By Mary Kenniston
For several years now, Round Rock, TX has been the Labor Day Weekend destination of choice for pool players near and far. At this year’s Texas Open, hosted by Skinny Bob’s Billiards, players and fans were treated to four different events plus an opening night 9 ball mini-tournament. When the smoke cleared in the mini, it was the father-son duo of Ernesto and Oscar Dominguez who split the cash.
Next up was the 9 Ball Ring Game. Thirty two players entered the fray with Chip Compton and Edgie Geronimo being the last two standing. They duked it out with Chip taking down the $1140 first place money.
Eighteen teams were entered in this year’s Jack n’ Jill Scotch Doubles event. The final match saw James Davis Sr and Jennifer Kraber defeat Jay and Belinda Calhoun 7-2 to take this year’s title and $1820 cash prize.
The Women’s Division had a 32 player field. After many matches, Belinda Calhoun and Ricki Casper battled for the hot seat. Neck and neck all the way, Ricki emerged the victor 7-6 and claimed her spot in the finals. Belinda was sent to the west side to await the victor of the Helen Hayes-Chris Fields match. Leaving Helen in fourth place, Chris survived to play Belinda for the other berth in the finals.
This time it was all Chris as she defeated Belinda 7-1 to claim the spot. Advancing to the finals, Ricki defeated Chris 7-5 to pick up $2080 in cash and becoming this year’s Women’s Texas Open Champ!
The Open Division had a full 128 player field. The field was whittled down to 32 players when a second auction and redraw were held. Canadian champ John Morra and defending champ Sky Woodward were the finalists for the hot seat match. John led for most of the match until Sky closed it out 9-5 and again, claiming his spot in the finals.
John went west to await the outcome of the Manny Chau-Brandon Shuff match. Brandon squeaked out a victory leaving Manny with a very respectable fourth place finish. John, living up to his nickname, Mr Smooth, played solid pool and defeated Brandon – forcing him to settle for a third place finish.
Since the Texas Open is true double elimination, John would have to defeat Sky twice to win the tournament. The first set was all John as he played nearly perfectly and led 7-0. Finally, Sky slid a bead over to his side and then it was all Sky as the match progressed to 7-4 when the players took a break. The following game was taken by John – putting him on the hill. Sky won the next but scratched on the break, leaving John with a fairly simple runout & forcing a second set. Final score - 9-5.
The second set began with each player notching wins until the middle of the match. After a pair of uncharacteristic errors by Sky, John pulled away until he reached the hill 8-5. Needing one game to win the tournament, he made a ball on the break and methodically ran the balls to claim his first Texas Open title and $20,600 cash!
Congratulations to John Morra and Ricki Casper for becoming the 2016 Texas Open Champs! Great tournament, Sky & Chris!
And, thanks again to everyone at Skinny Bob’s for, as usual, a first class event! And, as always, PoolActionTV would like to thank our sponsors! Our main sponsors include Hanshew Custom Cues, Sanders Roofing, Kamui, Club Billiards in Wichita, KS and Kamikaze Tips. Special mention goes out to Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Durbin Custom Cues and GoPlayPool.com.
Thanks to Terry Hanna and all our fans! Next, we’ll be heading to the Four Bears 8 Ball Classic in New Town, ND – September 15-18th. Hope to see you there!!!
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