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The next stop on the Predator Pro-Am
Tour... |
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Tony Robles Digs Deep to Win the
Predator Open/Pro 10-ball Event at Cue Bar
while
Juan Guzman Snaps off the Predator Tour from
the One-Loss Side in the Amateur 9-Ball Division
at Cue Bar |
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| L-R Zee
Shan Safdar (3rd), Darwin Vergara (2nd),
Juan Guzman (1st) |
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The Predator Tour’s
Amateur 9-Ball and Open/Pro 10-Ball events were hosted
by Bayside, Queens pool room Cue Bar (CueBarBayside.com)
for the pool tour’s seventh stop of the season
on May 4-5, 2013. Cue Bar features a nice combination
of great equipment, good food, and a modern design layout,
including a DJ booth and couches that are converted
pool tables.
The host room and Predator Tour owner Tony Robles rolled
out the red carpet for the nice mix of big-name talent,
ever-improving amateurs, and breakthrough players. The
Predator Tour’s tournament director William Finnegan,
penciled in a total of 42 players who participated in
the Amateur 9-Ball event on Saturday.
NYC Grind contributor Brian Leong was on site for the
event for both days of the event, check out his photos
at the links below.
The final six Amateur 9-ball players were called back
on Sunday to play alongside the Open and Pro players,
who would play call-shot 10-ball. There were a few veteran
players who brought out a renewed love and excitement
for the game, and one player who really stood out from
the rest, in terms of energy, excitement, and growing
a strong fan following.
That player was the event’s lone junior competitor,
Charles Darwin Vergara, who played the game with a relaxed
confidence and showcased his impressive arsenal of pool
knowledge and talent. While Darwin (as his friends know
him), has been around the game as long as he can remember…
his upbringing is unique and remarkable.
While Darwin is plugged in to technology and enjoys
sports and digital games, he has a deep respect and
understanding for the art and skills needed to be a
champion in the game of pool. By the time the dust settled
at stop #7, it was clear in my mind that this kid has
what it takes to be a great player that can make a positive
impact.
Darwin, who is Filipino, was introduced to the game
by his father, Open level player Mhet Vergara. Mhet
and his closest friends are part of a circle of some
of the greatest Filipino players to ever play the game,
allowing Darwin the ability to watch and learn from
many of the greats in the game while growing up in Queens,
NY.
Mhet Vergara shooting at Cue Bar on Day 2 of the Predator
Tour - Photo by Brian Leong
A number of Filipino legends, including Efren Reyes,
Francisco Bustamante, Jose Parica, Santos Sambajon,
Warren Kiamco, and Dennis Orcollo helped him develop
and encourage his innate ability. Darwin has also worked
with some of the great American players including Earl
Strickland since he made his new home here in New York.
Darwin is currently sponsored by Steinway Billiards,
where he practices approximately four times a week in
a very unstructured and free-form manner.
Darwin Vergara was at Steinway Billiards watching the
action between Warren Kiamco & Francisco Bustamante
vs Jayson Shaw & Earl Strickland
I’ve had the chance to watch Darwin grow and evolve
both as a young person and as one of the top junior
talents in the game today. He’s currently ranked
as a ‘B’ player at age 16, and after watching
him play in this event, it’s clear that the hard
work is paying off…and helping to remind many
of the veteran players what this game is truly about.
It’s clear that Darwin looks at the game as an
art form, and embraces the challenges he’s up
against with a positive attitude while digging deep
to attempt difficult shots at times. Through a combination
of powerful yet elegant stroke, advanced knowledge for
his age, and an overall fast and loose style…
Darwin is having fun competing, growing, and learning.
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One ongoing concern for our industry’s growth
and development in the future has been the sport’s
ability to gain the interest of the youth. Pool is a
game/sport that is more accessible than many sports,
and there are a lot of talented people doing what they
can to support young players and our sport’s future.
The BEF (www.billiardeducation.org) recently teamed
up with Allen Hopkins and his amazing staff at the Super
Billiards Expo to contribute to what’s exciting
and hopeful around the game, while Tony Robles and other
top pros also invest time into supporting the youth
in different ways.
Darwin’s strong support system of family and friends
who came out to watch him seemed to fuel his drive to
win, helping him make it to Sunday undefeated. On Sunday,
Darwin Vergara defeated always-tough Zee Shan Safdar
7-3 earning a spot in the finals by way of the winner’s
bracket.
While Darwin Vergara’s breakout play was a major
highlight of the weekend, veteran tour player Juan Guzman
(ranked as an ‘A’) was quietly earning “W”
after “W” on the one loss side. Juan ended
up winning a total of nine consecutive matches after
a second-round loss to Steve Kallo (B). Juan had a gritty
battle with Tom Hagan in the quarterfinal before edging
out with a 7-5 win, and followed it up with a 7-1 performance
over Zee Shan Safdar in the semifinal.
Juan Guzman has been hot on the table as of late, having
recently won two Tri-State Tour events, and brought
a tactical and patient approach to the table in the
finals… along with spurts of pure firepower. Darwin
would battle against Juan in impressive fashion, but
wasn’t able to stop the momentum that Juan brought
from the one-loss side.
It was really enjoyable watching both Darwin and Juan
play in the finals, and it was pretty cool to see the
young junior player start to embody the elements of
a champion. Darwin is a player to watch as he continues
to learn, evolve and grow. Congratulations to both Darwin
and Juan on their solid play throughout stop #7.
While legendary New York pro and Predator Tour owner
Tony Robles has been busy building his amateur league
the NAPL (National Amateur Pool League), and working
towards growing the billiards industry in new and positive
ways, it is clear that he still knows how to win.
Although he doesn’t have much time to practice
or even teach as much as he would like, Tony broke through
to earn his first win of the 2013 season at the Predator
Pro/Am Tour’s seventh stop, held at Cue Bar in
Bayside, NY on May 4-5.
The one-day Open/Pro 10-Ball division of the event was
held on Sunday, May 5, and featured several stand-out
players such as former World Champion Mika Immonen,
and top New York area players Zion Zvi, Jonathan Smith,
and Joey Korsiak.
NYC's Society Billiards house pro Jonathan Smith - Photo
by Brian Leong
Mika Immonen has been playing really strong as of late,
and is in-form and hungry to win. Mika started off with
three consecutive 7-1 wins over Qi Liu, Jerry Tarantola,
and Zion Zvi before being handed a 7-2 upset loss by
Lee Kang. Lee Kang is a player from Seongnam, South
Korea who has been mentored by Shin “Godzilla”
Park since he was a junior player, and is currently
visiting New York.
Kang is making the most of his trip by earning bragging
rights of defeating one of the most dominant players
of our generation in impressive fashion. Lee Kang won
four consecutive matches on the winner’s side
to take the hot seat… before being matched up
against Tony Robles in the final. Robles had battled
back on the one-loss side after losing to Joey Korsiak
7-2 in the second round to make his way into the final.
In that final match, Tony Robles and Lee Kang were going
blow for blow for the first 4 games… but with
a 2-2 scoreline, Tony came alive and won the next six
consecutive games unanswered to set the tone of the
match. Lee had brought out exceptional play throughout
the event, but Tony’s game proved to be too much
for Lee to contain in the finals. Tony ended up with
an 11-5 win to capture the win at Stop #7, and help
close the gap between him and tour points leader Mika
Immonen.
Throughout the season thus far, the Predator Pro/Am
Tour has continued to bring together an international
player and fan base… helping people better understand
the different cultures and styles of play which are
unified through this great game.
Congratulations to both Tony Robles and Lee Kang for
showcasing the heart of competition, while embodying
character and the ability to communicate through this
art form that we have come to love and appreciate.
The next Predator Pro/Am Tour event will be stop #8,
held on June 1-2 at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead,
NY on Long Island.
The Amateur 9-Ball event will begin Saturday at Noon,
while the Open/Pro 10-Ball will begin Sunday at Noon,
with a total of $1,500-Added.
- "Story by NYC
Grind Founder & Contributor, Jerry Tarantola"
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Complete Payouts ABCD
1st: Juan Guzman – $800
2nd: Darwin Vergara – $600
3rd: Zee Shan – $400
4th: Tom Hagan – $300
5th/6th: Christian Smith, Shawn Sookhai – $200
7th/8th: Raphael Dabreo, Carl Yusuf Khan – $160
Complete Payouts Open/Pro
1st: Tony Robles $600
2nd: Lee Kang – $300
3rd: Mika Immonen – $200
4th: Joey Korsiak – $100 |
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Tony Liang Goes Undefeated for His
First 2013 Win in the Predator Tour’s
Am 9-Ball at Steinway Billiard while
Jayson Shaw Goes undefeated in the Open event |
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| L-R Tony
Liang (1st), Pablo Sanz (3rd), Anna
Grintsuk (4th), Rhio Anne Flores (2nd)
- Photo courtesy Predator Tour |
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| L-R Warren
Kiamco, Jayson Shaw (1st), Sean Morgan
(4th), Mika Immonen (2nd) - Photo by
Alison M. Fischer |
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The sixth stop of the Predator
Pro/Am Tour’s 2013 season was held at Astoria,
NY’s Steinway Billiards on the weekend of April
13-14. Out of the field of seventy-two players in the
Amateur 9-Ball division, regular Steinway player Tony
Liang came out swinging to go undefeated.
On his way to the top of this event, Liang went through
the bracket by taking wins over Lidio Rasta 7-3, Stewart
Warnock 7-6, Rhys Chen 7-3, and narrowly escaped Phil
Davis 7-6 to finish off day one in the final four of
the winner’s bracket. Meeting Liang in the final
four on the second day was Dave Shlemperis, who would
then be to the one-loss side after Liang came out on
top at 7-4.
The lower half of the bracket featured dominant play
from two of the tour’s ladies, as Rhio Anne Flores
and Anna Grintsuk went undefeated on day one to play
one another in the other final four match. Flores, who
is a longtime Tri-State area tour player, would defeat
Grintsuk in this match at 7-4 to move on and take on
Tony Liang in the match for the hot seat. Liang would
continue on his run and take the hot seat with a 7-4
win.
On the one-loss side of the bracket, yet another one
of the tour’s female players played tough to make
a strong comeback, as Yomaylin Feliz followed up her
loss to Anna Grintsuk by winning five matches on the
one-loss side, defeating James Park 7-2, Mike Panzarella
7-2, Thomas Rice 7-3, and Meshak Daniel 7-6. However,
Feliz was then matched up against Anna Grintsuk for
the second time in the event, and would lose by the
same score of 7-6 and finish in 5th place.
Bob Schlott and Pablo Sanz were two other players to
play tough on the one-loss side, each winning six matches
after their first losses…and end up on a collision
course to meet one another in the final four of the
one-loss side, where Sanz would win 7-2 and go on to
beat Dave Shlemperis 7-6. Sanz then moved on to the
quarterfinal, where he matched up against Anna Grintsuk
to win 7-4. Grintsuk, who recently moved to New York
from Estonia, would finish in fourth place in only her
second appearance on the tour.
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Pablo Sanz then moved on to play the semifinal against
Rhio Anne Flores, who would end his run with a strong
win in the semi at 7-2. This win earned Flores a rematch
with Tony Liang in the finals, where she started out
with an early 6-3 lead. However, in the tenth rack Flores
would make an error on the five ball, and as Liang won
the next rack, the momentum shifted in his favor…and
he went on to break and run the next two racks and tie
6-6. With Liang needing one more rack to win, Flores
left him a shot after attempting a safety, and opened
the door for him to win the match at 7-6. Congratulations
to Tony Liang on his first tour win of the season, as
well as to Rhio Anne on a strong 2nd place finish.
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On Sunday, April 14, Jayson Shaw would make his return
to the Predator Pro/Am Tour in style…going undefeated
while preventing Mika Immonen from claiming his fourth
consecutive win on the tour. Following his win at the
Predator Tour’s Empire State 10-Ball Championships,
Shaw took a hiatus from the tour while he traveled to
tournaments on the West Coast, but came back on top
and won his second event of the season.
The event was part of the sixth stop of the Predator
Tour’s 2013 season, held at Steinway Billiards
in Astoria, NYC. As the tour stop was held the weekend
following the Super Billiards Expo in nearby Edison,
NJ, the event drew a tough field that featured touring
players including Warren Kiamco, Rodney Morris, and
Hunter Lombardo, along with Steinway house pro Earl
Strickland.
Shaw and Immonen were the two players to charge their
respective halves of the winner’s bracket, to
end up facing off in the hot seat match that evening.
After a first-round bye, Jayson Shaw defeated Tony Robles
7-3 and Earl Strickland 7-1, to take on Jorge Rodriguez
in the winner’s side final four. Shaw would have
his closest match of the event against Rodriguez, coming
away with a 7-5 win.
Meanwhile, Immonen defeated John MacArthur 7-1, Ron
Mason 7-4, and Warren Kiamco, to then win 7-3 against
Sean “Alaska” Morgan in the final four of
the lower half of the bracket. Immonen then moved on
to the hot seat match, but was unable to get past Jayson
Shaw, who would win it 7-4 and wait to play in the final
match.
With the level of the talent at this event, there was
plenty of great action on the one-loss side as well.
Among them, Earl Strickland eliminated Rodney Morris
at 7-4 in the upper half of the bracket, but in the
next round, Zion Zvi would send Strickland packing after
putting up a 7-5 win. Zvi then had a close battle with
Sean Morgan, who would end up upsetting Zvi to win at
hill-hill, 7-6.
Morgan was then lined up for the quarterfinal, but would
be no match for his opponent Warren Kiamco, who ended
the match at 7-2. Warren had come off a string of wins
against Tony Robles 7-5, Keith Adamik 7-3, and Jorge
Rodriguez 7-2…and his win in the quarterfinal
against Morgan would match him up against Mika Immonen
in the semifinal. Morgan would be eliminated, but finish
strong in fourth place.
The semifinal would be a close fight between Immonen
and Kiamco, tying at 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4, which was the
point when Immonen pulled away to get to the hill at
6-4. In the following rack, Immonen would miss a nine
ball to put away the match, and Kiamco put it to 6-5.
However, Kiamco had an unsuccessful break in the next
rack, and Immonen ran out to win the match 7-5.
In the final, we saw Mika Immonen match up against Jayson
Shaw for the second time in the tournament… and
end up with a similar result. Shaw started out with
an early 5-1 lead, and would play tough to prevent Immonen
from making much headway, rounding out his winning finish
with a 9-4 final score.
Following the end of the finals, Jayson Shaw spoke about
his showing and what he’s been doing to prepare
for competing. “I played pretty good all day.
Yesterday I practiced a lot, and the day before I played
straight pool and ran 172 and a couple hundreds, so
was hitting the ball pretty sweet,” said Jayson.
“Plus, I’ve been practicing my break, which
is the main part, and I broke pretty good today.”
Congrats to Jayson Shaw on a great win, and all of the
event’s top finishers at Steinway!Tour owner Tony
Robles would like to acknowledge Steinway Billiards
for their support of the tour, along with tour sponsors
Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13,
NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com.
The next Predator Pro/Am Tour stop will be held on the
weekend of May 4-5 at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY.
For more information, visit www.PredatorProAmTour.com.
- "Story by NYC
Grind Editor, Alison M. Fischer"
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Complete Payouts ABCD
1st: Tony Liang – $1,000
2nd: Rhio Anne Flores – $800
3rd: Pablo Sanz – $600
4th: Anna Grintsuk – $400
5th/6th: Yomaylin Feliz, Dave Shlemperis – $275
7th/8th: Bob Schlott, Meshak Daniel – $175
9th-12th: Phil Davis, Vincent Rochefort, Thomas Rice,
Mike Hertz – $130
13th-16th: Kevin Falco, Rhys Chen, Steve Solano, Mike
Panzarella – $100
Complete Payouts Open/Pro
1st: Jayson Shaw – $800
2nd: Mika Immonen – $500
3rd: Warren Kiamco – $250
4th: Sean Morgan – $150 |
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Mika Immonen Scores Third Straight
Win in the Predator Tour Open
10-Ball at Steinway Billiards while Billy
Santiago Takes Top Honors in the Predator
Pro/Am Tour’s Amateur 9-Ball Division |
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| L-R Jeremy
Sossei (2nd), Tony Robles (3rd), Mika
Immonen (1st) – Photo by Alison
M. Fischer |
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| L-R Mike
Panzarella (3rd), Nick Chan (2nd), Steinway
Billiards manager Manny Stamatakis,
Billy Santiago (1st) - Photo by Alison
M. Fischer |
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For the third straight
Predator Pro/Am Tour event in a row, Mika Immonen ruled
the room…and this time it was at Steinway Billiards
in Astoria, NY. This Open/Pro 10-Ball event drew sixteen
players, ranging from up-and-coming amateurs trying
their hand against the pros to longtime top players.
Former US Open 9-Ball Champion “The Iceman”
Mika Immonen would make his way to the hot seat match
with little trouble in this event, defeating John MacArthur
7-0, Liam Monk 7-1, and Jeremy Sossei 7-4.
Tour owner and NYC pool icon Tony Robles was also a
contender in this event, and would take on Mika Immonen
in the hot seat match after defeating Austin Tripp 7-6,
Yorgo 7-2, and Zion Zvi 7-2. In the hot seat match,
Robles would not be able to hold back Immonen. Early
on, the match was tied at two each, but Immonen pulled
away to win it at 7-3.
Meanwhile, there were a couple interesting upsets on
the one-loss side. Among them, Tri-State area top amateur
Alex Osipov defeated English snooker phenom Liam Monk
7-1. In the next round, Osipov would fall hill-hill
to Keith Adamik 7-6… and Adamik moved on to knock
Zion Zvi out of the tournament at 7-4 in the final four
of the one-loss side.
In the other final four match, Connecticut top pro Jeremy
Sossei was up against Dinko Busanich, who had previously
defeated Mike Esposito 7-2 and John MacArthur 7-6. Busanich
had a close match against Sossei, tying at 3-3 before
taking a 5-3 lead. However, Sossei took over from then
on out, winning the next four game to end the match
at 7-5. Jeremy Sossei would then move on to win the
quarterfinal match against Keith Adamik at 7-3, followed
by a semifinal win against Tony Robles at 7-1.
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The final match between Mika Immonen and Jeremy Sossei
was a much closer one than their earlier meeting in
the winner’s bracket. This match would feature
an extended single-race format, where Immonen would
win if he got to nine games first, but if Sossei got
to nine first, the match would be extended to a race
to eleven. Sossei was the first to establish control
in this match…after the score was tied 2-2, he
went on to take a 5-2 lead. While it looked that Immonen
was going to win the next rack, to the surprise of the
spectators, he missed the ten ball and Sossei put the
score at a 6-2 lead.
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But, it wasn’t long before Immonen would get back
in gear, as a missed five ball by Sossei in the following
rack allowed the opportunity for Immonen to get back
on track. He went on to win the next five games to take
the lead at 7-6, and would only need to win two more
games to take the match. A missed eight ball from Immonen
would allow Sossei to tie at 7-7… and they would
again trade racks to tie 8-8. A great safety from Immonen
would result in getting an open shot at the three ball,
and he ran out the rest of the final rack to win it
9-8. Congratulations to Mika Immonen on another first
place finish!
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On the weekend of March 23-24, the Predator Pro-Am Tour
held the Steinway Billiards stop that was originally
scheduled for February, but was postponed due to the
blizzard that hit New York that weekend. Along with
the great turnout of 92 players for the tournament which
payed out $1,300 for first prize, the event was also
impressive as the tour joined forces with player Kim
Meyer-Gabia to help raise funds for the New York Humane
Society. The players and others attending the event
contributed to raising a total of $1,050 for animals
in need.
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Out of the original ninety-two player field that started
out in the Amateur 9-Ball division…none could
stop first-time winner Billy Santiago from taking the
title. Santiago, who hails from Bridgeport, CT, has
been a longtime player on the tour and was named 2012
Sportsman of the Year, made this two-day event his first
victory after an undefeated showing. At the end of the
first day of competition, Billy Santiago was among the
eight players to move on to the second day from the
winner’s bracket.
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On day one, Santiago had a first-round bye, then defeated
Niko Berdzenishvili 7-6, Brian Hunter 7-3, and Jack
Smith 7-3… and went on to win against Zee Shan
Sabfa (forfeit) and Jimmy Rivera 7-3 to go to the hot
seat match. Brooklyn player Nick Chan would meet with
Santiago in the match for the hot seat, after defeating
Patrick Meyer 7-5, Ambi Estevez 7-5, Anna Grintsuk 7-5,
Ross Lacey 7-3, Mike Panzarella 8-6, and Bogie Uzdejczyk
7-4. In the hot seat match between Nick Chan and Billy
Santiago, Chan did not pose a threat to win the match,
with Santiago walking away with a 7-3 win.
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Sixteen players were left standing on the one-loss side
of the bracket at the end of day one, hoping for a chance
at a comeback. The top player to start out the day on
the one-loss side was Ray Lee, who had lost his last
match on Saturday night to Mike Panzarella at 9-8. Lee
got started with day two by defeating Junior Sanchez
8-7, then went on to win against Mike Yednak in another
hill-hill fight at 8-7. Lee then continued on to defeat
me (Alison Fischer) 7-3 to make it to the final four
of the one-loss side.
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In the final four of the one-loss side, Ray Lee defeated
Zee Shan Sabfa 7-3, while Mike Panzarella defeated victor
Nau 7-6. Previously, Panzarella (rated A+) defeated
Roberto Mendoza following his loss on the winner’s
side to Nick Chan. Mike Panzarella was then matched
against Jimmy Rivera, who had just been sent to the
loser’s side by Billy Santiago. Panzarella won
by a landslide 7-2 score, to move on to the semifinal
to take on Lee, who finished a successful win against
Bogie Uzdejcyk at 7-4.
In the quarterfinal match, Ray Lee (rated a ‘B’)
would get three games on the wire in a race to eight
against Mike Panzarella (A+). Panzarella played strong
to dominate this match and keep Lee from getting many
chances at the table, leading to an 8-3 win. Having
just been moved to the B class from the C+, Ray Lee
had a great run to finish in fourth place for his first
time as a B, and showed some impressive play at Steinway.
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Mike Panzarella would then move on to the semifinal
match, where he would face Nick Chan for the second
time in the event. As in the quarterfinal, Chan would
get three games on the wire in a race to eight. Out
of the gate, Panzarella won the first two games, to
trail 3-2 with the spot. Chan then won the following
two games, at put the score at 5-2. While Panzarella
made some errors that were not characteristic of his
previous match, Chan was able to capitalize, and went
on to win at 8-3. Mike Panzarella had a strong run to
finish in 3rd place, with his only two losses being
to Nick Chan.
Nick Chan would then have his second chance to take
on Billy Santiago in the final match. With Chan being
rated a ‘B’ and and and Santiago rated ‘B+’,
Chan would get a one-game spot in the final. The final
would have an extended-race format, where Santiago (with
no previous losses) would only need to reach seven games
to win. If Chan reached seven games first, the race
would be extended to nine games.
Santiago would win the opening game of the match, to
tie at 1-1…but Chan would go on to take a three-game
lead at 4-1. In the next rack, Santiago would win with
an early combination on the nine, which would begin
his comeback to tie the match at 4-4. Chan would edge
ahead and go up 5-4, but Santiago followed up to win
the next rack and tie it again 5-5. Billy Santiago would
then take the lead for the first time in the match at
6-5 to get one game away from the win.
But, Chan tied the match again to go hill-hill, 6-6.
With the pressure on, both players played tight, but
the nine ball would end up getting knocked to sit in
the corner pocket, giving one player the chance to end
the game early. The match would end up hinging on a
jump shot on the three ball by Nick Chan…but Chan
missed the ball and gave Santiago ball in hand to make
a combination on the nine to win the match.
“It feels great to win for the first time. I would
like to thank Tony Robles, Gail Glazebrook, and Bill
Finnegan for doing a great job with the tour, as well
as Steinway Billiards for hosting the event,”
said Santiago.
Both Billy Santiago and Nick Chan played tough in the
final match, and throughout the event. While Santiago
earned his first win, Chan made a strong run to finish
second in his first event playing as a ‘B’
after being moved up from the ‘C+’ class.
This would be Chan’s second time taking runner-up
so far this season, with his first being at the Empire
State Championships in February.
Tour owner Tony Robles would like to acknowledge Steinway
Billiards for their support of the tour, along with
tour sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool
League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com.
The next Predator Pro/Am Tour stop will be held on April
13-14 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY in Queens.
- "Story by NYC
Grind Editor, Alison M. Fischer"
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Complete Payouts ABCD
1st: Billy Santiago – $1,300
2nd: Nick Chan – $1,000
3rd: Mike Panzarella – $600
4th: Ray Lee – $400
5th/6th: Jimmy Rivera, Bogie Uzdejczyk – $250
7th/8th: Zee Shan Sabfa, Victor Nau – $200
9th-12th: Roberto Mendoza, Steve Wright, Alison Fischer,
Jack Smith – $150
13th-16th: Michael Yednak, Joe Torres, Brian Tierney,
Rene Villalobos – $100
17th-24th: Ross Lacey, Dinko Busanich, Sammy Alvarez Jr.,
Yesid Garibello, Adrian Daniel, Junior Sanchez, Naldo
Troncoso, Alex Osipov – $70
Complete Payouts Open/Pro
1st: Mika Immonen – $650
2nd: Jeremy Sossei – $450
3rd: Tony Robles – $200 |
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Rob Piersa Wins First Predator Stop
in the Am 9-Ball Division at Mr. Cue while
Mika Immonen Takes His 2nd Straight in the
Open Pro Event |
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| L-R Phil
Davis (2nd), Shawn Sookhai (4th), Mr.
Cue owner Scott Murphy, Rob Piersa (1st),
Rikki Ragoonanan (3rd) |
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| L-R Tony
Robles (2nd), Mr. Cue owner Scott Murphy,
Liam Monk (4th), Mika Immonen (1st) |
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At the Predator Pro/Am
Tour’s fifth stop of their 2013 season, Rob Piersa
would make his way to an undefeated win in the Amateur
9-Ball division. The event was held over the weekend
of March 16-17 at Lindenhurst, NY pool room Mr. Cue
Billiards in Long Island, and drew in a field of fifty-five
players vying for the $1,000 top prize. For this event,
the format was altered from the typical split bracket
with A/B players on one side and C/D players on the
other, and all players were drawn at random.
To finish off the first day of the event, the four remaining
undefeated players faced off to determine who would
make it to the hot seat match on day two. Rob Piersa,
who hails from East Hartford, CT would be one of the
two final four winners, after winning 7-2 against “Devil
Dave” Ascolese. Leading up to the final four match,
Piersa had previously defeated Joe Gibbons 10-6, Borana
Andoni 8-7, Eric Toledo 7-5, and Billy Santiago 7-6.
Meanwhile, it would be Piersa’s road partner Phil
Davis who would make his way through the bracket to
meet him in the match for the hot seat. Davis would
have a trail of wins against Charlie Maletta 8-6, Meshak
Daniel 8-4, Carl Yusuf Khan 7-4, and Arron Moody 9-5
before going on to the final four and defeating room
owner Scott Murphy 7-5. Action in the hot seat match
picked back up on the following day at 2pm, where Rob
Piersa would continue his winning streak, defeating
Phil Davis 7-3.
One of the prevailing forces on the one-loss side of
the bracket would be Shawn Sookhai, who suffered a third-round
loss to Scott Murphy 7-5, but moved on to defeat Gail
Glazebrook 7-6 and Kevin Falco 7-3 on Saturday evening.
As day two of competition on the one-loss side began
at 11am, Sookhai won some tight battles against Bryan
Toolsee 7-5, Carl Yusuf Khan 7-6, and turned around
his previous result against Scott Murphy, winning this
time 7-6.
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His win against Murphy would put Sookhai into the quarterfinal,
where he would take on Rikki Ragoonanan. After having
a bye in the first round, Ragoonanan lost his first
match of the event to Billy Meyer 7-3, but would make
a long trek through the one-loss side to make it to
the quarterfinal. Along the way, he played tough to
roll over most of his opponents, defeating Dennis Lake
7-2, Andrew Cleary 7-1, Eric Toledo 7-2, Rene Villalobos
7-3, Arron Moody 7-4, Keith Adamik 7-4, and “Devil
Dave” Ascolese 7-6. In the quarterfinal, Rikki
Ragoonanan would lead throughout the match against Shawn
Sookhai, ending with a 7-4 win. Ragoonanan then moved
on to the semifinal against Phil Davis, who played strong
to win the match at 7-3.
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Davis was then up against his friend Rob Piersa for
the second time in the event, in the final match. In
this extended-race final, Piersa could win it with seven,
while the race would be extended to nine if Davis got
to seven first. The final was a close match, with Davis
and Piersa tying at 3-3 and 4-4, before Piersa pulled
away to get to the hill at 6-4. Piersa would miss the
six in the next rack, and Davis ran out to go 6-5…
but Piersa finished off the set in the following game
to win 7-5.
Rob Piersa credited his will to keep fighting in some
tough matches for his success in the event. “I
never gave up even though I was down in a lot of matches.
I really enjoyed playing in the Predator Tour, and thank
Tony Robles for running a great event,” said Rob.
Congratulations to Rob Piersa on winning his first Predator
Tour stop, along with runner-up Phil Davis, and all
of the event’s top finishers.
The finals of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s Open
10-Ball event at the fifth stop of the season, would
turn out to be a rematch from the tour’s March
3 event at Cue Bar… as it would once again feature
Mika Immonen taking on tour owner Tony Robles, this
time at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY.
Likewise, both players would take similar routes to
get to the finals… as Immonen went through the
winner’s bracket with wins against Darren DeFillipis
7-1, Joe Torres 7-2, and Ray Romanski 7-0.
Immonen then went to the hot seat match, where he met
with top Long Island player Joey Korsiak. Prior to their
match, Korsiak had defeated England’s Liam Monk
at 7-3 in the final four, and sent Tony Robles to the
one-loss side at 7-5. In the match for the hot seat,
Immonen got a 4-1 lead over Korsiak, and kept the lead
throughout, winning 7-4.
Following Robles’ loss to Korsiak, he took out
Darren DeFillipis at 7-0, then Asa Shaw 7-3, and Ray
Romanski 7-0. Tony Robles then took on Liam Monk in
the quarterfinal. Monk had previously defeated Mark
Perel, who had come off one-loss side wins versus Dave
Shlemperis 7-6 and Rich Lang 7-5. In the quarterfinal
against Robles, Monk wasn’t able to get his foot
in the door, and Robles ruled the match with a final
score of 7-3.
Tony Robles would have been up next against Joey Korsiak
for the second time in the tournament, but Korsiak gave
up the match in a forfeit, and Robles moved on to the
finals to take on “The Iceman” Mika Immonen
once again. Immonen was in prime gear in this match,
and got out to a 4-0 lead before Robles put up a game.
Mike Immonen’s near-flawless play earned him an
eventual 7-3 win in the finals, making for his second
consecutive Predator Tour win.
Tour owner Tony Robles would like to acknowledge Mr.
Cue for their support of the tour, along with tour sponsors
Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13,
NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com.
The next Predator Pro/Am Tour stop will be held on March
23-24 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY in Queens.
- "Story by NYC
Grind Editor, Alison M. Fischer"
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Complete Payouts ABCD
1st: Rob Piersa – $1,000
2nd: Phil Davis – $675
3rd: Rikki Ragoonanan – $450
4th: Shawn Sookhai – $300
5th/6th: Scott Murphy, Devil Dave Ascolese – $225
7th/8th: Carl Yusuf Khan, Keith Adamik – $150
9th-12th: Bryan Toolsee, Billy Santiago, Arron Moody,
Bill Meyer – $100
Complete Payouts Open/Pro
1st: Mika Immonen – $550
2nd: Tony Robles – $350
3rd: Joey Korsiak – $200 |
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Mika Immonen is Back with a Win in
the Open 10-Ball of the Predator Tour Cue
Bar Stop while Steve Wright Snaps off the
Amateur 9-Ball Division while |
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| L-R Open/Pro
Event 3rd Place: Daniel Kandi, 2nd Place:
Tony Robles & 1st Place: Mika Immonen |
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| L-R 2nd
Place finisher Karim Moumen, 1st Place:
Steve Wright and 3rd Place: Romeo Singh |
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The Predator Pro/Am
Tour kicked off the month of March with their fourth
tour stop of the 2013 season, held on March 2-3 and
hosted by one of the premier pool rooms in Queens, Cue
Bar in Bayside, NY. The Amateur 9-Ball division of the
event was held over both Saturday and Sunday, and drew
in 50 of the New York Tri-State area's top pool players.
By the end of day one, only four players remained undefeated
to move on to the second day of competition. 11am was
the beginning of action on day two… where on the
winner's side, Karim Moumen defeated Bryan Toolsee 7-2
in the C/D side, while Steve Wright defeated Archie
Wong 7-3 in the A/B side of the bracket.
Steve Wright was then up against a newcomer to the final
rounds of the Predator Tour, Karim Moumen, in the hot
seat match. With Wright rated as an 'A' and Moumen rated
a 'C', Moumen would be spotted four games on the wire
in a race to nine. In this match, Moumen only managed
to put up one more game, and Wright won it at 9-5.
Going into the second day of one-loss side competition,
eight players were left standing with a chance to get
redemption. One of those players was Romeo Singh, who
had previously lost in the last round of play on day
one on the winner's side to Archie Wong. He then moved
on to defeat Mike Panzarella 8-6, Rhio Anne Flores 7-6,
and turned around his previous loss to Wong, winning
against him 7-6 to make it to the quarterfinal.
Paired up against Singh in the quarterfinal match would
be Brian Toolsee, who had previously lost to Karim Moumen
on the winner's side, but bounced back by defeating
Joe Torres 7-3. The quarterfinal match would be largely
dominated by Romeo Singh, who won by a four-game margin
at 7-3.
Singh then move on to the semifinal match, where he
was paired up against Karim Moumen, who waited after
his earlier hot seat match loss. The semifinal would
be a close match, but Moumen would end up winning it
at 7-5 after Singh scratched while making the nine to
stay in the match.
In the finals, Karim Moumen would have another shot
to take on Steve Wright in their second meeting of the
tournament… where Moumen would win three games
to Wright's nine, as he finished off an undefeated run
through the event at Cue Bar.
After having placed fourth in the previous Predator
Tour stop, the Empire State Championships, Steve Wright
kicked things up a notch to win his first event of the
season. Wright spoke briefly about what he believe lead
to his success in this event. "Determination was
the key factor for me," said Wright. "I was
determined to do better than at the Empire State Championships,
where I took 4th. I figured if I can make it that far,
I have the ability to win it."
Congratulations to Steve Wright on his win, along with
Karim Moumen on a standout finish in second, and 3rd
and fourth place finishers Romeo Singh & Bryan Toolsee.
The Predator Pro/Am Tour's fourth stop of the 2013 season
was hosted by Bayside, NY pool room Cue Bar in Queens.
On the second day of the event, the one-day Open/Pro
10-Ball event was held with a field of eleven players.
Despite the small field for this event, it was not short
on talent…and as is often the case on the Predator
Tour, some visiting international players highlighted
the action.
One of these players would go through the winner's bracket
to go up against Mika Immonen in the hot seat match,
Denmark's Daniel Kandi. While Kandi is a multiple national
title holder for snooker in Denmark, he is actually
most well-known for a different talent. Daniel Kandi
is also an internationally acclaimed trance/electronica
DJ currently touring the US, and appeared at one of
NYC's hottest night clubs Pacha on Friday night.
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Kandi would make it to the hot seat match of this event
after defeating Raphael Dabreo 7-2, Jennifer Barretta
7-5, and Vikram Dasavi 7-2. Former US Open 9-Ball Champion
Mika Immonen would also work his way to the hot seat
match after wins over Gregg McAndrews, 7-1, Mike Esposito
7-0, and Liam Monk 7-6. In their match for the hot seat,
Immonen and Kandi fought back and forth to tie at 4-4,
when Kandi broke and ran out to lead 5-4. But, an error
in the next rack swung the momentum back in Immonen's
favor, and he went on to win the match at 7-5 and stake
out his spot in the finals.
Another foreign newcomer to the tour was the player
who knocked Tony Robles to the one-loss side in the
first round of the event… Liam Monk. Hailing from
Essex, England, Monk has been a longtime snooker player,
but picked up American pool merely three weeks ago.
After defeating Robles 7-0, he had another win against
Mark Perel 7-3 before losing a close battle to Mika
Immonen at 7-6.
Monk then had a rematch against Tony Robles, which turned
out very differently from their first duel… as
Robles was firing on all cylinders and did not give
Monk many opportunities to get his foot in the door,
ending in a 7-2 win for Robles. Leading up to that match,
Robles started off on the one-loss side with a 7-1 win
over Jerry Tarantola and won a close fight against Gregg
McAndrews 7-6.
Robles' win over Monk would land him in the quarterfinal
against one of New York's top emerging young talents,
Raphael Dabreo. Dabreo had strong showing at Cue Bar,
as he bounced back from a first-round loss to defeat
Mike Esposito 7-3, Mark Perel 7-0, and Vikram Dasavi
7-6. But, Dabreo's run would end in the quarterfinal,
as he was eliminated by Robles at 7-1.
Tour owner Tony Robles then moved on to the semifinal,
where he was met by Daniel Kandi. In this match, Robles
hit a high gear with his break, and ran out racks with
his signature 'Silent Assasin' swagger that had been
lacking in some of his recent tour appearances. Robles
would with the match by a score of 7-3, and Daniel Kandi
would finish in 3rd.
In a match-up seen in years past in the finals of the
Predator Tour, it was Robles vs Immonen once again.
Robles took an initial 2-1 lead in this match, but Immonen
then tied it at 2-2. The big momentum shift of the match
would happen in the following game, as Robles missed
a routine six ball, and Immonen ran out to lead 3-2.
From that point on, Immonen never looked back, and Robles
did not capitalize on the few opportunities he had.
Immonen won the next six games to take down the win
at 9-2.
Although Mika Immonen recently took a hiatus from competing,
he is now back in action and working hard to prepare
for the 2013 touring season. Immonen was pleased with
how he played at Cue Bar. "It felt good to catch
a gear," said Immonen. "I've been teaching
a lot, which has been helping my game. It helps you
to practice what you preach."
Next on the horizon for Immonen will be a trip to Gavle,
Sweden for the Interpool Open at the end of the month,
and after that he will be focusing on Bonus Ball, set
to kick off Las Vegas in April.
Congrats to Mika Immonen on his win, along with Tony
Robles for a very solid performance to take second,
and Daniel Kandi for his third place finish in his first
appearance on the tour.
Tour owner Tony Robles would like to acknowledge Cue
Bar for their support of the tour, along with tour sponsors
Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13,
NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com.
The next Predator Pro/Am Tour stop will be held on March
16-17 at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY on Long
Island.
- "Story by NYC
Grind Editor, Alison M. Fischer"
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Complete Payouts ABCD
1st: Steve Wright - $1,000
2nd: Karim Moumen - $650
3rd: Romeo Singh - $450
4th: Brian Toolsee - $300
5th/6th: Archie Wong, Joe Torres - $175
7th/8th: Rhio Anne Flores, Roy Lim - $125
9th-12th: Ray Feliciano, Dave Shlemperis, Mike Panzarella,
Bob Toomey - $75
Complete Payouts Open/Pro
1st: Mika Immonen - $600
2nd: Tony Robles - $350
3rd: Daniel Kandi - $150 |
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Yesid Garibello is the 2013 Empire
State Amateur 9-Ball Champion
while Jayson Shaw Prevents Strickland from
Repeating and Becomes the 2013 Empire State
10-Ball Open Champion |
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| L-R Nick
Chan (2nd), Yesid Garibello (1st), Rene
Villalobos (3rd), Steve Wright (4th)
- Photo by Alison M. Fischer |
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L-R Raxx
owner Holden Chin (5th), Jeremy Sossei
(3rd), Sean Morgan (4th), Jayson Shaw
(1st), Earl Strickland (2nd) - Photo
by Alison M. Fischer
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Over the weekend of
February 16-17, 104 players packed Raxx Pool Room in
West Hempstead, NY to kick off the 2013 Empire State
Championships. For the first time, both the Amateur
9-Ball Championship and the Open/Pro 10-Ball Championship
were held over the same weekend, with the amateur event
getting underway at noon on Saturday, and the open event
at noon on Sunday. This event was the third stop of
the Predator Pro-Am Tour’s 2013 season. To see
our photo gallery from the event, scroll to the bottom
of the page.
The Amateur 9-Ball Championship was narrowed down to
the final twenty-four players at the end of Day 1, and
those players moved on to compete on Sunday, beginning
at 11am. To start day two, eight players remained in
the winner’s bracket, while sixteen players were
still alive on the one-loss side.
In the upper half of the bracket, which featured the
C & D class players, Brooklyn player Nick Chan (C+)
would be the player from that bracket to make it to
the hot seat match. On day one, Chan took wins over
Tony Ignomirello 7-6, Brian Schell 7-1, Jose Batista
7-6, and Ray Lee 7-1. Moving on to day two, he continued
his run, defeating Jim Discenza 7-5 and Mike Harrington
7-3 to move on to the hot seat match.
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Coming from the A & B half of the bracket, Yesid
Garibello, who hails from Fishkill, NY, charged through
to meet Chan in the hot seat match. Garibello went through
day one with wins over Steve Kallo 8-4, Brian Marshall
7-2, Barry Banks 7-5, and Austin Tripp. On day two,
he moved on to defeat Mike Yednak 7-3 and Shawn Sookhai
7-6 in the final four, to then match up with Nick Chan
for the hot seat. As Garibello is rated an A+ on the
tour and Nick Chan is a C+, Chan would get four games
on the wire in a race to nine. Garibello dominated the
match, and did not allow Chan to put up another rack,
winning 9-4.
Longtime tour player Rene Villalobos (C+) was another
strong competitor in this event. Villalobos made it
to the fourth round before losing to Mike Harrington,
but went on to defeat Dave Mickle 7-3, Luis Jimenez
7-4, and avenged his earlier loss to Mike Harrington
7-2 to make it to the quarterfinal.
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Steve Wright (rated an A) was also impressive in this
event. After making it through three rounds on the winner’s
side, he lost to Lidio Rasta at 7-5…but bounced
back on the one-loss side with wins over Barry Banks
7-5, Mike Yednak 7-3, Lidio Rasta 7-6, and Shawn Sookhai
7-6, where he would meet up with Rene Villalobos in
the quarterfinal. In their quarterfinal match, Villalobos
got out to a 6-1 lead in their race to eight games.
Although Villalobos only needed two more games, Wright
fought back to eventually tie it hill-hill 7-7. In the
case game, Wright broke and made three balls, but the
cue ball also dropped, giving Villalobos ball in hand
to win the match. Steve Wright would finish in fourth
place, while Rene Villalobos moved on to the semifinal.
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Waiting to take on Villalobos in the semifinal was Nick
Chan, who had earlier lost the hot seat match to Yesid
Garibello. Chan initially went up 3-1 in this match,
but the two players fought a close battle, tying at
3-3, then hill-hill at 6-6. In the final game, after
breaking and running to the five ball, Villalobos ended
up stuck with no view on the five. He turned the table
over to Chan with ball in hand. While running out for
the win, Chan got out of line on the 9, and had to play
safe. They exchange safeties, and Villalobos puts the
9 ball on the far rail from the cue ball…but,
Chan successfully banked in the nine to win the match.
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Nick Chan earned a rematch versus Yesid Garibello in
the final, to determine who would take the $2,000 prize
and become the title winner. Chan and Garibello’s
second meeting of the event would turn out very similarly
to the hot seat match. With Chan getting four games
on the wire in the race to nine, Garibello took nine
straight racks to win the match 9-4. After going undefeated
throughout the two-day event, Yesid Garibello earned
the title of 2013 Empire State Amateur 9-Ball Champion.
Congratulations to Yesid, along with all of the other
top finishers at Raxx!
Featuring both top men’s and women’s pro
players, the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s Empire State
Open 10-Ball Championships was definitely a treat for
the spectators who got to take in the event at Raxx
Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY on Sunday, February
17.
Earl Strickland, defending champion and regular to the
Predator Tour, was among the top names taking a shot
at the title, along with the winner of the season’s
first stop Jeremy Sossei, Predator Tour finale champion
Shaun Wilkie, two-time 2012 tour stop winner Jayson
Shaw, top NYC player Sean ‘Alaska’ Morgan,
and tour owner Tony Robles.
New York-based Jennifer Barretta was joined by fellow
top WPBA pros Karen Corr and Julie Kelly to make up
the female faction of the field. Interestingly enough,
these three players ended up situated next to one another
in the tournament bracket. In the first round, Jennifer
Barretta defeated Julie Kelly in a close battle ending
at 7-6. Barretta was then was sent to the one-loss side
by Karen Corr in the next round, following Corr’s
win against tour regular Lionel Rivera.
Karen Corr went on to defeat veteran New York player
Frankie Hernandez 7-6, but was then dealt her first
loss by Earl Strickland 7-1 in the final four of the
winner’s bracket. Strickland was then in the running
to defend his title, earning a spot in the hot seat
match.
Also moving through the winner’s bracket of the
event, Jayson Shaw (runner-up at the Predator Tour’s
first event of 2013) steamrolled his way to the hot
seat match, defeating Brian Tierney 7-0, Raphael Dabreo
7-1, Jerry Tarantola 7-1, and Holden Chin 7-2 along
the way. Shaw would also not have too much trouble with
Strickland in their match for the hot seat, as he won
it at 7-4.
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On the one-loss side, Jennifer Barretta would earn three
more victories following her loss to Karen Corr, winning
against Brian Tierney 7-0, Chris Laz 7-3, and Spanky
Koba 7-2. Meeting Barretta in final four of the one-loss
side was Sean “Alaska” Morgan, who after
his loss to Jeremy Sossei had solid wins against Mhet
Vergara 7-5, Gregg McAndrews 7-1, Jerry Tarantola 7-2.
In his match against Barretta, Morgan went ahead with
a 4-1 lead, but Barretta won the following three racks
to tie at 4-4, and tie again 5-5. Morgan then got on
the hill, and Barretta came up just short of tying 6-6,
but Morgan took the win at 7-5. In the other final four
match-up, Jeremy Sossei stopped Tony Robles’ run
in the winner’s bracket, defeating the tour’s
director for the second time in the event, both by a
score of 7-4.
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In the following round, Sean Morgan defeated Karen Corr
7-1 while Jeremy Sossei knocked out room owner Holden
Chin 7-5, to make for the meeting in the quarterfinal
between Morgan and Sossei. Morgan initially went up
3-1 in this match, but Sossei claimed the next four
racks to go up 5-3. However, Morgan then kicked things
into a higher gear, exhibiting impressive jump shots
and shot making to go to the hill first at 6-5. But,
the wind got knocked out of his sails after his next
break turned out flat, and Sossei ran out to tie 6-6.
In the final game, Morgan had two opportunities to win
the match, but was unable to capitalize, and Sossei
took the match at 7-6.
Jeremy Sossei then moved on to the semifinal, to take
on a fired-up Earl Strickland at the late hour on Sunday
night. Sossei and Strickland would go back and forth
to tie at 3-3, but it was at this point that Strickland
ran away with the match and went on a tear to win 7-3.
The final match was then set up with a rematch between
Earl Strickland and Jayson Shaw, who awaited in the
hot seat. As it was around 3am when the final began,
only the diehard railbirds remained present for this
final. But, those who stuck around got to witness a
tremendous final match between these two great players.
Shaw and Strickland furiously alternated running after
rack, depending on who had a successful break. The show’s
pace resembled a speed pool match, and kept everyone
watching on the edge of their seats.
Tied up at 6-6, Shaw scratched on the break, giving
Strickland the needed edge to get an advantage at 7-6.
But, Strickland then broke dry and Shaw countered by
running out tie 7-7. Shaw also broke dry in the next
rack, and Strickland would go on to lead the match 9-7.
In the extended race format, the match then became a
race to eleven, as Strickland reached nine games first.
Shaw won the next to get within one rack at 9-8, but
Strickland then got to the hill at 10-8.
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But, all was not lost for Shaw, who won the next two
to go double-hill, 10-10. After Shaw broke the final
rack, the two ball dropped, but he was left with no
good shot on the one. He attempted to play safe, but
the cue ball ended up sitting in the gap to leave a
shot for Strickland. After pocketing the one ball, Strickland
botched the three, but left the ball stuck behind the
eight. As this was not an intentional safe, Shaw opted
to give the shot back to Strickland, who kicked at the
ball. Shaw then banked in the three, but was left having
to jump at the four. He successfully made the four,
but the cue ball followed into the pocket after it.
With ball in hand, Strickland opted to go for a risky
combination on the five/ten to win the match, but ended
up missing it. Shaw then had an advantage and went on
to win the final game and earn the title of 2013 Empire
State Open 10-Ball Champion.
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Tour owner Tony Robles would like to acknowledge Raxx
Pool Room owner Holden Chin and staff for their support
of the tour, along with tour sponsors Predator Cues,
The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind,
and PoolOnTheNet.com.
The next Predator Pro/Am Tour stop is slated to be held
at Cue Bar in Bayside, NY on March 2-3.
- "Story by NYC
Grind Editor, Alison M. Fischer"
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Complete Payouts ABCD
1st: Yesid Garibello – $2,000
2nd: Nicholas Chan – $1,500
3rd: Rene Villalobos – $900
4th: Steve Wright – $650
5th/6th: Shawn Sookhai, Mike Harrington – $450
7th/8th: Luis Jimenez, Lidio Rasta – $300
9th-12th: David Mickle, Austin Tripp, Michael Yednak,
Jim Discenza – $175
13th-16th: Steve Pensund, James Stevens, Koka Davladze,
Barry Banks – $110
17th-24th: Ray Feliciano, Rhio Anne Flores, Dean Selvey,
Lionel Rivera, Ray Lee, Donna Padavano, Chris Laz, Carrie
Metz – $75
Complete Payouts Open/Pro
1st: Jayson Shaw – $1,250
2nd: Earl Strickland – $700
3rd: Jeremy Sossei – $500
4th: Sean Morgan – $300
5th/6th: Karen Corr, Holden Chin – $150 |
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Predator Pro Am Tour Season Opener:
Dennis Lake Wins First Predator Event in Am
9-Ball – Jeremy Sossei Takes the Open
10-Ball Undefeated |
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| L-R Junior
Sanchez (2nd), Dennis Lake (1st), John
Ortiz (3rd) |
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L-R Ronnie
Alcano (2nd), Jeremy Sossei (1st), Warren
Kiamco (3rd)
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New York’s top
pool competitors, both amateur and professional, were
out in full force on the weekend of January 19-20 for
the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s 2013 season opener
at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. For amateur players,
the 9-ball division was held over both days, and the
season got off to a great start with a field of 98 players
in that event. In addition to the tournament kickoff
on the first day, a break and run raffle contest was
held, which was won by Koka Davladze, who took $1,300
for his jackpot prize.
Breaking through in this event was Westchester, NY player
Dennis Lake, who ran through undefeated to earn his
first win on the tour and cash in on the $1,500 first
prize. Lake, who has played on the tour on and off since
the tour’s opening season in 2008, claimed wins
over Alex Borukhovich 7-5, Glenn Ramsey 7-4, Jose Batista
7-6, Jud Parker 7-3, and Ambi Estevez 7-4 to make it
to the hot seat match in the C/D side of the bracket.
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Junior Sanchez, one of the tour’s top players
in the ‘A’ Class (having finished ranked
#4 at the 2012 season end), met with Dennis Lake in
the battle for the hot seat on the second day of the
event. Sanchez and Lake were among the eight players
who remained undefeated going into the second day of
action, while sixteen players were left on the one-loss
side. Sanchez’s path to the hot seat match featured
wins against Manny Stamatakis 7-4, Trevor Heal 7-5,
Jerry Tarantola 7-4, Gail Glazebrook 7-4, Lidio Rasta
7-4, and Shawn Sookhai 7-6. But, Junior Sanchez would
then be stopped by Dennis Lake, who won the hot seat
match at 8-6.
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Coming back strong on the one-loss side of the bracket
on the C/D side after losing his first match of the
event was Andrew Cleary, who had an impressive weekend
as he bounced back to win eight straight matches after
his opening loss. Cleary also successfully came back
from being down in a number of these matches, including
his final hill-hill win against Ambi Estevez at 7-6.
John Ortiz was also on the warpath on the one-loss side
of the A/B bracket, and he eliminated Shawn Sookhai
from the event at 7-1, before being matched up against
Andrew Cleary in the quarterfinal. With Cleary being
rated a C+ and Ortiz rated an A, Cleary would be spotted
three games on the wire in a race to eight. Ortiz brought
out the firepower of his game in this match, and only
allowed Cleary to put one more game up before he reached
eight, to make the final score 8-4. Ortiz then moved
on to the semifinal, while Cleary’s strong run
landed him in fourth place.
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The semifinal would be an even race to seven for John
Ortiz and Junior Sanchez, who would hope to get redemption
after his prior loss in the hot seat match to Dennis
Lake. Ortiz and Sanchez had a very tight battle in the
beginning of this match, tying at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3.
But, it would be Sanchez who established control of
the match from there, going on to take a three-game
lead at 6-3. Ortiz then put up two more wins, but Sanchez
would finish off the match to win at 7-5.
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This win put Junior Sanchez back in the ring against
Dennis Lake in the final match, which was held on one
of Steinway’s feature tables, named in memory
of George “Ginky” SanSouci, table 10. After
their handicaps put a three-game spot up for Lake, Sanchez
won four rack while Lake won one rack, to tie at 4-4.
Dennis Lake then put away the next three racks to get
to the hill at 7-4. Sanchez came back to win the next
two and go 7-6, but an interesting turn of events in
the next rack would put an end to the match. Junior
Sanchez would break the next rack, and stayed at the
table after making the six. But, he was left with no
shot on the one ball, so he opted to play safe. Lake
was unsuccessful in contacting the one, and with ball
in hand, Sanchez played another safety, with intent
of winning the game by forcing Lake to foul three consecutive
times. Again, Lake missed the kick, and gave Sanchez
ball in hand. Sanchez then played safe for a third time,
but instead of leaving Lake hooked, the one ball landed
paired up with the nine ball. With a stroke of brilliance,
Lake kicked at the one ball, and combination-banked
in the nine to win the match in jaw-dropping fashion.
Congratulations to Dennis Lake on his first tour win,
along with all of the other top finishers in the event.
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On the second day of the tour stop, the Open/Pro 10-Ball
division was held on a single day, and featured both
top international competitors and area emerging players
in the 20-player field. NYC has been a consistent hotspot
for touring pros to take up residence either permanently
or temporarily, and the season opener’s Open/Pro
10-Ball event exemplified this. Among the top names
in the event, we saw former two-time US Open Champion
Mika Immonen, along with two of the most renowned players
of the Philippines, Ronnie Alcano & Warren Kiamco,
five-time US Open Champion Earl “The Pearl”
Strickland, and WPBA pro Jennifer Barretta.
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However, it was Connec ticut-based top American pro
Jeremy Sossei who would be the strongest force in this
event. Sossei would claim the hot seat position following
his run of wins against Mike Wong 7-5, Gregg McAndrews
7-6, Earl Strickland 7-6, and Warren Kiamco 7-4. Kiamco
had previously won a one-sided match against Mika Immonen
at 7-3, who moved on to defeat Spanky Koba 7-4 in the
final four of the one-loss side. Koba had a strong showing
to finish tied for 5th/6th with Earl Strickland.
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Immonen then moved on to the quarterfinal, but would
first wait for the upper half of the bracket to catch
up to determine his opponent. Ronnie Alcano would move
through the left side of the bracket with wins against
Zion Zvi 7-4, Travis McKinney 7-1, and Earl Strickland
7-5, to go up against the “Iceman” Immonen
in the quarterfinal. Alcano got out to an early 4-1
lead in this match, but Immonen won the next three games
to tie the match at 4-4. Ronnie Alcano kicked his game
into high gear at this point, and kept Immonen in his
chair for much of the next few games, leading to a 7-5
win. Ronnie Alcano followed up his quarterfinal win
with another win against Warren Kiamco. After taking
an early lead in this match, Alcano finished off the
set with a final score of 7-4.
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With this win, Ronnie Alcano earned a chance to win
the event, as he moved on to the final match against
undefeated Jeremy Sossei. This match would have an extended
single-race format, so if Sossei reached the hill (eight
games) first, he would only need to go to nine. If Alcano
reached eight first, the match would be extended to
eleven. In this final, Jeremy Sossei maintained his
high level of consistent play and trademark even-keel
pace, and took the lead early on in the match, to then
get to the hill first at 8-3.
In the next rack, Alcano had a chance to keep the match
going with a combination on the two ball into the ten,
but the ball hung up in the pocket. Sossei then had
another
chance to pocket the ten with a thin cut on the two,
but again the ball stayed out of the pocket. With yet
another breath of life, Alcano skimmed the cue ball
off the two, in hopes of kicking in the two…but
he hit the wrong side of the two, and both balls dropped
into the pocket. The ten ball was spotted, and with
ball in hand, Jeremy Sossei executed the final run out
to take the match, and win the Predator Tour’s
first tour stop of the season.
The end of the Open/Pro 10-Ball final concluded a well-run
event for the Predator Tour staff, Tony Robles, Gail
Glazebrook, and tournament director William Finnegan,
alongside the staff at Steinway Billiards, who set the
atmosphere with great food and service.
Some of Steinway Billiards' staff who served players
and patrons throughout the weekend Photo by Brian Leong
The second stop of the 2013 Predator Pro/Am Tour season
will also be held at Steinway, on the weekend of February
9-10.
- "Story by NYC
Grind Editor, Alison M. Fischer"
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Complete Payouts ABCD
1st: Dennis Lake – $1,500
2nd: Junior Sanchez – $1,000
3rd: John Ortiz – $700
4th: Andrew Cleary – $400
5th/6th: Shawn Sookhai/Ambi Estevez – $275
7th/8th: Bob Toomey/Rikki Ragoonanan – $200
9th-12th: Rene Villalobos, Lidio Rasta, Doug Masiero,
Joel Parker – $125
13th-16th: Jason Smith, Joe Torres, Jerry Tarantola, Jose
Batista – $75
17th-24th: Nick Chan, Bob Schlott, Jose Cruz, Gail Glazebrook,
Lenore Donovan, Travis McKinney, Alex Borukhovich, Tony
Ignomirello – $50
Complete Payouts Open/Pro
1st: Jeremy Sossei – $900
2nd: Ronnie Alcano – $450
3rd: Warren Kiamco – $300
4th: Mika Immonen – $150
5th/6th: Earl Strickland, Spanky Koba – $100
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