Fowler goes undefeated to claim last-minute stop on Q City 9-Ball Tour

Billy Fowler

Tour will move on to run 1^st tournament at new Breaktime Billiards in Clemmons, NC this weekend

The last (and only) time that Billy Fowler and Hunter Zayas were set to meet in the finals of a stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, they didn’t. At the time, the weekend before Thanksgiving in 2020 in that year’s Turkey Bowl, it was the 14-year-old Zayas sitting in the hot seat after downing Fowler in the hot seat match 6-6. Zayas had begun the match with four ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 10. Fowler then won his semifinal match, at which point the two of them opted out of a final, negotiated a split of the top two prizes and as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Zayas recorded his first ‘official’ tournament win in what remains as his best recorded earnings year to date.

Fast forward, five years to this past weekend (Sat., March 22) and another stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. Zayas is 18 now (birthday in Oct.) and his ‘beads on the wire’ have been reduced, while at the same time, so have the number of games that Fowler has to win in a match against him. They were scheduled to meet in the finals again and this time, they played the match; Zayas with two ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 9. Fowler had gone undefeated to the hot seat, won the final against Zayas and claimed title to the $250-added event that had drawn 32 entrants to Sticks & Stones Family Billiards and Grill in Rock Hill, SC.

Zayas, racing to 7 throughout, lost his second-round match, double hill, to Jon Jon Newman and won seven on the loss side to reach the finals. This time out, he was the one awarding ‘beads on the wire,’ to all but two of his opponents, Steven Ellis on the loss side and Fowler in the final. Newman moved on from his win over Zayas to a winners’ side semifinal versus Kris Brower, who’d opened with a 6-4 win over David Best and then, given up one rack each to Jeremy Wilson and JT McCammon. 

Fowler, who was the highest-ranked competitor in the tournament, was giving out ‘beads on the wire’ all over the place, but faced rather mild opposition until he reached the winners’ side semifinals. He opened against Jeff Young, who was awarded four ‘beads,’ and added three racks to pull within a game of double-hill. Fowler prevailed, then shut out Steve Gamble, who’d started the match ahead my a ‘beaded’ 5 racks. Fowler leapfrogged over his winners’ side quarterfinal when Brian Goodson forfeited and drew David Honeycutt in the other winners’ side semifinal.

Kris Brower showed up to the hot seat match with an aggregate game score of 24-6, aided and abetted by his shutout of Jon Jon Newman in their winners’ side semifinal. Fowler ran into his first (and as it turned out, only) double-hill battle in his match against Honeycutt. Fowler dropped the last 9-ball to face Brower. With three ‘beads’ on the wire in a race to 9, Brower was sent to the loss side 9-3 by Fowler.

Zayas had already won four in a loss-side row when he drew a rematch against Newman. Zayas had most recently eliminated Steven Ellis 7-6 (Ellis racing to 8) and Jeremy Wilson 7-1. Honeycutt came over and drew Blade Best, who’d lost his winners’ side quarterfinal to Newman and defeated Jason Draper 6-1 and Onyx Stinson 6-4.

Zayas won the rematch against Newman 7-2, while Best chalked up his third loss-side win 6-2 over Honeycutt. Zayas downed Best 7-4 in the quarterfinals that followed and then gave up just two racks to Brower in the semifinals.

So the rematch was on, finally, four years and four months after they’d split the top two prizes at a Q City 9-Ball Turkey Bowl about 120 miles away at Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC. Zayas could have used a few more than his two ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 9 against Fowler. Fowler restricted him to three racks and claimed the event title.

Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Stixx & Stones, who facilitated a last-minute request to host the event. He also thanked sponsors BarPoolTables.net, Break Time (Clemmons), TKO Custom Cues, Realty Group One Results, CHC Undeground, Digitalpool.com, Dirty South Grind Apparel, Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division and AZBilliards.

Sundeep Makhani, who owned a Breaktime Billiards room in Winston-Salem, NC is retaining the name, but as of today (Friday, March 28) has changed the location to Clemmons, NC, about five miles away. It opened today and beginning around noon tomorrow (Sat., March 29), will be hosting its first tournament, the next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. The new facility features 14, 9 ft. Diamonds and 14, 7 ft. Diamonds, with tentative plans to install a snooker table and possibly a three-cushion table. The menu is reportedly undergoing a few changes, broadening its culinary scope. Hunter Zayas, along with fellow junior competitors Joey Tate, (possibly) Landon Hollingsworth will be there, along with a host of other Q City 9-Ball regulars.

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