Tony Robles and Frankie Hernandez
The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour made its sixth tour stop of the season at Master Billiards on April 24-25, 2010. This event drew a full field of 64 amateurs, including many top up-and-coming players from the Tri-State area. Several standout players included Wilson Cruz, Michael Yednak, Mike Panzarella, Derek Schwager, Yesid Garibello, Stew Warnock, Mike Davis, and Phil Davis. The event also featured an Open/Pro tournament, which drew several top legendary NY players, including Tony Robles, "Ginky" George Sansouci, and Frankie Hernandez.
One of the regular players in the Master Billiards weekly tournaments, Tony Liang, made a statement playing strong throughout the event. Tony Liang's undefeated road to the finals was impressive. Tony defeated Eddie Medina (7-5), Shawn Sookhai (7-2), Stew Warnock (7-5), Mike Wong (7-3), and Alex Gonzalez (7-4) before he clutched out a gritty hill-hill (7-6) win over Alan Chan to claim a spot in the finals and wait for the player who would eventually grind back through the one-loss side.
Eight players on the one-loss side earned the opportunity to fight back on Sunday. John Stiles displayed heart defeating Chuck Giallorenzo (7-6) and Asif Mostafa (7-5),then continued on to defeat Alberto Estevez 7-2 and Mathew Harricharan 7-4 before falling to Phil Davis.
Phil Davis also had an incredibly strong showing at his first Predator event. As one of eight players making it back to the second day, Phil was determined to make the most out of his hour and a half ride from his home in Ansonia, Connecticut. After losing his first match to Yesid Garibello 7-6 on Saturday, Phil went through Mike Panzarella (7-4), Junior Sanchez (7-6), Yesid Garibello (7-3), Alex Gonzalez (7-4), John Stiles (7-3), and ultimately Alan Chan (7-3) making it to the finals.
In the final match Phil, who is rated an A player, matched up against the undefeated Tony Liang, rated a B. Phil was dominant in the finals, leading the match through to a 9-6 final score, including the one game on the wire spot that an A player has to give to a B. Congratulations go out to emerging young gun Phil Davis from CT for a truly impressive performance.
The next event on the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour will be May 8-9 at BQE Billiards & Cafe in Jackson Heights, NY.
Predator Tour Amateur Results
1. Phil Davis $1,000
2. Tony Liang $600
3. Alan Chan $400
4. John Stiles $300
5/6: Mathew Harricharan, Alex Gonzalez $225
7/8th: Alberto Estevez, Yesid Garibello $175
9-12th: Mike Wong, Asif Mostafa, Luis Novas, Junior Sanchez $135
14-16th: Daniel Dagodot, Chuck Giallorenzo, Mike Panzarella, Darwin Vergara $100
In the Open-Pro 10-ball event, legendary New York-area pool player Frankie Hernandez was on a roll going through the field in dominant fashion. Frankie rolled over"Ginky" George Sansouci (8-0) & Mhet Vergara (8-1) before falling to Tony Robles 8-4. Frankie would then best Oscar Bonilla 8-3 to get another chance at Robles in the finals. The combination of Frankie's big break and aggressive play was too much for the Silent Assassin this go around as Frankie beat Robles 8-4 to win the event. Frankie is also the winner of a paid entry fee to the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championships in Vegas next month as he was the points leader for the Predator Tour after the 5 qualifying events. Congratulations Frankie!
Predator Open-Pro Results:
Frankie Hernandez $600
Tony Robles $300
Oscar Bonilla $120
For more information on the Predator 9-Ball Tour, please log on to:
Tony Robles and the Predator 9-ball Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, Digital Ink Printing, Billiards Press, RJH Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases,Go4Pool.net, and NYCgrind.com.
