitors, Eric Roberts (13), who was in the midst of his own six-match, loss-side run that would take him as far as the first money round, battling for advancement to the quarterfinals. He won his fifth and sixth loss- side matches against Steve Dye, double hill, and Rick Roper 5-4 (Roper racing to 7).
Best ended Roberts' run 5-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals against Howard, who'd eliminated Gann 7-5. Howard then downed both Best in the quarterfinals and Harris in the semifinals by a 7-3 score.
Howard would need to defeat Musselman twice in the true double elimination finals, and, racing to 7, win an extra rack to claim each set. The two battled to double hill (6-6) in the opening set, before Musselman completed his undefeated run and claimed the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards' staff, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks and Ruthless Billiards. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of October 29-30, will be hosted by Brass Tap in Raleigh, NC. An 8-ball event, the tournament will be a qualifier for the NC State 8-Ball Championships, scheduled for November 5-6 at Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC.
