Francisco comes from the loss side to win Amateur division event

 

Alex Osipov had quite a weekend on the Predator Pro Am Tour. He made it to a winners’ side semifinal in the $1,000-added, 80-entrant Amateur event of the July 7-8 stop on the tour, before being sent to the loss side. He lost his first match on that side of the bracket and finished in the tie for 5th place. He moved on to compete in the $500-added Open/Pro event, with 18 presumably tougher opponents, and proceeded to go undefeated through the field to claim that event title. Both events were hosted by the Amsterdam Billiard Club in Manhattan.

 

Osipov advanced through the Open/Pro field to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Matthew Harricharan. Raphael Dabreo, in the meantime, squared off against Jonathan Smith in the other winners’ side semifinal. Osipov defeated Harricharan 7-5 and in the hot seat match, faced DaBreo, who’d sent Smith to the loss side 7-2. Osipov claimed the hot seat 7-4 over DaBreo and waited on his return from the semifinals.

On the loss side, Smith picked up one of the New York Tri-State area’s hottest players at the moment, Joey Korsiak, who’d defeated Duc Lam and Michael Yednak, both 7-5 to reach him. Harricharan drew Hunter Lombardo, who’d recently eliminated Troy Deocharran 7-4 and Zion Zvi 7-5.

 

Korsiak and Lombardo advanced to the quarterfinals; Korsiak 7-5 over Smith and Lombardo 7-3 over Harricharan. Lombardo took the quarterfinal fight 7-4, but by the same score, had his loss-side streak ended by DaBreo in the semifinals. In their re-match DaBreo managed one rack more than he scored against Osipov in the hot seat match, but it wasn’t enough. Osipov completed his undefeated run 7-5 to claim the title.

 

Francisco wins five on the loss side to meet and defeat Toocaram in Amateur finals

 

Sent to the loss side by the eventual occupant of the hot seat, Ehmunrao Toocaram, John Francisco defeated five opponents on the loss side, including Alex Osipov, before meeting Toocaram a second time, in the finals. He defeated him to claim the Amateur event title.

 

Toocaram had advanced through the field of 80 to meet up with Osipov in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Ron Bernardo faced Corey Avallone in the other one. Toocaram sent Osipov to the loss side in a double hill battle, and in the hot seat, faced Bernardo, who’d given up only a single rack to Avallone (6-1). Toocaram won his last match, downing Bernardo 8-5 to claim the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Osipov picked up what proved to be his final opponent in the Amateur event; the eventual winner, Francisco, who, following his defeat at the hands of Toocaram, had eliminated Chickie Romero, double hill, and Robert Mendoza 9-5. Avallone drew Han Clark, who’d defeated the recently-crowned Tri-State Tour Invitational Champion, Erick Carrasco 7-5, and Kunami Chau 7-4.

 

The loss-side opponents in the battle for advancement both prevailed. Clark downed Chau 7-4, as Francisco sent Osipov to the Pro event with a 9-5 win. In two straight 7-4 victories, Francisco then eliminated Han Clark in the quarterfinals, and Ron Bernardo in the semifinals.

 

Toocaram had sent Francisco to the loss side 7-4 in a winners’ side quarterfinal. In their battle for the event title, they went double hill before Francisco dropped the final ball to claim it.

 

A Second Chance event that drew 16 entrants saw Greg Myer defeat Rene Villalobos, double hill, to claim the $160 first-place prize. Duc Lam finished in third place, with Jay Choi, in fourth. Ambi Estevez took the 10-entrant Third Chance event, claiming the $130 first-place prize after defeating Chickie Romero 7-2 in the finals.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at the Amsterdam Billiard Club, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Billiards Press.com, AZBilliards, Pool&Billiards Magazine, and Billiards  Digest. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of August 11-12, will be hosted by Boardwalk Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. Robles also reminded potential players that the 2nd Annual New York City 8-Ball Scotch Doubles Championships, to be held under the auspices of his Silent Assassin Productions company, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY on the weekend of August 4-5.

 

Thanks to the awarding of ‘double points’ on the Predator Pro Am Tour’s 18th stop of the season, the finalists in the event, with two stops left in the tour season, moved into the top spots in their respective ranking positions on the tour. As the winner, Mike Salerno jumped up two slots to move in front of Rob Pole for the top spot in the A++ division of the tour’s competitors, while, as runner-up, Dave Callaghan moved up a single notch ahead of Paul Carpenter in the C rankings. The $1,000-added, Double Points event drew 67 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

The two faced each other twice, once in the hot seat and again, in the finals. Callaghan had sent Ambi Estevez to the loss side, double hill, in one winners’ side semifinal, while Salerno sent Lidio Ramirez west 7-4 in the other one. This set up the hot seat match, won by Callaghan 11-8. Salerno was giving up six racks to Callaghan at the outset, which Salerno initially erased to create a 6-6 tie. Callaghan then won five of the next seven to claim the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Estevez picked up Troy Deocharran, who was working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak and had, most recently, gotten by Frank Tonn 7-4, and Patrick Meyers 7-5. Ramirez drew Eugene Ok, who’d eliminated Justin Muller, double hill, and Annie Flores 7-3.

 

Deocharran and Ramirez advanced to the quarterfinals; Deocharran 7-5 over Estevez and Ramirez 8-5 over Ok. Deocharrran chalked up what would prove to be his last win, over Ramirez 8-3 in that quarterfinal match.

 

Salerno ended Deocharran’s loss-side run 9-6 in the semifinals, and moved into the ‘extended-race-to-13,’ second shot at Callaghan in the finals. Salerno reached the 11-win plateau that advanced the finals to a race to 13, and finished it at 13-9.

 

A Second Chance event, which drew 10 entrants, saw Chickie Romero take home the top $120 first prize. Romero and Thomas Schreiber fought to double hill in the finals, before Romero edged out in front to claim the Second Chance title.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, and made note of next week’s (November 25-26) Thanksgiving Classic, which will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. The 2017 Predator Pro-Am season will conclude with its finale, the Tour Championships, on the weekend of December 2-3, and be hosted by Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY. Robles also extended best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving Day weekend, which he hoped would conclude, for many, with attendance at the Thanksgiving Classic on the following Saturday and Sunday. 

 

Alex Osipov has spent most of his pool career alternating between stops on the New York-based Predator and Tri-State Tours. According to our records, he’s chalked up two wins on the Predator Tour and cashed in 32 events on both tours over the past six years. His last win was recorded in January, last year. He added a third win on the Predator Tour on the weekend of September 16-17, navigating his way through a field of 73, stopping a loss-side bid by Gary O’Callaghan, and going undefeated to claim the event title. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

Advancing to a winners’ side semifinal, Osipov faced Brooke Meyer, who had just sent his eventual opponent in the finals, Callaghan, to the loss side. Chickie Romero, in the meantime, squared off against Kris Bisram. Osipov downed Meyer, double hill, and in the hot seat faced Romero, who’d sent Bisram west 7-3. Osipov sent Romero to a semifinal match against O’Callaghan 8-6, and waited in the hot seat for O’Callaghan to complete his loss-side run.

 

That five-match, loss-side run began with an 8-5 win over Omar Alli, and a double hill win over Mike Salerno, which set O’Callaghan up to face Meyer. Bisram drew Abel Rosario, who’d eliminated Xavier Romero 7-1 and Chris Kelly, double hill.

 

O’Callaghan and Rosario advanced to the quarterfinals; O’Callaghan, double hill over Meyer, and Rosario advancing by virtue of a forfeit by Bisram. O’Callaghan then downed Rosario 8-5 in those quarterfinals, before winning his third, loss-side, double hill fight, against Romero in the semifinals.

 

Osipov, though, stopped the run that would have given O’Callaghan his second September win on the Predator Tour (he won the September 2-3 stop at Steinway Billiards). Osipov claimed the event title with a 7-4 win in the finals.

 

The Predator Tour also hosted both a Second and Third Chance, single elimination tournament. The Second Chance drew 14 entrants and was won by Kevin Shin in a double hill final victory over Thomas Schreiber. Steven Molital and Eddie Kunz finished in the tie for third place. Mike Salerno picked up the win in the 12-entrant Third Chance tournament, downing Max Watanabe, double hill, in the finals. Erick Carrasco and Ambi Estevez finished in the tie for third place.  

What's known as the 'three-foul-rule' in billiards, which can be invoked in a variety of games (9-ball, 8-ball, and straight pool), is a rare occurrence. Perhaps not as rare as a full solar eclipse, perhaps, but there are so many variables involved with its application, that players are, by rule, warned of its potential invocation before it can occur, offering them the opportunity to avoid it, if they can. On the weekend of March 18-19, Xavier Romero was given the traditional two-foul warning during a stop on the Predator Tour, and what made this circumstance particularly rare was that he was warned during the last game of a double hill match and it was the finals. Romero committed the third foul, ceding the game, match and event title to Chris Kelly. The $1,000-added event drew 80 entrants to a new venue for the Predator Tour and the general public – The Spot in Nanuet, New York.

 

"This," said Predator Tour director Tony Robles, "is one of the most beautiful rooms, I've ever seen in my entire career."

 

According to Robles, The Spot, which was scheduled to open on March 23, opened on the weekend of March 18-19, specifically and only, to host the Predator Tour stop. They held what was called a 'soft opening' on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, to allow competitors on the tour to practice. Robles noted that there were 'still a few pictures to hang on the walls,' but beyond that and a few other details, the room was basically ready to go, and accommodated the tour's needs adequately. The room boasted 14 Diamond Tables, one Brunswick and eight, 7-ft. (bar box) Diamonds, along with a second, mezzanine level from which Upstate Al and the AZBilliardsTV  crew streamed the event live throughout the weekend. 

 

"The ceilings are so high in this room," said Robles, "that you can see the entire room from up there."

 

So the new room, unique in Robles' experience, opened especially for the Predator Tour, and hosted a tournament that ended in a unique way; with the three-foul rule.

 

Kelly and Romero came into the tournament looking for their first recorded victory on the Predator Tour (Kelly had won a stop on the Tri-State Tour in 2016), and battled twice to earn it. They met first in a winners' side quarterfinal, with Kelly winning that match 7-3. Kelly moved on to face Corey Avallone in one winners' side semifinal, as Mike Salerno squared off against Max Watanabe in the other. Kelly advanced to the hot seat match 8-6 over Avallone, and was joined by Salerno, who survived a double hill match versus Watanabe. Kelly claimed the hot seat over Salerno 9-5.

 

On the loss side, Avallone and Watanabe immediately ran into their second straight loss. Avallone had the misfortune of running into Romero, who, following his defeat at the hands of Kelly, had defeated Chickie Romero (no relation) 7-5 and Amy Yu 7-3. Watanabe picked up Elvis Rodriguez, who was on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals, and included a most recent forfeit win over Liam Tully, and a double hill win over Chris Peralta.

 

Avallone fell to Romero 8-4, while Watanabe was being eliminated by Rodriguez 7-5. Rodriguez' loss-side streak would end with an 8-6 victory by Romero in the quarterfinals. Romero went on to defeat Salerno 9-4 in the semifinals for a second shot at Kelly in the hot seat.

 

As noted, Kelly and Romero battled this second time to double hill before Kelly played safe, creating the first foul (when Romero missed the relevant object ball, giving Kelly ball-in-hand), the second foul (ball-in-hand for Kelly again, along with a warning to Romero), and the third foul, which allowed him to claim the event title.

 

The tour stop included a Second and a Third Chance event. Both drew a full field of 16 entrants. The Second Chance event was won by Bob Toomey, who defeated Tom Acciavatti in the finals. Chickie Romero took home the top prize in the Third Chance event, with Stewart Warnock capturing the runner-up prize. 

 

Tour director Tony Robles extended a special thanks to the owners of The Spot in Nanuet – Lenore Donovan, Matt and Nira Aldrich (husband and wife), Tom Schunke, and Mark Pavlicek. The next stop on the Predator Tour, scheduled for April 22-23, will be a $1,000-added, A/D, double points event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

Following in the footsteps of (in order) Raj Vannala, Daniel Dagotdot, Mike Yednak, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and Rhys Chen, Tony Liang became the sixth Amateur competitor to win the annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament. Liang came from deep on the loss side to challenge and defeat hot seat occupant Juan Guzman in the finals of the $2,000-added Amateur 9-Ball event that drew 190 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Combined with the 53 entrants in the $2,000-added Open-Pro event (separate story), the 6th Annual Ginky Memorial drew a record 243 entrants; three above the 2105 total.

 

The 190 entrants in the Amateur event were initially divided into two, 128-entrant brackets by ranking; one bracket for the A, A+ and B+ players, and one, for the B and below. Two players from each advanced to the winners' side final four. Juan Guzman (an A player) faced Eddie Kunz (B+), as Erick Carrasco (C) squared off against Rene Villalobos (B). Guzman and Villalobos advanced to the hot seat match; Guzman 7-3 over Kunz and Villalobos, 7-5 over Carrasco. Guzman won his last match, claiming the hot seat 7-4 over Villalobos and waited on Liang.

 

On the loss side, Liang survived a double hill match versus the 2014 winner, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and eliminated Shawn Sookhai 7-3 to pick up Kunz. Carrasco drew Chickie Romero who'd eliminated Marshall Piercy 7-5 and Joe Torres 7-4, to reach him.

 

Liang eliminated Kunz 7-5, as Carrasco was busy surviving a double hill fight against Romero. Liang took the quarterfinal match versus Carrasco 10-8 and earned his slot in the finals with an 8-6 win over Villalobos in the semifinals. He completed his long, loss-side run by first, extending the final race to 9 games by reaching 7 games first, and then winning two more to claim the event title over runner-up Juan Guzman 9-6.

 

In addition to thanking everyone who came down to Steinway Billiards to honor George "Ginky" Sansouci, Tony Robles thanked both the Tri-State and Mezz Tours for their cooperation and assistance, along with Steinway Billiards' owner, Manny Stamatakis, and his staff. He also extended his thanks to sponsors Predator Cues, National Amateur Pool League, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 racks, Gotham City Technologies, PoolOnTheNet.com, The DeVito Team, Billiards Press, AZ Billiards, Billiards Digest, and Pool & Billiard Magazine. He also thanked William Finnegan, Mandy Wu, and Irene Kim for their assistance with the tournament, as well as his wife, Gail Robles.

Lidio Ramirez fought through a double hill challenge by Pablo Sanz in the finals of the Predator Tour's Amateur stop on the weekend of May 21-22 to claim his first Predator title. The $1,000-added event drew 67 entrants to Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY. 

 

With his eventual finals' opponent, Sanz, already at work on the loss side, Ramirez advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Rhio "Annie" Flores, while Andrzej Kaldan, who'd just sent Sanz to the loss side, faced Jimy Cardona. Ramirez and Kaldan moved on to the hot seat match, after identical 7-4 wins over Flores and Cardona. Ramirez claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Kaldan and waited on the return of Sanz.

 

Sanz opened his loss-side, finals-bound campaign against Nicole Monaco, defeating her 7-5. He followed up with a 7-2 win over Chickie Romero to draw Cardona. Flores picked up Steinway Billiards' owner, Manny Stamatakis, who'd defeated Miguel Laboy 7-4 and Josh Friedberg 7-3 to reach her.

 

Flores sent Stamatakis home 7-2, as Sanz eliminated Cardona, double hill. Flores gave Sanz his second straight double hill fight in the quarterfinals, but Sanz prevailed to earn himself a re-match against Kaldan. Sweet revenge became even sweeter revenge, as Sanz shut Kaldan out in the semifinals. 

 

Sanz, in his third double hill match of his final four, forced a deciding game against Ramirez in the finals. Ramirez, though, hung on to win and claim his first Predator title.

 

Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Raxx Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, National Amateur Pool League, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 racks, Gotham City Technologies, PoolOnTheNet.com, The DeVito Team, Billiards Press, AZ Billiards, Billiards Digest, and Pool & Billiard Magazine. He also thanked William Finnegan, Mandy Wu, and Irene Kim for their assistance with the tournament, as well as his wife, Gail Robles.

Carl Yusuf Khan, known as The Warrior, started the year off in January with a victory on the Tri-State Tour. He followed that up in late February with a second place finish on the Predator Tour. On the weekend of August 8-9, he added a Predator title to that list, going undefeated to take the Amateur side of the Predator Tour stop. The $500-added event drew 70 entrants to Steinway Billiards, in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

Roberto Gomez, who placed second to Jayson Shaw about a month ago, came from the loss side to defeat Jorge Rodriguez in the finals of the $500-added Open/Pro event that drew 14 entrants. 

 

Gomez was sent to the loss side by Zion Zvi, who advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Lee Kang, while Jorge Rodriguez squared off against Earl Strickland. . Rodriguez and Zvi defeated Strickland and Kang, both 7-5 and met in the hot seat match. Rodriguez survived the double hill match, sending Zvi to the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Gomez defeated Sean Morgan 7-5 and Mhet Vergara 7-2 to pick up Strickland. Kang drew Frankie Hernandez, who'd gotten by Jeremy Sossei, double hill, and Sebastien Pauchon 7-1. Kang moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-2 win over Hernandez, and was joined by Gomez, who'd ousted Strickland 7-4.

 

Gomez defeated Kang 7-5 in the quarterfinals, and then locked Zion Zvi up in his second straight double hill battle with the same result. Gomez got a shot at Rodriguez and took full advantage, claiming the event title with a 9-7 win.

 

In the Amateur event, Khan got into the hot seat, after first sending Tony Liang to the loss side 7-4.  Marvin Thisitkraiyakorn, in the meantime, defeated Chickie Romero in the other winners' side semifinal. The Warrior claimed the hot seat 8-6.

 

On the loss side, Romero met up with Tommy Schreiber, who'd gotten by Jim Gutierrez 7-5 and Paulo Valverde 7-6. Liang drew Annie Flores, who'd been awarded a forfeit and defeated Raphael Dabreo 8-6. Romero and Laing advanced to the quarterfinals; Romero, in a double hill fight against Schreiber and Liang 7-4 over Flores.

 

Liang took the quarterfinal match 8-7 over Romero, and then defeated Thisitkraiyakorn 10-8 in the semifinals, for a shot at Rodriguez in the hot seat. To no avail, as the Warrior gave up only two racks and claimed the event title 7-2.

 

Jayson Shaw and Ron Mason went undefeated in their respective appearances on the Predator Tour's Open/Pro and Amateur events on the weekend of November 1-2. The $1,000-added events ($500 each) drew 37 amateurs and eight Open/Pro players to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

 

Mason got into the hot seat of the Amateur event by virtue of a forfeit. He'd survived a double hill, winners' side semifinal fight against Chickie Romero, and was preparing to face Koka Davladze, who'd sent Juan Guzman to the losers' bracket 7-2. Davladze, though, arrived some 20 minutes late to the hot seat match, and was, by rule, forced to forfeit the match to Mason.

 

Moving to the loss side, Guzman picked up the youngster, Thomas Rice, who'd defeated Brooke Meyer and Daniel Schneider, both 7-4, to reach him. Romero drew Julie Ha, who'd gotten by Eddie Perez 7-5 and Jaydev Zaveri 7-3. Rice defeated Guzman 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Romero, who'd eliminated Ha 7-3.

 

Romero defeated Rice 7-5, and turned to face a this-time, on-time Koka Davladze in the semifinals. Davladze got what should have been his second, but was actually only his first shot against Mason with a 7-5 win over Romero. The final match came within a game of being extended to 10 games, but Mason reached eight first to complete his undefeated run.

 

Jayson Shaw got by Predator Tour Director Tony Robles twice to capture the Open/Pro title. After battling to double hill against Hunter Lombardo in a winners' side semifinal, as Robles was busy sending Juan Guzman west 7-1, Shaw shut Robles out in the hot seat match.

 

On the loss side, Lombardo ran into Spanky Kava, who'd shut out Chris Hogan to reach him. Guzman drew Kevin Guimond, who'd eliminatEd Scott Simonetti 7-5. Lombardo gave up only a single rack against Kava, and in the quarterfinals, faced Guimond, who'd given up only two defeating Guzman.

 

Lombardo gave up another single rack in the quarterfinals, which ended Guimond's day and then faced Robles, who gave him a much more significant challenge. They battled to double hill, before Robles prevailed to earn the second shot against Shaw.

 

It started out well for Robles, with two break-and-run racks. As the balls scattered across the table during the break of the third rack, one of them kicked the cue ball in. Shaw stepped to the table, completed that rack and then ran four more to take a 5-2 lead. Robles narrowed the lead to two, but Shaw responded to reach the hill at 6-3. Robles fought back and won three to force a deciding game. He broke, and was looking at a decent table to run out. He was, he said "a little off, shooting at the 3-ball," and the cue ball took one of those all-too-common bounces off the corner of one side pocket, and landed in the other side pocket. Shaw picked it up and finished the rack to claim the Open/Pro title.

The NYC 8-Ball Championships, sponsored by CSI, and the first event of Tony Robles' Silent Assassin Productions, featured every possible type of individual victory.  Held on the weekend of June 6-8, and hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY, the $2,000-added events featured three undefeated performances, one victor from the loss side who won both sets of a double elimination final, and one hot seat occupant, who was defeated in the opening set of the finals and came back to win the second.

 

Jayson Shaw went undefeated in the Men's Grand Masters event (see complete story among Headlines), as did Chickie Romero in the most heavily attended event, the Mixed Open, with 23 entrants. July Laban, playing in the Women's Leisure event, with 16 entrants, completed the roster of undefeated titleists. It was Adam Kwon, playing in the 13-entrant Mixed Advanced event, who came back from the loss side to defeat Chumreon Sutcharitakul twice in the finals. John Morrison gave up the opening set in the finals of the 15-entrant Men's Leisure event, but came back to win the second set.

 

Romero's undefeated performance in the Mixed Open event was almost derailed in his winners' side semifinal, double hill match against Izac Horne. Horne, shooting at the 8-ball in the deciding game, sunk it, only to watch, horrified, as the cue ball caromed off a few rails and dropped into a pocket to advance Romero to the hot seat match. Nick Meyer, who'd defeated Todd Trent 6-4 in the other winners' side semifinal joined Romero in the winners' side final. Romero won it 6-1 and waited for Meyer to return, which he did. Trent and Horne battled it out in the quarterfinals, and when Trent prevailed 6-2, he got a second shot at Meyer in the semifinals. Meyer defeated him a second time, 6-4, only to have Romero defeat him a second time 6-2, to claim the title.

 

July Laban's undefeated run through the field of 16 in the Women's Leisure event was almost derailed by the six-win, loss-side run of Akiko Taniyama, who'd been defeated by Laban in the opening round. As Taniyama was at work on the loss side, Laban and Inessa Gelman met up in the hot seat match. Laban had defeated Carolina Kwak 5-3, as Gelman was sending May Ng over by the same score. Laban downed Gelman 5-2 and waited on Taniyama. It was Taniyama and Ng who met up in the quarterfinals, and it probably didn't do Laban's waiting experience in the hot seat any good, to see Taniyama advance to the semifinals with a shutout over Ng. Nor, for that matter, did Taniyama's 5-1 victory over Gelman. Laban had given up only a single rack to Taniyama in their first meeting, and while Taniyama came within a game of forcing a double hill deciding match, Laban completed her undefeated run 5-3, and claimed the Women's Leisure title.

 

Adam Kwon and Chumreon Sutcharitakul ended up playing three matches that eventually decided the 13-entrant Mixed Advanced event. The first of the three came in a winners' side semifinal, when Sutcharitakul  sent Kwon to the losers' bracket 7-5. In the hot seat match, Sutcharitakul faced Glenn Ramsey, who'd defeated Noah Vogelman in the other winners' side semifinal. Sutcharitakul defeated Ramsey in a double hill fight that proved to be his last win. Kwon moved over and took down Dennis Lake 7-2, and both Vogelman in the quarterfinals and Ramsey in the semifinals 7-5. Kwon then won the opening set of the finals 7-3, and followed with a 7-2 win in the second set that gave him the Mixed Advanced title.

 

Like Kwon and Sutcharitakul, Greg Matos and John Morrison played three times to decide the 15-entrant Men's Leisure event. Their first, following Matos' 5-3 win over Joe DeVito and Morrison's 5-2 win over Jim Gutierrez, came in the hot seat match, won by Morrison, double hill.  DeVito moved to the loss side and after defeating Robert Scarmozzino 5-3 and Gutierrez in the quarterfinals 5-2, was eliminated by Matos 5-2 in the semifinals. Matos took the opening set of the finals, double hill, but Morrison came back to win the second set 5-3 and claim the Mixed Advanced title.

 

Promising "bigger and better events in the future," Robles and his Silent Assassin Productions team, which included John Leyman as tour director and referee for the event(s), thanked Steinway Billiards' owner, Manny Stamatakis and his staff, as well as sponsors Cue Sports International, Delta-13 Racks, Predator Cues, National Amateur Pool League (PlayNAPL.com), Gotham City Technologies, NYC Grind (Jerry and Alison Fischer), AZBilliards, Upstate AL, Joey Leon, and Bob Cmbwsu.

Earl Strickland, Tony Robles, Mika Immonen, Mike Yednak, Chad Bolling, Brian Singh, William Finnegan, and Anthony Chiappina got together on Sunday, April 13 and played a little pool on the Predator Tour. They signed on to the tour's $500-added Open event, and it was Earl the Pearl winning four in a row who went home with the top prize, defeating Mika Immonen in the finals. In the $500-added Amateur event, which drew exactly eight times as many entrants, it was Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, who went undefeated to capture the Amateur title. Both events were hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens.

 

Strickland took care of Chiappina in the opening round and faced Yednak, who'd downed Singh, in a winners' side semifinal. Tour director Robles defeated his assistant Finnegan and drew Immonen, who'd defeated Bolling, in the other winners' side semifinal. Strickland sent Yednak west 8-4 and in the hot seat match, faced Robles, who'd sent Immonen over 8-6. Strickland defeated Robles 8-4 and waited for the return of Immonen.

 

On the losers' side, Bolling and Singh downed Finnegan and Chiappina, respectively; Bolling 8-6 over Finnegan and Singh in a forfeit by Chiappina. Immonen and Yednak switched opponents from the opening round and defeated them a second time; Immonen over Singh 8-1 and Yednak over Bolling 8-2. Immonen took the quarterfinal match against Yednak 8-1 and then elminated Robles 8-3 in the semifinals. Strickland completed his four-match, undefeated day with a 9-3 win over the Iceman in the finals.

 

In the Amateur event, it took Delimelkonoglu four matches just to reach the winners' side semifinal, where he squared off against Chickie Romero. In the meantime, Shawn Sookhai faced Laszlo Kovacs. Delimelkonoglu defeated Romero 7-6 and in the hot seat match, met up with Sookhai, who'd defeated Kovacs 7-4. In their first of two, Delimelkonoglu and Sookhai battled to double hill before Delimelkonoglu prevailed to sit in the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Romero and Kovacs met up with Ron Mason and Tommy Hagan. Mason had gotten by Glenn Ramsey 7-5 and Meshak Daniel 7-2. Hagan, who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals, defeated Stuart Warnock 7-5 and survived a double hill match versus James Stevens to draw Kovacs. Mason and Hagan handed Romero and Kovacs their second straight loss; Hagan 7-3 over Kovacs, Mason 7-4 over Romero.

 

A double hill quarterfinal eventually advanced Hagan to the semifinals, where his loss-side streak came to an end at the hands of Sookhai, who defeated him 7-4 for a second shot against Delimelkonoglu. Their second meeting was as hotly contested as the first. They fought to double hill again, and again Delimelkonogluu prevailed to capture the Amateur title.