They split their two meetings, but Jorge Vivacio took the critical, final match over Rich Lang to win it all. The $500-added, A-D handicapped event of the June 30-July 1 stop on the Predator Tour drew 36 entrants to Eastside Billiards on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
They met first in the battle for the hot seat. Just prior, Vivacio had defeated Ross Lacey and Lang had downed Debra Pritchett, by identical 7-4 scores. Lang got the best of Vivacio 10-3 in the hot seat match and waited for him to get back.
Lacey moved to the loss side and picked up Mike Dube, who’d defeated Dennis Espinal 7-3 and Alex Osipov 7-5 to reach him. Pritchett drew Alex Borukhovich, who’d gotten by Louis Jimenez 7-3 and survived a double hill match against Arron Moody. Lacey advanced, defeating Dube 7-2. Pritchett did not, falling to Borukhovich 8-6.
Borukhovich defeated Lacey in the quarterfinals 7-5 and had his loss-side streak stopped in a 9-7 victory by Vivacio in the semifinals. Vivacio avenged his earlier defeat at the hands of Lang with a 12-6 victory in the finals.
Sent to the loss side from among the winners’ side final eight, Tony Robles battled back through five matches to defeat Frankie Hernandez in the finals of the Open/Pro event of the Predator Tour stop on the weekend of February 11-12. The $500-added Open/Pro event drew 15 entrants to The Cue Bar in Bayside, NY.
Once he’d sent Robles west with an 8-6 victory, Geovani Hosang moved among the winners’ side final four to face Coco Davladze. Hernandez, in the meantime, squared off against Jennifer Baretta. Hosang downed Davladze 8-6 and in the battle for the hot seat, faced Hernandez, who’d defeated Baretta 8-5. Hernandez got into the hot seat with an 8-3 victory over Hosang and waited for the return of “The Silent Assassin.”
Said ‘assassin’ got to work on the loss side with a 7-3 victory over Oscar Bonilla and then defeated Jorge Rodriguez 7-4 to pick up Baretta. Davladze drew Juan Guzman, who’d defeated Alex Borukhovich 7-2 and Mhet Vergara, double hill, to reach him. Robles downed Baretta 7-5, and was joined in the quarterfinals by Guzman, who’d survived a double hill match against Davladze.
Robles gave up only a single rack to Guzman in those quarterfinals, earning himself a re-match against the man who’d sent him west earlier, Hosang. Robles gave up only three racks in a 7-3 semifinal victory that gave him a shot versus Hernandez. Had Hernandez reached seven games first, it would have been over, but it was Robles hitting that mark, and extending the race to nine games. They battled, eventually, to double hill before Robles prevailed to capture his own event title.
As tour representative, Robles thanked Sam An and the staff at the Cue Bar for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.
Not since they started keeping snowfall records in 1869, had the city of New York seen as much snow in October as it saw on Saturday, October 29. Three inches were reported in New York’s Central Park, a matter of miles away from Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn. Undaunted by the weather, 36 entrants showed up at Gotham City Billiards to take part in the $1,250-added, B-D handicapped stop on the Tri-State Tour, which, in consideration of the weather conditions, ended prematurely. Andrzej (pronounced Andrew) Kaldan, who had made his way to the hot seat undefeated, and Kim Meyer-Gabia, who’d worked her way back through four matches on the loss-side to meet him in the finals, agreed to call it a night.
Following victories over Ben Castaneros, Alex Borukhovich, and Hector Ruiz, Kaldan faced Alex Osipov among the winners’ side final four. Kaldan sent Osipov west 7-6, as Gary Murgia was busy doing likewise to Meyer-Gabia 7-4. Kaldan played his last game of the night, defeating Murgia 9-3 in the battle for the hot seat.
Meyer-Gabia moved over to take on Ed Culhane, who’d defeated Mel McCullen 9-4 and Hector Ruiz 7-3 to reach him. Osipov picked up Arturo Reyes, who’d gotten by Harry Lau 7-4, and Keith Diaz 7-3. Meyer-Gabia dominated the match versus Culhane 7-1, advancing to the quarterfinals against Osipov, who’d downed Reyes 7-5. A 6-4 win in those quarterfinals gave Meyer-Gabia a second chance against Murgia in the semifinals.
She made the best of it, defeating Murgia 7-5 in what proved to be the final match of the evening. Shortly thereafter, she and Kaldan agreed to end the proceedings, leaving the undefeated Kaldan with his first victory on the Tri-State tour, and Meyer-Gabia, with the single loss, in second place.
In addition to sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics, tour representatives thanked Kevin and Isabel Buckley, owners of Gotham City Billiards, for the superb playing conditions, including recently re-covered tables, and additional funding of the purse.
