Billy Dyke, Charlie Bryant and TJ Davis
The APA rich Temple area turned out several strong players for the 2 day All Star Tournament Series 10 Ball Event at the Green Room in Temple, Texas which happened to fall on the same weekend as an APA qualifier in the area. Even though the field was a little thin, the $500 added event was not lacking in action or upsets. With players such as Doug Young, David “LD” Henson, Ray “Big Truck” Hansen and Cesar Garcia as well as out-of-towners TJ Davis and Billy Dyke, the main event field provided for some tough matches.
Out of the box, it was Billy Dyke and Doug Young dominating the field. With Billy's 9-3, 9-2, 9-4 and 9-2 match wins, he was blazing a trail to the hot seat match. Doug Young's no less impressive run included a 9-2 first round match, a 9-5 victory over TJ Davis and a 9-7 victory over Brian Hickman, sending him to meet up with Billy. In a close match, it was Billy Davis taking the winner side with a 9-7 win, sending Doug to the one-loss side to wait.
Joe Mack, Brian Hickman, David Henson, Ray Hanson and Matt Jarolik took a few early victories each only to end up the loss side and having to fight their way into the money. The tough-luck awards for this event go to Waco player Cesar Garcia as well as Ricardo Espinosa who after suffering first round losses, valiantly fought their way back through the west side only to finish one round out of the money. Better luck next time guys.
TJ Davis, after being forced to take the long road by Doug Young, defeated Ray Hansen 9-7, Brian Hickman 9-6 and Joe Mack 9-6 before coming back around to Doug. This time, it was TJ who took the match 9-4, moving on to the finals. In a true double elimination final, TJ Davis, with un-matched determination, defeated Billy Davis 9-4 and then 9-6 to take his place as Event Champion.
The Ladies field, which was a late addition to the event, drew players such as Austin's own Kim Pierce, Houston player Heather Bryant, locals Christy Grigsby and Tabitha Lewis as well as Waco's Kim Brown, Michaela Carpenter and Cathy Jo Almanza.
It was the Kim Pierce show from the first round. Punishing the competition with dominating wins, it was an undefeated straight shot to the top of the winner side. In the first round, she defeated the ever-learning Tabitha Lewis 7-1 and it was almost a repeat performance every round after. Cathy Jo Almanza, with her smart and confident play, worked her way through the field to meet Kim in the Hot Seat match only to be sent to the one-loss side. Heather Bryant and Kim Nguyen, after losing their first round matches, fought back through to face each other for fourth place. It was a 5-1 victory that would send Kim to meet Cathy Jo, who had been waiting patiently for the chance to play Ms. Pierce again.
Kim Nguyen, in a 5-3 upset, denied Cathy her redemption. In a Kim v. Kim final match, it was Kim Pierce who took the set and the event, making her the very first All Star Tournament Series Ladies Event Champion and having Kim Nguyen settle for second after a long hard fight.
The All Star Tournament Series would like to congratulate all the players who finished in the money and would also like to thank The Green Room for hosting the event as well as Christy Grigsby for her assistance with the event. She was awarded a paid entry into the ladies event for her help. Of course, we would like to thank our sponsor, Lucasi Hybrid Cues and Dreamline Promotions for their efforts. Our next event is December 4-5 at White Diamond Billiards in Lafayette, LA. It is a great room with many local players planning to attend. Don't miss out!
