Viking Tour Visits North Carolina
Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour / Raleigh, NC
by Rick Davis
The Viking 9-Ball Tour visited Babineau’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC, where 77 players threw their hat in the ring across three divisions offering four billiard events over the June 9-10 weekend.
In the open division tour regular and multi-time winner Leil Gay swept up taking the event undefeated. Gay met with another previous winner, Eddie Little, in the hot seat match but drilled him 7-1. On the one-loss side Mike Fuller shut out Peaches Fuller 7-0 in the quarterfinals then proceeded to eliminate Little 7-1 in the semifinals. Fuller started hot in the finals against Gay; however, at 5-3 Fuller missed a 7 ball that turned the tables and allowed Gay just the foothold he needed to comeback and take the match 7-5.
In the ladies’ division Melissa Goss followed suit of the open division and took the title undefeated as well. Goss faced Dawn Fox in the hot seat match and defeated her 5-3. Then, on the one-loss side, Stephanie Mitchell, a terror on several Southern tours, squeaked through the quarterfinals double-hill against Buffy Jolle then came through with the same score in the semifinals against Fox. Mitchell kept pace initially in the finals against Goss by taking the opening set 5-2; however, that made Goss turn up the heat, which she did by thrashing Mitchell 5-1 in the second set to claim the title.
In the juniors’ divisions many repeat players claimed additional wins, which meant that the qualifying spots would filter down. In the 19-and-under division Adam Davis took the title, but since he was already qualified the spot passed to Trey Sprye. In the 14-and-under division Corbin Coe came out on top but was also already qualified, and the spot went to Patrick Leonard. Coe and Davis each took away a Viking Cue valued at $400. Finally, the highest-finishing girl, Tiffany Gosse, claimed the final qualifying spot for the week. The BEF Junior Nationals will be here in July, so only a handful of chances remain for junior players to earn their spot.
Next, the Viking Tour visits Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA, where the ladies’ division includes a $1,000-added WPBA qualifier. Also of note for that weekend, because of new smoking laws that have changed the age limits for entering Mr. Cues II, the junior event for that weekend has been canceled. Check with the Viking Tour for a full list of upcoming event and additional information.
Open Results:
1st Leil Gay
2nd Mike Fuller
3rd Eddie Little
4th Peaches Fuller
5th Anthony Arney
Steve Lee
7th Mike Triplett
Dave Brown
Ladies’ Results:
1st Melissa Goss
2nd Stephanie Mitchell
3rd Dawn Fox
4th Buffy Jolle
5th Leslie Boulware
Tiffany Finnan
Junior Under 19 Results:
1st Adam Davis
2nd Trey Sprye
Junior Under 14 Results:
1st Corbin Coe
2nd Patrick Leonard