Skyler Woodward
Over Labor Day weekend, and more precisely, at about 4 a.m., Eastern time, on Tuesday morning, Skyler Woodward snatched the 42nd Annual Texas Open title out of its defending champion, Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant's hands. But not, as was expected, without a fight. The $7,000-added event drew a full field of 128 entrants to Skinny Bob's Billiards in Round Rock, TX. In a concurrently-run, $2,000-added Ladies event that drew 32 (see separate story), the Texas Tornado (Vivian Villareal) chalked up her third straight Texas Open title.
For the male event, early weekend talk at Skinny Bob's and in the chat rooms of PoolAction TV, which live-streamed the event throughout the weekend, centered on Mexico's Ruben Bautista. Bautista, who got by (among others) Richie Richeson, John Gabriel and Alex Olinger, was fulfilling some of those expectations, all the way through until early afternoon on Labor Day, when he ran into the Hillbilly in a winners' side semifinal. In the other semifinal, Woodward, in the meantime, met up with Robb Saez, who, on his way, had sent three-time Texas Open champion ('94, '02, '03) Jeremy Jones to the loss side and was showing some grit. It's safe to say, if not meticulously researched and proven, that a good percentage of figurative and literal money invested into predicting the winner of this event, had just these four squaring off as they did in the winners' side semifinals.
Woodward dispatched Saez to the loss side 9-5, as Bryant took care of Bautista 9-3. In a surprisingly good-natured hot seat match (Woodward and Bryant can each be feisty at times), Woodward dominated 9-2.
Lurking on the loss side, as Saez and Bautista slid over, were (among others) Jones, Olinger, Joey Gray, Jonathan Pinegar and Justin Bergman, who, after being sent to the loss side by Woodward in the third round, was working on what turned out to be a seven-match, loss-side run. Wins #5 and #6 came at the expense of Jundel Mazon 9-2 and Pinegar 9-5, which set Bergman up against Bautista. Saez drew Gray, who'd eliminated Olinger 9-4 and Brian Sanders 9-5.
In two polar-opposite matches battling for advancement to the quarterfinals, Saez drew the 'double hill' card that finished Gray's weekend. In a somewhat surprising turn of events (though not to everyone), Bergman shut Bautista out. Following that victory, very few would have predicted the double hill quarterfinal that followed, and at a guess, it would have been even money for the result, that was 9-8, Saez.
The semifinal between Bryant and Saez (who won this event, four years ago) was a re-match from last year's final, at which, on the hill and shooting at the 9-ball, Saez scratched, giving Bryant, in the hot seat, the opportunity to tie and then, break and run, to capture the 2014 title. In the steady, and not overly dramatic re-match, Bryant defeated Saez 9-5 for a second, and potentially necessary third shot at Woodward.
It looked, in the early going of the opening set, as if Bryant was going to cruise to a second set. Woodward, who won the lag, was looking at a separate, private payout of $500 if he could break and run the set; a bargain that fell apart on his opening break, when he sunk a single ball, but couldn't see the 1-ball. He rolled out, launching a series of back and forth safety shots that made it look as though it were going to be a longer night than it actually was. Woodward untangled the safety mess by sinking the 4-ball, but he scratched, turning the table over to Bryant, who promptly ran out, and then (winner breaks), chalked up four more in a row, the last of which saw Woodward scratch again, shooting at the 5-ball.
Skyler regrouped to win the sixth rack, but it looked to be a temporary reprieve, when, in the seventh rack, Woodward completely missed a shot that gave Bryant ball in hand. Bryant, though, joined the 'scratch' parade and gave the table back to Woodward, who finished that rack and chalked up three break and runs to tie things at 5-5.
Skyler took his first lead at 6-5. Bryant promptly tied it up and added three more to force a second set.
Things started a little slower in the second set, with the two trading racks to a 2-2 tie. It was at this point, that in the words of assistant tournament director, and competitor (17th) John Palmore, Woodward "caught a gear," chalking up six straight to reach the hill ahead, way ahead of Bryant. And then, it was Bryant's turn. With the sword of defeat hanging over his head, Bryant chalked up four in a row, which, but for a single shot at the 9-ball, could have been five in a row.
It was, as they say, too little, too late. Woodward closed it out by the same score he'd been defeated by in the first set - 9-6 - to become the second youngest player to win the 42-year-old tournament (by a matter of months, the youngest was Sylver Ochoa; 2007).
A final note: Many of the details in this report would not have been possible, had it not been for the as-always professional live stream, offered by Ray "Big Truck" Hansen and his PoolActionTV crew, along with continually-updated, online brackets and regular, graciously-offered conversations with assistant TD and competitor John Palmore.
