Chavez Burns Competition in Viking Event

By Bill Rosenberger

Ignacio Chavez didn't just win the Viking Cue 9-Ball Open tournament o­n November 13-14, he took the 48-player field by storm and blazed through the competition to win at Gametime-Riptide in Greenville, SC. 

The host venue added $2,000, and tournament director Mike Janis was extremely happy with the large field that included players from 12 different states.  There were also five former Viking Tour winners, five ladies, and four juniors included in the brackets.  Chavez, though, shrugged off the competition and took it o­ne match at a time. 

Chavez earned a spot in the hot seat mach with wins over Marcus Henley, Brian White, Jeff Bumgarner, Mike Stewart, and Tony Watson.  Columbia, GA, native Joe Rossman also emerged to the hot seat match with wins over Brian Butler; Mike Gulyassi; and InsidePOOL Magazine's November Player of the Month, B.J. Ussery. However, Chavez made sure that Rossman's impressive win over Ussery was his last, as he dominated the match 7-2. 

Watson, who was waiting for Rossman in the semifinals, had ousted Butler and Ussery to earn his shot at the finals.  Watson, though, wasn't satisfied with just knocking out Ussery, as he took care of Rossman 7-3.

The finals pitted Rossman and Chavez, but the hot hand was still Chavez.  Watson took the first game for an early lead, but he didn't have many opportunities to go o­n the offensive after that, as Chavez took seven straight racks to earn the 7-1 victory.
 
Results:
1st Ignacio Chavez $1,850
2nd Tony Watson $1,100
3rd Joe Rossman $700
4th BJ Ussery $425
5th Brian White, Brian Butler $200
7th Nikki Hollingsworth, Brian Capps $100
9th Mike Bumgarner, Mike Stewart, Jeff Abernathy, Scott Rabon $50