Christy Norris and Jacob Hyatt
Christy Norris was instrumental in organizing the very first Anthony Mabe Memorial, held to raise money for Mabe’s family the day after services were held following his death in May, 2021. Norris organized a series of cue raffles and headed up an online funding campaign that contributed over $4,000 to help offset the cost of the services. A year later (June ’22), Norris went undefeated to the hot seat of the 2nd Annual Anthony Mabe Memorial, splitting the top two prizes with Corey Morphew. This past weekend (May 25), Norris continued to honor her former friend by competing in his memorial tournament and as she did in 2022, went undefeated to the hot seat, split the top two prizes – this time, with 11-year-old Jacob Hyatt – and went into the record books as the official winner of the 4th Annual Anthony Mabe Memorial. The $500-added event, held under the auspices of the PremierBilliards.com’s Q City 9-Ball Tour, drew 30 entrants to Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
Populated by many of the tour’s veterans, including but not limited to Norris, JT Ringgold, Hank Powell, Barry Mashburn, Thomas Sansone and the event’s defending champion; son of Breaktime Billiards’ owner Sundeep Makhani, 14-year-old Jas Makhani. It was a bit of a family affair for runner-up Jacob Hyatt and his older brother, Joe Hyatt, Jr. (17), as well as the Mawyin family; 19-year-old Justin and his father, John. The Hyatt brothers almost met in a winners’ side semifinal, the sibling rivalry spoiled when Norris downed Joe in a winners’ side quarterfinal. The two families mingled when the elder Mawyin (John) faced the elder Hyatt (Joe) in a second, winners’ side round that went double hill and sent Mawyin to the loss side.
Norris got by Chris Turner 6-2 and Hank Powell 6-3, before running into the eldest Hyatt brother, Joe, in that winners’ side quarterfinal, defeating him 6-2 to draw his brother, Jacob, in one of the winners’ side semifinals. To that point, Jacob, racing to 4, had given up only three racks in his first three games.
“Jacob was playing unbelievably well,” noted tour director Herman Parker, adding that the youngster had elevated quickly to a ‘5’ in his first appearances on the tour (July ’23), but had stepped away from the tables to play baseball for a while and returned as a ‘4’.
“He beat a lot of good players in this event, like Hank Powell, and JT Ringgold,” Parker added, “so he’ll be moving back up to a 5.”
Melvin Shelton, in the meantime, chalked up two straight 6-3 wins over Chuck Maxwell and Andy Hutchens before winning an almost-double-hill match against Jason Rogers (6-6, with Rogers racing to 8) to draw Justin Mawyin in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Norris sent Jacob Hyatt to the loss side 6-2 and was joined in the hot seat match by Shelton, who’d defeated Mawyin 6-2. Norris and Shelton battled to double hill, before she claimed the hot seat in what proved to be her last match.
On the loss side, the youngster picked up Hank Powell, who’d followed his loss to Norris with four straight wins, which had recently included the elimination of James Jenkins 8-2 and a double-hill win over Jason Rogers. The younger Mawyin (Justin) drew Ringgold, who’d lost his second-round match to James Jenkins 5-5 (Ringgold racing to 10) and like Powell, went on a four-match, loss-side streak that had recently eliminated the elder Hyatt brother (Joe, Jr.) and Andy Hutchens, both 10-3.
Jacob Hyatt started the match against Powell with four ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 8. He didn’t need any of them. Without the ‘beads,’ it would have been a double-hill match. With them, 4-3 advanced Jacob to the quarterfinals. He was met by Ringgold, who’d defeated Mawyin 10-5 (Mawyin racing to 7).
Hyatt started the quarterfinal versus Ringgold with six ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 10. He needed one of them to complete his 4-4 win over Ringgold. Hyatt was awarded two ‘beads on the wire’ for his semifinal match against Shelton (racing to 6) and didn’t need any, earning his spot in the finals against Norris with a 4-2 win in the semifinals. Negotiations got underway for the split of the top two prizes and the final match didn’t happen.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Sundeep Makhani and his Breaktime Billiards staff for their hospitality, along with title sponsor PremierBilliards.com, BarPoolTables.net (Randy Tate), Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC, TKO Custom Cues and Realty One Group results (Kirk Overcash), Dirty South Grind Apparel (Angela Harlan-Parker), Federal Savings Bank (Alex Narod), CHC Underground (Chris Clary), Run Racks Worldwide Apparel (Wanderer Kelly) and AZBilliards.
The next stop on the PremierBilliards.com’s Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of June 1-2, will be a $200-added event, hosted by Brews & Cues Billiards in Franklin, NC.
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