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Zvi comes back from semifinals to defend his Empire State 10-Ball Championship title

(l to r): Mieszko Fortunski, Konrad Jusczyzszyn & Zion Zvi

Carandang goes undefeated to capture Amateur title
 
At the conclusion of the 2017 Empire State 10-Ball Championships (Open/Pro division), at which Zion Zvi had gone undefeated through a field of 25, he spoke of coming back from a break that he’d taken over the past few years.
 
“I’m going to be more active,” he said at the time, noting that he’d be “coming back one step at at a time.”
 
One week later, he’d claimed the 8th Annual New England Hall of Fame Tournament title, and before the year was out, he’d pocketed the best recorded earnings in his 15-year career. On Sunday February 25, he began 2018 the same way, by successfully defending his title at the 11th Annual Empire State 10-Ball Championships. He missed going undefeated by a single game, battling for the hot seat, but came back to defeat Mieszko Fortunski in the finals. For the second year in a row, the $1,000-added Open/Pro division of the Championships drew 25 entrants to the event’s traditional venue, Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY.
 
Commencing on Saturday, February 24, Raxx Billiards also played host to the annual Amateur division of the Empire State Championships, competing in 9-Ball. This year’s $2,000-added event drew 111 entrants, three more than it had last year. Jason Carandang went undefeated through the field to claim his first major title.
 
Zvi’s trek to the winners’ circle advanced through to a winners’ side semifinal match against Michael Yednak. Fortunski, in the meantime, met up with Joey Korsiak in the other winners’ side semifinal. Zvi and Fortunksi got into the hot seat match with identical 7-4 wins over Yednak and Korsiak. Fortunski claimed the hot seat 7-2, and waited on Zvi’s return from the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Yednak picked up Konrad Jusczyzszyn, who’d defeated Mike Panzarella 7-3 and survived a double hill match versus Jorge Rodriguez. Korsiak drew Greg McAndrews, who’d chalked up two straight double hill wins against Tony Robles Frankie Hernandez to reach him.
 
By identical 7-4 scores, McAndrews and Jusczyzszyn advanced to the quarterfinals over Korsiak and Yednak. Jusczyzszyn then downed McAndrew 7-3 in those quarterfinals. Zvi put a stop to Jusczyzszyn’s run 7-3 in the semifinals, and then, in a successful 11-7 re-match against Fortunski, claimed the event title.
 
[photo id=48723|align=right]Carandang and Romann battle twice for the Amateur title
 
They met early and late. Jason Carandang sent Steven Romann to the loss side in a double hill match early in the Amateur event. Caradang advanced to the hot seat, as Romann chalked up seven wins on the loss side to meet him a second time. The finals fell a game short of being a second double hill match (7-5), but the result was the same.
 
Caradang advanced through the field to a winners’ side semifinal against Ada Lio, the Predator Pro Am Tour’s top female at this early-in-the-season juncture. Shawn Jackson and Frank Cutrone met up in the other winners’ side semifinal. Carandang sent Lio to the loss side 7-2, as Jackson sent over Cutrone over 7-5. Carandang and Jackson locked up in a double hill fight that left Carandang in the hot seat, and Jackson on his way to the semifinals.
 
It was Lio, who picked up the eventual runner-up, Steve Romann on the loss side. He was four matches into the loss-side streak that was taking him to the finals. He’d most recently downed Adam Miller 7-5 and Jose Kuilan 7-4. Cutrone picked up teenager Lukas Fracassso-Verner, who’d eliminated Steinway Billiards’ owner, Manny Stamatakis in a double hill fight, and Paul Everton in an almost-double hill fight (7-5).
 
Romann defeated Lio 7-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Cutrone, who’d put Fracasso-Verner on the wrong end of another double hill fight. Two more, apparently very popular 7-4 wins, in the quarterfinals against Cutrone and in the semifinals, against Jackson, gave Romann a second shot against Carandang. To no avail, as it turned out. Carandang completed his undefeated run with a 7-5 win in the finals.
 
A Second Chance event that drew 16 entrants was Mike Callaghan defeat George Poltorak 7-3 in the finals. Dan Faraguna finished third, with Debby Buyukdeniz in fourth place. Max Watanabe defeated Mike Salerno 7-2 in the finals of a Third Chance event that drew 8 entrants.
 
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Raxx Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, NAPL, Ozone Billiards, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, BilliardsPress.com, AZBilliards, Billiards Digest and PoolMag.com. Robles also extended thanks to his entire Predator Staff, including his wife, Gail Robles, Mandy Wu, William Finnegan, Irene Kim, and Rob Omen. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for March 3-4, will be hosted by The Spot in Nanuet, NY.

Sossei goes undefeated to take Predator Open/Pro stop

Zion Zvi, Jeremy Sossei and Joey Korsiak

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.

Bozigian dedicates undefeated win on the Predator Tour to his Dad

Matthew Harricharran, Gary Bozigian, Dan Faraguna and Troy Deocharran

It had been a month or so since Gary Bozigian's father passed away, when he signed on to the March 4-5 stop on the Predator Tour; a $1,000-added event that drew 51 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY. He'd competed in events since his father had died, and before this particular stop on the tour, but it wasn't until he got into the hot seat of this one that the possibility of winning it led him to speak to Tour Director Tony Robles. Bozigian asked that in the event of his completing an undefeated run through the field of entrants, that his victory be dedicated to the memory of his father.
 
Bozigian chalked up two, back-to-back double hill victories (hot seat and finals) over Matthew Harricharan to claim the event title. The memory of his father will now live on in his memories of a first tour victory.
 
Bozigian got into the hot seat match, following a 7-2 victory over Troy Deocharran in a winners' side semifinal, as Harricharran was downing Dan Faraguna 7-3. Bozigian claimed the hot seat over Harricharan in their first of two straight double hill battles.
 
Deocharran moved over and picked up Kevin Shin on the loss side. Shin had defeated Irene Kim 8-6 and Carmine Andujar 8-3 to reach him. Faraguna drew Miguel Laboy, who'd eliminated Lidio Ramirez 7-3, and Max Watanabe 7-2. 
 
Two 7-4 wins sent Deocharran and Faraguna to the quarterfinals. Two 7-5 wins sent Faraguna (over Deocharran) to the semifinals, and Harricharan (over Faraguna) to a re-match against Bozigian in the hot seat. For the second time, Bozigian and Harricharran locked up in a double hill fight, with the same result. Bozigian won it to claim his first Predator title, and an ever-lasting tribute to his Dad.

Warnock, Jr. comes from the loss side to take Predator Tour stop

Stewart Warnock Jr., Dan Faraguna, Tony Ignomirello and Jaydev Zaveri

When they faced each other in the finals of the November 19-20 stop on the Predator Tour, Stewart Warnock, Jr. and Tony Ignomirello occupied the same spaces in their respective ranking categories; Warnock was the #11-ranked player among the tour's "A" players, Ignomirello was in the same position among the tour's "C+" players. The opponent they both defeated, Dan Faraguna (Warnock defeated him twice), was the tour's #1-ranked "B+" player. Warnock came back from a loss to Faraguna to win three on the loss side (including a re-match against Faraguna) to claim the title. The $1,000-added event drew 66 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
 
 
Warnock and Faraguna squared off against each other, first, in a winners' side semifinal, as Ignomirello met up with Dave Callaghan in the other. Faraguna sent Warnock on his merry loss-side way by shutting him out. Ignomirello defeated Callaghan 7-3 to join Faraguna in the hot seat match. Ignomirello claimed the hot seat 7-4.
 
 
On the loss side, Warnock drew Arturo Reyes, who'd picked up a win on the Tri-State Tour the week before, and at this event had worked his loss-side way through Amir Uddin and Shawn Sookhai, both 7-5, to reach Warnock. Callaghan picked up Jaydev Zaveri, another recent winner on the Tri-State (Oct. 16), who'd defeated Marisol Palacios 9-6 and Akiko Taniyama 7-2.
 
 
Warnock and Zaveri advanced to the quarterfinals; Warnock 7-5 over Reyes, and Zaveri 7-6 over Callaghan. Warnock took the quarterfinal match over Zaveri 7-4 for the right to a re-match against Faraguna in the semifinals. Though their overall game totals would favor Faraguna (10-7), Warnock won the semifinal re-match 7-3 for a shot at Ignomirello in the finals.
 
 
Warnock took advantage of the opportunity he'd been granted. He downed Ignomirello 11-7 in the finals to claim the title. A Second Chance tournament that drew 12 entrants saw Eugene Ok defeat Dany Recinos in the finals 7-6 to claim the $160 first-place prize. Recinos pocketed $100.
 
 
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, the NAPL, Ozone Billiards, PoolOnTheNet.Com, Cappelle Publishing, Delta-13 Racks, Mandy Wu (ass't TD), Irene Kim, and his "lovely wife," Gail Robles.

Dinh returns from semifinals to down Deocharran in Eastern States Amateur Championships

Quoc Dinh, Tim Strunk, Tim Perry and Troy Deocharran

A double hill hot seat match sent Quoc Dinh to the semifinals of the 3rd Annual Eastern States Amateur Championships, held on the weekend of August 13-14. Dinh returned to face and eventually defeat Troy Deocharran in the finals. The $1,000-added Amateur event, held under the auspices of the Predator Tour, The Ride the 9 Tour and the New England 9-Ball Series, drew 76 entrants to Snookers, in Providence, RI. A concurrently-run Open/Pro event, won by Jayson Shaw (separate story), drew 31 entrants to the same location.
 
Deocharran and Dinh had a relatively easy time in their respective winners' side semifinal matches; Deocharran sending John Francisco to the loss side 7-2, as Dinh was sending Tim Perry over, 7-3. Their first meeting was a double hill affair, eventually won by Deocharran, who sat in the hot seat awaiting Dinh's fateful return.
 
On the loss side, Francisco picked up Tim Strunk, who'd been sent to the loss side by Mike Demarco, and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side run that would take him all the way to the semifinals. Wins #3 and #4 came against Dan Martis (7-4) and Roarke Dickson (double hill), which set Strunk up to face Francisco. Perry drew John Ortiz, who'd eliminated Richard Senna 7-4 and Dan Faraguna 7-3.
 
Strunk chalked up a second straight double hill win, advancing to the quarterfinals over Francisco. He was joined by Perry, who'd eliminated Ortiz 7-4. Strunk won his last match, defeating Perry 9-4 in those quarterfinals.
 
Dinh stopped Strunk's loss-side run 9-4 in the semifinals, for a second shot against Deocharran in the hot seat. Dinh used some semifinal momentum to defeat Deocharran in the finals 9-5. 
 

Faraguna wins second straight, undefeated Predator stop

Shawn Sookhai, Dan Faraguna, Lukas Fracasso-Verner, Erick Carrasco and Elvis Rodriguez

Last week (April 23-24), Dan Faraguna won two double hill matches out of the final three he played to complete an undefeated run on the Predator Tour. A week later (April 30-May 1), all three of his final matches went double hill, and for the second week in a row, he completed an undefeated run to claim the event title. The $1,000-added event, hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY, drew 55 entrants.
 
The first of Faraguna's three final double hill matches came in a winners' side semifinal victory over Erick Carrasco. Shawn Sookhai, in the meantime, won a double hill match in the other winners' side semifinal over Elvis Rodriguez. Faraguna and Sookhai battled to double hill in the hot seat match, before (for the second week in a row), Faraguna moved into the hot seat.
 
On the loss side, Carrasco drew 14-year-old Lucas Fracasso-Verner, who'd defeated Izzy Matos 8-4 and Pablo Sanz 7-5 to reach him. Rodriguez picked up Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, who'd eliminated Gene Hunt 7-4 and Del Sim 8-2. 
 
Fracasso-Verner defeated Carrasco 7-5 and advanced to the quarterfinals against Rodriguez, who'd eliminated Delimelkonoglu 7-4.  Fracasso-Verner took the quarterfinal match 7-3 over Rodriguez, but had his loss-side streak ended by Sookhai 7-4 in the semifinals.
 
The finals would prove to be the third double hill match for both Faraguna and Sookhai; the third straight for Faraguna. He won it to complete his run and claim his second straight, undefeated event title. The victory cemented Faraguna's place atop the Predator Tour's Amateur B Division rankings.

Faraguna goes undefeated to win Amateur Predator stop

Fernando Paulino, Manny Stamatakis, Abel Rosario, Dan Faraguna and James Stevens

Two out of three of Dan Faraguna's final three matches at an April 23-24 stop on the Predator Tour went double hill. He won them both, and the hot seat match to complete an undefeated run on the $1,500-added Amateur Predator Tour stop that drew 70 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
 
Faraguna's opponent in both the hot seat match and finals was Fernando Paulino. Faraguna had sent Abel Rosario to the loss side in the first of two double hill matches he needed to secure the event title. Paulino had defeated James Stevens 8-6. Faraguna claimed the hot seat over Paulino 9-7.
 
On the loss side, Rosario picked up Andrzej Kaldan, who'd defeated Akiko Taniyama 7-5 and Dany Recinos 7-4 to reach him. Stevens drew Steinway Billiards' owner, Manny Stamatakis, who was on a six-match, loss-side ride that began when Stevens had defeated him in a winners' side match. Stamatakis picked up loss-side wins #3 and #4 against Koka Davladze 7-3 and Basdeo "Shawn" Sookhai 7-4. 
 
Stamatakis won his re-match against Stevens 7-5. He was joined, in the quarterfinals, by Rosario, who'd given up only a single rack to Kaldan. Stamatakis then defeated Rosario 8-6, before ending his loss-side run with a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Paulino in the semifinals.
 
Paulino's second shot at Faraguna in the finals went double hill. Faraguna won it to complete his undefeated run and claim the event title.

Shaw goes undefeated, Astashian comes from the loss side to win Predator Open/Pro & Amateur

Hunter Lombardo, Jayson Shaw, Mike Wong & Gotham City Billiards Room Owner Kevin Buckley

Jayson Shaw picked up his third 2016 title on the weekend of March 19-20. Following his wins at the Derby City 10-Ball Challenge and the New England Pool and Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open, he went undefeated in the Open/Pro event on the Predator Tour. In the Amateur event on the same weekend, Steve Astashian came from the loss side to defeat Nayan Roy and pick up his first win on the Predator Tour. The amateur event drew 84 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. The Open/Pro event drew 13.
 
Shaw's undefeated path to the winners' circle in the Open/Pro event went through Mike Wong twice. Fresh off a double hill win over Hunter Lombardo in a winners' side semifinal, Shaw faced Wong, who'd sent Frankie Hernandez to the loss side 7-5. Shaw shut Wong out and waited in the hot seat for Round Two.
 
On the loss side, Hernandez picked up Gotham City House Pro Jorge Rodriguez, who'd gotten by Brandon Hernandez 7-1 and Mike Dechaine 7-3. Lombardo drew Tony Robles, who'd defeated Koka Davladze 7-5 and Brooke Meyer 7-1. Two 7-4 wins over Robles and Hernandez put Lombardo and Rodriguez in the quarterfinals, won by Lombardo 7-1. 
 
Two straight double hill battles followed, with Wong downing Lombardo in the semifinals, and Shaw, completing his undefeated run and claiming the title in the finals.
 
Astashian's path to victory in the Amateur event went through Nayan Roy twice. He'd sent Riyadh Benghalem to the loss side 7-3 in a winners' side semifinal to face Roy in the hot seat match. Roy had sent Dan Faraguna west 7-5. Roy claimed the hot seat in a double hill win over Astashian and waited for him to get back.
 
On the loss side, Faraguna picked up Javier Romero, who'd picked up a forfeit win over Carmine Andujar and defeated Edwin Gutkin 7-3. Benghalem got Willie Santiago, who'd downed "Devil" Dave Ascolese 7-4 and Arturo Reyes, double hill. Faraguna and Benghalem advanced to the quarterfinals; Faraguna, 7-4 over Romero and Benghalem, double hill over Santiago.
 
Benghalem chalked up a second straight double hill win with a victory over Faraguna in those quarterfinals, and was then eliminated by Astashian 7-2 in the semifinals. The second meeting between Astashian and Roy, in the finals, was another double hill battle, but this one went to Astashian to complete his first Predator Tour win.

DaBreo returns to Predator winners’ circle, goes undefeated to take Amateur title

Paul Wilkins, Emit Yolcu, Brooke Meyer and Raphael Dabreo

Over a two-year span (2013/2014), Raphael Dabreo chalked up a total of seven event wins on the Predator and Tri-State Tours; two on the former, five on the latter. He was winning, at one point, an average of one event per month, which earned him a bit of national notoriety as the subject of a Billiards' Digest Tour Spotting profile. In 2015, that productivity dropped off a bit. Though he would be the runner-up in both the Empire State 10-Ball Championships and the Mixed Masters division of the NYC 8-Ball Championships in 2015, it was the first time in six years that he had failed to chalk up an event victory on either of the two New York-based Amateur tours.
 
On the weekend of January 30-31, he broke that streak, going undefeated on a Predator Tour stop, chalking up two gritty wins over Paul Wilkens to complete the run. The $1,000-added event drew 97 amateur competitors to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
 
They met first in the hot seat match. DaBreo and Wilkens defeated Brooke Meyer and Emit Yolcu, respectively, by identical 7-3 scores in the winners' side semifinals. The hot seat match came within a game of double hill, but when it was over, DaBreo was in the hot seat.
 
On the loss side, a gauntlet of regular Predator competitors had already been eliminated, including Manny Stamatakis (owner of Steinway Billiards), Rhys Chen (and his wife, Lenore), Alex Osipov, and Rhio Anne Flores, to name just a few. Meyer came over and picked up Miguel Laboy, who'd been responsible for eliminating Stamatakis 7-4, and Rhys Chen 7-3. Yulco drew Jose Kuilan, who'd defeated Lenore Chen and Dan Faraguna, both 7-5.
 
Yulco downed Kuilan 7-4, as Meyer locked up in a double hill fight versus LaBoy, eventually advancing Meyer to the quarterfinals against Yulco. Meyer found himself in a second straight double hill battle in those quarterfinals, from which, again, he came out on top.
 
Meyer wasn't as fortunate in his third straight double hill contest; this time, versus Wilkens in the semifinals. Wilkens prevailed for a second shot at DaBreo. The finals proved to be the event's fourth straight double hill match, commencing with Meyer's victory over LaBoy and concluding with DaBreo's eventual double hill win over Wilkens in the finals.
 
The top four prizes in this event featured an $800 bonus, contributed by the players themselves ($20 per player, offered as an option), and spread out over the top four spots. Thus, $350 was added to the first place prize, $225 to second, $150 for third and $75 for fourth.
 
 Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway 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
 

Shaw goes undefeated to successfully defend NYC 8-Ball Championship

Jorge Rodriguez, John Leyman and Jayson Shaw

Davladze, Sookhai, Schreiber, Kwak and Emil chalk up separate event victories

 

The 2nd Annual NYC 8-Ball Championships, held on the weekend of November 7-8, under the auspices of Tony Robles' Silent Assassin Productions, and functioning as the BCAPL's regional tour championships, experienced a modest increase in attendance over its debut last June. With the addition of a sixth event – a Mixed Masters tournament – the championships averaged 18 entrants, an increase of just over two entrants per event. The Mixed Advanced event saw the largest increase (13 to 23), with the Mixed Open event close on its heels (23 to 32). The Women's Leisure event saw a decrease from 16 to 10 entrants, while the Men's Leisure event added one entrant to last year's total of 15. The $3,500-added (total) championships drew 108 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 
Shaw goes undefeated a second time
The fixed-entrant, signature event – The Men's Grandmasters – with its full field of 16 saw Jayson Shaw successfully defend the title he'd won last year, going undefeated for a second time. Though Sean Morgan, last year's runner-up, was among the event's final eight, he ended up in the tie for 5th/6th, which left the door open for Jorge Rodriguez to battle Shaw twice; in the hot seat match and finals. Shaw defeated Nick Ekonomopoulos 8-7 to get into the hot seat match, while Rodriguez sent Mike Wong to the loss side 8-5. Shaw claimed the hot seat 8-5 and waited for Rodriguez to get back from the semifinals.
 
Those semifinals were set up when Morgan and Jeremy Sossei emerged from the 7th/8th matches over Frankie Hernandez and Hunter Lombardo. Morgan drew Ekonomopoulos, and Sossei picked up Wong. Ekonomopoulos ended Morgan's bid to be in the title match 8-4, while Sossei eliminated Wong by the same score. Sossei dropped Ekonomopoulos into fourth place 8-5, before having his bid ended by Rodriguez in the semifinals. Shaw punctuated his title defense with a commanding 8-2 victory over Rodriguez in the finals.
 
Emil and Kwak go undefeated to capture Men's/Women's Leisure titles
Andrew Emil and Carolina Kwak emerged from the 16- and 10-entrant fields of the Men's and Women's Leisure events and went undefeated to capture their respective titles. Emil shut out Jim Gutierrez to get into the hot seat match of the Men's Leisure tournament. He was joined by Mark Ogawa, who'd sent Rolando Rodriguez west 5-2. Emil claimed the hot seat 5-3 over Ogawa.
 
On the loss side, Rodriguez won three straight double hill matches for a shot at Emil in the hot seat. He got by Brad McDuffie, then Gutierrez in the quarterfinals, and finally, Ogawa in the semifinals. Emil, though, punctuated his undefeated run with a shutout over Rodriguez in the finals. 
 
Kwak got into the Women's Leisure hot seat with, first, a double hill win over Bianca Martinez in a winners' side semifinal. Latonia Taylor, in the meantime, sent May Ng to the loss side 5-2. By that same score, Kwak sent Taylor to the semifinals to claim the hot seat. On the loss side, Martinez got into the quarterfinals, following a double hill win over Erika Zan. She was met by the woman she'd sent to the loss side, Deborah Pritchett, who'd eliminated Ng 5-2. Pritchett gave Martinez her come-uppance in a double hill quarterfinal and got a shot at Kwak with a 5-3 win over Taylor in the semifinals. Kwak claimed the Women's Leisure title with a 5-2 victory over Pritchett in the finals.
 
Schreiber, Davladze, and 'The Warrior' claim Mixed Titles.
Tommy Schreiber, competing in the largest-field (32) Mixed Open event, was the only other competitor to go undefeated in the six-event championships. He got into the hot seat match, following a 6-4 victory over Ambi Estevez, and was met by Cristobal Tiru, who'd defeated Joe Wilson Torres 6-4. Schreiber claimed the hot seat 6-3 over Tiru. 
 
It was Estevez and Abel Rosario who emerged from the loss-side scuffles to meet in the quarterfinals. Rosario survived a double hill match versus Omar Chavez to face Torres, whom he then defeated 6-2. Estevez defeated John Morrison 6-3 to join him. Estevez won the quarterfinal match, double hill, over Rosario, before Tiru eliminated him 6-2 in the semifinals. Schreiber then defeated Tiru a second time to claim the title, though not before Tiru battled him to to double hill, forcing a case game.
 
Shawn "The Warrior" Sookhai and Koka Davladze came back from losses in the winners' side semifinals of the Mixed Advanced and Mixed Masters fields to win those events. Sookhai, sent west by Max Watanabe 7-5 in the Mixed Advanced tourney, came back through Noah Vogelman (7-4), Ehmunrao Toocaram (7-5) and successfully wreaked vengeance on Watanabe 7-5, before downing hot seat occupant Matthew Harricharam 9-6 to claim the Mixed Advanced title.
 
Davladze was sent to the loss side by Raphael Dabreo, 7-4, in a winners' side semifinal of the Mixed Masters event. DaBreo went on to defeat Juan Guzman 7-5 in the hot seat match. Elvis Rodriguez, who'd been sent west in the other winners' side semifinal, 7-4, by Guzman, ran into Davladze in the quarterfinals and was eliminated 7-3. Davladze finished Guzman in the semifinals 7-5 and went on to defeat DaBreo 9-7 in the Mixed Masters finals. 
 
Tour organizer Tony Robles thanked added-money contributors Manny Stamatakis (owner of Steinway Billiards), and Michael Fedak, as well as tour director John Leyman. He also thanked Stamatakis' staff for their hospitality, and sponsors Marc Griffin and the BCA Pool League, Cue Sports International, Predator Cues, GothamCityTechnologies.com, PoolOnTheNet.com, NAPL. com, Delta 13, Ozone Billiards, Irene Kin, Ron Mason, Mandy Wu, Dan Faraguna, Allison Fisher, and (his) "amazing wife, Gail."