Chen in Command at Billiard Tour Stop
Fast Eddie’s Olhausen 9-Ball Tour / Lubbock, TX
by Skip Maloney
Born in Taiwan, Jui Lung Chen may still be learning how to speak English, but he showed a field of 30 at Fast Eddie’s in Lubbock, TX, that he knew how to use english at a pool table. He knocked Gordon Van Der Veer over to the one-loss bracket with a 9-4 win early on the final day and then defeated him again in the final match 9-6 to capture the first-place prize on the Fast Eddie’s Olhausen 9-Ball Tour stop April 12-13.
As Chen was busy defeating Van Der Veer the first time Sunday, Robert Newkirk was sending Eric Aicimena to the one-loss side with a 9-5 win. Chen then bested Newkirk 9-5 to capture the hot seat. On the west side of the chart, Van Der Veer was staging a comeback and moved into the quarterfinal match against Pat Soto, whom he handily defeated 7-2. Newkirk, fresh off his loss to Chen, was all too willing to put up a fight against Van Der Veer in the semis but came out on the wrong end of a hill-hill battle. In the seesaw final match that saw Van Der Veer reach a 6-5 lead, Chen finally took command, winning the final four games and the top spot in the event.
Results:
1st Jui Lung Chen
2nd Gordon Van Der Veer
3rd Robert Newkirk
4th Pat Soto
5th Tommy Tokoph
Eric Aicemena
7th Jason Ussery
Robert Steuart