Josh Roberts, Tony Chohan and Alex Olinger
Though the first two events of Tony Chohan's Taom Tips Tour didn't draw the number of entrants he'd been expecting, the inaugural and second stop on the tour certainly made up in quality what he thought it lacked in quantity. The first event, held on the weekend of Nov. 5-6, drew 51 entrants, while the second stop, held this past weekend (Nov. 12-13) drew 31. The first one was won by Antonio Lining, and the second was won by Josh Roberts, who double dipped Alex Olinger in the finals to claim the title. Both events, and all future stops on the tour, added $5,000 to the purse. This most recent event was hosted by High Pockets in Memphis, TN.
The final 12 in this most recent event featured a recognizable list of the Midwest's (and arguably, the country's) best players, including Roberts and Olinger. Chohan himself, played, as did Jeremy Jones, Ronnie Wiseman, Shane McMinn, Justin Hall, Danny Smith and a host of others.
The winners' side semifinals saw Roberts square off against last week's winner, Antonio Lining, and Olinger taking on Jones. Roberts kept Lining out of what would have been his second straight hot seat match on the tour with an 8-5 victory, while Olinger downed Jones double hill to join Roberts. Olinger claimed the hot seat 8-7 and waited on Roberts' return.
Over on the loss side, Shane Winters was making a strong bid to get back to the finals. He'd been sent to the loss side by Lining and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He eliminated Bill Thorpe and Justin Hall, both 8-5 to earn himself a re-match against Lining. Jones picked up McMinn, who'd defeated Derek Garner 8-2 and Chohan 8-6 to reach him.
Jones moved into the quarterfinals on the heels of a double hill win over McMinn. Winters joined him after a successful 8-6 rematch against Lining. Winters completed his loss-side winning streak 8-6 over Jones, and had that streak snapped by Roberts in the semifinals 8-3.
Roberts took the opening set of the true double elimination final 8-5. He backed that up with a second win, 8-3 to claim the event title.
The next stop on the Taom Tips Tour, scheduled for Dec.16-18, will be another $5,000-added event, hosted by The Carom Room in Beloit, WI.
