Monica Rodriguez, Raul Escobedo, Sylver Ochoa and Tisha Hay
On February 13th-14th, 2010, the Lone Star Billiards Tour held its first 9-Ball event of the year at Bogies Billiards & Games in Houston, Texas. Even though it was Valentine's weekend, 54 players turned out for the open event and 16 women came out on Sunday to compete for their own $1,100 purse.
The event kicked off Saturday morning with its very own live stream and chat room (ustream.tv/channel/lonestarbilliardstour), showcasing some of the best talent Texas has to offer. The final 12 on Saturday would return on Sunday to compete for almost 6k in cash, but this time there were a few upsets.
As the event progressed, final 8 heavy hitters Billy “Big Tyme” Sharp, Sylver “Cho-Uh” Ochoa, and Raul Escobedo remained, no surprises there. Tom Mooney, Dalton Riley, Danny Lee, Sonny Bosshamer, and David Mendiola all found themselves guaranteed to cash on the east side. After Danny Lee dealt a 9-7 blow to Sharp, Bosshamer bested Escobedo, Riley over Mooney, and Ochoa dusted Mendiola, the final four came down to Sonny Bosshamer vs. Danny Lee and Sylver Ochoa vs. Dalton Riley. After the dust settled, Ochoa found himself, once again, on the “right side” with opponent Danny Lee vying to capture the “cat bird's seat” for the first time. Unfortunately, Lee was dealt a blow from Ochoa, sending him west.
Players in limbo on the west side were John Newsome (former player, resurrected), Aaron Springs, Ernesto Bayaua, and Jeremy Byrd. After two rounds, it was Mooney over Newsome, Mendiola over Springs 7-4, Bayaua bested Sharp, and Escobedo beat Byrd 7-6. The one loss side victor was Raul Escobedo, who played ferociously, and ousted Danny Lee for second and met up with his best friend and road partner in the final match.
It was a two set finale. Escobedo barely closed out the first set 9-7 only to be ousted 7-1 in this true double elimination format. Not only did Ochoa win this event, but he finished second in the Derby City One-Pocket, and won Gabe Owen's T-Town Classic One-Pocket event. Another player “on a roll” was Houston's David Mendiola who captured his highest finish to date. Congrats to all our Lone Star Open finishers, you make Texas proud!
In the ladies division, we had heavy hitters Terry Petrosino, Kyu Yi, Courtney Peters, and Ricky Capser just to name a few of the 16 awesome ladies that competed. It was Courtney Peters vs. Terry Petrosino on the winner's side, and Ricky Casper vs. Kyu Yi on the one-loss side. Yi finished a respectable 4th and Peters 3rd! In the finals, Casper won the first set but Petrosino came through for her second consecutive tour win. Congratulations to all of our ladies! We hope to see everyone next time, at Q Stix Billiards in Houston February 27th-28th for our Open 9-Ball and our first One Pocket Event! Of course, ladies play on Sunday!
Many thanks to the tour staff, Eugene Lee, Bob McFerren, Viet Do, and Mike Terry; and Sponsors Poison Cues and the Delta-13 Rack. .
