The Patriot Cup
February 15 - 17, 2002 Planet 9 Ball Tampa, Florida Day three at the Patriot Cup got underway in front of another sell out crowd Sunday morning with Team Predator from Florida leading the match score 5-3. The first events of the day were two scotch doubles matches. The first would pit Ray Martin & Buddy Hall vs Frankie Hernandez & George San Souci. This match went the way of Team Joss with a 5-2 win. With the teams now separated by one match point, both teams threw their top players into the next match. Team Predator paired up undefeated Charlie Williams with Tommy Kennedy, while Team Joss paired up undefeated Mika Immonen with Mike Zuglan for the final doubles match of the event. Much to the delight of the team from New York, this match was swept by Zuglan & Immonen 5-0 to even up the match score. In celebration of the whitewashing, Team Joss threw a broom on the table to signal the sweep over Team Predator. With the event now tied, the matches switched to singles 9-ball and Team Joss wasted no time throwing their best 9-ball player into action. World 9-Ball champion Mika Immonen had not lost a match in the event and would face former Us Open Champion Tommy Kennedy in race to 6. Although the match was close, 'TK from FLA' won one for the home crowd with a 6-4 victory. Team Predator now tried to expand their one match lead by throwing former World Champion Nick Varner in action against Tony Robles but the plan back-fired as Robles rolled to a 6-0 lead to tie the match again. As if the broom on the table for the last sweep wasn't bad enough, now Team Joss brought out a vacuum and vacuumed around the table. The celebration by Team Joss would be short lived as Team Predator would take the lead again when Buddy Hall defeated Frankie Hernandez 6-3 just before the dinner break. After the dinner break, the event moved to a break contest. This contest would pit Charlie Williams vs George San Souci with each player getting 20 breaks with points being awarded for cue ball control, balls pocketed and balls beyond the head string. Each 5 breaks would be worth one game point and Charlie Williams showed why he has what is thought to be one of the best breaks in the game with a 3-1 victory in this event to move Team Predator back into the lead. With the next event being one-pocket, Team Predator sent Nick Varner to the table against Mike Zuglan from Team Joss. Nick Varner proved last year that he doesn't lose one-pocket matches in Florida when he swept all four stops on the Sunshine State One Pocket Circuit. This match would be no different as he rolled over Zuglan 2-0 to give Team Predator and two match lead and a four game lead in the event. Moving into the five on five 9-Ball segment, Team Joss would have to sweep the match 4-0 to force the final 'one on one' ten ball match to be a tie-breaker. Team Predator stacked their line up to hopefully give them the best results. They sent Buddy Hall to lag for the break, Tommy Kennedy to break if Hall won and Charlie Williams to shoot next in case the first shot was a tough one. Sure enough, Hall won the lag, Kennedy broke in a ball and left a tough cut on the one and Williams fired the one in to get the team started. They went on to win the game but lose the match 4-3. With the event already won, the final match would be a simple exhibition match for the fans as the most valuable player from each team would face off in a 10-ball race to 5. Mika Immonen from Team Joss with a 3-1 record faced off against Charlie Williams from Team Predator with an identical 3-1 record. Immonen would salvage some respect for Team Joss in this match with a 5-2 win to end the event. Tournament promoter Charlie Williams said a good time was had by the sell out crowds on both days and he already has a number of pool halls contacting him with the desire to host the event next year. For those players unfortunate enough to not be able to witness this event first hand, all the match were videotaped and a home video is in the works. |