Hunter White
Two former winners on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour squared off on Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 24-25) in the finals of the tour’s 6th Annual Turkey Bowl. Hunter White, who, as a junior player, won three events on the tour two years ago, went undefeated through a record field of 76 entrants (last year’s Turkey Bowl drew 66). White had to defeat Chase Smith twice, whose last appearance in a Q City 9-Ball winners’ circle occurred in September 2017. The $1,000-added event, which featured competitors from eight states (WI, MI, VA, TN, NC, SC, GA & FL) and Germany, was hosted by Steakhorse Restaurant & Billiards in Spartanburg, SC.
They met first in a winners’ side semifinal, as former BEF Junior Champion (14-and-under Boys, 2013) Sergio Rivas and Lauren Kauffman squared off in the other one. In their first of two, White and Smith battled to double hill before White finished it 7-5 (Smith racing to 6). Rivas joined White for the hot seat match, having shut Kauffman out. White claimed the hot seat in a double hill win over Rivas and waited for Smith to return.
On the loss side, Smith picked up Rob Hart, who’d defeated Mackie Lowery 5-4 (Lowery racing to 6) and Josh Long 5-2. Kauffman drew David Anderson, the winner of the very first stop on the tour, six years ago, who’d eliminated Michael Chapman 8-5 and another junior player, Cameron Lawhorne 8-1.
Anderson jumped right into the quarterfinals when Kauffman forfeited their match. He was joined by Smith, who’d downed Hart 6-1. With Anderson racing to 8 in the quarterfinal match, Smith defeated him 6-1 to face Rivas in the semifinals.
Rivas slipped a gear, so to speak, and managed to chalk up only one rack of the 10 he needed to win the semifinal. Smith, in the meantime, chalked up the six he needed for a re-match against White in the finals.
White and Smith fought a second double hill battle, with the same result. With Smith racing to 6 in the first of potentially two sets, White chalked up his seven racks first and claimed the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Dayne Miller and his Steakhorse staff, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Dec. 1-2), will be hosted by Speakeazy Billiards in Sanford, NC.
