Last year fell a little short of being Winston-Salem, NC’s Niko Konkel’s best recorded earnings year with us here at AZBilliards. At the age of 14, he recorded his first cash payout with us (two of them, actually) in 2021 and the following year, won his first regional tour title on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. It was his last recorded payout of that year (’22), which became and still is, his best recorded earnings year. This past weekend (Sat., July 11), Konkel travelled to Bristol, TN to compete in the 7th Annual Brian James Memorial, held under the auspices of the Q City 9-Ball Tour at the Brunswick Borderline Billiards Arena.
The 19-year-old had been dealing with family health issues recently and having stepped away from the tables to spend time with the family since he’d last recorded a cash payout in June of ’25, he came in search of his first victory on the tour since he’d won it in ’22. He found that victory, going undefeated to win the event that had drawn a short field of 19 entrants to Janet Atwell’s room on the borderline between Tennessee and Virginia. He and eventual runner-up Scott Largen were both looking to record their second win on the Q City 9-Ball Tour.
Giving up ‘beads on the wire’ in all but one match in the tournament, Konkel was racing to 8 throughout. He opened with a win over Travis Guerra 8-2 (Geurra racing to 5) and then played what proved to be his only straight-up-to-8 match versus a friend, Reid Vance, whom he defeated 8-5. Konkel drew Janet Atwell in one of the winners’ side semifinals…