Scott Roberts
Scott Roberts and Cory Morphew haven’t exactly been dormant since the pandemic landed two years ago, though Roberts, in particular, saw his climb up the earnings ladder in the last decade drop a few steps right after he’d chalked up his best recorded earnings year in 2019. For his part, Morphew’s climb up the same ladder has been something of an up-and-down affair, in something of a reverse order. Prior to this past weekend, his best recorded earnings year was his first in 2011. His finish at this past weekend’s stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour (Feb. 19-20) put him $15 over his 2011 figure, and it’s only February.
They split the top two prizes. Roberts went undefeated, downing Morphew in the hot seat match and when Morphew returned from the semifinals, they opted out of a final match at the event that drew 33 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Roberts faced Scott Howard in one of the winners’ side semifinal matches, as Morphew squared off against Chris Cowan. Morphew got into the hot seat match without giving up a rack. Roberts joined him after an 8-4 win over Howard. The hot seat match went double hill before Roberts prevailed to essentially claim the title.
On the loss side, Eric Roberts (no relation to Scott) and Adam Pendley were both on a seven-match winning streak that would bring them together in the quarterfinals. Cowan drew Roberts, who, at the time, was five matches into his loss-side run that had recently included the elimination of Reid Vance 9-3 and Gary South 9-4. It was Howard who picked up Pendley, six matches into his loss-side run, with recent wins over 14-year-old Niko Konkel 9-1 and in a rematch from the winners’ side, double hill over 12-year-old Jas Makhani.
Roberts and Pendley advanced to the quarterfinals; Pendley, with his seventh loss-side win, 9-6 over Howard and Roberts with his sixth, 9-3 over Cowan. Roberts then chalked up his seventh loss-side win, downing Pendley 9-6 in those quarterfinals.
The semifinals were a rematch. Morphew had downed Roberts on the winners’ side of the bracket 9-4 and chalked up a second one against him 9-1 for the right to face Scott Roberts a second time. It didn’t happen. They opted out and split the top two prizes, with Roberts, as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat laid claim to the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, and Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Feb. 26-27), will be a $500-added event, hosted by the Rock House Grill & Billiards in Gastonia, NC.
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