MEZZ ABCD made its way to Drexeline Billiards on Sunday June 7th.  A Strong field 

Came out, players like Joe Hong, Briana Miller, Sanne Krom, Dan McGinnis, Michael Praseutsy, Rick Miller, Vinny Cimarelli, Jerry Dunne, Nicole Monaco, Dan Madden, Mevin Garcia Sr, Melvin Garcia Jr, and Colleen Shoop to name a few.

 

We would like to thank Bob Maidhof and his wonderful staff for hosting the event.

 

Leading the top half of the bracket was Jerry Dunne with wins over Rick Miller 7-2, Shaun Dobson 7-6, Rob Hontz 7-3, Michael Praseutsy 7-4 and Vinnie Cimarelli 7-3. 

 

Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Sanne Krom with wins over Joe McAnally 7-6, Tracy Vega 7-5, AJ Fiztgerald 7-6 and Dan McGinnis 7-6.

 

Playing for the hot seat was Jerry Dunne and Sanne Krom, this match went hill/hill and had Krom coming away with the win, sending Dunne to the one lost side.

 

The big story of the day was Briana Miller. After losing her first match 7-6 to Joe Hong.  She went on to win her next 8 matches, working her way through some tough competition. Her path to the finals included Ralph Lake 7-6, Darren Powell 7-3, Tracy Wu 7-5, AJ Fitzgerald 7-1, Melvin Garcia Jr. 7-5 Vinny Cimarelli 7-6, Dan McGinnis 7-3 and Jerry Dunne 7-6. 

 

When the smoke had cleared the final match was set, it would be Sanne Krom vs Briana Miller.  As always, this was a true double elimination event with the first set being a race to 7 and a second set (if necessary) sudden death race to one.

 

The first set was all Briana Miller with an impressive 7-3 win.  In sudden death Brianna got the break and showed why she is a force to be reckoned with by breaking and running out to win the match and the event. 

 

We would want to thank all the players that came out as well as our sponsors Mezz Cues, Gamblin Clothing, Kamui Chalk & Tips, JD Custom Cues, Allen Hopkins Super Billiards Expo, John Barton, JB Cases, Jabcues and Things, Billiard Life, Howitzer Break Cues, and Steve Klapp Custom Cues, Billiard Life USA, and Mike Ricciardella

2nd Annual Rack for a Cure Charity 9-Ball tournament raises $6K for pediatric cancer research

 

It was a long, May 16-17 weekend for Mezz Pro-Am Tour director, Jose Burgos, who ran two separate tournaments, which, with some duplication, hosted 172 competitors. On Saturday, May 16, Warrington Billiards in Warrington, PA, hosted the 2nd Annual Rack for a Cure Charity 9-Ball Tournament, under the auspices of the Mezz Tour and TAP League. Organized for the second year by Jeremy and Erin Stacy of Hatboro, PA, the event, which drew 128 entrants, raised $6,000 for pediatric cancer research.

 

On Sunday, May 17, at Drexeline Billiards, in Drexeline, PA, the Mezz Pro-Am Tour held a regularly scheduled stop; a $1,000-added event that drew 42 entrants. The Saturday event was won by Matt Krah. Sunday's tournament was won by Vinnie Cimarelli. Shaun Wilkie was the runner-up in both.

 

Saturday's charity event saw Krah take two out of three over Wilkie, double dipping him in the finals. Krah and Wilkie had sent Steve Lillis and Mike Saleh to the loss side 4-1, and faced each other in the winners' side final. A double hill battle left Wilkie in the hot seat.

 

Seven of the last 10 matches on the loss side were decided by 3-1 scores; two shutouts and a double hill match decided the other three. Lillis and Saleh, coming over from the winners' side semifinals, picked up their second losses immediately; Lillis to Hendrick Drosp 3-1, and Saleh in a shutout by Adam Kielar. Drosp took the quarterfinal match over Kielar, and Krah won the semifinal match, both by the predominant 3-1 score. 

 

Krah and Wilkie locked up in a double hill fight in the opening set of the true double elimination final. Krah prevailed and then shut Wilkie out in the second set to claim the charity event title.

 

On Sunday, as Wilkie was at work on a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that would eventually propel him into the finals, Vinnie Cimarelli advanced to the hot seat. He'd defeated Michael Wong 7-4, while Bob Maidhof had gotten by Scott Haas 7-3. Cimarelli claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Maidhof and watched as Wilkie completed his loss side run to meet him.

 

Wilkie had been defeated in the opening round of play by A.J. Fitzgerald, and by the time he reached Haas, coming over from the winners' side semifinal, he'd chalked up six, loss-side wins, including a 6-1 victory over Sam Quinzi and 6-3 win over Sanne Krom. Wong picked up Joe Hong, who'd recently gotten by John Talamini 6-2 and Matt Krah 6-3.

 

Wilkie and Hong advanced to the quarterfinals; Wilkie 6-3 over Haas, and Hong, double hill, over Wong. Wilkie downed Hong and then Maidhof in the semifinals by the same 6-2 score.

 

Wilkie took the opening set of the double elimination final against Cimarelli, at which point, a recently-introduced, sudden-death, single-game-for-the-title ensued. It didn't last long. Wilkie attempted a 1-9 combination that failed and left the 9-ball sitting on the edge of the hole. It also denied Cimarelli a clean look at the 1-ball. Cimarelli attempted a rail-first poke at the 1-ball, which accommodated his wishes by sliding over and dropping the 9-ball. The (barely) undefeated Cimarelli claimed the event title.

Sean "Alaska" Morgan joined the ranks of Francisco Bustamante and Darren Appleton, winners of the first (2013) and second (2014) New Jersey State 10-Ball Championships. He had to get by Jeff Crawford twice to do it, with Crawford taking one against him in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 35 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ on the weekend of April 25-26.

 

Morgan almost got sent to the loss side in a winners' side semifinal against Joe Hong, but (if you'll excuse the pun) hung on to win the double hill match. Crawford, in the meantime, defeated Brian Maher 7-1. Morgan took the first of his three against Crawford 7-3 and waited in the hot seat to play the next two.

 

Maher and Hong moved over and were eliminated immediately; Maher, by Dennis Spears who'd reached him through Julie Ha, 7-0, and Michael Wong, 7-5 and Hong, by Mike Miller, who'd eliminated Ed Culhane 7-2 and John Smith 7-1. Spears defeated Maher 7-5. Miller took care of Hong 7-3.

 

Spears won the quarterfinal 7-5 over Miller, before he was eliminated 7-3 by Crawford in the semifinals. Crawford took the opening set of the finals 7-5 over Morgan, giving them each a single loss. Morgan broke the tie and captured the event title with a 7-4 win in the second set.