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BJ Ussery
Since he began 2020 with a 5th/6th place finish (tied with
John Gabriel) behind Sky Woodward,
Dennis Orcollo, Jeffrey DeLuna and
Josh Roberts at the Music City Classic’s Open event in January,
BJ Ussery has been on a roll, albeit one that’s stumbled a bit thanks to the pandemic. Though he would finish as runner-up in a Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball event in early February, winning the opening set of a true double elimination final to
Billy Walker, but dropping the title-winning second set, Ussery went on to win his next three; the VA State 10-Ball Championships, and two stops on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, including last week’s (June 13-14) 1st Annual
Brian James Memorial. He made it four in a row with a second straight ‘asterisk’ victory this past weekend (June 20-21). Ussery and
Mike Bumgarner (who’d won the June 6-7 stop on the tour at the same location) opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Ussery claimed the official win. The event drew 39 entrants to Randolph’s Billiards in Hickory, NC.
Their first and only encounter, battling for the hot seat, followed a 7-1 victory for Bumgarner over
Sammy Manley and a 12-5 win for Ussery versus
Graham Swinson. Ussery took what proved to be the title match 12-2 over Bumgarner and sat in the hot seat.
On the loss side, Manley picked up
Matt Harrell, who’d defeated
Matt Lucas 7-2 and
Stevie McClinton 7-4 to reach him. Swinson drew
Hunter Zayas, who’d recently eliminated Cameron Hollingsworth (elder half-brother to junior player
Landon Hollingsworth) 5-2.
In the first money round, battling for 5th/6th, Manley and Swinson got right back to work and advanced to the quarterfinals; Manley, with a double hill win (5-6) over Harrell and Swinson 7-3 over Zayas. Swinson then downed Manley 7-2 in those quarterfinals.
In what was the final match of the day on Sunday (an Open event, which was scheduled for Sunday, did not materialize), Bumgarner foiled Swinson’s hope for a rematch against Ussery with a 7-5 victory in the semifinals. Ussery and Bumgarner negotiated their split of the top two prizes, with Ussery claiming the official event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Randolph Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards, and Tickler Pool Ball Washing Machine, Skyline Construction, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and Dirty South Grind Apparel Co. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (June 27-28) will be hosted by Pal’s Billiards in Piedmont, SC.
