(l to r): Tommy Kennedy, Stephen Richmond & Anthony Meglino
Anthony Meglino chalked up his best earnings year, to date, in 2017, winning stops on the Sunshine State Pro Am, J. Pechauer Southeast 9-Ball and 8andOut Florida Amateur One Pocket Tours. He was among the top 10 finishers in nine other stops on the Sunshine State Pro Am and SE 9-Ball Tour, and cashed in the Derby City Classic’s (DCC) One Pocket and 9-Ball Banks Division. He opened his 2018 campaign at the tables with runner-up finishes in the DCC One Pocket Mini (to go along with a 19th in the One Pocket and 28th in 9-Ball Banks), and the February 10-11 stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am. He chalked up his first (recorded) win of the year on Saturday, February 24, going undefeated through a field of 62 on the AllOut Pool Tour. The event was hosted by Shooter’s Billiards in Port St. Lucie, FL.
After being awarded an opening round bye (one of two; the other went to Andy Breslin), Meglino started out by giving up only a single rack through his first 15 games; that one, to Javier Chirino, before he (Meglino) shut out Danny Christian. Kris Clark gave him a run for his money in a double hill, winners’ side quarterfinal, but Meglino prevailed to meet James Sandaler in one winners’ side semifinal. Douglas Tittle, in the meantime, who’d defeated Meglino’s eventual finals opponent, Stephen Richmond in a winners’ side quarterfinal match, faced Kenny Willis in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Meglino went back to the quicker route, giving up only a single rack to Sandaler to get into the hot seat match. He was joined by Tittle, who’d sent Willis west 7-5. Meglino doled out another lone rack to Tittle and claimed the hot seat. Going into the finals, Meglino boasted a 35-10 game record.
On the loss side, Sandaler ran into Richmond, who’d defeated Mark Coats and Gaston Leblanc, both 6-4. Willis drew Tommy Kennedy, who’d been defeated by John Ditoro in the event’s opening round, and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would propel him as far as the quarterfinals. Kennedy had most recently shut out Chris Gentile and given up a single rack to Jason Sheerman, to pick up Willis.
Richmond downed Sandaler 6-3, and in the quarterfinals, met up with Kennedy, who’d eliminated Willis 6-2. Sandaler put an end to TK’s loss-side run 6-4 in the quarterfinals and then, earned his re-match against Meglino with a 6-2 win over Tittle.
Sandaler gave Meglino a run for his money in the finals, chalking up more racks against him than all (but one) of his opponents combined, but it wasn’t enough. Meglino concluded his undefeated run 9-5, having, throughout the course of the event, chalked up (just shy of) three out of every four games he played.
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.
Cunningham’s Billiards Vero Beach, Fl was the latest event to host the Poison Cues Tour event. The $1000 Added amateur event attracted 62 players with 5 ladies taking advantage of the $20 entry fee.
Miami would have a large contingent of players showing up for this event which was made a extra special with the top four places all receiving a beautiful glass trophy’s supplied by Javier Chirino.
Chirino was also looking like the man to beat as he would make his way through to the hotseat with strong wins over Doug Johnson 6-2, Justin Gilsinan 6-4, Prescott Buckwold 6-3, Paul Mullins 6-0, Jeff Mabry 6-4 and then hard fought win over Raymond Linares in the winner’s side final 7-3.
The one loss side would see Tim Baron make a strong push after taking a 6-2 loss to Chris Gentile, Baron would go on to take out Jay Zink 5-4, Derek Virgilio 5-1, Paul Mullins 5-2, a 5-4 win over David Uwate would be his last as Jason Sheerman would end his run with a 5-3 loss to leave Baron in a Respectable 5th place. Sheerman would now have the task of taking on the Florida Amateur State Champion Chris Gentile this would also end his run as Gentile would come out on top with a 5-2 win leaving Sheerman in 4th spot, Gentile backed this win up with strong 5-0 win over Raymond Linares to put himself in the final.
The finals would be another great match with both players showing why they got there with strong shot making and good safety battles, However Chirino did not want to give his trophy up and would eventually come out a 7-4 winner and take the 1st place trophy and $700 1st place prize fund.
The Poison Tour also paid out more than quarter of the field for this event along with four glass trophy’s for the top four finishers. Congratulations to Kira Brown for her top lady finish receiving $50
Sunday’s $1000 Added open 10-Ball event would attract 42 players with over 30 amateurs coming back from Saturday’s event taking advantage of the two day $40 discounted entry fee.
Hunter Lombardo would be the man to beat on the day as he cruised his way to the finals with strong wins over Tim Baron 6-4, John Ditoro 6-1, Kira Brown 6-4, Mark Coats 6-0 and then a strong 7-3 win over Tony Crosby in the winners side final to capture the hotseat,.
On the one loss side Raymond Linares was proving to be a handful after taking a first round loss to David Uwate 6-2 he would go on a strong run with wins over Lincoln Seifert, Robert Raiford, Prescott Buckwold, Chettan Chhabra, John Ditoro and then Mark Coats before running into a determined Anthony Meglino who stopped his run with a 5-0 win Meglino would then go on to lose a tight 5-4 match to Tony Crosby which would set up a Lombardo Crosby Final.
The final would be a classic with neither player wanting to give an inch it would go all the way with Crosby taking it 7-6 to set up a 1 rack sudden death shootout. The shootout is designed to give the hotseat winner that 2nd chance and also guarantees 2nd place will have lost twice.
Crosby would go onto win the one rack shoot out after a positional error from Lombardo leaving Crosby a quick 2-10 combination to take down the event.
The tour would like to thank Cunningham’s pool room and its staff for hosting a very successful event.
Also our Title Sponsors Poison Cues for supplying some of the best hitting pool cues on the market.
Our next event will be 19-20th May at Park Avenue Billiards, Orange Park (Jacksonville).
Boynton Beach, Fla. (Dec. 3, 2011) – Amazing grace, great talent and good cheer made for an exciting day of competition at the Flamingo Billiards Tour Holiday Open 9-Ball Event on Saturday at Slate Billiards in Boynton Beach, FL. At the end of it all, Anthony Meglino edged out David Broxson for his second Flamingo Billiards Tour Open 9-Ball victory.
Competition abounded with notable pro players “TK” Tommy Kennedy and “Iron” Mike Davis in town. Filling Slate’s holiday décor of familiar South Florida competitors was Meglino, Broxson, John Foster, Randy Epperson, and Javier Chirino. Topping it all off was the revered, feared, and respected Toby Sweet.
In one of the day’s great matchups, Meglino went toe-to-toe with Sweet to stay on the winner’ side. Like a master testing his young grasshopper, Sweet, down 5-1, gave Meglino a few lessons in the art of billiards. Sweet came back to win the next four racks and just when it looked like Sweet would tie the match, Sweet got a bad roll as the cue ball froze up on the five, leaving Sweet with no shot and a difficult safe that cost Sweet the match. Meglino continued on, outshooting Randy Epperson only to be stopped by David Broxson, who shot strong through to the hot seat.
Broxson came up through the winner’s side finishing off another exciting and nail-biting hill-hill match with Tommy Kennedy. After that, Broxson sent veteran player John Foster west. Foster later matched up with Meglino in yet another exciting and hotly contested double hill match attempting to make it back to the finals. However, Foster would have to settle for third.
In the final race to 11, Meglino got off to a late start, trailing Broxson 4-0. Meglino finally got on the score board and Broxson responded equally, giving himself a 5-1 lead. In game seven, Meglino was faced with a jump shot, and in true form Meglino not only jumped but amazingly jump-banked the one and ran the rest of the rack, score 6-2. What may have been the turning point in the match, before long Meglino was up 8-7. Broxson then missed a key five-ball shot in rack 16, giving Meglino a 9-7 lead. Broxson was left with a kick shot in the next rack which he barely missed, leaving Meglino out and on the hill, 10-7. However, Broxson wasn’t going to be stopped easily, as he broke and ran the next rack, score 10-8. Meglino broke next but came up dry. However, he got back to the table and proceeded to run out, but uncharacteristically overcut the six leaving Broxson a tough long rail shot which he made along with the remaining rack, score 10-9. It was Broxson’s turn to break and it looked like he would tie the match, as an easy 4-9 combo was begging for attention. But he didn’t get shape on the three, and left himself with a difficult rail shot because the cue ball stopped just in front of the eight-ball, forcing Broxson to shoot over the eight. Broxson shot the three and got shape for the combo, but the three bobbled in the corner and refused to drop. Meglino pocketed the three and proceeded to make the 4-9 combo match-winning shot.
Other notable matches included Mike Davis’ loss to John Foster. Davis was favored to win the event. Another upset included Tommy Kennedy’s double-hill loss to Broxson and then being knocked out of the event by Davis.
Some of the event matches can be viewed at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/flamingo-open-9-ball and http://www.ustream.tv/channel/billiardcommunity-com.
The FBT, a WPBA-Recognized Regional Tour, is the stepping stone to the WPBA for women in Florida who want to qualify for Women’s Professional Billiard Association events. The 2011 Winter Open was the second 9-Ball event open to both male and female players.
Many thanks to everyone who came out to play, to room owners Mike Bradford and Joe Sistarelli, (www.slatebilliards.com), for being great hosts and to Boynton Billiards (www.boyntonbilliards.com) for their support of the Flamingo Billiards Tour.
David Grossman defeated Charlie Williams in the winners bracket finals and again in the tournament finals to take first place at the 6th stop on the Florida Pro Tour, held at Shootersville in Delray Beach Florida, last weekend. Grossman collected $1400 for first place while Williams settled for $1000 for second. Javier Chirino and Andreas Koukiadakis filled out the top 4 spots. It was Grossman's first Florida Pro Tour win this year.
