Fireworks for Poon and Rudder

Jul 10, 2014

Houston local Jonathan Poon took the Lone Star Tour amateur 9-ball division by storm this past weekend, July 5th-6th, at the Lone Star Billiards Tour “Firecracker” Event held at Bogies Billiards in Houston, Texas, sponsored by Poison by Predator Cues, Delta-13, Ozone Billiards, Improve Your Shot.com, and the APA of North Harris County.
The 46 amateur player field featured top contenders including Sonny Bosshamer who reached the hot seat effortlessly with wins over newcomer Bobby Comegys, 7-4, and Brian Rosenbaum, 7-2. Poon came close with wins over Jack Cavalier, 7-2, and Bob Hayes, 7-4, but lost his hot seat bid to Steve Williams. Williams’ run included wins over Kenny Lucio, 7-6, newcomer Ray Lambeth, 7-3, and finally Poon, 7-4. This pitted Williams and Bosshamer for the hot seat, sending Poon to the west side where his work was cut out for him. He made his way through Comegys, 5-2, and squeezed by Hayes, 5-4, while Bosshamer handily secured the winners’ side over Williams, 7-1. Williams fell to Poon in the semi-finals, 7-2, but earned himself a respectable third place and his highest finish to date. Bosshamer was chomping at the bit as Poon made his way to the final table. The finals were a fight to the bitter end as Poon secured the first set, 7-2. Overtime cranked up and Bosshamer came alive. The score was tied at 4 when Poon broke and ran out to secure his second Lone Star Tour amateur division title.
The open division saw 37 entries featuring the toughest around. Main attractions included Billy Sharp, Chase Rudder, Manny Chau, Danny Lee, Sylver Ochoa, and Ernesto Bayaua. Bobby Perez was a final four surprise, facing off with Sylver Ochoa, while Chau teed off with Rudder on the bottom side. After suffering a 9-7 loss to Rudder, Sharp made his way through the crowd with wins over Chuck Adams, 7-1, and Danny Lee, 7-1. After early round losses, Brian Rosenbaum and John Newsome crossed paths on the one loss side, the outcome favoring Rosenbaum, 7-6. On the east side, Ochoa ousted Perez, 9-4, while Rudder escaped Chau, 9-8. On the one loss side, Chau narrowly escaped Rosenbaum, 7-6, while Sharp eliminated Perez, 7-3. Hot seat action saw Rudder defeat Ochoa, 9-6, while Chau overwhelmed Sharp, 7-2. It was Ochoa over Chau, 7-5, staging a rematch with Rudder. Ochoa came out firing, quickly ending the first set, 9-2. Rudder maintained his position, answering back in the final set, 7-4.
Congratulations to Stephanie Verron and David Watson, the winning raffle ticket holders in this past weekend’s Poison cue raffle. Stephanie took home a Poison Bolt cue and David won a Poison VX Jump and a Poison VX Break/Jump cue. The next Lone Star Event will be the Lone Star Texas Open 9-Ball Warm-Up, August 23rd-24th at Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, Texas. For more information, please visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
Amateur Payouts
1st Jonathan Poon $500/$490
2nd Sonny Bosshamer $310/$300
3rd Steve Williams $190/$180
4th Bob Hayes $120/$90
5th-6th Bobby Comegys, Brian Rosenbaum $60/$40
7th-8th Yoko (William) Joe, Ray Lambeth $40 ea.
9th-12th Varun Raheja, Tony Scott, Will Felder, Bobby Perez $25 ea.
Jonathan Poon & Sonny Bosshamer
Open Payouts
1st Chase Rudder $500/$640
2nd Sylver Ochoa $350/$430
3rd Manny Chau $210/$280
4th Billy Sharp $145/$120
5th-6th Bobby Perez, Brian Rosenbaum $70/$70
7th-8th Danny Lee, John Newsome $40 ea.
Sylver Ochoa & Chase Rudder