This Year’s Big Tyme Classic Is History

Owners Mark Avery, Billy Sharp and Jim Henry welcomed players and fans to their $14,000 added Tenth Annual Big Tyme Classic in Spring, TX.

Local sponsors included Jim Stinson of AM INC, Star City Amusements, Outsville, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products, Savage Billiards, PoolActionTV.com and Big Tyme Billiards.

Featuring three divisions – one pocket, open nine ball and the ladies open – the event drew names like this year’s Derby City Classic and Scotty Townsend Memorial One Pocket champ Tony Chohan, current Midwest Open One Pocket and Banks champ Billy Thorpe, Warren Kiamco, Evan Lunda, Danny Olson, Blaine Barcus and Mike DeLawder.

Also spotted were current Bayou State and The Rack one pocket champ Roberto Gomez as well as other Houston locals and fellow Texans such as Alex Calderon, Tommy Tokoph, Justin Espinosa, Joey Torres, Ernesto Bayaua, Lazaro Martinez III, Chuck Adams and Kenny Price. In addition, 2022 Space City Open Banks champ Robb Saez, Shane McMinn, Raed Shabib and Mark Nanashee were spotted. Former Big Tyme Classic winner Ming Ng, two-time Scotty Townsend Memorial Ladies champ April Larson, reigning junior champ Sofia Mast, Veronica Perez, Kim Pierce, Ricki Casper, Courtney Peters, Tam Trinh, Robyn Petrosino, Melissa Smith and Kim Sanders were also in the building.

The tournament kicked off with the 25 player one pocket event. With a $250 entry fee, the format was double elimination, races to three with a single race to four for the finals. After the player auction & draw, matches began.

Marching to the final four on the winners side were Blaine Barcus, Evan Lunda, Tony Chohan and Roberto Gomez. Blaine edged out Evan as did Roberto over Tony – both matches 3-2. The hot seat match was just as close with Roberto taking down Blaine 3-2.

The one loss side was loaded with top players! Bayaua knocked out Thorpe 3-1 and Kiamco edged out a 3-2 win over Calderon. Chohan eliminated Bayaua as did Lunda over Kiamco – both matches 3-2.

Lunda knocked out Chohan 3-2 and then Barcus 3-1 to move on to the finals against Gomez. Blaine finished in a well deserved third place.

The single race to four finals was closer than it looked but in the end, it was Gomez who took down Lunda 4-2. Congratulations to Roberto!

The main event – the $8,000 added Open Nine Ball began on Friday night with a full field of 128 players paying an $80 entry fee. Played on seven foot Diamonds, the format was races to 9/7, alternate breaks and the three foul rule in effect. Using the Outsville Accu-Rack, the nine was placed on the spot with breaking from the box.

Notable first round matches saw McMinn over Calderon 9-7 and Thorpe defeated Torres – also 9-7.

Second round saw Bayaua escape in his match with Danny Ng as did McMinn over Steve Lenz, Chohan over Shabib and Lunda over Kenny Nguyen – all were 9-8.

Third round saw a battle of the giants – Chohan and Gomez. Roberto blistered Tony 9-3. DeLawder squeaked out a 9-8 win over Javier Alienes and Tokoph succumbed to Barcus 9-5.

The next round had Thorpe surviving Barcus 9-8 and in the fifth round, things tightened up. Espinosa could breathe more easily after downing Thorpe 9-8 as wily veteran Kiamco defeated young gun Martinez III 9-6. However, Gomez left Saez gasping for air as Roberto annihilated him 9-0 and Olson sent Price west with a 9-7 win.

Down to the final four on the winners side, Gomez beat Olson 9-6 while Kiamco coasted to a 9-2 victory over Espinosa.

The all-Filipino hot seat match was a battle until Gomez pulled away from Kiamco 9-5. Roberto moved into the finals and Warren went to the loss side to await an opponent.

Espinosa eliminated Saez 7-5 as did Olson over Martinez III 7-3. Fighting to stay alive, Justin and Danny fought hard but in the end, it was Olson who advanced to play Warren for the remaining finals slot – the score was 7-2.

Kiamco then eliminated Olson 7-4 to move into the finals for a rematch with Gomez. Olson finished in third place.

Looking for another title since the 2021 Buffalo’s Pro Classic 9 Ball and the Barry Behrman Memorial Open 9 Ball, Warren had his hands full with the current Music City Classic champ. Since this was true double elimination, Warren would have to win both sets to claim the title.

So, Warren was on his way! He defeated Roberto the first set 9-6 – one set for the title! However, it was not to be as Gomez won the final set 7-5 and claimed the tournament! Congratulations, Superman!

The $1,000 added Ladies Open had 39 players. They paid a $55 entry to play in this double elimination event. Also played on seven foot Diamonds and using Outsville’s Accu-Rack, the format was alternate breaks with races to 7/7.

Playing down to the final four on the winners side was Soledad Ayala, April Larson, Kim Pierce and Sofia Mast. Mast smoked Pierce 7-0 and Larson went down to the wire with Ayala 7-6. April and Sofia moved on to the hot seat match.

Sofia then skunked April 7-0 to lock up her spot in the finals. April headed west to see who emerged from the one loss side.

After losing her fourth round match, Ming Ng tore through the west side with wins over Michelle Abernathy 7-3, Ricki Casper 7-1, TreRenee Simpson 7-2, Robyn Petrosino 7-1 to face Ayala.

After losing her match in the third round, Tam Trinh edged out Brandi Scott 7-6, Larissa Almendarez 7-1, Jasmine Kienne 7-4 and Crystal Jones 7-1 to meet Pierce.

Tam & Ming then battled it out to see who would play April for the other berth in the finals. It was close but the always tough Ming took the match 7-5.

It wasn’t the first time these two met but in the end, it was April over Ming 7-4 leaving her in third place.

Again, as this was true double elimination, April had to defeat Sofia two sets to win the tournament. April won the first set 7-6 and then due to the late hour, she and Sofia decided to split. Congratulations to both!

PoolActionTV.com would again like to thank owners Mark Avery, Billy Sharp and Jim Henry and their staff for going the extra mile to take care of all the players and fans.

We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for an exemplary job running the various events.

In addition, we’d like to thank commentators Larry Schwartz, Jeremy Jones and Ray Hansen for another excellent job.

Finally, thanks go out to our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Lomax Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.

Our next event is the one many have looked forward to since the last ball dropped last year – the Eighth Annual $31,000 added Buffalo’s Pro Classic! Featuring One Ball One Pocket, Open 9 ball and the Pro One Pocket, the dates are May 23rd-28th. Hope to see you there!

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