Brandonne Alli was one of a handful of players who managed to stay very active during the pandemic-curtailed, New York tri-state 2020 pool year. It was, in fact, his best recorded earnings year of three, dating back to 2019, which included cash finishes on the former Predator Pro Am Tour, the former Tri-State Tour and the newly-created Mac Attack Tour, initiated by Mac Jankov to fill a void left by the pandemic. This past weekend (July 17-18), Alli signed on to the newly-sponsored (by) Predator Tri-State Tour and went undefeated to chalk up his first win in the area. The $1,000-added event drew 46 entrants to New City Billiards and Café in New City, NY.
Alli had to get by Jay Chiu twice to claim this title; once in a winners’ side semifinal and again, in the finals. As Alli squared off against Chiu the first time, Ray Lee faced Ada Lio in the other winners’ side semifinal. Lee had won the first official event of the Predator Tri-State Tour’s 2021 season back in April, at which Alli had finished in the tie for 7th place.
Lee downed Lio 7-4 and advanced to the hot seat match. Alli joined him after winning a double hill fight against Chiu. Alli claimed the hot seat over Lee 7-5.
On the loss side, Chiu picked up David Grant, who’d defeated Bob Toomey 7-5 and survived a double hill fight against Bianca Martinez to reach him. Lio drew Duc Lam, who’d eliminated John Francisco 7-5 and Mike Pruitt 8-6.
Chiu advanced to the quarterfinals on the heels of a 7-5 victory over Grant. Lam joined him after defeating Lio 9-7. Chiu and Lam battled to double hill in the subsequent quarterfinals, before Chiu finished it and faced Lee in the semifinals. Chiu dispatched Lee 8-3 for a second shot at Alli, waiting for him in the hot seat.
As it turned out, Alli and Chiu duplicated their effort in the earlier winners’ side quarterfinal match. For a second time, they battled to a 5-5, double hill tie and for the second time, Alli closed it out, this time, claiming the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at New City Billiards & Café, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Romer Trophies and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Predator Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, August 21, will be hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
(l to r): Nick Croce, Sherwin Robinson, Eric Toledo & Ron Bernardo
Between them, the winner, runner-up and third-place finisher in this past weekend’s (Feb. 8-9) stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour at Steinway Billiards, had only 10 recorded cash finishes in any regional tour events anywhere. Nick Croce, who finished third, had half of those. Eventual hot seat occupant and runner-up Erick Toledo had four, one per year, all on the Predator Tour dating back to 2008 (’19, ’10, ’09 & ’08). His best, before this past weekend, was his third-place finish in ’08. The eventual winner, Sherwin Robinson, had only one recorded cash finish anywhere, that occurred two years ago on the Predator Pro Am, when he made it as far as a winners’ side semifinal, before forfeiting out of that match and finishing in the tie for 5th place.
Robinson, Toledo and Croce earned their top cash finishes by navigating through a relatively large field that included some of the tour’s more recognizable competitors. Robinson, for example, in his first loss-side match, eliminated B+ player Pascal Dufresne, who’s fresh off his best recorded earnings year (2019), in which he won two stops each on the Predator Pro Am and Tri-State tours and whose recorded cash finishes last year alone were three short of the total for Robinson, Toledo and Croce over the last 10 years. The $1,000-added event drew 87 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Toledo and Robinson met first in a winners’ side semifinal, as Croce and Ray Feliciano squared off in the other one. Toledo got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Robinson. Croce joined him after defeating Feliciano 7-1. Toledo moved into his first (recorded) hot seat match and won it 9-5 over Croce, assuring himself his best (recorded) finish ever, regardless of what happened in the finals.
On the loss side, Robinson launched his three-match, loss-side journey against Dufresne, who was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently included a double hill win over Arturo Reyes and a 7-1 victory over Duc Lam. Feliciano picked up Ron Bernardo, fresh off of two straight, double hill matches versus DeMain Patrick and Kanami Chau.
Identical 7-4 scores sent Robinson and Bernardo to the quarterfinals, over Dufresne and Feliciano. Robinson went on to defeat Bernardo in those quarterfinals 8-6 and Croce, in the semifinals 8-5.
It was going to be either Robinson or Toledo walking away with his first (recorded) regional tour win. It was Robinson, edging out in front of Toledo at the end and winning the match 9-7, who chalked up the event title.
A Second Chance, single-elimination event that drew 15 entrants saw Jason Goberdhan down Mikhail Kim 7-3 in the finals to claim the $160 first-place prize. Kim pocketed $100 as runner-up, while Dave Callaghan, who’d been defeated by Kim, and Julian Tierney, who’d been defeated by Goberdhan, each took home $30. An 11-entrant, single elimination Third Chance event was won by Jose Mendes, who downed Juan Guzman, double hill, in the finals. Mendes pocketed $130. Guzman took home $90.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest. He also thanked his own Predator Pro Am staff to include his lovely wife, Gail. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for this coming weekend (Feb. 15-16), will be hosted by Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY.
(l to r): Zain Sunderam, Bryan Toolsee, Kanami Chau & Miguel Laboy
Miguel Laboy, like a lot of players in the New York City tri-state area, splits his tournament time between the Predator Pro Am Tour and the Tri-State Tour. Over the past five years, including his best earnings year (2014), a majority of his event victories have come on the Tri-State Tour; a total of seven in those five years. Having chalked up his first victory on the Predator Pro Am Tour this past September, Laboy backed it up on the weekend of October 26-27, by recording his second Predator Pro Am win. The $1,000-added event drew 62 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
He’d gone undefeated in his earlier win on the Predator Pro Am Tour, but on this weekend, he had to come from fairly deep on the loss side to secure the win. It was Brooke Meyer who sent him to the loss side and from where Laboy launched a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that brought him to the finals and the eventual win. Meyer, in the meantime, advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Bryan Toolsee. Kanami Chau and Zain Sundaram squared off in the other one.
Meyer failed to arrive on time for his winners’ side semifinal match and forfeited to Toolsee. Chau sent Sundaram to the loss side 7-4 and joined Toolsee in the battle for the hot seat. They battled to double hill before Toolsee prevailed and Chau moved west to meet Laboy in the semifinals.
Laboy, after winning his third and fourth loss-side match against Ernesto Gomez 8-4 and George Poltorak 8-6, picked up a rematch against Meyer, who’d returned to the competition. Sundaram drew Mark Joseph, who’d recently picked up a forfeit win from Stephen Motilal and eliminated Debra Pritchett 7-4.
Laboy and Sundaram advanced to the quarterfinals; Laboy with a successful 7-2 rematch against Meyer and Sundaram downing Mark Joseph 7-5. Laboy then ended Sundaram’s weekend with a 9-4 win in the quarterfinals.
Laboy and Kanami Chau locked up in a semifinal bout that almost came to double hill. Laboy, though, edged out in front at the end and defeated her 11-9.
Coincidentally, both Laboy and hot seat occupant, Bryan Toolsee were looking to record their second Predator Pro Am Tour victory. Toolsee’s first had come almost exactly a year ago (November 18), when he’d gone undefeated at a Cue Bar event to make 2018 his official best earnings year. Laboy completed his loss-side run and claimed the event title with a 9-3 victory in the finals.
A Second Chance event drew eight entrants. KC Clayton and Duc Lam fought to double hill in the finals, with Clayton prevailing to take home the $100 first-place prize. Lam took home $50 as the runner-up.
Tour director Tony Robles, who’s been making something of a living lately of thanking Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, did so again. He also thanked title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, Poolonthenet.com, Capelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Billiards Digest and his own Predator Pro Am team, to include his lovely wife, Gail. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for this weekend, November 2-3, will be hosted by The Spot in Nanuet.
(l to r): Jeremy Sossei, Joey Korsiak, Tony Robles and Jonathan Smith
They’re familiar rivals, Jeremy Sossei and Joey Korsiak. Joey’s been around a little longer; his recorded exploits dating back 20 years. Jeremy’s on record (here) back to 2007. They’re both veterans of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball and Predator Pro Am Tours and have met on numerous (sometimes unrecorded) occasions. When Jeremy arrived at the 2019 Eastern States Championships at Steinway Billiards this past Labor Day Weekend (August 31-Sept. 2), he’d already chalked up five wins on the 2019 Joss Tour, four of them in a row from April to June. Joey entered the tournament with only two ‘cash’ appearances on his 2019 resume. He finished 28th at the Derby City Classic 9-Ball event and was runner-up to Frankie Hernandez at a Predator stop in March. He was among the top five finishers in six events last year and downed Zion Zvi in the finals of a Predator stop last June.
As far as we know, the only time they met in a final before this past weekend was in February 2011, when Joey defeated Jeremy in the finals of a Predator Pro Am event. Joey finished as runner-up in another Predator event in April of that year, with Sossei finishing in fourth place.
They met twice in this year’s $1,500-added, 10-Ball Open/Pro division of the Eastern States Championships, which, held under the auspices of the Predator Pro Am Tour, drew 19 entrants to Steinway Billiards over the weekend. There was, arguably, a lot more at stake for Korsiak than there was for Sossei as they squared off in the finals of this one. For Sossei, it was going to be just a 6th notch on his 2019 victory belt. For Korsiak, on the other hand, a victory over Sossei would have been his first major victory since last June and only his third since he defeated Sossei eight years ago. It made for some high drama in the finals on Monday night.
A concurrent, $1,500-added Amateur event (separate story) drew 83 entrants to Steinway. Gary Bozigian went undefeated to claim that title, downing Matt Klein in the finals.
Sossei and Korsiak met first in the winners’ side semifinals of the Open/Pro event. Jonathan Smith and Michael Yednak squared off in the other one. Sossei sent Korsiak to the loss side 9-4 and advanced to the hot seat match against Smith, who’d defeated Yednak 9-6. Sossei claimed the hot seat and waited for Korsiak to finish his three-match march back to the finals.
On the loss side, Korsiak picked up Del Sim, who’d eliminated Duc Lam 9-6 and Zion Zvi, double hill, to reach him. Yednak drew Predator Pro Am Tour director Tony Robles. Yednak had sent him to the loss side in an earlier round and Robles had recently defeated Vinko Rumora 9-1 and survived a double hill match versus Jorge Rodriguez to earn the re-match.
Robles won the rematch against Yednak and Korsiak downed Sim by the same 9-5 score. Korsiak then eliminated Robles 9-5 in the quarterfinals.
Korsiak’s interest in a rematch against Sossei in the hot seat was evident in the gritty double hill victory he chalked up against Smith in the semifinals. As Labor Day drew to a close, Korsiak and Sossei went to work.
Sossei opened things with a break and run that was followed immediately by a tight safety match in which they both took about a half dozen shots at the 1-ball before Sossei broke out of it and went up 2-0. Sossei broke dry on the third rack and though Korsiak ran to the 6-ball, he got a little out of position shooting at the 7-ball, missed it and watched Sossei make it 3-0.
Korsiak got on the board with rack #4 and drew within one by winning rack #5, as well. They traded racks to 5-4, when Sossei jumped out by two to regain the three-rack lead he owned at the start. Korsiak reduced it back down to two (7-5) with a rack #12 win.
Rack #13 proved to be about as unlucky as it gets. Korsiak played a terrific safe shot that forced Sossei to make a soft-shot, multi-rail kick at the 3-ball. He touched it successfully, but it barely moved in the jaws of a corner pocket and Korsiak made the assumption that nothing had hit the rail after contact. Sossei tried to tell him that he’d made a good hit, but Korsiak reached out and touched the cue ball, committing a foul that in essence, took the wind out of his sails.
Sossei took the ball in hand and closed out the rack to reach the hill first; 8-5 in the extended-race-to-11 format (if Korsiak reached 9 first, the race would extend to 11). Rack #14 featured a couple of unforced errors by both of them; Sossei dropped a ball that he had called safe, Korsiak missed a relatively easy shot that was a gateway to the 14th rack finish line, and Sossei scratched shooting at the 8-ball. Korsiak made another unforced error but managed to leave Sossei a difficult shot. Sossei made the shot he had to make and closed it out 9-5 to capture the 2019 Championship title.
Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, Poolonthenet.com, Capelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Billiards Digest and his entire Predator Pro Am staff, to include his lovely wife, Gail. Robles also acknowledged the efforts of UpstateAl and his AZBTv staff for their streaming of selected matches throughout the weekend.
It was the same matchup that had occurred at the 2017 Empire State Championships on Long Island two years ago. At that tournament two years ago (February), Tony Kuo and Duc Lam met twice – hot seat and finals – to determine the event’s amateur champion. Kuo got into the hot seat, but Lam came back from the semifinals to win it. On Saturday, August 17, at a $1,000-added Tri-State Tour stop that drew 36 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, Kuo and Lam battled it out for the hot seat again and again, Kuo prevailed. This time, though, Lam didn’t get a second chance. Although Lam did win the semifinal match for the right to challenge Kuo in the final, the late hour led to a mutual agreement to split the top two cash prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Kuo claimed the official event title.
Victories over Joe Wilson Torres (double hill), Juan Melendez and Shweta Zaveri set Kuo up for a winners’ side semifinal against Raymond Lee. Lam, in the meantime, squared off against Bianca Martinez. Lam and Martinez locked up in a double hill fight that eventually did send Lam to the hot seat match. Kuo joined him after 7-4 victory over Lee. In what proved to be the decisive match of the tournament, Kuo and Lam fought to double hill, as well, with Kuo prevailing in his last match of the evening.
Martinez arrived on the loss side of the bracket and ran into Dax Druminski, who’d been sent to the loss bracket by Lam in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then, defeated Max Watanabe, double hill and Luis Lopez 6-2. Lee picked up Luis Jimenez, who’d eliminated Shweta Zaveri 8-4 and Rick Rodriguez 7-4 to reach him.
Druminski chalked up his third straight loss-side win 6-1 over Martinez. Jimenez recorded his third straight on the loss side, as well, downing Lee 7-3.
Druminski took the quarterfinal match 7-5 over Jimenez to earn his rematch against Lam in the semifinals. Lam, though, closed out the event proceedings with a 9-4 win over Druminski, before agreeing to the split with Kuo in the hot seat.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, Bludworth Ball Cleaner, Quick Slik, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and Paul Dayton Cues. The Tri-State Tour will return to Steinway Billiards this weekend (August 24-25) for a two-day, B/C/D event.
(l to r): Hector Torres, Max Watanabe, Kanami Chau & Abel Rosario
Max Watanabe had his best earnings year to date in 2018 and though he has a way to go to catch up and make 2019 an even better year, he’s doing what he needs to do to make that happen. Last week (August 4), he went undefeated at a stop on the Tri-State Tour, downing Dave Shlemperis twice. This week, on Sunday, August 11 at a $1,000-added Predator Pro Am Tour stop at Steinway Billiards that drew 64 entrants, he got sent to the loss side by Hector Torres in the battle for the hot seat and came back to defeat Torres in the finals. If you’re making a move to improve the second half of any given year, there’s nothing like back-to-back tour victories to signal that you’re on the right track.
Watanabe’s trip was almost derailed at the outset, as he opened his campaign with two double hill wins; one against Vinko Rumora and a second against Jose Estevez. He got a little traction with a 7-2 win over Miguel Laboy and a 7-4 victory over Elvis Rodriguez, which set him up in a winners’ side semifinal match against Abel Rosario. Hector Torres, in the meantime, got by Ron Bernardo, Paul Lyons, and Brandonne Alli before having to survive a double hill win over Mike Callaghan, which set him (Torres) up to face Ray Lee in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Torres downed Lee 7-1, while Watanabe locked up in his third double hill battle of the weekend against Rosario and won it. He survived three double hill matches out of five he played to get to the hot seat match, but Watanabe didn’t have an ‘answer’ for Torres, who defeated him 8-1 to claim the hot seat.
Over on the loss side, Ray Lee ran into an immediate rematch against Kanami Chau, who’d been defeated by him in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then chalked up two straight double hill wins, over Ryan Dayrit and Joe Morace, to face him a second time. Rosario picked up Luis Jimenez, who was working on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included a 7-3 win over Chris Kelly and a double hill victory over Jaydev Zaveri.
Chau chalked up her third straight double hill win and advanced to the quarterfinals over Lee. She was joined by Rosario, who’d ended Jimenez’ loss-side run, double hill, as well. Seven of the tour stop’s final 14 matches required a single deciding game.
The quarterfinal match between Rosario and Chau came within a game of double hill, but Rosario edged out in front to take it 9-7. Watanabe, though, anxious apparently for a second shot at Torres in the hot seat, gave up only a single rack to Rosario in the semifinals that followed.
Watanabe took full advantage of that second shot. He downEd Torres 10-7 in the final to claim his second straight event title in as many weeks.
A Second Chance event drew 14 entrants. Elvis Rodriguez and Irene Kim advanced through the single elimination bracket to meet each other in the finals. Rodriguez had defeated Duc Lam to play in the finals. Kim had eliminated Akiko Taniyama to join him. Rodriguez took home the top $140 prize, after downing Kim 11-6 in the finals. Kim took home the $100 second prize, while Lam and Taniyama pocketed $20 each.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine and Billiards Digest. The Predator Pro Am Tour will return to Steinway Billiards on Labor Day weekend (Aug. 31 – Sept. 2) for the $3,000-added ($1,500 Amateur, $1,500 Pro) Eastern States Championships.
Tony Robles and his team at Silent Assassin Productions welcomed 164 players to Steinway Billiards on August 3rd – 4th for four divisions of the 3rd Annual NYC Scotch Doubles 8-Ball Championship.
The Leisure Division saw the smallest field, twelve teams, competing for first prize. This division saw Amanda Andries & Henry Chan redeem themselves after a 5-2 loss to Kendall Nunn & Radames Marimon for the hot-seat. Andries & Chan bounced back with a hill-hill win over Cesar Becerra & Maxwell Musser in the semi-final match, and then another hill-hill win in the extended final match over Nunn & Marimon.
The Open Division drew a field of thirty seven teams and there was no late tournament redemption in this one, as the team of Artur Trzeciak & Sebastian Karwas went undefeated with a 6-3 hot-seat win over Charlene Capers & Jerry Alexander and then a 6-0 win over Capers & Alexander in the finals.
The Advanced Division’s eighteen teams played a tight final few matches with John Durr & Ken Batal taking the hot-seat with a 6-4 win over Quang Nguyen & Jimmy Tran. Nguyen & Tran then lost to Chris Schmidt & Kevin Scalzitti in the semi-final match 5-2. The extended final match was another close one, with Durr & Batal winning the hill-hill match for first place.
The absolute top players competed in the sixteen team Master Division, where Miguel Batista & Wilberto Ortiz were undefeated with wins over Zion Zvi & Duc Lam for the hot-seat 7-4 and again in the finals 7-5.
Robles wished his thanks to UpState AL and his team for hosting the free live stream courtesy of Blatt Billiards, John Leyman for being the official referee, tournament assistants Julie Ha, Tommy Schreiber and Irene Kim, Erwin Dionisio for his fantastic photography, and Steinway Billiards, National Amateur Pool League (NAPL) and Predator Cues for their sponsorship. He also wished a huge thanks to all of the players for their enthusiasm and support of the event.
Robles and his team will be back at Steinway Billiards on October 19th – 20th for the six divisions of the NYC 8-Ball Championship Singles Championships.
(l to r): Omar Soto, Eugene Ok, Ryan Boursse & Mac Jankov
Eugene Ok and Frankie Hernandez both went undefeated to claim respective Amateur and Open/Pro titles in the July 13-14 stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Ok worked his way through a field of 83 entrants on-hand for the $1,000-added Amateur event, hosted by Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan. Hernandez, the tour’s current #1-ranked Open/Pro competitor, went undefeated through the Open/Pro field of 21 entrants in the $500-added event.
In the ‘almost’ department with two losses, the second of which occurred in the event final, were Ryan Boursse in the Amateur event and Tour Director Tony Robles in the Open/Pro, who won five on the loss side to get into the final match. Robles couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in an event final, which, according to our records, had been last September, when he downed Max Watanabe twice. Prior to that, it had been five years (2014) since he won two events and was runner-up in three others on the tour. He won four matches to win the 2018 event at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens. It took nine matches to be the runner-up this past weekend.
Jimmy Rivera sent Robles to the loss side in a winners’ side quarterfinal that went double hill before Robles gave him ball-in-hand to close out the 13th rack (7-6). Rivera advanced to meet eventual winner Frankie Hernandez, while Duc Lam and Sean Morgan met in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Lam downed Morgan, double hill, and in the hot seat match, faced Hernandez, who’d sent Rivera to the loss side 7-3. Hernandez claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Lam and waited for The Silent Assassin to come back from his five-match, loss-side trip.
Robles would play five matches on the loss side and the one match in the final. Three of those six matches went double hill, including the only one he lost, in the final. He opened his loss-side trip with his first double hill win, over Dominic Gauthier. He then eliminated John Messina 7-2 to draw Morgan, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Rivera drew Jonathan Smith, who’d recently eliminated Raphael Dabreo and Pat Fleming, both 7-5.
Robles downed Morgan 7-2. Smith spoiled the potential Robles/Rivera rematch by downing Rivera 7-5 to join Robles in the quarterfinals.
Robles won the next two matches, double hill, to meet Hernandez in the finals. He downed Smith in the quarterfinals and then, Lam in the semifinals, both 7-6. He ended up on the wrong side of his third straight double hill match and had to settle for runner-up, as Hernandez completed his undefeated run to claim the event title.
Ok moves up the tour’s B+ ladder with undefeated victory in the Amateur event
Eugene Ok’s trip through the 83-entrant Amateur field ended in his second victory on the Predator Pro Am Tour, his first since May of 2017, a year in which he finished among the top five in five events on the Predator and Tri-State Tours.
Ok had to get by Ryan Boursse twice in this event and the first, was in a winners’ side semifinal match. Mac Jankov, in the meantime, squared off against Alfredo Altamirano in the other one. Ok got into the hot seat match, downing Boursse 7-5 and was joined by Jankov, who’d sent Altamirano over 7-4. Ok claimed the hot seat 8-6 over Jankov and waited for Boursse to get back from the loss side.
Boursse and Soto advanced to the quarterfinals; Boursse 7-5 over Dufresne and Soto 7-3 over Altamirano. Boursse then eliminated Soto 7-4 in the quarterfinals and Mac Jankov 9-5 in the semifinals. Boursse was able to chalk up one more rack in the finals than he had in the winners’ side semifinal, forcing a 13th and deciding game in the final against Ok. Ok, though, closed it out to claim the Amateur event title.
A single elimination Second Chance event drew 15 entrants. Ambi Estevez claimed that title, with Jorge Collado as runner-up. Ray Lee and Luis Jimenez tied for third place.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Amsterdam Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine and Billiards Digest.
On the weekend of August 3-4, Robles’ Silent Assassin Productions will present a non-tour event at Steinway Billiards – The 4th Annual NYC 8-Ball Scotch Doubles Championships. The following weekend, August 10-11, Steinway Billiards will host the next Predator Pro Am Tour stop; a $1,000-added, double points event.
(l to r): Ramilo Tanglao, Juan Guzman, Esteban Morell and Eli Trajceski
In 2016, Juan Guzman chalked up four event titles, two each on the Predator Pro Am and Tri-State Tours and was runner-up to Tony Liang in an event co-sponsored by the two tours, the 6th Annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial. The year was, not surprisingly, his best earnings year since he began appearing in the AZBilliards database back in 2009. His participation has lagged a bit in the past couple of years, although there’s no real way to distinguish between a drop in participation or just a drop in his advancement to cash winnings. Either way, on the weekend of April 13-14, at a $1,000-added stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, Guzman went undefeated to capture his first event title since he won a stop on the Tri-State Tour last June. The event drew 81 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Guzman faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals of this event, although he did meet and defeat Eli Trajceski twice. The first time was in a winners’ side semifinal. Guzman sent Trajceski to the loss side 8-6 and in the hot seat match, faced Esteban Morell, who’d sent Corey Avallone to the loss side 7-4.
Guzman and Morell battled to double hill in the struggle for the hot seat, but Guzman claimed it.
Over on the loss side, Trajceski picked up Shawn Sookhai, who’d defeated Eugene Ok 7-1 and Duc Lam 7-2 to reach him. Avallone drew Ramilo Tanglao, who’d recently picked up a forfeit win over Paul Lyons and then, ended a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Debra Pritchett 7-4.
Tanglao and Avallone locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Tanglao to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Trajceski, who’d eliminated Sookhai 7-2.
Tanglao ended up on the wrong side of his second straight double hill match, which sent Trajceski to the semifinals. There, a 7-3 win over Morell gave Trajceski a second shot at Guzman.
As it had in their previous matchup in the winners’ side semifinal, the final came within a game of double hill, but Guzman prevailed a second time to claim the event title.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards’ staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (Billiards Press), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine, and Billiards Digest. Robles also thanked his always-supportive cast of assistants, to include his lovely wife, Gail.
Although it did so this weekend, the Predator Pro Am Tour will not be returning to Steinway Billiards for its next stop (#8), scheduled for the weekend of May 18-19. That event will be the first in the tour’s history to be restricted to C/D players. According to Robles, participation has been on the rise at stops on the Predator Pro Am Tour and while room owners are generally encouraged by large numbers of participants at events, there have recently been a few stops that have featured too much of a good thing; player numbers exceeding a room’s general capacity and its ability to complete a given event within a limited time frame. The restriction to C/D players is designed to address that issue when the C/D players gather at Gotham City Billiards on the weekend of May 18-19.
(l to r): Lidio Ramirez, Shawn Sookhai, Jason Goberdhan & Jim Gutierrez
Whether defined by Fargo ratings or individual tour formulas, handicapped match play is designed to level the playing field so that lower-ranked players can be encouraged to participate. Without handicaps, and a few tours don’t use them (the Action Pool Tour, the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour, and the Midwest 9-Ball Tour, among others), lower-ranked competitors would have little or no incentive to drop their hard-earned money into competition against obviously superior players. By the same token, players are often encouraged to enter non-handicapped tournaments (to play ‘without a net,’ so to speak), because exposure to straight-up races against superior opponents is one of the many ways that players improve their own game.
According to our records, Jason Goberdhan has cashed in a total of 10 events in the Tri-State New York city area; three on the Tri-State Tour and the other seven on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Until this past weekend (April 6-7), he’d finished as high as 3rd place in both, once. Going into the 6th stop on the 2019 Predator Pro Am Tour, he was rated 6th among the tour’s “C” players. Goberdhan ended up going undefeated through a field of 93 entrants, defeating a B+ player (Shawn Sookhai) to claim the hot seat and an A+ player (Lidio Ramirez) in the finals to claim his first event title. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Goberdhan and Ramirez almost met in the hot seat match. Goberdhan faced off against Nick Croce in one of the winners’ side semifinals, as Ramirez met up with Sookhai in the other one. Goberdhan sent Croce to the loss side 7-2, while Sookhai and Ramirez locked up in a double hill fight, eventually won by Sookhai 7-6 (handicap advantages are figured into the score). Goberdhan then sent Sookhai to the semifinals 8-5 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Ramirez picked up Russell Masciotti, who recorded a forfeit win over John Stiles and downed Jimmy Acosta 7-3 to reach him. Croce drew Jim Guttierez, who’d chalked up two straight double hill wins over Ryan Dayrit and Romero Tanglao.
Gutierrez eliminated Croce 7-3 to advance to the quarterfinals. Ramirez joined him after defeating Masciotti 8-6. Ramirez took that quarterfinal match 11-8 for a second shot against Sookhai in the semifinals.
A 7-4 win in that rematch gave Ramirez a first shot at Goberdhan. A somewhat predictable double hill fight ensued, eventually won by Goberdhan 10-9 to claim his first event title.
A Second Chance event drew 13 entrants and was won Jose Kuilan ($130), who survived a double-hill fight against Ashley Burrows ($90) in the finals. Naoko Saiki and Duc Lam pocketed $20 each for their 3rd place tie.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (Billiards Press), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine, and Billiards Digest. The Predator Pro Am Tour will return to Steinway Billiards for its next stop (#7), this coming weekend (April 13-14), with a $1,000-added ABCD event.
