Before the Houston 9-Ball Open on the weekend of October 2-3 had come down to its final 12 competitors, some of the more familiar names had been eliminated. Gone were Charlie Bryant, David Gutierrez, Andy Jethwa and James Davis, Sr. (Junior lasted one more round). Left, however, were Gabe Owen and Sylver Ochoa, who went on to face each other twice. Owen finished undefeated to take home the first place prize. Amanda Lampert defeated Ming Ng in the Ladies event. At the last minute, the event was broadcast via UStream, with Eugene Lee on hand for commentary, right through to the Ladies final finish at around midnight in Texas. The $3,750-added Open event drew 82 entrants to Legends Billiards in League City, TX. The $500-added Ladies event drew 34 competitors.
From among the winners' side final four, Owen got into his first matchup against Ochoa with a double hill win over Tommy Millburn. Ochoa sent Brian Sanders west 9-4 to join Owen in the hot seat match. Owen won the first of their two meetings 9-6 and waited in the hot seat for Ochoa to return.
On the one-loss side, Jeremy Jones was laying in wait for Sanders, following victories over Shane Manole and Leon Contreras, both 7-1. Millburn picked up Nick Hood, who'd defeated Travis Meier 7-3, and Jason Brown 7-5. Sanders squeaked by Jones in a double hill match, moving into the quarterfinals versus Millburn, who'd defeated Hood 7-5. Sanders got into the semifinals versus Ochoa with a 7-3 in the quarterfinals against Millburn, then dropped into third, when Ochoa defeated him 7-5.
In the modified double elimination match that followed (first race to nine; second to seven, if necessary), Owen and Ochoa battled back and forth early to a 4-4 tie. Owen took the fifth match, and then in game 10, sunk the 9-ball on the break to take a two game lead. Ochoa would win only one of the next four, as Owen went on to win the only set necessary 9-5.
In the Ladies event, won by Amanda Lampert, her finals opponent, Ming Ng came from the one-loss side to shutout both Sherri Palmer and then, Jennifer Kraber in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches. Lampert then turned the tables on her, by handing Ng a 7-1 defeat in the finals, that completed her undefeated weekend.
Open
1st Gabe Owen $2,200
2nd Sylver Ochoa $1,470
3rd Brian Sanders $1,010
4th Tommy Millburn $735
5th Jeremy Jones $465
Nick Hood
7th Leon Contreras $365
Jason Brown
9th David Henson $300
Travis Meier
Shane Manole
James Davis, Jr.
13th James Davis, Sr. $225
Steve Deason
Dave Gutierrez
Andy Jethwa
17th Daniel Coffman $100
Rodney Stewart
Doug Young
Mark Lund
Tyus Few
Roy Payton
Barry Strickland
Mickey Woinicki
Ladies
1st Amanda Lampert $300
2nd Ming Ng $215
3rd Jennifer Kraber $165
4th Sherri Palmer $120 (Ming beat her 7-0)
5th Ricki Casper $75
Kim Pierce
7th Terry Petrosino $40
Belinda Lee
9th Michelle Cortez $30
Yvette Reyes
Robyn Petrosino
Deanna Kniola
