About 14 years ago (Feb. 7-8, 2009), Florida’s Tony Pete recorded his first event victory with us here at AZBilliards. In a 75-entrant field on the Florida-based KF Cues Pool Tour, he was sent to the loss side and won five straight matches to face and defeat the competitor who’d sent him there, Mark Wathen, in a single match final. Pete won a second KF Cues Pool Tour event in March that year and then went into a protracted dry spell, until he finished as runner-up to Mike Davis, Jr. at the season opener of the Capital City Pool Tour in Cary, NC last year. This past weekend (Feb. 11-12), Pete chalked up his third recorded event victory and as he did 14 years ago to start his (recorded) pool career off, he came from the loss-side to do it. At a $250-added event on the PremierBilliards.com Q City 9-Ball Tour that drew 26 entrants to Bennie’s Billiards (formerly Buck’s Billiards) in Raleigh, NC, Pete won eight on the loss side and then double-dipped P.J. Schmidt to claim the event title.
Unlike 14 years ago, Pete did not complete his title run this time by downing the player who’d sent him to the loss side. The opportunity to vanquish an earlier opponent might have happened in the quarterfinals, but didn’t. The player that sent Pete over was Jason Rogers, who advanced beyond his victory over Pete to draw the tour’s 2022 tour champion, Larry Hughes, in one of the winners’ side semifinals. P.J. Schmidt squared off against Greg Taylor in the other one.
Schmidt downed Taylor 5-6 (Taylor racing to 8) and was joined in the hot seat match by Hughes, who’d sent Rogers off to a possible rematch against Pete 6-4. With Hughes racing to 6, Schmidt claimed the hot seat 5-4 and waited for Pete to complete his loss-side run.
With three loss-side wins behind him, Pete defeated Steve Page and Chris Petoletti, both 7-4, to draw Taylor. Rogers drew Justin Knuckles, who’d eliminated Charles Caudle 7-1 and Travis Shelton, double hill, to reach him. Pete got into the quarterfinals on the heels of a 7-2 win over Taylor, but Knuckles jumped right into those quarterfinals when Rogers forfeited.
Pete and Knuckles battled to double hill in those quarterfinals before Pete advanced to meet and defeat Hughes in the semifinals 7-2. Pete completed his title run with a 7-3 victory in the opening set of the true double elimination final and a 7-2 win in the second.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Bennie’s Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor PremierBilliards.com, Breaktime Billiards (Winston-Salem, NC), BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and TKO Custom Cues. The next stop on the PremierBilliards.com Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Feb. 18-19), will be a $250-added event, hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC. The following weekend (Feb. 25-26), the tour will host the $1,000-added NC State Open and the $250-added NC State Ladies Open at Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
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