While the top point leaders in the Predator DFW 9-Ball Tour’s standings list (#1 through #5) were languishing on the loss side of the Oct. 19-20 bracket of the tour’s 10th stop - only two of them finished in the money (#1 Tim Larson, tied for 7th and #5 Jay Ryda, tied for 17th) - #42 (Gerardo Perez) and #63 (Daniel Herring) advanced through the 88-entrant field and battled twice to claim the event title. Perez was the undefeated winner of the $1,500-added event, hosted by the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
All but one of the top five on the standings list - #4 Amos Bush - had competed in all nine of the tour’s events, and Bush had only missed one. It was Gerardo Perez’ sixth appearance on the 2019 tour and his best finish had been in a tie for 9th place last month. Herring had competed in only three of the tour’s stops, with a best finish of a tie for 13th place in August (He’d won a stop on the tour just over a year ago). They both battled players higher in the points list during their trek to the finals, but neither of them faced any one of the top five, though as it turned out, it was not for lack of trying. Greg Sandifer (#2) was on the loss side at the end of the opening round. Larson, Davis, Bush and Ryda all moved over after the third round.
Just goes to show that on any given Sunday. . . .
After an opening round bye, Perez advanced through Chase LaFerney, Jesus Sorto, Noel Villalobos and Crispian Ng (#10, highest he faced) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Barry Emerson. Herring, also with an opening round bye, sent Corey Flud, Walt Anderson, Kenny Rowell and Chris Rickman to the loss side and squared off against Donny Gregory (#12, Herring’s ‘highest on the list’ opponent) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Herring and Gregory battled to double hill before Herring prevailed and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Perez, who’d defeated Emerson 7-4 (Emerson racing to 8). With Herring racing to 8, as well, Perez claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on Herring’s return.
Over on the loss side, Sandifer and Bush had been knocked out before the first money round (33rd-48th). TJ Davis made it to that first money round (17th-24th), but went home with just the $160. Tim Larson, who’d been sent to the loss side by Emerson, was in the midst of a very brief winning streak that had started in the first money round and after three wins, including a 9-1 victory over Chris Rickman, had ended with a defeat at the hands of Jersey Jack Lynch, who advanced to pick up Emerson. Gregory drew Kevin Guimond, who, after losing to Larson in the third round, was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d recently eliminated Crispian Ng 9-6 and Walter Heunerfuerst 9-5 to draw Gregory.
Emerson downed Lynch 8-1. Guimond joined him in the quarterfinals after a 9-3 win over Gregory. In the semifinals, with Guimond racing to 9, he and Herring battled to a double hill standstill before Herring ended it for a second shot against Perez in the hot seat.
With Herring racing to 8, he and Perez fought to 6-7, double hill, before Perez ended it to claim his first event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at the Billiard Den, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues and main event sponsors Ft. Worth Billiards Superstore, JB Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball League, BCAPL, RackEm TV (streaming sponsor), FargoRate, and IMS (Internet Marketing Solutions). The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 16-17, will be the tour’s Season Finale at Rusty’s in Arlington, TX.
