Luis Jimenez just made 2019 his best earnings year at the tables to date, according to our records. His previous best was in 2013 when he won two stops on the Tri-State Tour and cashed in seven more. The following year, he won only once at a Tri-State stop at Gotham City Billiards. He finished in the money on four Predator Pro Am stops that year and only one other on the Tri-State Tour. Some lean years at the table followed, including 2018, when he finished in the Tri-State Tour money only once. This year, he’s already cashed in 11 stops on the Tri-State Tour and three on the Predator Pro Am Tour, which have included three runner-up finishes on the Tri-State in March, July and last week (Sunday, Sept. 22). On Sunday, September 29, at a $1,000-added Tri-State 10-ball event that drew 25 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ, Jimenez broke through and went undefeated to chalk up his first 2019 Tri-State victory. The first-place prize of $475 put Jimenez $25 over what he earned in all of 2013. And he’s still got three months to go.

 

Jimenez faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals of this one. Following victories over Kevin Kemp, Jaydev Zaveri (double hill) and Ashley Burrows, Jimenez would face Paul Madonia in one of the winners’ side semifinals. In the meantime, his eventual opponent in the finals, Greg Matos, would square off against Mike Strassberg in the other one. Jimenez shut Madonia out, as Strassberg was sending Matos to the loss side 5-3. As he’d done last weekend, Jimenez claimed the hot seat, here downing Strassberg 6-2.

 

On the loss side, Madonia drew Joe Mazzeo, who’d defeated Jeff Martinez 6-4 and last week’s winner, Pascal Dufresne 6-2 to reach him. Matos picked up Dax Druminski, who’d recently eliminated Vinny Mistry 5-2 and Mac Jankov, double hill.

 

Matos earned himself a re-match against Strassberg with a 6-2 victory over Madonia in the quarterfinals. He followed that with a successful reverse-of-earlier score rematch 5-3 over Strassberg in the semifinals. 

 

No doubt with thoughts of the previous week’s tournament still very much alive, Jimenez once again prepared to chalk up his first 2019 Tri-State victory. Matos didn’t make it easy. They battled to double hill before Jimenez dropped the last 10-ball to claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, Paul Dayton Cues, Bludworth Ball Cleaner, Joe Romer Trophies and Quick Slick. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, October 6, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

No one has ever repeated as the champion of the annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial’s Amateur Tournament. Raj Vannala was the event’s inaugural champion in 2011, and after that, it was won by Daniel Dagotdot, Michael Yednak, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Rhys Chen, Tony Liang, and Phil Davis. Last year, Lukas Fracasso-Verner won the title and was the only one of the previous eight champions to compete this year. Delimelkonoglu and Yednak competed in the Open/Pro event. The amateur event maintained its ‘unique winner’ tradition at the 9th annual Ginky Memorial, held this past Memorial Day weekend (May 25-27). Jason Sheerman, defeated in an early round by Jimmy Acosta, won seven on the loss side to meet and defeat Acosta in the finals and become the 9th unique amateur to win the Ginky Memorial. Sheerman had cashed in two previous Ginky Memorial appearances, finishing 25th in 2017 and 17th in 2016. The tournament’s namesake would be proud to know that his annual memorial tournament has crowned a new amateur winner every year since the event was inaugurated. This year’s $2,000-added Amateur event, held under the combined auspices of the Predator Pro Am, Tri-State and Mezz Pr Tours, drew a record 169 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

The Open/Pro side of the 9th Annual Ginky Memorial was won by Alex Kazakis, who went undefeated through a field of 36 entrants, downing Jayson Shaw in the finals (see separate story). Shaw, by the way, was looking for his third Ginky Memorial title, having been one of only two competitors to have won the Open/Pro side of the event twice, in 2015 & 2017. Mike Dechaine won the inaugural Open/Pro event in 2011, was runner-up to Earl Strickland in 2012, and won it a second time in 2014.

 

In this year’s Amateur event, the 169 entrants were initially divided into upper and lower handicap brackets, merging only as the event drew near the end. With Sheerman already at work on the loss side, Acosta advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Mike Saleh. Greg Matos, in the meantime, squared off against Jim Gutierrez.

 

Acosta got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 victory over Saleh and was joined by Matos, who’d sent Gutierrez to the loss side 7-3. Acosta claimed the hot seat 8-6 over Matos and waited (though not for very long) on what turned out to be the return of Sheerman.

 

It was Saleh who picked up Sheerman, four wins into his loss-side streak that had most recently included a 7-4 win over Juan Guzman, and 8-5 win over Andrew Lee. Gutierrez drew Luis Lopez, who’d defeated Mac Jankov 6-4 and Bob Mapes 7-5 to reach him.

 

Sheerman chalked up his fifth loss-side win 7-1 over Saleh. He was joined in the quarterfinals by Lopez, who’d eliminated Gutierrez 6-3. 

 

Win #6 for Sheerman sent Lopez to the figurative showers 10-5. Win #7 did the same to Greg Matos, who was eliminated 9-7.

 

As it turned out, the quarterfinals and hot seat match were happening simultaneously in this event, going into Monday evening. So, when Matos fell to Acosta in the hot seat match, the semifinals started immediately (this was happening just as the finals of the Open/Pro event were getting underway). So, Acosta didn’t have a lot of time in the hot seat to think about the fact that the competitor he’d sent to the loss side in what must have seemed like a lifetime ago, was on the verge of earning a rematch. And earn it he did.

 

Sheerman took full advantage of his second chance against Acosta. He defeated him 9-7 to become the 9th different player to capture the George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial Amateur title.

 

Event director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his entire Steinway Billiards staff, who worked tirelessly, professionally and with remarkable grace throughout a long weekend with over 200 pool players and a contingent of venue regulars who spent time playing chess and backgammon at nearby tables. Robles also acknowledged his regular tour sponsors, including Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, Capelle (Billiards Press.com), PoolontheNet.com, The DeVito Team, as well as the cooperation of the other sponsoring tours (Tri-State and Mezz Tours) and the tireless, non-stop live stream operated by Upstate Al and his broadcast team.

 

Robles also made note to all in attendance of the defining fact that this annual event is held each year in memory of George “Ginky” Sansouci, who passed away in 2011, and whose legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of innumerable players in the New York area and wherever “Ginky” played. The event was attended by members of the Sansouci family, who were accorded ‘front row’ seating privileges for all of the live-streamed matches and remain deeply grateful for the opportunity to celebrate Ginky’s life with a living, breathing memorial to his influence on the game and the people who continue to play it. 

Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz-Forman’s first and most recent appearance in the AZBilliards database came as the result of winning a stop on the Tri-State Tour. Her first came in October of 2009, when she defeated Paul Everton in the finals of a stop at Master Billiards in Queens, NY. Her latest happened this past weekend (Sat., May 11), as she went undefeated (*) at a $1,000-added event that drew 46 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. This most recent victory is her first victory on the Tri-State Tour since 2012, although in the interim, she did win stops on the Predator Pro Am Tour in 2014 & 2015.

 

She’s cashed in two other events this year, marking the end of an extended, four-year ‘leave of absence’ from the tables, undertaken to get married to Brian Forman and have two children. Just to stay in touch (so to speak), her second child shares a birthday with Predator Pro Am Tour director Tony Robles. She is, more or less, back, although she continues to coordinate child-care activities. She practices on an 8-ft. table in her building during the hour or so she gets to herself when the two children nap.

 

“I shoot until they wake up,” she said, leaving open the question of how she was lucky enough to have two children under the age of four, who nap at the same time, for the same amount of time.

 

She has found, like others before her have found, that while children certainly bring disruption and a reduction in TAT (time-at-table), they also have a way of grounding a player in a way that eventually improves their game.

 

“It does change your mind-set,” she said. “You go into this Mama Bear mode.”

 

“Coming back,” she added, “I felt braver, (had) more heart; something in me ignited.”

 

In this most recent event, she and Jimmy Acosta played a double hill, winners’ side semifinal match that sent Acosta to the loss side. The suggestion that they might opt out of playing a final match was discussed early-on in the process, though the decision was not actually made until Acosta had defeated Ryan Dayrit in the event semifinals. At that point, dawn was creeping up over the East River, and both “Smiley” and her friend, Acosta were very tired, and “Smiley,” in particular, wanted to get home to her children. Though glad to accept the ‘asterisk’ title as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, she is also aware that her ‘return’ to former form, may take a little while.

 

“My brain is strong,” she said, “but my game hasn’t really come back from the absence yet.”

 

She opened her undefeated run with a 7-5 victory over Greg Matos and followed it up with wins over Amy Yu 7-0, and Ed Medina 7-5, before running into Acosta for the aforementioned double-hill winners’ side semifinal that sent Acosta to the losers’ bracket. Dayrit, in the meantime, faced and defeated Stewart Warnock, Sr. 6-3 in the other winners’ side semifinal. “Smiley” and Dayrit played a double hill hot seat match that eventually sent Dayrit to the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Acosta picked up Eddie Medina, who, after his loss to “Smiley,” had chalked up two straight double hill wins over Amy Yu and Amir Rashad Uddin. Warnock, Sr. drew Joe Mazzeo, who’d shut out John Durr and defeated Jim Gutierrez 7-5 to reach him.

 

Medina’s third straight double hill match proved not to be the ‘charm’ he was hoping for, as Acosta, double hill, eliminated him. Mazzeo and Warnock, Sr. battled to double hill as well, with Mazzeo advancing to join Acosta in the quarterfinals.

 

Acosta eliminated Mazzeo 7-4 and then, locked up in a battle against Dayrit in the semifinals, which came within a game of double hill (9-7). Acosta and Feliz-Forman agreed to the split and left to greet the dawn.

 

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, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, May 19, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

Hernandez downs Korsiak twice to claim Predator Pro Am Open title

 

Rikki Ragoonanan arrived at the Predator Pro Am Tour’s stop on the weekend of March 16-17, looking for his first win on the tour since last June. That victory was Ragoonanan’s first on the Predator Pro Am Tour and came eight years after winning his first major at a stop on the Tri-State Tour in 2010. Apparently looking to reduce the gaps between his winning efforts, Ragoonanan had to come from the loss side in this one and down Matt Klein twice to claim the title. The $750-added Amateur event drew 91 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

In a concurrently-run event, the tour played host to a short, 12-entrant field in a $250-added Open-Pro event that saw Frankie Hernandez defeat Joey Korsiak twice to claim that title.

 

Ragoonanan and Klein met first in a winners’ side semifinal, as Carlos Duque and Joey Morace squared off in the other one. Klein sent Ragoonanan to the loss side 7-4, as Duque gave up only a single rack to Morace and faced Klein in the hot seat match. Duque and Klein battled to double hill before Duque prevailed to claim the hot seat. It was one of nine double hill or near-double-hill (7-5) matches among the event’s final 12 players and 14 matches.

 

On the loss side, Ragoonanan picked up Pascal Dufresne, who’d recently defeated Tommy Schreiber 7-5 and Miguel Laboy 8-3 to reach him. Morace drew Greg Matos, who’d defeated Tony Ignomirello, double hill and Darrin Schmidt 7-5. In identical 7-5 wins, Morace and Ragoonanan advanced to the quarterfinals over Matos and Dufresne.

 

Ragoonan took that quarterfinal match 8-5 over Morace and then, in a semifinal rematch against Klein, defeated him double hill for a shot at Duque in the finals. Duque began that final match with four on the wire in an extended race-to-9. Ragoonanan punctuated his return from the loss side by not allowing Duque to chalk up a single rack. Ragoonanan reached his ‘9’ racks, added two and claimed the event title 11-4.

 

[photo id=50934|align=right]Hernandez follows up Empire State runner-up finish to Jayson Shaw with undefeated run

 

Three weeks ago, on the weekend of February 23-24, Frankie Hernandez was battling Jayson Shaw in the finals of the 11th Annual Empire State Championships. He’d already defeated him once, in an exciting double hill battle for the hot seat. At approximately 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, Shaw pulled out in front to claim that event title over Hernandez 9-4.

 

At this most recent stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, Hernandez’ nemesis in the hot seat and finals was long-time Joss Tour (and many others) veteran, Joey Korsiak, who’s in the midst of his 20th year at cashing in on major tournaments, including the US Open, Derby City Classic and tour stops in (among other states) Florida, including the J. Pechauer Southeast 9-Ball Open and Sunshine State Pro Am tours.

 

The two of them chalked up identical scores in both the hot seat match and finals. Hernandez got into the hot seat match after downing Elvis Rodriguez 7-1. Korsiak joined him following a 7-2 victory over Tour Director Tony Robles. Hernandez claimed the hot seat 7-3.

 

On the loss side, Robles picked up Turkish competitor Sami Koylu, who’d defeated Raphael Dabreo 7-2 and Dominic Gauthier 7-1 to reach him. Rodriguez drew Mike Salerno, who’d shut out KC Clayton and eliminated Stephen Molital 7-2. Suzzie Wong (eliminated by Gauthier) and Dave Callaghan (eliminated by Motilal) rounded out the complete roster at this event).

 

Koylu and Robles battled to double hill before Koylu advanced to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Salerno, who’d defeated Rodriguez 7-2. Koylu then eliminated Salerno 7-2, before being eliminated himself 7-3 by Korsiak in the semifinals. Duplicating their hot seat match score, Hernandez downed Korsiak 7-3 in the finals.

 

A 16-entrant Second Chance event was won by Tommy Schreiber, who collected $160 for his 7-5 win over Brooke Meyer in the finals. Lidio Ramirez and Jimmy Acosta took home $30 each for their tie in third place. An 8-entrant Third Chance event was won Miguel Laboy, who took home $100, following his victory over Russell Masciotti in the finals.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at the Cue Bar, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, NAPL, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Billiards Digest, AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine and his entire staff, including his lovely wife, Gail. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of April 6-7, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

As far as we can tell, Patrick Meyers has been competing on tri-state New York pool tables for about eight years now. It may be more than that, but showing up on our database requires that a player cash in an event before he or she is entered. The first time Meyers did that, according to our records, was back in 2010, when he cashed (tied for 5th place) at a stop on what was then known as the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour at the 1st Annual Reverend Clarence Keaton Memorial Tournament; Amateur Division. He went on to place 9th twice in the 2012 Predator Pro Am season, and then, the following year, 25th in the Amateur division of the 3rd Annual Ginky Memorial (from a field of 128). He finished 9th again, twice, in 2014 and 2015, moved up to a 7th place finish on the Predator Pro Am Tour in 2017, and then, last year, had himself a breakthrough performance on the Tri-State Tour, when he finished as the runner-up in a tournament, officially won by Joe Romeo (they split the top two prizes).

 

On Sunday, January 27, Meyers chalked up his first event victory, an undefeated run during a C-D event on the Tri-State Tour. He got by a total of six opponents and faced different opponents in the hot seat (Jason Goberdhan) and finals (Greg Matos). The $1,000-added event drew 26 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

Meyers got by Brian Schell, Ralph Ramos, Sr., and Terry Mohabir to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Ralph Ramos, Sr.’s son (Junior). Jason Goberdhan, in the meantime, squared off against Brenda Martinez. Meyers squeaked by Ramos, Jr. 7-6, and in the hot seat match, faced Goberdhan, who’d sent Martinez off to the loss side 8-6. Meyers chalked up a second straight, double hill win with a 6-5 victory over Goberdhan, and sat in the hot seat, waiting on the return of Greg Matos, who’d lost a double hill match to Martinez in a winners’ side quarterfinal and was embarked on a five-match, loss-side streak that would earn him a shot at Meyers in the finals.

 

On the loss side, Ramos, Jr. picked up Clint Pires, who’d defeated Nishant Narang 6-3 and Mohabir 6-2 to reach him. Martinez drew Matos, who’d opened his loss-side campaign with a double hill win over Stewart Warnock, Sr. and then eliminated a potential father/son match by downing Ramos, Sr. 6-1.

 

Ramos, Jr. eliminated Pires 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Matos, who’d chalked up his second loss-side, double hill win over Martinez. Matos sent Ramos, Jr. home 6-2 in those quarterfinals, and then, by the same score, sent Goberdhan ‘to the showers’ in the semifinals.

 

Since the winners’ side quarterfinals, Meyers and Matos had survived two double hill matches, on opposite sides of the bracket. It was fitting, somehow, that their final match would be a third double hill battle for both of them. Meyers won it (6-5) to claim his first event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 2, will be an A-B-C-D event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

The two finalists in the Predator Pro Am Tour stop on the weekend of November 17-18 were experiencing moderate milestones in their careers as pool players. The tour’s highest-rated D+ player and second highest rated female, Suzzie Wong entered the tournament, already experiencing her best recorded earnings year, to date. Her opponent in the finals, Bryan Toolsee, #4 on the tour’s list of B players, went undefeated through the field of 66, on-hand for the $1,000-added amateur event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY. The victory added enough to his 2018 earnings to make it officially his best recorded earnings year, to date.

 

They met twice, in the hot seat match and finals. Toolsee had advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against another top-rated female on the tour, Rhio “Annie” Flores, who is #7 on the tour’s top-ranked females (and the only A player on the list; Jennifer Baretta plays as an A++) and Flores is #5 among its top-rated A players. Wong, in the meantime, squared off against Ron Chau. The possibility of an all-female hot seat match was strong.

 

Wong defeated Chau 7-4, and the all-female hot seat match came within a game of happening. Toolsee, though, prevailed in a double hill battle against Flores, and then downed Wong 8-5 to settle into the hot seat, awaiting her return.

 

On the loss side, Flores picked up Josh Friedberg, who’d eliminated Justin Muller 7-3 and Chris Kelly 7-5 to reach her. Chau drew Greg Matos, who’d recently defeated Dave Callaghan 7-5 and just did survive a double hill match versus Ron Bernardo. Matos then defeated Chau to advance to the quarterfinals, as Friedberg dashed any hopes of an all-female final by eliminating Flores to join him.

 

Matos and Friedberg came within a game of making it a double hill quarterfinal, but Matos pulled out in front to win it 8-6. Wong ended Matos’ loss-side streak with a 7-3 win in the semifinals.

 

Toolsee and Wong locked up in a final match that precisely duplicated their previous match, battling for the hot seat. Toolsee won it, a second time, 8-5 to claim the event title.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, and wished all of the tour’s players, sponsors, venues and his own staff a Happy Thanksgiving. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for this weekend, November 24-25, will be its annual Thanksgiving Day weekend event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

Rosario comes from the loss side to avenge early loss to Rodriguez and capture Amateur title

 

Most tour directors tend not to play in their own tournaments, for obvious reasons. With the weight of tournament direction on their shoulders, it can be hard to concentrate on a given game at hand. The variety of organizational and player-related issues that can crop up when you’re trying to take aim at a ball can be daunting. Tommy Kennedy does it down in Florida fairly regularly on his Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. Mike Zuglan used to do it on the Joss Tour. The Texas Tornado (Vivian Villareal) does it in Texas.

 

Tony Robles plays regularly on his own Predator Pro Am Tour (when the stop includes an Open/Pro event), although until this past weekend (Sept. 15-16), he hadn’t (according to our records) won a stop on his own tour since 2014, when he won twice and was runner-up three times. His most recent effort was aided and abetted by a short field of eight entrants, as most of the would-have-been competitors were playing elsewhere in a qualifier for Accu-Stats’ International 9-Ball Open, which will be held in Norfolk, VA during the time slot which for over four decades was reserved for the US Open 9-Ball Championships, now run by Matchroom Sports and scheduled for April 2019 in Las Vegas.

 

Be that as it may, Tony Robles went through the short field in a series of four matches, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY and came out on top. In the meantime, the $750-added Amateur event drew one shy of the 64-player maximum-allowed. Abel Rosario won five on the loss side and came back to avenge an earlier loss to Elvis Rodriguez, defeating him in the finals to claim the Amateur title.

 

Robles’ trip to the winners’ circle started with a 7-0- defeat of Suzzie Wong in the opening round, which set him up to face Troy Deocharran in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Max Watanabe faced Alex Osipov in the other one. Robles got into the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Deocharran. He was joined by Watanabe, who’d sent Osipov west 7-4. Robles claimed the hot seat 7-3 and waited on Watanabe’s return.

 

On the loss side, Deocharran picked up George Texiera, who’d defeated Eugene Ok 7-4 to reach him. Osipov drew Matthew Harricharan, who’d eliminated Wong 7-1.

 

Harricharan and Texiera handed Osipov and Deocharran their second straight loss; Harricharan 7-4 over Osipov and Texiera 7-5 over Deocharran. Harricharan shut Texiera out in the quarterfinals that followed, and then, had his short, loss-side streak ended 7-3 by Watanabe in the semifinals. Robles defeated Watanabe a second time, 7-3 in the finals to complete his undefeated run.

 

Rosario wins first 2018 Predator stop with a five-match, loss-side run

 

Though he’d won a Tri-State stop earlier this year and cashed in eight Predator stops last year, including a runner-up finish in a January Amateur event, won by Max Watanabe, Abel Rosario had not won a stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour since November, 2015. In this most recent event, a winners’ side quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Elvis Rodriguez sent him to the loss side and a five-match winning streak gave him what proved to be a successful second shot at Rodriguez in the finals.

 

With Rosario at work on the loss side, Rodriguez moved on to a winners’ side semifinal against Jaydev Zaveri, as Greg Matos squared off against Jody Rubin in the other one. Rodriguez and Zaveri locked up in a double hill fight that could have sent Rodriguez to an early re-match against Rosario, but didn’t. Matos downed Rubin 6-2 to join Rodriguez in the hot seat match. Rodriguez defeated Matos 10-8 and in the hot seat, waited on the return of Rosario.

 

On the loss side, Rosario survived a double hill battle against Chris Kelly, and then defeated Michael Luster 7-4, to draw Zaveri. Rubin picked up Paul Carpenter, who’d defeated Tony Ignomirello and Ambi Estevez, both 7-4, to reach him. 

 

Two double hill fights advanced Rubin and Rosario to the quarterfinals; Rubin over Carpenter (6-5) and Rosario over Zaveri (7-6). Rosario won the quarterfinal match 9-7 over Rubin, and then earned his second shot at Rodriguez with an 8-4 win over Matos in the semifinals. He completed his Amateur-title run with a strong 9-2 victory over Rodriguez in the finals.

 

An 11-entrant Second Chance event saw Sly Vanchiro down Esteban Morell 7-5 in the finals to claim his $130 top prize. Morell pocketed $90.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, NAPL, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), Ozone Billiards, the DeVito Team, and his Predator Pro Am staff. The next stop on the Predator Tour, scheduled for Oct. 13-14, will be an Amateur event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. 

 

Before Sunday, August 19, Nathaniel Raimondo had cashed in only two Tri-State Tour events; one last June (7th) in the 2016-2017 season, and one this past June (5th) in the closing weeks of the 2017-2018 season. On Sunday, he pocketed more than three times what he’d made in both of those events by winning his first stop on the Tri-State Tour. He came from the loss side, winning three, to do it, downing Stewart Warnock, Sr. in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 43 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

Four of Raimondo’s nine matches were against two opponents. He opened his bid for his first Tri-State win with a victory over Greg Matos, and would face him a second time on the loss side. Once past Matos, he defeated Luis LaPuente, Mike Mele and Phil Pearce before coming up against Warnock, Sr. for the first time in a winners’ side semifinal. Adam Miller, in the meantime, squared off against Rhio Annie Flores in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Warnock sent Raimondo to the loss side 9-7 and in the hot seat match, faced Miller, who’d defeated Flores 8-6. Warnock claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Miller and waited on Raimondo’s return.

 

On the loss side, Raimondo drew his second match against Matos, who’d defeated Pearce 7-2 and Chris Rudy 7-3 to reach him. Flores picked up Amir Rashad Uddin, who’d eliminated Jaydev Zaveri 7-4 and Ryan Dayrit, double hill.

 

Raimondo won his second match against Matos 7-4, and in the quarterfinals faced Uddin, who’d defeated Flores 7-5. Raimondo then eliminated Uddin 7-4.

 

Raimondo faced and defeated Miller in the semifinals 7-5 to earn himself a second shot at Warnock in the hot seat. In an extended race to 11, Raimondo chalked up  his first Tri-State win with an 11-8 victory over Warnock.

 

Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for the weekend of August 25-26, will be hosted by Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan.

As the Super Billiards Expo (SBE) draws closer (April 12-15), the ‘pool eagles’ have begun to gather, settling into the Northeast and deploying to a variety of locations for some pre-SBE competition. On the weekend of April 7-8, the Philippines’ Lee Vann Corteza, who finished 9th in the SBE’s Players Championship last year, showed up to compete in the Open division of a stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Vann Corteza went undefeated through the field of 16 that showed up for the $250-added event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

A concurrently-run, $750-added (eagles in training) Amateur event drew 83 entrants and was won by Alex Osipov, who came back from a loss in a winners’ side semifinal to win three on the loss side, and down hot seat occupant, Abel Barriento.

 

Belying the type of battles one might expect in an Open event preceding the SBE, the last four standing in this one combined for an aggregate game score of 28-3 in the event’s final four matches. The hot seat match was a shutout by Vann Corteza, while the final three matches – quarterfinal, semifinal and final – yielded 7-1 match scores.

 

Vann Corteza and Jorge Rodriguez fought twice in this event; hot seat and finals. Vann Corteza survived a double hill fight against Zion Zvi in one winners’ side semifinal, while Rodriguez downed Sean “Alaska” Morgan in the other one. Vann Corteza got into the hot seat with a rare shutout over Rodriguez.

 

On the loss side, Zvi picked up Luke Rollison, who’d gotten by Eddie Kunz and Justin Muller, both 7-4. Morgan drew Hunter Lombardo, who’d eliminated Mhet Vergara, double hill and Gary O’Callaghan 7-5. Zvi advanced to the quarterfinals by coming out on top of his second straight double hill match, and was joined by Lombardo, who downed Vergara 7-4.

 

Hunter gave up a single rack to Zvi in the quarterfinals, before Rodriguez gave up only a single rack to him in the semifinals. Vann Corteza completed his undefeated run with a combined (hot seat and finals) match score of 14-1.

 

[photo id=49122|align=right]Osipov wins three on the loss side to meet and defeat Barriento in Amateur finals

 

In the Amateur event, Alex Osipov came back from an 8-6 loss to Abel Barriento in a winners’ side semifinal, to defeat him in the extended-race finals by the same score. Paul Carpenter, after surviving a double hill match against Luis Carrasco, faced Barriento in the hot seat match. Carpenter came out on the losing end of his second straight double hill fight, leaving Barriento in the hot seat.

 

Osipov and Carrasco got right back to work on the loss side. Osipov won an 8-6 match over Gary Bozigian, who’d eliminated Paul Everton 7-4 and Eugene Ok, double hill, to reach him. Carrasco, in a 7-4 win, downed Greg Matos, who’d previously defeated Ramilo Tanglao 7-5 and Corey Avallone 6-4.

 

Osipov took the quarterfinal match Carrasco 9-5, and earned himself a second shot at Barriento with a 9-6 win over Carpenter in the semifinals. Osipov reached his 8 racks first, ahead of Barrieto, in the extended-race finals, and added two to win it 10-6.

 

A Second Chance event that drew 14 entrants saw Max Watanabe down Erick Carrasco, double hill, in the finals to win it. Ray Feliciano and Paul Everton finished in the tie for 3rd place.

Xavier Romero, according to our records, chalked up his best earnings year, to date, in 2017, and came to the March 17-18 stop on the 2018 Predator Pro Am Tour, looking for his first win. He’d made it to the finals of a Predator stop twice last year; the first, about a year ago, and the most recent, one week before last Christmas. In both cases, he fought a double hill battle in the finals and lost; in the first, in March of last year, he fell victim to pool’s ‘three-foul’ rule against Chris Kelly in the deciding game, and back in December, Rhys Chen took the final game to win the tour’s Player’s Championships.

 

This past weekend, at the $1,000-added, Double Points Predator Pro Am event that drew 86 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY, Romero battled twice against Suzzie Wong; once, in the hot seat match and again, in the finals. Although Wong had appeared in the finals of a Tri-State Tour event as recently as last month (February 25), and previously (November, 2017) won the Women’s Leisure Division of the 2017 NYC 8-Ball Championships, she became the first D/D+ player on the Predator Pro Am tour to ever make it to a final match. This, presumably, gave them both a lot to think about as they squared off in the finals. Romero won both the hot seat and final match to complete an undefeated run and claim the event title, but Wong cannot be replaced as the first D/D+ player (not just ‘woman’) to appear in the finals of a Predator Pro Am Tour stop.

 

Their first meeting followed a victory by Romero, over Duc Lam 8-4, and a Wong victory over Ramilo Tanglao 7-2 in the two winners’ side semifinals. Romero took the first of his two against Wong 8-6, leaving him in the hot seat, to think about his third appearance in the finals of a Predator Pro Am event in a year, as Wong moved over to battle for her right to a second shot at him.

 

On the loss side, Tanglao and Lam picked up two opponents who had downed their previous two loss-side opponents in double hill matches. Tanglao picked up Greg Matos, who’d defeated Kanami Chau and Ada Lio, both double hill, while Lam drew Eddie Kunz, who’d eliminated Junior Acosta and Jaydev Zaveri the same way.

 

Tanglao advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Matos, while Lam came out on top in Kunz’s third straight double hill match, to join him. Tanglao then earned himself a re-match against Wong with a 9-7 win over Lam.

 

Both semifinalists were looking to advance to a Predator final for the first time (Tanglao had won an event on the Tri-State, eight years ago), and fought to double hill for the right to do so. In the final game, Tanglao was able to line up the 9-ball for the win, and though it dropped, so, seconds later, did the cue ball, and Wong got her shot.

 

Though it might have been expected, Romero and Wong did not face a deciding game in the finals. Romero pulled out in front and finally won it 8-5 to claim his first Predator title.

 

A Second Chance event drew 12 entrants and was won Eugene Ok. Abel Rosario finished second.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar 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 the weekend of April 7-8, will be hosted by Steinway Billliards in Astoria (Queens), NY.