(l to r): Tommy Kennedy, Mike Delawder and Ricardo Rodriguez
It’s been 25 years since Tommy Kennedy defeated Johnny Archer twice to win the US Open 9-Ball Championships in 1992. And he’s still bringing it, most recently, on November 11, when he chalked up his fourth win on his own J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, to go along with the two victories he recorded on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour this year. This most recent win came in a $1,000-added event that drew 34 entrants to Uncle Waldo’s in Daytona Beach, FL.
Kennedy had to come from the loss side, albeit for only a single match, to take this one, and split two matches against long-time, familiar adversary Mike Delawder. Kennedy had defeated Ricardo Rodriguez 9-4 to get into the hot seat match as Delawder was sending David Grossman over 9-2. Delawder claimed the hot seat 9-7 and waited for Kennedy to get back from the semifinals.
Grossman punctuated his determination to move on with a shutout over Sandaler. Rodriguez, in the meantime, joined him in the quarterfinals with a 7-3 win over Meglino. Rodriguez then got the second shot against Kennedy that he was looking for with a 7-4 win over Grossman in that quarterfinal match.
TK-FLA, though, defeated Rodriguez a second time; this time, 7-3 to earn himself a second shot at Delawder in the hot seat. By mutual agreement, they agreed to make it a race to 7, and Kennedy won it 7-3 to claim the event title.
As tour director, Kennedy thanked the Condercuri family (father Tony, wife Patty and son, AJ), owners of Uncle Waldo’s for their hospitality, and sponsors J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Mueller Billiard Supplies and BilliardBuzz.com. He also thanked Anthonies Fisher and Meglino for their assistance throughout the tournament. The next stop on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for January 20, 2018, will be hosted by Park Avenue Billiards in Orange Park, FL.
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.
On this weekend we were so happy to return to Cue Phoria Billards and Cafe after their short hiatus from the tour scene. With the changes to the formats for each event, we still booked a full field in both events. We even threw in a bonus event for the amateur players. The Amateur 9-Ball event was capped at 64 players and it filled up quickly. The Super 16 Open 10-Ball was a prepaid full field to start. The BONUS Super 16 Amateur event drew 14 players, with 10 players actually making the start.
We also held a raffle in support of the Lepak Fund. We raised $350 almost instantaneously by donating a pool cue for raffle, and Mr. and Mrs. Crosby added $50 to provide the Lepak’s with $400 toward efforts to save their home. If you would like information regarding helping the Lepak’s please visit www.gofundme.com/thelepaks and support them if you can. We appreciated the support from the Lepak’s toward our tour when they were pool room owners. Thank you!
Amateur Bar Box Breakdown
Che Mrvos put on a clinic all weekend long. He found that grove that everyone else was struggling to get a piece of. Posting wins over Mike Fitzgerald 7-1, Jose Del Rio 7-5, Ed Kiess 7-4, David Uwate 7-3, and Doc Torres before getting to Barry Partridge for the hotseat.
On the west side of the charts, Jose Del Rio picks up Evan Ford and Ford wins the set 5-3. Gary Gilsinan picks up David Uwate and gets by him 5-3. Amine Ouahbi and Marc Coats square off with Amine taking that set 5-3. Richard Murray picks up Francisco Diaz with Diaz pushing through.
Amine blisters Diaz 5-1 and Gary Gilsinan gets by Evan Ford 5-2. Nick Applebee in wait for Gilsinan puts their set away 5-2 to move into the one-loss semifinal. Amine Ouahbi starts to get a taste for the win and puts Doc Torres down 5-3 and moving into the one-loss semifinal.
It’s a showdown between Applebee and Ouahbi on the left side and Partridge vs Mrvos on the winner side hotseat match. Apple just could not stop the Florida based Moroccan Ouahbi with a stinging 5-1 loss.
In the hotseat arena, Che Mrvos would not let anyone deter him from wining. Winning the set 7-2 over Barry Partridge with Partridge going west to take on Amine Ouahbi. Partridge would continue his coming out party as he handed Amine the 3rd place envelope this time.
Che Mrvos and Partridge would square off in the Finals and Che just kept on grinding and claim his first Florida Pool Tour Amateur 9-Ball title.
Super 16 Recap
An explosive set of skills and talent comprised the 16 player field for the Super 16 Open 10-Ball event. Tony Crosby, Anthony Meglino, Tommy Kennedy, and Mike Davis all make quick jumps to the quarterfinal rounds.
Tony Crosby puts a hurt on John Souders 7-2, and then barely escapes a close one with Mike DeLawder. Trading rack for rack all the way to hill/hill and closing the set 7-6. Using the first two sets as a warm up, Crosby squares off with Meglino.
Anthony Meglino gets in the box with Jose Del Rio and starts his warm up 7-2 before taking on Marc Coats. Coats would be formidable and take Meglino to the hill. Anthony would have enough to pull through and face Crosby.
Tommy Kennedy starts out with Dave Bremer, and controls the entire set with some lock tight safety play. Bremer forced to kick out of every turn could not produce and goes down 7-2. Playing super strong still Kennedy puts a stinger on Nathan Rose 7-0 and moves forward to match up with Mike Davis.
Mike Davis survives a close opener with Han Berber and escapes 7-6. Next up was Jerry Calderon, a close set goes down at 7-5 putting Davis forward to match up with Kennedy.
On the west side there was still a lot of heart being shown.
Adam Wheeler being sent west first round by Jerry Calderon, beats Han Berber 7-5 and then Mike DeLawder 7-2. Before facing Marc Coats who was sent over by Meglino. At 7-5 Coats would move forward and wait for an opponent.
Jerry Calderon on the west would match up with Nathan Rose. Rose sent west by TK and Jerry sent over by Wheeler, would square up and play a super intense match. Rose would yield the shot of the event with a full table 5/10 jump shot that pleased the entire room. Using that momentum Rose would eek by Calderon 7-5.
Back on the winner side, Crosby would play Meglino and put the heat on dispatching Meglino swiftly at 7-3 and move into the hotseat match.
Kennedy also has his eyes on the hotseat and storms through Davis 7-2 and prepares to take on Crosby.
In the one-loss quarterfinal, Rose and Meglino would showdown and Coats and Davis would show down. Meglino would review his notes from the loss to Crosby and hope to put it together against Rose. Meglino would hand Rose the 5th place envelope and move forward to play Mike Davis who set Marc Coats in stone at 6th place.
On the West Side semi final we have Meglino vs Davis. Davis holding enough together to get past the moster breaking Meglino would wait on his opponent and the shot at moving back to the east.
In the winner side semi-final Crosby and Kennedy match up and it was close all the way up to 5-5 when a few unforced errors by Crosby would let Kennedy slip into the driver seat and rest while Crosby goes west to play Davis. As the day grew late, Crosby would prove to be worthy of the win and sits Davis down in 3rd place before taking a short break.
Now in the Final, Kennedy is poised to stop the attack from Crosby and on this day it appears fatigue would get the best of Crosby. At 5-2 Kennedy starts to pull away and Crosby just could not catch up, thus allowing Kennedy to capture his second title in a row on the Florida Pool Tour. Who will knock off King Kennedy, find out at our next stop Cunningham’s in Vero Beach, FL.
We would like to say Thank You to Faheem Zia, Kendall Morris and staff at Cue Phoria Billiards and Café in Winter Park. The service was excellent, on point, and the food was pretty good as well. Ask for chicken and rice, you won’t be disappointed. Overall Cue Phoria knows how to have a good time!
Stroker’s Billiards and Sports Bar welcomed the Florida Pool Tour on it’s first stop of the season this weekend. Saturday’s Amateur 9-Ball event drew 71 entrants while Sunday’s Super 16 10-Ball event was pre-booked with a full field.
The Amateur 9-Ball event was stacked with talented pool players and lots of auction action. A recipe for excellent pool all weekend long. Quite a few new faces had breakout results during this event. Naples player Francisco Diaz, Top FL Lady Player Chris Fields, and Tampa local Mitchell Keiser.
In it’s new format, the Super 16 10-Ball Event would host a complete field to some of the best talent in the country. After placing 2nd in the Amateur, James Adams would look strong and hungry to snap off this event.
Top 8 Breakdown
James Adams after recently taking 3rd place in the Florida State Amateur 9-Ball Championships showed up to play this weekend. Posting wins over Amine Ouahbi 7-2, Javier Chirino “The Trophy Maker” 7-4, local player Dave Stem 7-4, a hill-hill thriller with Dan Marchini, and finally 7-4 over Rich Johnson would find himself battling Mitchell Keiser for the hotseat. Showing up to that match primed and hungry, Adams would put the set away at 7-3.
Mitchell Keiser would find a way to grind out wins over Mark Wathen 7-4, Michael Stack 7-2, before capturing a $25 bounty on Mike DeLawder besting him 7-5, survived a hill-hill thriller with Miami area player Felix Luna and find a groove against Naples, FL native Francisco Diaz all before falling to James Adams 7-3 allowing James to have the hotseat and awaiting Jason Sheerman on the westside of the chart.
Rich Johnson would have an impressive 5 rounds deep into the winner side. Winning over Jason Richko 7-3, David Uwate 7-5, Daniel Grider 7-4, and Jim Sandaler, all before falling to James Adams. Johnson would not complete another match as the winnder. Jason Sheerman would beat him in a hill-hill match and complete Rich’s weekend.
Upstart player from Naples, FL Francisco Diaz would show some promise and post wins over Lisa McElroy 7-2, Justin Gilsinan 7-4, Finnish player Antti Mattilla 7-4 before falling to Lady Player Chris Fields in a hill/hill thriller. Then falling to Mitchell Keiser7-5. Diaz would then choose to forfeit out of the tournament for unknown reasons.
Dan Marchini would win against Tony Rowells 7-2, Lee Holland 7-4, Allen Ellison 7-3, Dave Ross 7-3, before falling to James Adams in a hill/hill thriller. On the westside he would pick up George Saunders, but would not take the set, letting Saunders pass with a 5-0, securing 8th place.
George Saunders would put a string of wins together after losing to Dave Stem 7-1. On the one-loss side he would beat Luke Sutliffe 5-4, Mike Lear 5-2, Jim Sandaler 5-3, Dan Marchini 5-0, Francisco Diaz 5-0, before falling to Jason Sheerman 5-2, securing 4th place.
Felix Luna would risk a loss with a hill/hill thriller against Junior Player Trenton White, Jason Bowen 7-5, falling to Nathan Rose 7-4. On the one-loss side Luna would pick up Gary Gilsinan and squeak that one out, only to fall next to Jason Sheerman again hill/hill.
Jason Sheerman had a design that was all his own this weekend. He would lose to Nathan Rose in the second round and then went on to grind out 10 matches in a row to reach the one-loss side final against Mitchell Keiser. Sheerman would go on to beat Keiser and secure his first Amateur 9-Ball title in 5 years, and it just so happens it was at Stroker’s Palm Harbor that he claimed his first victory. Sweet homecoming for Sheerman indeed.
Super 16 Recap
James Adams had one thing on his mind this weekend and it showed, it was winning. James had a great run into the finals of the Amateur 9-Ball event and then proceeded to build a charge in the first Super 16 event.
For starters we have Adam Wheeler winning against Donny Mills in a hill/hill thriller. Then he would meet up with Raymond Linares who dispatched Mitch Breedlove 8-3. James Adams would have a hill/hill thriller with Mike DeLawder and wait for Han Berber who had just finished a winning set over Tony Crosby 8-6, an upset since Tony was on a 5-1 deficit. Would not have enough to complete the charge. Jason Richko would best Eddie Sharp 8-4 and wait for Tommy Kennedy to steamed rolled Tim Parisian 8-1. James Roberts would send room owner Jose Del Rio down the hard path 8-4 and wait for Nathan Rose who bested Jason Sheerman 8-6.
Now on the westside, we have Mills and Breedlove, with Donny winning 7-5. DeLawder would then win the set against Crosby 7-4. Tim Parisian would best Sharp 7-2 and Jose Del Rio would march on past Sheerman in a hill/hill thriller.
Back on the eastside, James Adams and Raymond Linares would square off for a chance at the hotseat. Linares would take his first loss in a hill/hill thriller. Adams would be in the second hotseat match in 2 days. On the lower half, Tommy Kennedy and James Roberts would battle for the hotseat, if you call it a battle. Kennedy runs away with the set 8-2.
Back on the one-loss side, DeLawder picks up Linares and Linares pushes through 7-5. Jose Del Rio picks up James Roberts and this time puts him away. Del Rio and Linares would fight for a chance to play and jump back over to the eastside.
Back on the winners side, Kennedy and Adams would square off in a close one. Adams wouldnt have enought to stop TK and would go west to meet up with the winner of the one-loss side hotseat. That would be Raymond Linares.
After some super slow play, Linares and Adams actually get put on the shot clock and turns would trade. With the pressure of the shot clock, uncharacteristic misses and nerve controlling runouts would put Linares and Adams hill/hill. In the middle of what would seem a routine runout, the sound of a miscue coming from Linares’ cue would resonate throughout the pool room as he left a 4 ball runout to Adams with ball in hand. Adams would finish the set and prepare to take on Kennedy in the final. This would be 2 tournaments in 2 days and 2 finals for Adams.
Now in the finals, Kennedy and Adams trade a couple of racks, with Kennedy expressing his creative side of the game. Creating angles and playing combos, this would put Kennedy up 4-1. Adams would fight back with pressured safeties and consistent shot making. At 6-6 Kennedy would pull away. In the early hours of Monday morning, 2 days of super solid play would seem to weigh heavy on Adams shoulders. Taking advantage of one too many mistakes by Adams, Kennedy would secure his first Super 16 Title of 2015 just before daybreak on the horizon.
The Florida Pool Tour would like to thank Jose Del Rio and the staff at Stroker’s Palm Harbor for the wonderful hospitality all weekend long. Combined with amazing restaurant quality food, you cannot find a place that can beat that. Stroker’s Palm Harbor has been an anchor stop on the Florida Pool Tour for years as well as the host location for the US Amateur Championships for the last 5 years. Give Jose and the family there a visit and see for yourself why this is perhaps one of the best pool rooms in the country.
Xtreme Pool Challenge came through with another amazing weekend of LIVE HD quality streaming. We want to thank Gary Patrick and crew for producing one of the best streams available and the best prices around. $5 for an entire weekend of fantastic HD coverage is by far a steal in this industry. By supporting Gary and XPC you are supporting the future of pool and the future of this pool tour.
Strokers in Palm Harbor, FL welcomed the Poison Pool Tour on June 30-July 2, along with a whole lot of lightning and rain. The amateur event drew 34 players and the Open even drew 19. Patrick Werren posed a threat to both tournaments by winning the Amateur event and taking 2nd in the Open event. Steve Knoll, Florida’s hard courier, decided to put his bricks down for one day and pick up his cue, just to let the young guys like Werren know that he still has what it takes. He won the Open event, defeating Werren in the finals.
In the Amateur event, Werren breezed through the winners' side like it was his job. Taking a first round bye, he posted wins over Rich Johnson 7-4, Chris Gentile (2011 FL State Amateur 9 Ball Champ) 7-4, Gary Gilsinan 7-4, and Marcus Shenandoah 7-2, before meeting Mark Wathen in the hot seat match. Wathen, looking like his usual, strong-playing self, started with a first round bye and then posted wins over Jason Bowen 7-6, Kyle Bova 7-5, Jose Del Rio 7-0, and JD 7-1. The two fought a double hill, hot seat thriller, in which Wathen prevailed
The battle for the west side hot seat was waged between Brett Lykins and Jarred Schlauch. Schlauch, losing to Tim Baron in the 3rd round, took that as motivation to post wins over Bowen 6-5, Jason Richko 6-3, Justin Gilsinian 6-1, Jose Del Rio 6-3, and Rich Johnson 6-4. Lykins took a loss to Johnson in the 2nd round and then fired off wins over Zoran Vidic 6-0, Dave Stem 6-4, Kyle Bova 6-4, Chris Gentile 6-4, Tim Baron 6-4, and JD 6-2.
Schlauch bested Brett Lykins in the quarterfinals 6-4, but had his five-match, loss-side streak snapped by Werren in the semifinals. Werren then took the opening set of the finals, forcing a single rack shootout to determine the Amateur event champion. Werren completed the double dip over Wathen to claim his first Poison Pool Tour Amateur 9-Ball title.
On Sunday, Werren's fortunes were reversed as he advanced to the hot seat, only to be taken down by Steve Knoll in the single-set/single rack finals. Following wins over Jose Del Rio 7-3 and Jon Wing 7-4, Werren met Knoll among the winners' side final eight, and sent him to the loss side, 7-5. In the battle for the hot seat, Werren faced Jason Richko, who arrived having defeated Donny Mills, double hill, Kyle Bova 7-5 and Tim Baron 7-3. Werren gained the hot seat with a 7-3 win over Richko and waited for the return of and rematch against Knoll.
On the west side, Knoll would pick up Kyle Bova who'd put up wins over Tony Crosby 6-5 and Chris Gentile 6-0. Knoll prevailed 6-1 over Bova to meet Paul Mullins in the quarterfinals. Mullins, who took a third round loss to Knoll, had put up wins over Michael Lear 6-2, Jarred Schlauch 6-3 and Tim Baron 6-3 to earn the quarterfinal re-match.
Knoll took that re-match 6-2 for a shot at the waiting Richko in the semifinals. As if trying to say that he doesn't mind not carrying bricks for a day. Knoll took Richko down 6-1 for a chance to deny Werren two straight event wins on the same tour stop.
Werren and Knoll fought to double hill in the opening set of the finals, but Knoll prevailed to force the second set, single-rack shootout. Knoll took a look at an early, but irresistible 2/10 combination, won the rack and claimed his first Poison Pool Tour Open 10-Ball title.
We would like to thank Strokers' room owner, Jose Del Rio, for the great venue and even better hospitality. The staff at the room were exceptional and the food. . . well, it is always something to talk about. Strokers in Palm Harbor will be the feature room for the U.S. Amateur Championship qualifiers and championship rounds.Thank you to Poison Billiards, for whom without this would not be possible. They work hard at improving billiards through technology and style.
Our next event will be held on the weekend of July 27-28 at Hammerheads in Holiday, FL, featuring Diamond tables. To keep in tune with our events go here – http://uspoisontour.com/ – to join our mailing list and 'Like' us on Facebook to get first-hand updates on the tour.
