The Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour played host to a few fleeing Floridians on the weekend of September 9-10. Escaping torrential downpours and widespread damage, they traveled north to Spartanburg, SC, where Cue Time hosted a $500-added tour stop that drew 53 entrants and saw Chase Smith take two out of three against Matt Bulfin to claim his first event title.
Smith and Bulfin battled first in the hot seat match. Bulfin sent Robert Davis to the loss side 10-3 in one winners’ side semifinal, while Smith downed Chris Gentile (Florida State’s Amateur Champion in 2011) 7-5. Smith claimed the hot seat by the same 7-5 score and waited for Bulfin to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Davis picked up Daniel Rutledge, who, after being sent over by Justin Duncan, was on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He eliminated Steve Loftin 6-4, and Brett Underwood 6-2 to get Davis. Gentile, in the meantime, drew Dalton Messer, who’d gotten by Mike Bumgarner 6-4 and eliminated any possibility of a Rutledge/Duncan re-match by defeating Duncan 6-3.
Rutledge and Gentile gave up one rack each in their victories over Davis and Messer and faced each other in the quarterfinals. With Gentile racing to 9, Rutledge then chalked up what proved to be his last loss-side win, 6-6 over Gentile. Bulfin ended Rutledge’s bid for a shot at Smith with a 10-3 victory in the semifinals.
Smith and Bulfin fought to double hill in the first set, before Bulfin finished it at 10-6. Smith came back in the second set and won it 7-5 to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for September 16-17, will be hosted by Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA.
