The first stop of the 2013-2014 Pure X Cues All American Tour stop – presented by the American CueSports Alliance (ACS) was hosted at 2nd Avenue Corner Pocket in Cedar Rapids, IA on Saturday, October 12. The $500-added 8-ball handicapped tourney on 7-foot Valley bar boxes drew 24 players.
The finals pitted once-defeated Steve Strausburger (Cedar Rapids, IA) [rated a “4” on a regional rating system used] versus undefeated Shannon Rasmussen (Cedar Rapids, IA) [6]. Earlier Rasmussen had eased through the A-side bracket, including a semifinals win over Doug Bloes (Waterloo IA) [4] 6-3 and a finals win over Alan Schares (Waterloo, IA) [5] 6-3. Strausburger on the other hand lost a second-round match to Doug Bloes 4-1 and spent most of his day on the B-side, claiming late-round victories over Doug Bloes 4-3, Tim Kindl (Cedar Rapids, IA) [4] and Alan Schares to gain a shot for the title. The tourney finals was dominated by Shannon Rasmussen over Steve Strausburger in the first set to give Shannon the title!
By virtue of Steve Strausburger also being the highest-finishing ACS member in the event, he qualified for a free 9-Ball singles entry into the 2014 Pure X ACS Nationals at the Tropicana Las Vegas – courtesy of the ACS. The ACS wishes to thank sponsors Pure X Cues, Championship Billiard Fabric and Nick Varner Signature Cases for their support in donating “Value-In-Kind” product for this and all stops on the Pure X All American Tour. Sponsorship opportunities and tour stop openings are still available for the 2013/2014 All American Tour by contacting the ACS.
The Tour gets busier on Saturday, October 19, with three stops around the country being produced: 1).the $250 added 5th Annual Women’s Cues for the Cure 9-Ball event at Amy’s Billiards in Stuart FL (contact Amy Poulter at 772-529-4846); a $500-added “No Masters” 9-ball event at Cue Master Billiards in Dubuque IA (contact Joel Kramer at 563-557-0875); and a $500-added 9-Ball event at Mike’s Break Room in Virginia Beach VA (contact Mike Wilson at 757-963-2229). Further information, entry details and schedules for the 2013/2014 Pure X Cues All American Tour are available at www.americancuesports.org.
