Junior International 9-Ball Stop 8
Martinez & Mast Win 13 & Under Stop #8 On JIC And
Championships At Wolf’s Den In Roanoke It was made abundantly clear on the final weekend of competition for the Junior International Championships’ two 13 & Under divisions (boys and girls) that the competitors were reluctant to finish competing.
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he weekend, which began on Friday, Sept. 17 at Wolf’s Den in Roanoke, VA was to have been a Championship event for the 13 & Under divisions, for which its players had already qualified. The competitors decided that not only did they want to hold the scheduled Championship event, they also wanted, while they were there anyway, to compete in an 8thregular event. So they did both. On Friday and Sunday, the two divisions competed in the 8th event of the JIC series, and on Saturday, they held their Championship event. Stop # 8 of the JIC series drew 14 boys and 10 girls to their respective 13 & Under divisions. The 13 & Under Championships drew 10 boys and 9 girls. And just to keep everybody busy, the weekend also included Stop # 8 for the 18 & Under Boys (39 entrants) and Girls (14 entrants) and the ProAm Division (32 entrants). The 18 & Under Boys and Girls will play their Championship event at the tail end of the 2021 International Open next month (October 28-30 at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, VA), while the top three competitors from the final rankings of the ProAm division, who were awarded entry fees, will be competing in the 9-ball Open. There were to have been only two ProAm competitors who qualified for entry to the International Open, but a
50 | Billiards Buzz • October 2021
tie for second place led to three who qualified – Joey Tate, Landon Hollingsworth and Nathan Childress. A report on the final stop for the two 18 & Under and ProAm divisions will appear separately. Stop # 8 of the 13 & Under divisions were won by undefeated performances from Gabriel Martinez and Sofia Mast. It was Martinez’ third win of the
Gabriel Martinez
series, having won in March and June. Before he finished the 8th stop, he would compete and go undefeated in the 13 & Under Boys Championship, as well (more on this later). It was Mast’s 5th win in the division, having finished as runner-up in Stops #2, #4 and #5. Martinez went through Julian Scruggs and Eddie Vondereau to arrive at a
