Corr and Ferrell Crowned Music City Champs
Music City 9-Ball Open / JOB Billiards, Madison, TN
by InsidePOOL Staff
The Music City 9-Ball Open crowned two new winners January 17, with Karen Corr winning the ladies’ division over Amy Chen, and Sparky Ferrell taking top honors in the open division over Jesse Bowman. The event was hosted by JOB Billiards in Madison, TN, with 29 ladies participating and 109 players in the open event.
Corr went undefeated through the ladies’ division, only giving up a total of eight racks to capture the title. After winning over Paulette Spauling 7-2 and Sonya Chbeeb 7-1, Corr whitewashed her next two opponents, Kristan Tidwell and Amanda Townsend. In the hot seat match she bested Chen the first time 7-3, sending her to the one-loss side of the chart.
Kim Jones swept past Tina Hess 7-5, while Grace Babcock eliminated Townsend 7-5. Jones and Townsend tied for fifth place. Babcock went on to oust Jones in the quarterfinals but was shut down by Chen in the semifinals 7-5. Chen earned her rematch with Corr but with the same results—Corr defeated her 7-3, winning the title.
Defending champion Johnathan “Hennessee” Pinegar was ousted at 17th place after a second-round loss to Matt Beckwith 11-4 and then a later loss to Shane McMinn 11-9. But he rallied for Saturday night’s Midnight Madness, a winner-takes-all mini tournament. In the eight-player event, Pinegar came out on top. Other competitors included Gabe Owen, Keith Bennett, Bobby Pickle, and Jesse Bowman.
Ferrell also went unscathed through the event, sending opponent after opponent to the west side of the chart on his trek to the finals. He bested John Gatton 11-3, Bobby Pickle 11-6, Tab Pranee 11-4, Mike Dunklin 11-7, John Gabriel 11-6, and Josh O’Neil 11-5 to reach the hot seat match. There he faced off against Jesse Bowman. After a first-round bye, Bowman had bested Dale Lorenz 11-9, Tommy Hampton 11-3, Shane McMinn 11-8, Tommy D’Alfonse 11-2, and Manny Chau 11-10.
View the Music City Open Tournament Brackets (opens in a new window)
View the Women’s Music City Tournament Brackets (opens in a new window)
The hot seat was a close contest, but Ferrell prevailed 11-8, sending Bowman to the left side to try his luck. There he met Gabriel, who had fought through the one-loss side after his loss to Ferrell earlier. After four west-side matches, three of which went hill-hill, Gabriel’s stamina ran out, and Bowman was able to earn a rematch with Ferrell 11-9. The final match was neck and neck, but Ferrell eked out the 11-9 victory.
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Corr and Ferrell claimed the top prize at the 22nd Annual Music City 9-Ball Open hosted by JOB Billiards Club in Madison, TN.
Women’s Results:
1st Karen Corr
2nd Amy Chen
3rd Grace Babcock
4th Kim Jones
5th Tina Hess
Amanda Townsend
7th Michelle Dunn
Amy Williams
9th Becky Todd
Kristan Tidwell
Val Harris
Sonya Chbeeb
Open Results:
1st Sparky Ferrell $2,860
2nd Jesse Bowman $1,715
3rd John Gabriel $1,145
4th Tommy D’Alfonse $760
5th Manny Chau $490
Josh O’Neil
7th Gabe Owen $285
Claude Marrier
9th Shane McMinn $200
Keith Bennett
Shane Winters
Matt Beckwith
13th John McCloud $145
Nicholas Hickerson
Mike Laney
Gabe Apollos
17th Johnathan Pinegar $90
Mike Bennett
Royce Morton
Tab Pranee
Mike Dunklin
Chad Vilmont
Dallas Bilbrey
Jerry Clayman