Robb Saez has taken his game up a notch and has been making a name for himself in a big way so far this year. Saez has already won 2 Joss Tour Stops, finished seond in two more, and also finished second in the first stop on the Seminole Florida Pro Tour. Mark up another win for Saez this week at the Seminole Florida Pro Tour stop at Player's Billiard Club Melbourne, Fl.
Saez cruised to the match for the hot-seat where he sent Florida's own Tommy Kennedy to the one-loss side 9-6. It took all Kennedy had to eliminate Randy Epperson 9-8 on the one-loss side and earn the rematch with Saez in the extended final match.
The final match started out dead even with the players tied at 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 before Saez won six straight games to take control at 10-4. Kennedy dug down and won the next two games and got back to 10-6, but Saez ran the next two racks to the get to the hill at 12-6 and then crushed any hope Kennedy had with a nine-ball break to end the tournament.
Saez pocketed $4000, while Kennedy settled for $2000. Epperson and 'The Rocket' Rodney Morris filled out the top four places in the star-studded field.
Two great stories at this event were Dawn Hopkins and Shawn Michael. Hopkins, currently ranked 25th on the WPBA tour won three matches on the one-loss side to finish in the cash in 17th place. Also finishing in 17th place was 18 year old Shawn Michael. Michael drew his teacher and tour director John Ditoro in the first round and promptly sent his teacher to the one-loss side. Michael wasn't done yet though, as he defeated former World Champion Mika Immonen later in the tournament. A great finish for both Hopkins and Michael.
The Seminole Florida Pro Tour will be at Stroker's in Palm Harbor, Fl on May 8th - 9th for their next event.
Complete Payouts:
1st Robb Saez $4000
2nd Tommy Kennedy $2000
3rd Randy Epperson $1500
4th Rodney Morris $1100
5th/6th Buddy Hall, Mika Immonen $800
7th/8th Earl Strickland, Luis Viera $600
9th/12th Charlie Williams, Troy Frank, Ray Martin, Paul Lordi $420
13th/16th Adam Wheeler, Jim Court, Jamie Farrel, Richie Richeson $280
17th/24th Tony Crosby, James Laderia, Scotty Boggs, Shawn Michael, Nathan Rose, Javier Chirino, Steve Knoll, Dawn Hopkins $150
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe
