Anthony Meglino, Nathan Rose and David Grossman, the last three players standing (literally and figuratively) at the June 10 stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast 9-Ball Tour, opted out of both a semifinal and final match. Meglino, undefeated and sitting in the hot seat at the time, became the official event winner, while Grossman and Rose wrestled (figuratively) over who was the runner-up and who finished in third place. The $1,000-added event drew 50 entrants to Uncle Waldo's in Daytona Beach, FL.

 

Meglino and Grossman advanced to the winners' side semifinals, with Meglino facing the fictitiously-named Jimmy Neutron and Grossman squaring off against Nathan Rose. Meglino sent Neutron to the loss side 9-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Grossman, who'd defeated Rose 9-4. Meglino claimed the hot seat and his last match victory 9-5 over Grossman.

 

On the loss side, Neutron picked up Sam Kantar, who'd defeated Josh Lewis and the incompletely-named Gilbert O 7-4. Rose drew Les Duffy, who'd gotten by Mike Delawder 7-5 and picked up a forfeit win over Francisco Diaz. Had Diaz, who offered no reason for his forfeiture, had chosen to leave a match earlier, tour director Tommy Kennedy would have advanced to play Duffy, and results from that point on may have gone a little differently. As it was, Rose ended Duffy's run 7-1 and, in the quarterfinals, faced Neutron, who'd eliminated Kantar 7-5.

 

Neutron was eliminated in those quarterfinals 7-3 by Rose, and with dawn just minutes away, the tournament came to its abrupt end. Meglino, Grossman and Rose opted out of the final match and split the top three prizes.

 

Tour Director Kennedy thanked Tony, A.J, and Patti Condercuri, owners of Uncle Waldo's for their hospitality, as well as sponsors J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Simonis Cloth and Mueller Recreational Products.

 

Note from Administrator: Fictitious and/or incomplete names were not added to the tournament results. It is encumbent on tournament directors to get complete identification information on players. 

 

It was technically stops # 7 and #8 on the Shark Billiard Tour, or as tour representative Kristen Bennington put it, "or 7 and 7A." Whichever. It was a double stop on Memorial Day weekend at Zingale's in Tallahassee, FL; a $1,000-added event that drew 48 on Saturday, May 23, and a $500-added event that drew 38. Jeff Jordan took the Saturday event. Jesse Middlebrooks was the runner-up and then went on to win the Sunday tournament, with Josh Lewis playing the runner-up role.

 

Five of the players among the final 12 on each day competed in both tournaments, all improving from Saturday to Sunday, except for Jeff Abernathy, who finished 4th on Saturday, and in the tie for 9/12 on Sunday. Josh Lewis went from 9/12 on Saturday to runner-up on Sunday. Chris Gentile improved from a 7/8 on Saturday to 4th on Sunday, and Benji Buckley advanced two slots from 9/12 to 5/6. And of course, Middlebrooks, who took second on Saturday and won Sunday.

 

With Middlebrooks already at work on the loss side, Saturday's event saw Jeff Jordan advance to the hot seat. He'd sent Doug Johnson to the loss side 8-4 in one winners' side semifinal, while Tour Director Nick Applebee sent Howie Gordon loss-side packing 8-5 in the other. Jordan gave up only one rack to Applebee and claimed the hot seat.

 

 

Middlebrooks, in the meantime, got by Jamie Chapman and Detroit Griffin 6-2, to draw Gordon. Johnson picked up Jeff Abernathy, on his way to a fourth place finish and fresh off victories over Josh Lewis 6-4 and Chris Gentile 6-3. Gordon and Johnson picked up their second straight losses; Gordon 6-2 to Middlebrooks and Johnson 6-3 to Abernathy. Middlebrooks took the quarterfinal match over Abernathy 6-4 and then battled to double hill against Applebee in the semifinals. Middlebrooks prevailed and then, in the finals, was defeated by Jeff Jordan 11-7.

 

Having spent time there on Saturday, Middlebrooks wanted no part of the loss side on Sunday. He advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Josh Lewis while Denny Singletary and Derek Fowler met in the other. It was Singletary 8-6 over Fowler and Middlebrooks  8-5 over Lewis. Middlebrooks claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Singletary, guaranteeing himself at least as high a finish as he'd chalked up on Saturday.

 

On the loss side, Benji Buckley advanced past Arthur Win 6-2 and survived a double hill battle against Randy Jordan, to draw Lewis. Fowler picked up Chris Gentile, recent double hill winner over Jeff Abernathy and 6-4 winner over Raymond Linares.  Lewis eliminated Buckley 6-2 and in the quarterfinals faced Gentile, who'd defeated Fowler 6-4. Lewis took the quarterfinal match against Gentile 6-4 and got a second shot at Middlebrooks with a commanding 6-1 victory over Singletary in the semifinals. 

 

Lewis carried that momentum into the finals, opening up a three-point lead (4-1) early. He would chalk up only two more racks in the next dozen games, as Middlebrook battled back to claim the event title 11-6.

 

Tour director Nick Applebee made note of $100 prize to the top junior player in Sunday's event, Bobby Bruce, Jr. He thanked Applebee thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, as well as Kristen Bennington and all the players who came out to support the tour. Stop # 8 on the Shark Billiard Tour, scheduled for Saturday, June 6, will be hosted by Anastasia Billiards in St. Augustine, FL.

Tommy Kennedy likes to play from behind. He doesn’t recommend it as a strategic option, but for him, being behind in a tournament or individual match tends to focus him in ways that large leads don’t.  He utilized this preference to return from the semifinals of the first 2012 stop on his Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball tour, on Sunday, January 8, and defeat hot seat occupant, Mike Davis, who’d sent him to the semifinals. The $5,000-added event drew 47 entrants to Veteran’s Billiards in Port Charlotte, FL.

From among the winners’ side final four, Kennedy sent Danny Green west with a commanding 11-1 victory that included seven 9-balls on the break (which failed to count, since they failed to enter either the side pocket or the corner pockets from which he broke).  Davis, in the meantime, prevailed in a double hill battle that sent Stoney Stone to the loss side. In their first of two, Davis defeated Kennedy 11-9, and sat in the hot seat awaiting his return.

Green moved over to pick up Justin Hall, who’d defeated Steve Giedraitisz 9-7 and Han Berber in a double hill match. Stone drew Josh Lewis, who’d gotten by Trey Jankowski 9-5 and Ray Linares 9-6. Green and Stone made short work of their first, loss-side opponents; Green eliminating Hall 9-6, Stone defeating Lewis 9-2. 

Stone defeated Green 9-4 in the quarterfinals that followed, and then fell to Kennedy by the same score in the semifinals. Kennedy’s ‘plan’ (coming from behind) was in full swing.

Davis opened the single race to 13 finals with two in a row, and Kennedy responded with four racks that gave him the lead. Davis tied it up, and Kennedy responded with four to go up 8-4. Davis came right back with four of his own to tie things at 8-8, but they’d prove to be the last four games he’d win. Kennedy won the next five, with a couple of ‘break and runs’ for good measure to secure the event victory.

“When I’m either even or down, I play better, because I bear down more,” said Kennedy the next day. “When it got to 8-8, I figured, OK, it’s a race to five now, and I just took advantage of the opportunities when they presented themselves.”

At the conclusion of the tournament, Mike Davis was presented with a Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball ‘Greatest Attitude’ award, which added a trophy with that achievement inscribed on it to his second place winnings

“He was really happy about the award,” said Kennedy. “He’d told me that he’d gotten trophies for winning tournaments before, but never anything like that.”