It was Shivam Gupta’s second victory on the Tri-State Tour, although both of them have gone into the record books with an asterisk, labeled “No final match played.” In November of 2013, Gupta went undefeated through a field of 37, but he played his last match, against Chris Derewonski, battling for the hot seat. When Derewonski returned from the semifinals, they opted out of a final match, leaving the undefeated Gupta as the event’s official winner. On Sunday, February 18, at a $1,000-added, 10-ball event on the Tri-State Tour, which drew 54 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY, Gupta came back from a loss to Vinnie Crescimanno in the hot seat match and by mutual agreement, they split the top two prizes. Though Gupta was willing to play the final match, issues related to employment led to Crescimanno’s decision to opt out of that match. Also by mutual agreement, they split the cash, with Gupta receiving the larger share (and related tour ranking points) as the official winner.
Following victories over Duc Lam, Jose Estevez, Brian Cap and Mio Celaj, Gupta moved into a winners’ side semifinal match against John Francisco. Crescimanno, in the meantime, squared off against Ralph Ramos, Jr. Gupta advanced to the hot seat match 6-4 over Francisco, while Crescimanno was surviving a double hill match against Ramos. Crescimanno claimed the hot seat 6-2.
Callaghan wreaked re-match vengeance on Francisco 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals, as Ramos, Sr. downed Ramos, Jr. 5-3 to join him. Callaghan then allowed father and son to go home at more or less the same time with a 5-2 win over Ramos, Sr. in the quarterfinals.
Gupta played what proved to be the final match of the event, the semifinals, defeating Callaghan 6-3. The mutual agreement to split the top prizes, and award Gupta the official event title was reached, and it was over.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, February 25, will be a C/D 9-Ball event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
DaBreo comes from the loss side to down Davladze in Amateur finals
Jeremy Sossei and Zion Zvi battled in the finals of the June 10-11 Pro event on the Predator Tour. Sossei was in the hot seat, when Zvi completed a five-match, loss-side run to face him. Sossei won to claim the $1,500-added Pro event that drew 12 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. In a concurrently-run, $1,500-added Amateur event that drew 51 entrants, Raphael Dabreo recovered from an early loss at the hands of Koka Davladze, and won seven on the loss side to eventually meet and defeat him in the finals.
Sossei advanced through the short Pro field to face Michael Wong in a winners' side semifinal. Wong had just sent Sossei's eventual finals' opponent, Zvi, to the loss side. Joey Korsiak, in the meantime, met up with Chris Derewonski in the other winners' side semifinal. Wong put up a double hill fight, but it was Sossei who advanced to the winners' side final against Korsiak, who'd sent Derewonski to the loss side 7-4. Sossei claimed the hot seat 7-3 and waited on Zvi.
Zvi opened his loss-side campaign with a 7-3 win over Frankie Hernandez (runner-up on Memorial Day weekend's Ginky Memorial), following it with a 7-3 win over Shawn "Alaska" Morgan, which set him up for a re-match versus Wong. Derewonski drew Greg Mitchell, who'd defeated tour director Tony Robles 7-5 and Jorge Texeira 7-2.
Zvi successfully negotiated the vengeance match 7-3 over Wong, as Derewonski eliminated Mitchell 7-2. Zvi took the quarterfinal match over Derewonski 7-1 and then, downed Korsiak 7-5 in the semifinals. In the finals, by the same score, Sossei stopped Zvi's run to claim the event title.
DaBreo comes back to 'haunt' and defeat Davladze in Amateur event
You'd have to think that downing an opponent 7-2 in a winners' side match would allow a competitor to think that he (or she) would have few worries about that individual coming back for a second challenge, especially when you've advanced beyond that match to the hot seat. Pool, though, is a funny kind of game and nobody knows that better than pool players, particularly Koka Davladze, who won that early match during the Predator Tour's Amateur event, and Raphael DaBreo, who lost in that matchup and eventually won seven on the loss side to meet and defeat Davladze in the finals.
With DaBreo at work on the loss side, Davladze advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Dan Faraguna. Daves Callaghan and Weinstein met in the other one. Davladze moved into the hot seat match 9-4 over Faraguna, and met up with Callaghan, who'd sent Weinstein over 7-4. In spite of a match that went one game shy of double hill, Davladze won his last match, claiming the hot seat over Callaghan 11-9.
On the loss side, DaBreo chalked up victories #3 & #4 against Roberto Hung (9-7) and Thomas Rice (8-5) to draw Faraguna. David Weinstein picked up Emit Yolcu, who'd eliminated Xavier Romero, double hill, and Ambi Estevez 7-1, to reach him. Yolcu and DaBreo advanced to the quarterfinals; Yolcu in another double hill win, over Weinstein, and DaBreo 9-4 over Faraguna.
Callaghan put up a double hill fight against DaBreo in the semifinals, but it wasn't enough, as DaBreo advanced to a long-awaited second shot against Davladze. He took full advantage, downing Davladze 9-5 to claim the title.
Tour director Tony Robles extended special thanks to Kevin and Isabel Buckley, along with their staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, Poison Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The Devito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Capelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Billiards Digest and Pool & Billiard Magazine. The next stop on the Predator Tour, scheduled for June 17-18, will be hosted by Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY.
Jorge Rodriguez, Zion Zvi, Jimmy Rivera and Kang Lee
Zion Zvi, winner of last spring's 6th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament, chalked up not only his first win, but his first paying finish since then, with an undefeated run at the 10th Annual Empire State Championships, held on the weekend of February 25-26. The $1,000-added Open/Pro, 10-Ball division of the championships drew 25 entrants to the event's traditional home, Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY. A concurrently-run, $2,000-added, 9-Ball Amateur event drew 108 entrants and saw Duc Lam return from a defeat in the hot seat match to down Tony Kuo in the finals.
"I took a break over the past few years," said Zvi, who's sponsored by Molinari Cues and Steinway Billiards, "but I'm going to be more active this year.
"I'm coming back, one step at a time," he added.
Zvi and Jimmy Rivera battled twice in this one; once, in the hot seat match and again, in the finals. Zvi had sent Frankie Hernandez to the loss side 7-4, as Rivera was downing Lee Kang by the same score. Zvi took the hot seat by that same 7-4 score as well, and waited on Rivera's return.
Over on the loss side, Jorge Rodriguez, following victories over Jim Conn 7-2, and Eugene Ok 7-4, was laying in wait for Hernandez. Waiting for Kang was veteran player Danny Basavich (better known as Kid Delicious), who'd defeated Chris Derewonski 7-3, and Holden Chin 7-2.
Rodriguez downed Hernandez 7-5 as Kang was busy eliminating Kid Delicious 7-4. Rodriguez then defeated Kang in the quarterfinals 7-2. In the semifinals, Rivera ended Rodriguez' loss-side run 7-5.
Zvi, though, on something of a comeback trail that looks to be stepping up its pace in the weeks and months ahead, was too close to let this one slip away. He downed Rivera a second time, this time 7-2, to claim the title.
Lam comes back from hot seat defeat to down Kuo in Amateur finals
Duc Lam and Tony Kuo battled twice in the Amateur event, with the lower-handicapped Kuo getting '4 on the wire' (racing to 9) in the hot seat match, and '3 on the wire' (racing to 8, and then, to 10) in the finals. In the winners' side semifinals, Lam had sent the event's defending champion, Justin Muller, to the loss side 7-5, as Kuo was sending Ryan Dayrit over by the same score. Lam and Kuo played 10 games in the hot seat match, each winning five. Kuo's handicap advantage made it 9-5 for him, and he was in the hot seat.
Kuz ended Muller's hopes of defending his title 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Dayrit, who'd downed Schreiber 8-5. Dayrit took the quarterfinals 9-5, and then had his short loss-side streak ended by Lam in the semifinals 10-5.
As noted, Kuo opened the finals with '3 on the wire,' racing initially to 8. Lam reached 8 first, with Kuo at 6, having won 3. Lam went on to win it 10-8 to claim the event title.
Jorge Rodriguez, Tony Robles, Jayson Shaw and Michael Yednak
Jayson Shaw chalked up his third win on the Open/Pro side of the Predator Tour with a victory in the tour's finale, held on the weekend of December 12-13. It brought his 2015 victory total to 11, which has included two Turning Stone victories (XXIII & XXIV), the 27th Annual Ocean State 9-Ball Championship, the Pro side of the Ginky Memorial, and the 2015 Eastern States Open/Pro Championships at Snooker's in Providence in September. He went undefeated on this most recent, $1,500-added event, which drew 24 entrants to Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY.
Shaw faced separate opponents in the hot seat match and finals, thanks to Tour Director Tony Robles, who mounted a five-match, loss-side winning streak (including three double hill wins) to face him in those finals. Shaw was challenged by Jeremy Sossei in a double hill, winners' side semifinal, but advanced to the hot seat match against Michael Yednak, who'd sent Robles to the loss side 7-4 in a winners' side quarterfinal and defeated Holden Chin (the owner of Raxx Billiards) in the other winners' side semifinal. In Yednak's words, Shaw "crushed" him in the hot seat match 7-1.
On the loss side, Chin and Sossei ran into Jorge Rodriguez (who entered the tournament, and remained, the tour's top Open player) and Robles, respectively. Rodriguez had eliminated Thomas Rice 7-2 and shut out Earl Strickland to draw Chin. Robles, following his defeat at the hands of Yednak, defeated Hunter Lombardo, double hill, and Chris Derewonski 7-3 to pick up Sossei. Rodriguez downed Chin 7-5, as Robles was busy winning his second, double hill match on the loss side to Sossei.
Robles chalked up his third, double hill win in the quarterfinals, eliminating Rodriguez, before having a somewhat easier, 7-2, time against Yednak in the semifinals. The finals between Shaw and Robles was a battle between the second (Robles) and third (Shaw) ranked players on the Predator's Pro rankings (Zion Zvi was ranked at #1, going in to the tournament). Shaw put a stop to Robles' winning streak to take the finals 7-3 and claim the event title.
Jorge Rodriguez, Sean Morgan, Lee Kang and Hunter Lombardo
Henry Hernandez won five matches on the loss side to meet and defeat Amy Yu in the finals of the Amateur event on the September 26-27 stop on the Predator Tour. Sean "Alaska" Morgan, in the meantime, went undefeated through a short Open/Pro field at the same dual event. The $2,000-added Amateur event drew 52 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. The $1,000-added Open/Pro event drew nine entrants.
Hernandez advanced to a winners' side quarterfinal, before being sent to the loss side by Steve Astashen 7-3. Astashen moved on to meet Shawn Sookhai, as Amy Yu met up with Omar Chavez in the other winners' side semifinal. Double hill wins for Yu and Astashen set them up for the hot seat match, won by Yu 9-7.
On the loss side, Hernandez began his journey back to the finals with a 7-5 win over Annie Flores, and followed that with a 7-4 victory over Koka Davladze. This set him up to meet Sookhai. Chavez drew Xavier Romero, who'd gotten by Diana Rojas and Mike Figueroa, both 7-4. Hernandez and Romero handed Sookhai and Chavez their second straight loss; 7-4, Hernandez over Sookhai and 7-1, Romero over Chavez.
Hernandez survived a double hill quarterfinal versus Romero, and then, avenged his earlier loss to Astashen with a 7-4 win against him in the semifinals. Hernandez downed Amy Yu in the finals 11-7 to claim the Amateur title.
Three wins put Sean "Alaska" Morgan into the Open/Pro hot seat. He defeated Jorge Rodriguez 7-5 to get into the hot seat match against Lee Kang, who'd defeated Brian Yi 7-1. Morgan claimed the hot seat 7-2.
On the loss side, Hunter Lombardo and Elvis Rodriguez squared off in the only 9-12 match. Lombardo won it 7-2 and then defeated Kevin Guimond 7-3, to draw Yi. Rodriguez picked up Chris Derewonski, who'd eliminated Tony Robles 7-4. Lombardo squeaked by Yi 7-6, and in the quarterfinals, faced Rodriguez, who'd eliminated Derewonski 7-5.
Rodriguez won the quarterfinal match versus Lombardo 7-2, before having his brief, loss-side streak ended by Kang 7-3 in the semifinals. Morgan completed his undefeated run with a second victory over Kang 9-3.
The eighteenth annual Tri-State Tour Invitational Tournament took place June 27 & 28, 2015, at Steinway Café and Billiards in Astoria, NY. The weekend was a huge success for the tour with 14 A & A+ Players, 30 B & B+ Players, 32 C & C+ Players and 16 D & D+ Players who earned their way in to compete in their respective classes and play for their chance to be named the Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion. Steinway Café and Billiards hosted the event for the first time and the players could not be happier about the venue. Steinway Café and Billiards owner Manny Stamatakis and the staff including Anna and George were very professional, helpful and gracious. Manny donated the room and all the table time. Their generosity and support to the players and the event were exemplary. The staff and everyone at the room assured the events success. Steinway Café and Billiards is an excellent venue for the event with professionally maintained tables, a clean a fresh atmosphere and some of the best food in NYC.
As each day began, organizers John Leyman, Todd Fleitman & Rick Shellhouse congratulated the players on reaching the top of their classes for the season and handed out awards to the top players of the year in each class. The Tri-State Tour added $4000 in cash prizes and the sponsors Ozone Billiards, Fury Cues, Kamui Tips, Sterling Gaming, Cue-Sight, Capelle’s Pool Books, Billiards Digest, Pool & Billiards, Professor-Q-Ball’s News, Blue Book Publications, Steinway Café and Billiards, Amsterdam Billiards, and Romer’s Trophies went out of their way to provide the event with excellent equipment and prizes. The sponsors as the Tri-State has always maintained are owed a debt a gratitude for their dedication to the game and the players, their efforts and generosity are what always make the event so special and such a great success and without their continued support of the sport and the players this event could not happen.
Awards were presented to the top 3 players in each class, the Most Improved Player of the Year, and Sportsman of the Year. The most improved player went to Chumreon Sutcharitakul. He has grown into an extremely good and competent player over the past year dominating events and raising from a lower B level player to a strong A level player. Each year the tour awards one player the “Sportsperson of the Year” award. It is awarded to someone the tour believes exemplifies what a player should be and how they should act and this year’s award went to Mike Strassberg. Mike is always there to lend a helping hand, has nothing but positive things to say about the other players and never complains. His great attitude is what other players should strive to emulate.
The top players of the year in the their respective classes were Chris Derewonski taking down the Open Class, Miguel Laboy winning the A+/A class, Arturo Reyes B+ player, Chumreon Sutcharitakul B player, Ramon Feliciano C+ player, Mike Strassberg returning again this yeat as the C player and Mike Davie D+/D class player of the year and returning again as the Ladies Player of the Year was Ada Lio. For a full list of winners for all the classes and events, please see the web site www.thetristatetour.com.
The action in the tournament got going around eleven on Saturday morning, June 27 with the B+ and B class players along with the D+/D players kicking off the event. The B+ class saw two players dominate the event and meet each other in the hot seat match, B+ player of the year Arturo Reyes and Alberto Estevez. Both players played very strong all day defeating their opponents handily but Arturo could not be stopped, beating Alberto 7-3 in both the hot seat match and the finals. The B Class event for the second year in a row was dominated by Yomaylin Feliz-Forman even sending the most improved player Chumreon Suctharitakul to the one loss side beating him 7-1 all while being 6 months pregnant. Dave Shlemperis who lost his second match of the day to Eddie Medina 7-5 battled back on the one loss side of the chart winning 5 matches in a row against such strong players as Meshak Daniel, Jamiyl Adams, Chumreon Suctharitakul, Eddie Medina this time 7-6 in Dave’s favor and Luis Jimenez to get to the finals. In the finals Yomaylin took an early lead but Dave battled back and went ahead and then won the set 9-7.
The D+/D class saw Jim Gutierrez and Jessica Herpel battle their way to the hot seat match where Jim played well and did everything right and won the set 7-1. Irene Kim, Jim’s significant other after losing to Jessica Herpel fought back on the one loss side to meet Jessica again in the semifinal match. But the rolls by this time of the event were favoring Jessica and she won the match 7-5. In the finals the games at first were traded back and forth with Jim getting on the hill first but the rolls kept going in Jessica’s favor and she battled on to force an extended race final and finished the set with a ball in hand and a 7/9 combo for the win.
On Sunday, play resumed at 11 AM with the A+/A players and the C+ class and C class arriving to do battle. The A+/A Class saw one player in the finals undefeated while his opponent had lost his first match of the day. This was an almost exact replay of how the event went from the year before except instead of being in the hot seat undefeated Juan Guzman had to battle back from a first round loss to get to the finals. This year Tony Liang who won on the hill 7-6 in the first round then two 7-1 matches and then another 7-6 match found himself in the finals where he went on to beat last years A class champion Juan Guzman 7-3.
In the C+ class Chris DeCaprio sent Ambi Estevez to the one loss side in the third round with a score of 6-2 and then beat Frankie Scanlon 6-3 to get into the hot seat. Ambi Estevez who fell one match short of the finals the year before would not be deterred this year and won against Dennis Kennedy, Mike Esposito and Frankie Scanlon to get to the finals. In a match that could have went either way Ambi prevailed and won the match 8-5. The C class was totally taken over by Robert Jew who bested all opponents including his buddy and the player who he came to the event with Eddie Perez in the finals. Eddie last year’s sportsman of the year played very good all day but lost to Raul Calderon in the third round and then beat Raul in the semifinals 6-4.
This left our 6 class champions to do battle for the Grand Champion title. Robert Jew continued his dominating ways and beat Ambi Estevez 6-3 to win the C+/C playoff and then Jessica Herpel in the C/D playoff 6-0. In the B+/B class playoff Dave Shlemperis executed well very well and bested Arturo Reyes in the match 7-3. But in the A/B playoffs Dave just could not get going right away and fell behind. He caught some wind and started to battle back but by that time it was just too late and Tony Liang went on to win the match 7-3. With the overall finals of the event set, the 2 most dominate players of the event matched up to do battle. And both players played well and traded games with Tony Liang pulling ahead in the middle of the match, never to look back. He won the set 9-6 to become that 2014-2015 Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion.
On Memorial Day weekend, Shaw cut through a field of 64 entrants and went undefeated to claim the $2,000-added, 5th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Open/Pro title, realized, as it is each year, by the combined efforts of the Tri-State, Predator and Mezz Tours, and hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), New York. Shaw was challenged in the hot seat and finals by Brian Deska, fresh from his recent victory over Brandon Shuff in the last (May 9-10) stop on the Action Pool Tour. Shaw had finished fourth in last year's Ginky Memorial while Deska finished in the tie for ninth place. This year, they both advanced to a winners' side semifinal; Shaw squaring off against Chris Derewonski, as Deska battled Mike Dechaine. Deska and Dechaine came within a game of double hill (9-7), in a match that sent Dechaine to the loss side. Shaw downed Derewonski 9-2 and then claimed the hot seat 9-6 from Deska.
As there always seems to be at this annual event, there were a lot of potential loss-side challengers, capable and anxious to knock Shaw out of that hot seat. Dechaine and Derewonski discovered this immediately, when they picked up Jeremy Sossei, and Earl Strickland. Sossei had eliminated a pair of Shaun/Sean(s) to reach Dechaine; Shaun Wilkie and Sean "Alaska" Morgan, both 9-6. It was Chris Derewonski who had the misfortune of running into Strickland, who, already in the money, was picking up the finish line on his radar. He got by Kevin Clark 9-5 and eliminated Mike Wong 9-6 to draw Derewonski. Dechaine and Derewonski went down; Dechaine 9-4 to Sossei and Derewonski, in a strong showing, to Strickland 9-7.
Strickland advanced one more time, defeating Sossei in the quarterfinals 9-5. Deska then defeated him 9-6 in the semifinals.
It looked in the early going of the extended race-to-11 finals as if it were going to be a long night, as Shaw and Deska traded racks back and forth to a 3-3 tie; some, but not a lot of safety play going on, the two just stepping to the table and dropping balls when given the chance. At 3-3, Shaw started to step up the pace. He won two in a row before Deska chalked up what would prove to be his final game. At 5-4, Shaw increased the tempo even more; at one point in the six-pack he chalked up to win, he was playing at a pace of just over a minute per rack. All Deska could do was hope for the occasional opportunity to play, and he didn't get many of them. Shaw became the fourth winner in the five years of the Ginky Memorial, which was won by Mike Dechaine twice (2011, 2014), along with Earl Strickland (2012) and Mike Davis (2013).
For Predator Tour Director Tony Robles, this 5th Annual Ginky Memorial was particularly significant because the event accomplished a goal he had set for himself when he launched the Predator Tour in 2008; to hold a tournament in the Tri-State New York area that drew more than 200 entrants. With the Open/Pro enrollment of 64 entrants and the concurrently-run Amateur event (separate story) drawing 176, that goal was reached with an excess of 30 players. Still on his 'goal' list (and seeking sponsors, he says) is an International Straight Pool event. Tour representatives from each of the three sponsoring tours thanked each other for their mutual cooperation, along with the ownership and staff of Steinway Billiards. Thanks were also extended to sponsors Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, Poison Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, and Delta-13 racks.
It had been four years between victories on the New York-based Predator Tour, so when Zion Zvi chalked an undefeated one up on Sunday, April 26, one had to wonder whether he was 'back,' so to speak.
He hadn't really gone anywhere to be 'back' from, actually. From an earnings high of $9.5K in 2009, Zvi had continued to compete, consistently in the money on the Predator Tour, the Joss Tour (which he won twice in 2010), the Mezz Tour (which he won twice in 2011), and events like the annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial (4th in 2012, 5th in 2013). But by last year, cashing in seven events, his pool earnings had dropped to just over $2K.
"I don't have that confidence," he said, the day after winning the Predator's $500-added, Open/Pro event that drew 13 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. "I have to build that up. I still feel like I'm grinding it out every game."
"I felt good," he added of his general play in the tournament. "I felt like I hit the ball solidly and (developed) a little more confidence in my game."
In a winners' side semifinal against Jorge Rodriguez, he 'ground out' a double hill win, as Hunter Lombardo was busy sending Predator TD Tony Roble to the loss side 7-5. Zvi got by Lombardo in the hot seat match 7-5 (one game from a second, grinding double hill) and waited on his return.
Robles and Rodriguez advanced to the quarterfinals; Robles 7-3 over Wright, Rodriguez 7-5 over Batista. Robles took the quarterinal match 7-5 over Rodriguez, and then, by the same score, was defeated by Lombardo in the semifinals.
Back to the grind. Zvi and Lombardo locked up in a race to 11 that went to double hill before Zvi closed it out to win his first Open/Pro Predator stop since 2011.
"I was trailing the whole match," he said of the finals. "Down 9-5 and I came back, but I couldn't make a ball on the break, and every time I left him an open table, he was out."
The win hasn't exactly caused any major changes in his fortunes related to pool. He still enjoys the game, and obviously, can still compete. His life priorities, however, have changed, and he's more focused on his day job ("construction," he said).
"I know my level is up there," he said. "It makes me happy when I win, but I move on with my life. It's enough."
It was an unusually short field that competed this year in the 7th Annual Empire State 10-Ball Championships, held under the auspices of Tony Robles' Predator Tour. Run in conjunction with an Amateur 9-Ball event (separate story), the Open/Pro field has not been extensive over the past couple of years, drawing 25 in both 2013 and 2014. The 2015 field of 16, though, was affected by, among other things, the US Bar Box Championships out in Vegas, which drew the 2013 Empire State Champion and 2014 participant, Jayson Shaw, as well as other potential competitors like Jeremy Sossei and Sean "Alaska" Morgan.
This year's $1,000-added event, hosted again by Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY, was won by Jorge Rodriguez, who went undefeated through the short field. After defeating tour and event director Tony Robles in a double hill, winners' side semifinal, Rodriguez met up with Mhet Vergara, who'd just defeated Koka Davladze 7-5. Rodriguez took command of the hot seat 7-2 over Vergara and waited on what turned out to be the return of Raphael Dabreo.
On the loss side, there was a rather furious effort to advance, as three out of the four matches that determined the four-way tie for ninth place went double hill. Ultimately advancing were Chris Derewonski (in the only non-double hill match, 7-5) over Victor Nau, DaBreo over youngster Thomas Rice, Nigel Francis over Holden Chin (owner of Raxx) and Joey Korsiak over Laszlo Kovacs.
DaBreo subsequently defeated Derewonski 7-3 to hook up with Davladze. Francis eliminated Korsiak and picked up Robles. DaBreo kept his loss-side streak going with a 7-5 win over Davladze, while Robles defeated Francis 7-1.
DaBreo then played what Robles described as "the set of his life against (him)" in the quarterfinals. DaBreo defeated Robles 7-2 and advanced to a semifinal match against Vergara. A 7-5 victory there, gave DaBreo a shot against Rodriguez. Rodriguez, however, was not to be denied, as he went on to defeat Dabreo 9-7 and claim the Empire State Championship title.
According to information in our records, it's been something of an 'off' year for Jayson Shaw. Reported earnings of $50K in 2013 were cut by almost half in 2014 (as was his Money Leaderboard ranking; down from 14 at the end of 2013 to 29 at the end of this year). Going into the final event of the Predator Tour season, on the weekend of December 13-14, Shaw was poised to pick up his sixth overall win of the year, having previously won three on the Predator Tour, along with victories at Turning Stone XXII and the NYC 8-Ball Championships. By the end of 2013, he'd chalked up 10, including some head-to-head matchups against Mike Dechaine and Johnny Archer, and a doubles victory with Earl Strickland over Francisco Bustamante and Warren Kiamco.
Shaw recorded that fourth win on the 2014 Predator Tour, coming from the loss side of an Open/Pro field of 30 that had shown up to compete in the Predator Tour's season finale; a $2,000-added event, hosted by Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar and Grill in West Hempstead, NY.
According to information, also in our records, it's been an 'on' year for 15-year-old Thomas Rice, who won the $3,000-added Amateur event of the Predator Tour's finale. It was the young man's first Predator tour win since September 2013, and came on the heels of a November win on the Tri-State Tour, which he'd not won since May 2013. Though he's 'cashed' in fewer 2014 events, he's made almost twice as much money (the recent Tri-State win, which drew 64 entrants, accounted for just about half his 2014 winnings). Unlike his Open/Pro counterpart in this most recent event, Rice went undefeated through the field of 87 that came out to play, and added another $2K to his yearly total.
In the Open/Pro event, the finish of the final three (Shaw, Frankie Hernandez, Jeremy Sossei) duplicated the final three finish of a September Predator Tour stop in Queens. However, how each of the three got there was a lot different. Shaw went undefeated in September, defeating Sossei for the hot seat, and then, Hernandez in the finals. On the weekend of December 13-14, it was Hernandez over Sossei for the hot seat (7-2), with Shaw battling back from the loss side to defeat Sossei in the semifinals (7-2) and shutting Hernandez out in the finals.
Mike Dechaine and Raphael Dabreo were the winners' side semifinal victims; Sossei surviving a double hill match against Dechaine, as Hernandez was downing DaBreo 7-4. It was DaBreo who had the misfortune of running into Shaw, who'd already eliminated Chris Derewonski 7-2 and shut out Phil Davis on the loss side. Dechaine drew Jorge Rodriguez, who'd gotten by Holden Chin 7-4 and Kevin Guimond 7-1. Shaw defeated DaBreo 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Dechaine, who eliminated Rodriguez 7-4.
The quarterfinal meeting between two of the game's feistier competitors came within a rack of going double hill, but Shaw finished it 7-5, and then, picking up steam, he downed Sossei in the semifinals 7-2. Not content with that, Shaw turned to face Hernandez and didn't give up a rack to claim his fourth Predator and sixth overall event of 2014.
In the Amateur event, Rice's victory went through Laszlo Kovacs in a winners' side semifinal, as Todd Trent met up with Wanlop Chantarakolkit. Rice squeaked by Kovacs, double hill, and faced Trent, who'd defeated Chantarakolkit 7-2. Rice claimed the hot seat 7-3 and waited on the return of Mike Panzarella, whom he'd sent to the loss side, double hill, in an earlier match.
Panzarella moved over, chalked up two, and then defeated Eric Grasman 7-3 and Tom Hagan 7-2, to draw Kovacs. Chantarakolkit picked up Josh Friedberg, who'd eliminated Giovanni Maga 7-5 and George Poltorak 7-2. Both battles for the right to play in the quarterfinals went double hill; Panzarella over Kovacs and Chantarakolkit over Friedberg.
Panzarella took the quarterfinal match over Chantarakolkit 9-7 and then chalked up his seventh, loss-side win 9-7 over Trent in the semifinals. Rice put an end to Panzarella's winning streak 7-5 in the finals.
In the final event of the Predator Tour's 2014 season, tour director Tony Robles sent out special thanks to all of the room owners that have sponsored stops on the tour, as well as all the players, spectators and fans who went to those rooms to play, watch and support the tour. He also thanked his assistants – Gail (his wife), and Bill Finnegan – without whom, very little would have been possible. He also thanked tour sponsors Delta-13 Racks, The National Amateur Pool League (NAPL), NYCGrind.com (Alison Fischer and Jerry Tarantola), PoolOnTheNet.com, AZBilliards.com, Gotham Technologies, Billiards press (Phil Capelle) and Billiards Digest.
