DiPietro earns first Planet Pool Victory

Joe DiPietro and Nick Prinsloo

The Planet Pool Tour held their third stop of the year at Bill & Billies CueSport in Arnold, MD this weekend with a field of 93 players in the open division.

Joe DiPietro, playing in only his second Planet Pool event, shocked the field with an undefeated trip through the brackets. 'The Genie Man' Ryan McCreesh came within one game of stopping DiPietro, but lost hill-hill for the hot-seat. McCreesh then lost to Kevin West 7-5 on the left side of the board. West had lost his first match on Saturday to Steve Fleming but won 11 straight to earn his spot in the finals.

As strong as West had been playing, he couldn't get by DiPietro who cruised to an 11-4 win in the finals.

DiPietro earned $1500 for first, while West settled for $1000. McCreesh and Brandon Shuff filled out the top four spots.

The ladies division saw 28 players hope to take home the $500 first prize. Kathy Friend took the hot-seat with 7-2 win over Tina Meraglio. Meraglio bounced back with a 5-2 win over Jin Hee Park on the one-loss side and then a dominating 9-1 victory over Friend in the finals.

Meraglio pocketed the $500 first prize, while Friend went home with $330. Park and Amanda Pasko filled out the top four spots.

Complete payouts for both divisions will be available on the Planet Pool Tour website at www.planet-pool.com