Sylver Ochoa and Rafael Martinez
Sylver Ochoa captured his ninth open division title while young gun Joey Torres took home his first-ever title in the amateur division at the Lone Star Spring 9-ball event held March 8th-9th, 2014, at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, Texas. Ochoa defeated the renowned Rafael Martinez, 9-7, in the final while Joey Torres came from behind to defeat hot seat winner Erik Renteria two sets, 7-6, and 5-0.
There were 71 players competing for over $6,000 in prize money at the second Lone Star stop of 2014. New to the tour, top ten Taiwanese player Kevin Cheng, the “Taiwanese Typhoon”, joined the illustrious, star studded field, but failed to make the cut. The open division yielded little surprise as Manny Chau teed off against Rafael Martinez, and Sylver Ochoa faced off with Danny Lee in the final four, winners’ side. After suffering a 9-1 defeat at the hands of Martinez, Cheng faced off with Chase Rudder, while Ernesto Bayaua battled Bill Fuller. Back on the east side, Martinez defeated Chau, 9-7, while Ochoa dusted off Lee, 9-2. On the west side, Bayaua eliminated Fuller, then Chau, 7-6, while Cheng overcame Rudder, but fell to Lee, 7-6. Ochoa oustEd Martinez for the hot seat, 9-3, while Bayaua eliminated Lee, 7-5. Determined to make a comeback, Martinez eliminated Bayaua, 7-5, for a rematch with Ochoa. Steady as ever, in the final match, Ochoa coasted his way to victory, 9-7.
There were 49 entries alone in the amateur division which saw Joey Torres lose his fourth round match to Will Felder, 7-6, and come back to win six straight sets, and his division. Danny Roland and Bob Guzik made their way to the final four on the winners’ side along with Will Felder and Erik Renteria. Roland overcame Guzik, 7-6, while Renteria sent Felder west, 7-5. On the east side, Torres was cleaning house. He eliminated Bobby Perez, 5-3, Guzik, 5-2, and Felder, 5-1. Meanwhile, it was Renteria over Roland for the hot seat, which pitted a first time match-up between Roland and Torres. The match was a coin toss as players traded racks, until Torres pull ahead and ended the battle, 5-4. Torres made his way back to challenge Renteria for the title. In the first race to 7, Renteria missed a crucial 8-ball shot and Torres took full advantage, winning the set, 7-6. The second set was a different story as Torres won the flip and broke. Renteria never made it to the table.
The Lone Star Billiards Tour would like to thank its wonderful sponsors, Poison by Predator Cues, www.poisonbilliards.com, Delta-13 Rack, www.delta-13.com, Ozone Billiards, www.ozonebilliards.com, Improve Your Shot, www.ImproveYourShot.com, and the APA of North Harris County, www.facebook.com/apanorthharriscounty. For the latest event information, please visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
