Another Big Viking Billiard Tour Weekend Completes
Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour / Raleigh, NC
by Rick Davis
Over the April 21-22 weekend the Viking Cues 9-Ball Tour had its latest trio of events, offering an open, amateur, and junior division at Play to Win Billiards in Raleigh, NC. In the open division, tour regular Sam Monday went undefeated while Tony Williams did the same in the amateur field. Over in the junior action, four national qualification spots were awarded, although it was Josh Newman who cleared the chart to claim the event.
The open division brought in the heaviest guns—among them were Monday and tour regular, Leil Gay, who made their way to the hot seat match. After a double-hill showdown Monday pulled through to advance to the finals. On the one-loss side room owner Robert Ray ousted Chris Vollmar 9-5, while David Brown eliminated Mike Newsome by the same margin. Next, the quarterfinals crept along until finally Ray defeated Brown double-hill then proceeded to the semifinals where he eliminated Gay 9-6 to complete his comeback and visit the finals. In the finals Ray started in a high gear taking the first set 9-7, keeping a lead the whole way, but in the second set, with the score at 5-all, Monday proved why he was king of the hill and came back to defeat Ray 9-5 and win the event.
Taking place concurrently was the amateur event, where Williams and tournament director Mike Janis fought in the hot seat match, with Williams claiming victory after the 7-5 finish. Over on the one-loss side Josh Medlin knocked out Dan Saunders 7-5, while Larry Cheek eliminated Dale Ving double-hill. Racing to the finals, Cheek eliminated Medlin 7-6, while the incoming Janis knocked out Cheek 7-5 for a rematch against Williams. In the finals Williams quickly shut Janis down and, with little opposition, took the match 7-0 to earn the top finish.
The final few rounds of the junior event were a family affair as Brent and Josh Newman met in the hot seat match, with Brent slipping by his brother double-hill. On the one-loss side Tony Sprye eliminated the third Newman brother, Jonathan, 5-3, and Ian Holt knocked out Jackson Jeffreys 5-1. Holt then blazed through Sprye 5-0 in the quarterfinals but was stopped dead in the semifinals by Josh Newman’s double-hill victory. Josh quickly headed back to face his brother and in no time took the first set 5-1 and the final set 5-3 to claim the event through a great comeback.
Brent Newman and Ian Holt received a Junior Nationals qualification for the 19-and-under bracket, while Jonathan Newman and Jackson Jeffreys qualified for the 14-and-under bracket. Josh Newman had previously qualified; therefore, the spot went to the next player in the bracket.
Next, the Viking Cues 9-Ball Tour will have a historic weekend as they offer their first event in the state of Texas. All three divisions will be run in Richardson, TX, at The Billiards Den. Finally, the Viking Tour has begun to randomly award one free entry to the nationals each week and this past week’s winner was Dan Saunders.
Open Results:
1st Sam Monday
2nd Robert Ray
3rd Leil Gay
4th David Brown
5th Chris Vollmar
Mike Newsome
Amateur Results:
1st Tony Williams
2nd Mike Janis
3rd Larry Cheek
4th Josh Medlin
5th Dale Ving
Dan Saunders
Junior Results:
1st Josh Newman
2nd Brent Newman
3rd Ian Holt
4th Tony Sprye
5th Jonathan Newman
Dale Zing
7th Joshua Fuller
Jackson Jeffreys
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