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Singleton downs Fitch in finals to capture Sunshine State Pro Am Bar Box Championship

(l to r): Andrew Pettenger, David Singleton & Shannon Fitch

David Singleton’s victory at the Sunshine State Pro Am’s Amateur Bar Box Championships on the weekend of November 16-17, was not only his first victory on the tour, it officially made 2019 his best earnings year to date. At two previous stops on the tour, back in January and July, he’d finished in both in the tie for 9th place. He and Brian McBride finished in the tie for 5th place in September at the tour’s 2nd Annual Big Dawg Scotch Doubles Tournament. According to available records, Singleton has only cashed in five events in the past three years; the extent of his known activity at the tables. Shannon Fitch, on the other hand, while also in the midst of his best earnings year to date, has cash-winning records dating back over 20 years, was also looking to chalk up his first victory on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour. The $2,200-added event drew 84 players to Racks Billiards in Sandford, FL.
 
It was a five-match march to their first meeting in the hot seat. Singleton followed an opening round bye with victories over Randall McLuckie, Jose Guerro Baez, Christopher Anderson and Bobby Garza (double hill) to draw Jon Gore in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Fitch, also opening with a bye, advanced through Thomas White, Hector Ortiz, Robert Noon and the tour’s #1-ranked competitor going into this event, Nathan Rose, to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal matchup against David Jacobs.
 
Fitch downed Jacobs 9-5, as Singleton was busy sending Gore to the loss side 9-7. In their first of two, Fitch claimed the hot seat 9-3 and waited for Singleton’s return from the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Gore drew Andrew Pettenger, who, after an opening round bye, had lost to Mike Delawder in the second round, and embarked on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d most recently defeated Nathan Rose 7-6 and Jai Smith 7-5. Jacobs drew Garza, who after his loss to Singleton had eliminated Racks’ owner Pedro Botta 7-2 and Jose Guerro Baez 7-5.
 
Garza and Jacobs locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Jacobs to the quarterfinals. Pettenger joined him after defeating Gore 7-5. Pettenger chalked up the last match of his loss-side streak 7-5 over Jacobs, before Singleton defeated him 6-2 in the semifinals.
 
For the finals, the race was extended to 11 games. Singleton won it 11-7 to claim the event title and move up significantly, to within the top 10, of the tour’s highest-ranked players.
 
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked Pedro Botta and his Rack’s staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Cue Sports Studios (for streaming), Leah Nusbaum Photography, Stitch-It-To-Me Embroidery, Diamond Products, Cyclop Balls, Central Florida USA Pool League and AZBilliards. The next stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, scheduled for Saturday, December 7, will be hosted by Park Ave. Billiards in Orange Park, FL.

Sunshine State Pro Am holds inaugural Scotch Doubles event – Battle of the Billiards

(l to r): Joe Zinkhan, Tim Baron, Joselito Martinez & Marcos Burgos

Martinez and Burgos down Baron and Zinkhan to claim inaugural title
 
Looking to create a little friendly competition among the multiplicity of pool rooms in Florida, Sunshine State Pro Am Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza launched an inaugural event called Battle of the Billiards Big Dawg Scotch Doubles on the weekend of Oct. 27-28 at Stroker’s Billiards in Palm Harbor, FL. While 19 two-player teams participated in the $500-added, Scotch Doubles event, not all were sponsored by pool rooms. It is Phillips’ and Garza’s hope that as the event progresses in its annual schedule, more and more rooms will opt to send players to compete.
 
This first year’s winners (Joselito Martinez and Marcos Burgos) and runner-ups (Tim Baron and Joe Zinkhan) were independent teams. The two teams played three times, vying for the title. Baron and Zinkhan got into the hot seat, but Martinez and Burgos came back from the semifinals to defeat them in a true double elimination final.
 
Their first match, battling for the hot seat, followEd Martinez and Burgos’ 7-4 victory over the team of Les Duffy and Anthony Fisher, sponsored by Don Kreischer’s Boulevard Billiards. Baron and Zinkhan, meanwhile, faced off against Larry Wathal’s team from Brewlands (Dale Stanley and Mubarak Suleiman) and defeated them 7-5. Baron and Zinkhan claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Martinez and Burgos and waited on their return from the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Duffy and Fisher picked up Sam Kantar and David Jacobs from Boynton Billiards, as Stanley and Mubarak drew the team of Trey Jankowski and Mitch Nelson. Both matches finished at 5-3, advancing Kantar/Jacobs and Jankowski/Nelson to the quarterfinals.
 
Kantar and Jacobs won the quarterfinal match by the same 5-3 score and then, in the semifinals, were defeated by that same score by Martinez and Burgos, who earned themselves a second, and as it turned out, third shot at Baron and Zinkhan in the hot seat.
 
Martinez and Burgos took the opening set of the true double elimination final 7-4. In a shortened race to 5 in the second set, Martinez and Burgos won again 5-3 to claim the inaugural Battle of the Billiards Big Dawg Scotch Doubles title.
 
Tour directors Phillips and Garza thanked Jose Del Rio and his staff at Stroker’s Billiards for hosting the event, as well as the owners of all of the venues who sponsored teams, including Stroker’s (which sponsored two teams), Capone’s, Trick Shots (Orlando, FL), Park Avenue Billiards, and the rest of the teams mentioned in the narrative above. They also thanked sponsors Cyclops Balls, Diamond, and AZBilliards.
 
The next regular stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 17-18, will be the amateur-only, $1,000-added Sunshine State Pro Am 10-Ball Bar Box Championships, to be hosted by Rack’s Billiards in Sanford, FL. 

Kantar goes undefeated, splits top prize with Regan on AllOut Pool Tour

Sam Kantar and Pat Regan opted out of a final match at the end of Stop #4 on the AllOut Pool Tour, on Saturday, May 12. Kantar, in the hot seat at the time, was the event’s official winner and split the top two cash prizes with Regan. The event drew 30 players to Premier Billiards in Coral Springs, FL.

 
Following an opening round 7-3 win over Danny Ramirez and two 7-2 wins over Josh Carmusin and Randy Eperson, Kantar advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against David Jacobs. Regan, in the meantime, following victories over Julio Burgos 7-4, Jeremy Brooks 7-5 and Ed Acosta 7-4, faced Joe Beyer in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Kantar got into the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Jacobs, but Regan fell to Beyer 7-2 and embarked on a loss-side campaign to get back to the finals. Kantar played what proved to be his final match and claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Beyer.
 
On the loss side, Regan opened his three-match trip back to the finals with a re-match against Jeremy Brooks, whom he’d sent to the loss side in the event’s second round. Brooks had won four on the loss side already, including a 6-4 win over Peter Ghostine and a shutout over Carlton Johnson to earn the re-match. Jacobs picked up Raul Alvarez, who, like Brooks, had lost in an early round (the first, in Alvarez’ case) and was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side run that would take him as far as the quarterfinals, and almost to the semifinals. He’d most recently eliminaTed Elias Nassif 6-1 and Andrew Yoder, double hill, to draw Jacobs.
 
Regan advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3 win over Brooks. Alvarez advanced to join him with a 6-1 win over Jacobs. Regan and Alvarez fought to double hill in those quarterfinals, but Regan ended Alvarez’ loss-side streak and moved on to a re-match against Beyer.
 
Regan won the semifinal re-match 6-4 for the right to face Kantar in the finals. They opted out of the final match, and, undefeated in the hot seat, Kantar claimed the event title.
 
The next stop on the AllOut Pool Tour, scheduled for the weekend of June 16-17, will be hosted by Beyond Billiards in Davie, FL.

Kennedy comes back from hot seat loss to down Jacobs on J. Pechauer SE Open 9-Ball Tour

Tommy Kennedy came within a game of failing to make it out of  winners' side semifinal against Gary Gilsinan, and then did get sent to the loss side by Justin Jacobs in the battle for the hot seat during the August 12-13 stop on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. Kennedy came back to defeat Jacobs in the finals, winning the $1,000-added event that drew 44 entrants to Uncle Waldo's Billiards in Daytona Beach, FL.
 
Gilsinan was on the hill at 6-4 in a race to 7 against Kennedy in that winners' side semifinal, when Kennedy rallied to win it.
 
"He had me," said Kennedy afterward, describing his eventual win as "a gift."
 
Kennedy wasn't as lucky in the hot seat match, in which he faced Jacobs, who'd defeated Brad Shearer, double  hill. Jacobs claimed the hot seat 7-5, and waited on Kennedy's return.
 
On the loss side, Shearer picked up David Grossman, who'd gotten by David Jacobs (no relation to Justin) 7-5, and Mike Delawder 7-3. Gilsinan drew Nick Applebee, who'd defeated Cody Booth 7-2 and Danny Waskom 7-5.
 
Shearer and Applebee advanced to the quarterfinals; Shearer 7-5 over Grossman and Applebee 7-3 over Gilsinan. Shearer took the quarterfinal match over Applebee 7-3, before being eliminated by Kennedy 7-2 in the semifinals.
 
Kennedy wasted little time in securing the event title. He allowed Jacobs only a single rack in a race to 9 that gave him that event title.
 
Kennedy, as tour director, thanked the ownership and staff at Waldo's Billiards, as well as title sponsor  J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Mueller Recreational Products, Simonis Cloth, Billiard Buzz, and Chris and Israel Hightower (Cue Man Billiard Products). The next stop on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for August 19-20, will be the annual Bob and Brad Martin Memorial, hosted by Miscue Lounge in Fort Myers, FL.

Hall thwarts Davis attempt for back to back wins at the 5th Annual Southeast Open 9-Ball

Justin Hall

With the event's previous two winners facing each other in the hot seat match – Tommy Kennedy (2014) and Mike Davis, Jr. (2015) – the 5th Annual Southeast Open 9-Ball Tournament, held on the weekend of August 27-28, looked as though it was going to crown its first repeat winner. Justin Hall spoiled the party, so to speak. Sent to the loss side by Davis in a winners' side semifinal, Justin returned to challenge and eventually defeat Davis in a tightly contested final match race to 12. The event, streamed live all weekend by Xtreme Pool Challenge, drew 95 entrants to Zingale's in Tallahassee, FL.
 
"I struggled pretty much every match," said Hall in a post-final interview. "I almost didn't get to the finals, period. 
 
"I played better and better throughout the day (on Sunday)," he added, "but I'd miss a few balls for a game or two, and then run out."
 
Davis, who hasn't been playing as much as he'd like to over the past year, chalked his defeat up to his own mistakes. Hall's victory, though, didn't surprise him.
 
"I've played him a lot of times," said Davis, "and he's a real solid player.
 
" It was a real tough (final) match," Davis added. "He played well, but I folded under the pressure and choked a little at the end. Just recently, I haven't played as much, and that showed up there at the end."
 
Hall's weekend started strong, as he gave up only eight racks over his first four matches against Mo Fattah (2), James Sandaler (0) Jordan Bureau (4) and David Walters (2). David Jacobs gave him a run for his money in a winners' side quarterfinal match that went double hill before sending Hall into the winners' side semifinals against Davis. Davis, in the meantime, gave up 23 racks over his first four against Tony Danford (1), Billy Burke (7), Steve Foster (8) and Randy Jordan (7). Tobias Hoiss chalked up six more against him in the winners' side quarterfinals.
 
On the other half of the winners' side bracket, the 2014 winner, Tommy Kennedy was awarded an opening round bye, and then had a total of 16 racks chalked up against him (the same as Hall, with one less match) by David Grossman (7), Clint Nichols (2), Joseph Korsiak (4) and Mark Coats (3). This set Kennedy up to face Anthony Meglino in the other winners' side semifinal.
 
Davis sent Hall to the loss side 9-2, and in the hot seat match, faced Kennedy, who'd sent Meglino over 9-4. Davis got into the hot seat 9-6 and waited on Hall's return.
 
Hall moved over and picked up Mark Coats, who'd defeated Kyle Bova 9-4 and Randy Jordan 9-5 to reach him. Meglino drew Hoiss, who'd eliminated Richard Brompton and David Jacobs, both 9-2. Hall downed Coats 9-6 and in the quarterfinals, faced Meglino who'd shut Hoiss out.
 
Hall took the quarterfinals over Meglino 9-6. He then fought a tight, semifinal battle against Kennedy that came within a game of double hill before Hall advanced 9-7.
 
Hall and Davis fought back and forth through numerous ties in the early going of the race-to-12 finals. Davis got out in front a few times, but by game 20, they were dead even at 10 apiece. Hall won the next two to claim the 5th Annual Southeast Open 9-Ball title.

Buckley goes undefeated to capture Florida State Open 10-Ball Championships

Mike Lear, Mike Delawder, Benji Buckley and Tony Crosby

Benji Buckley cut his eye-teeth playing in Great Britain on the GB9 Tour, that country's "official professional 9-ball tour," and as late as last August, was still competing there. In May of last year, he competed in the Open division of a stop on the Florida Pool Tour and finished fourth, behind Donny Mills, Tony Crosby, and Anthony Meglino. In October, he competed in Florida State's Amateur 9-Ball Championship and finished ninth. On the weekend of January 16-17, 2016, he went undefeated to capture the Florida Pool Tour's $4,000-added Florida State Open 10-Ball Championships that drew 65 entrants to Zingale's in Tallahassee, FL.
 
Buckley got into the hot seat by first sending his eventual finals' opponent, Mike Delawder, to the loss side 8-5. Jeff Jordan, in the meantime, was busy sending Nathan Rose over by the same score. Buckley claimed the hot seat 8-3 over Jordan and waited on Delawder's return.
 
On the loss side, Delawder picked up David Grossman, who, after being down 6-2, eliminated David Jacobs, double hill, and then defeated Mubarak Fulaiman 7-4. Rose drew Gabe Owen, who'd defeated Tommy Kennedy 7-5 and Harold McAbee, double hill. 
 
Delawder and Grossman battled to double hill before Delawder prevailed to face Owen, who'd defeated Rose 7-5. Delawder and Owen battled to a somewhat predictable double hill quarterfinal before Delawder prevailed again, to take on Jordan in the semifinals. 
 
Delawder spoiled Jordan's plans for a re-match against Buckley with a 7-2 win in the semifinals. Buckley then spoiled Delawder's plans for a successful rematch with a 9-4 win in the finals to capture the Florida State Open 10-Ball Championship title.