Houston Open Has All-Houston Final!

Houston Open Has All-Houston Final!Hillbilly Wins His Second Houston Open Title By Bill FullerCharlie Bryant won his second Houston Open with a hill-hill victory over current U.S. Open champion Jeremy Jones 7-6. With both players living in the Houston, it made this an all-Houston , Houston Open final. One hundred and twenty-two players from all around the country came to play. With top picks Cliff Joyner, Charlie Bryant, Jeremy Jones, Gabe Owen, and Marco Marquez just to name a few and with the total prize fund at $37,175, it got hot in Houston. By Sunday the Open was down to 32 players, with many of the top picks already in the one-loss bracket or driving home. By the afternoon the Open came down to the big money matches. Jones defeated Bryant 9-5 and Barry Emerson defeated Rick Stanley 9-8 in the semifinals of the winners' bracket, setting up another round of exciting matches. Bryant went on to defeat Franco 7-6, while David Henson bested Rick Stanley 7-4. In the quarterfinals, Bryant sent Henson packing 7-5 and then eliminated Emerson 7-4 in the semis, going on to meet Jones in the final match.
The finals were a true double-elimination format with the first set a race to 9 and the second a race to 7. Bryant came out on fire in the first set, taking it 9-5 to force the final race to 7. In the second set, there was a lot of excellent play, with both players breaking and running out when they had an out. Tied 4-all, Bryant gave Jones ball in hand after a foul and watched him take not only that rack but the following one to reach the hill 6-4. However, Bryant had his chances and tied up the match again, making it a hill-hill finals. Jones came up empty on the break, and with a perfectly executed 2-9 back-cut carom, Bryant won the final game to earn his second Houston Open title.Congratulations to Charlie Bryant for a tough win. We would like to thank Legends Billiards for hosting such a great event. They really did a great job handling the crowd of players and spectators. Special thanks goes out to Mindy and Craig Cohen, owners of Legends Billiards, along with tournament directors Denis and Trisha Strickland for all their hard work. Also JD Hymel for his help Sunday with the charts. Much thanks goes out to Amanda Ramirez for running the break contest, which paid out over $1,600 with Charlie Bryant winning the pot on Saturday and Charlie Mora winning the Sunday pot. Our vendors were Ron Geyer with The Custom Cue Connection, Joe Salazar with the Connoisseur of Custom Cues, and Jerry Olivier with Jerry Olivier Custom Cues.Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the sport of billiards and pool.

Pool Balls and Billiard Balls at LOW PRICES!!!

About the Author:
Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.