Jesus Atencio Wins the 2026 Beasley Open 9-Ball in Raleigh: A Matchroom Tour Stop in North Carolina

Pool fans on the East Coast did not have to travel far for a real Matchroom World Nineball Tour ranking event this April. The 2026 Beasley Open ran from April 14 through 19 at Brass Tap and Billiards in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Venezuelan ace Jesus Atencio walked out of the field as the 9-Ball Division champion. For Quarter King Billiards customers in the Carolinas, watching a tour-level event happen in their own backyard is a reminder of how quickly the regional tournament scene has matured.

What Happened in Raleigh

The 9-Ball Division at Brass Tap drew a stacked international field competing for ranking points on the World Nineball Tour, the global circuit that funnels into events like the World Pool Championship and the European Open. Atencio came through the bracket without giving up much, leaning on the same patient table presence that has put him in late-round matches throughout 2025 and into this season. While the spotlight stayed on the 9-Ball trophy, the One Pocket bracket also crowned a name worth remembering, with Roberto “Superman” Gomez of the Philippines taking that title over Billy Thorpe.

What makes the Beasley Open important is not just the prize money. It is one of the few American stops on the World Nineball Tour calendar, and that means qualification opportunities for players who otherwise would need to travel overseas to chase tour points. For local league players in North Carolina, getting to watch a Matchroom-sanctioned event in person without a plane ticket is a rare opportunity.

Why Jesus Atencio’s Game Translates Across Cues

Atencio is part of a Venezuelan generation that grew up grinding rotation games, and his style favors precise position over heavy spin. That kind of game lives or dies on cue ball accuracy, which is why touring pros gravitate toward setups that prioritize low deflection, a stable joint, and a tip that grips chalk consistently over a long match. Most of the players who reached the late stages in Raleigh were running carbon fiber or low-deflection maple shafts paired with a serious production butt.

Quarter King Billiards stocks the same families of cues that show up in tournaments like the Beasley Open. Pro-level Predator cues dominate the World Nineball Tour, but you also see McDermott, Mezz, and Pechauer butts cradled by serious 9-ball players who care about the front-end mechanics as much as the brand on the wrap.

Equipment That Matches a Tournament Workload

The Predator Throne 3 Series

If you have spent any time watching Matchroom telecasts, you have seen the Throne series in players’ hands. The Predator Throne3 2 Pool Cue is a strong example of what a modern pro setup looks like, with Predator’s joint geometry and an aggressive points layout that still feels balanced over a long session. The Throne family is built for players who never want to think about whether their cue is moving the ball where they aimed it.

The McDermott GS Lineup

Across the pond, you see plenty of McDermott in American 9-ball rooms. The McDermott GS02 Cue sits in a sweet spot for players who want a tournament-ready production butt without crossing the four-figure mark. The GS family is also a popular base for swapping in performance shafts, which lets a serious league player move toward the same low-deflection feel a touring pro uses.

The Mezz ZZ Series

Mezz has quietly become one of the most respected names in pro 9-ball over the last decade, especially among Asian and Pacific players. The Mezz ZZAS31 Pool Cue is a great way to feel why so many touring pros switched to Mezz once they tried one. The hit is firm without being harsh, the joint is stable, and the cue holds its shape over a long swing.

The Pechauer S Series

For players who want a Wisconsin-built cue with classic feel and a price you can justify, the Pechauer JP05S Pool Cue from the S Series is a workhorse. The speed joint and Irish linen wrap make it comfortable through a five hour session, and Pechauer’s reputation among American touring players speaks for itself.

The North Carolina Pool Story Just Got Bigger

For a long time, ranking events on the World Nineball Tour were almost exclusively European. Bringing a stop to Raleigh changes that math. North Carolina has a deep amateur tradition through the APA and BCA leagues, plus a strong regional tournament scene through promoters like Brass Tap. Now the players in those leagues can watch a tour event without leaving the state, and the event itself can scout local talent that might never get noticed in a European-heavy schedule.

Jesus Atencio winning in Raleigh is also a reminder of how international pool has become. Venezuela has produced strong rotation players for years, but Matchroom’s tour structure gives them a clearer path to ranking points and televised matches than the old patchwork of independent events ever did. Expect more international players to make the trip to American Matchroom stops in 2026 and 2027.

What League and Regional Players Should Take Away

If you watched any of the streamed matches from the Beasley Open, the lesson is not that the winners had magic equipment. It is that they had equipment they trusted completely, and they had hit thousands of position shots with that exact setup. A new cue does not turn a B player into a B plus player overnight, but the right cue removes a category of doubt from your match game. When you are down on the shot at five to four in a race to seven, the last thing you want is to wonder whether your shaft is going to throw the ball.

That is why so many serious league players invest in a single tournament-grade cue and stick with it for years. Whether that ends up being a McDermott GS, a Pechauer S Series, a Mezz ZZ, or a Predator Throne is a matter of taste and budget. Quarter King Billiards carries the full lineups so you can compare in your own hand instead of guessing from internet reviews.

If you are still building toward a tournament-grade cue, browse our full pool cues selection to see what fits your stroke and your wallet. Buying once and keeping a cue for ten years is a much better play than rotating through three or four budget cues looking for the right feel.

What Brass Tap Means for Carolina Pool

Brass Tap and Billiards has built itself into one of the strongest tournament rooms on the East Coast. The venue regularly hosts independent events, regional tour stops, and one pocket action, and it has the staff and the table count to support a full Matchroom production. That kind of infrastructure does not appear out of nowhere. It comes from years of investment by the room owner, the local promoter team, and the regional sponsors who keep events funded between the marquee dates.

For pool players who live in Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Charlotte, or anywhere else in the Carolinas, an event like the Beasley Open is also a free clinic. Watching a player like Jesus Atencio choose patterns, manage rest, and handle pressure during a televised match is more useful than any instructional video. The geometry comes alive when you can stand five feet behind the table and see the same shot the player saw.

Looking Ahead on the World Nineball Tour

The Beasley Open was one stop in a long 2026 calendar. With the US Open Pool Championship still ahead and several European stops on the schedule, ranking points are still very much in play. Watch for Atencio, Gomez, and the Vietnamese contingent led by Duong Quoc Hoang to be in late-round contention all year. The tour has more parity now than it did even three years ago, and any of fifteen or twenty players is capable of taking a major.

The American stops are also picking up momentum. With Matchroom committing to ranking events on US soil, players who used to spend a fortune flying to Europe to chase ranking points can now drive to a tournament venue. That changes the economics of pursuing a touring career and opens the door for more amateur and semi-pro players to test themselves at the highest level.

For Quarter King Billiards customers, the takeaway is simple. The pro game is more accessible than ever, the gear those pros use is available at every price tier, and one of the best ranking events of the spring just happened a short drive from home. That is a great time to be a pool player in North Carolina.