Tommy Kennedy and Obbie Cirilo claimed respective titles in a two-event weekend – January 13-14 – on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour. Kennedy won five matches on the loss side to meet and defeat host location owner, Jose Del Rio in Sunday’s 10-Ball Invitational, while Cirilo, who went undefeated, and Mubarak Sulaiman split the top two prizes in Saturday’s 9-Ball Open to avoid a final match that would have commenced in the vicinity of 3 a.m., Sunday morning. The $1,000-added 9-Ball Open event drew 57 entrants, while the $300-added 10-Ball Invitational drew 17 entrants to Stroker’s Bar and Grill in Palm Harbor, FL.
Cirilo and Sulaiman would have met twice in the 9-Ball Open, had they both not opted out of playing a second, final match. Cirilo opened his undefeated run by giving up only two racks over his first two matches; one each to Bill Bloom and Kyle Bova, before Tommy Kennedy put up a fight in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Cirilo won that match 7-5 and drew Bobby Garza in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Sulaiman won his first three matches by an average score of 7-5, which included a double hill win over Donny Mills in the third round, and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Steve Knoll.
Sulaiman downed Knoll 7-5, and in the hot seat match, faced Cirilo, who’d sent Garza to the loss side 7-4. Cirilo chalked up what proved to be his last win (7-5) over Sulaiman, and sat in the hot seat, essentially waiting for the decision to opt out of a final match.
On the loss side, Knoll picked up Kennedy, while Garza drew Robert Batson, who’d lost a double hill fight against Knoll in the second round, and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to come to an end.
Knoll eliminated Kennedy 5-3, as Garza ended Batson’s loss-side streak 5-2. Knoll downed Garza 5-3 in the quarterfinals, and then, by the same score, was eliminated by Sulaiman in the semifinals. That, as the saying goes, was all she wrote, as Cirilo and Sulaiman agreed to a split of the top two prizes.
Trenton White and Kodi Allen split $40 as the top two junior finishers in the 9-Ball Open event.
[photo id=48644|align=right]Kennedy wins five on the loss side to meet and defeat DelRio in 10-Ball Invitational finals
Tommy Kennedy played two more matches on the loss side of the 10-Ball Invitational than he had in the previous day’s 9-Ball Open. Those extra two matches put him into the finals, where he downed Jose Del Rio to claim the event title.
Kennedy was defeated 7-2 by Stephen Richmond in the second round of the 10-Ball event, which advanced Richmond to a winners’ side semifinal against Jason Richko. Del Rio drew Dale Stanley in the other winners’ side semifinal. Del Rio survived a double hill battle against Stanley to advance to the hot seat match. He was joined by Richko, who’d sent Richmond west 7-4. Del Rio and Richko battled to a 13th deciding game before Del Rio claimed the hot seat, and waited on the return of Kennedy.
On the loss side, Kennedy opened his trek back to the finals with victories over Tim Parisian and Onur Berber, which set him up to face Stanley. Richmond drew 9-Ball Open winner, Mubarak Sulaiman, who’d gotten by one of the event’s three top-finishing juniors/women (who split $90), Kodi Allen and Donny Mills to reach him.
Kennedy shut Stanley out and in the quarterfinals, faced Sulaiman, who’d eliminated Richmond 6-2. Kennedy then spoiled Sulaiman’s bid for a second runner-up (and possibly more) finish with a 6-4 win in those quarterfinals.
Kennedy gave up only a single rack to Richko in the semifinals and then, with momentum wind at his back, had the audacity to down his host – Stroker’s owner Del Rio – 9-2 in the finals to claim the 10-Ball event title.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza awarded $90 (total) to the two junior and single female top finisher in the 10-Ball Invitational (Carrie Vetrono, the female, and for the second time, Kodi Allen and Trenton White as the juniors). They thanked Del Rio and his Stroker’s staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Kamui, Jacksonville Roofing USA, InsidePool.tv, AZBilliards and Play the Game Clothing Co. The next stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the February 10, will be hosted by Waldo’s Billiards in Daytona Beach, FL.
Kyle Bova, who used to ply his trade on the Western New York Tour, and for the past three years or so, has switched his base of operations to Florida, came from deep on the loss side to win the August 5-6 stop (#5) on the Sunshine State Pro-Am Tour. He challenged Kenny Willis, aka Jimmy Neutron, in the finals and defeated him to claim the $400-added event that drew 45 entrants (nine women and 36 men) to Stephanie Mitchell's pool room, Corner Pocket in Largo, FL.
Bova was awarded an opening round bye, and downEd Martin Mora 7-2, before being sent to the loss side by Justin McNulty 7-3. McNulty followed him over in the next round, when he was defeated by Dale Stanley 7-2. Stanley advanced to face Mike Delawder in one of the winners' side semifinals. Neutron, in the meantime, following victories over Todd Moir, Nikki Cuellar, and a double hill win over Michael DeStefano, faced George Saunders in the other winners' side semifinal.
Neutron sent Saunders to the loss side 7-3, and in the hot seat match faced Stanley, who'd defeated Delawder 7-5. Neutron claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Stanley and waited for what turned out to be the return of Bova.
Over on the loss side, Bova opened his campaign with three straight 6-3 wins, over Kelly Cavanaugh, Mark Wathan, and DeStefano, before downing Angel Martinez 6-4 and drawing Delawder. Saunders picked up Mubarak Sulaiman, who'd defeated Ron Hollifield 5-3 and denied Bova a second shot at McNulty by defeating him 5-2.
Bova shut Delawder out and in the quarterfinal match, faced Saunders, who'd eliminated Sulaiman 5-3. Bova chalked up his fourth 6-3 win against Saunders, and then, his fifth 6-3 win against Stanley in the semifinals.
Bova's five 6-3 wins on the loss side seemed to indicate a preference for winning 66% of the games he played. That dropped a little in the longer-race-to-11 final against Neutron, when he chalked up only 61% of the 18 games played, for an 11-7 final that earned Bova the event title.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Frank Garza thanked Corner Pocket owner Stephanie Mitchell (who, along with Kaylee McIntosh, shared $40 in a tie for the top-finishing female) and her staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors JQ Images Cues, Billiard Buzz, and AZBilliards. The next stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, scheduled for Aug. 26-27, will be hosted by Brewlands Bar & Billiards in Tampa.
(Administrative note: Though Kenny Willis has been consistent with his usage of 'Jimmy Neutron' as his preferred pool name, and we're willing to go along with references to him as 'Jimmy Neutron' in reports of his appearances on tours, we will be equally consistent in using his real name (Kenny Willis) when assigning information about him in our database. He does bear a passing resemblance to the cartoon Neutron character, minus the hairdo, which on that cartoon character looks like the tip of a chocolate ice cream cone from Dairy Queen, but opening the database door to the usage of 'fake names' would inevitably lead to the inclusion of no-doubt creative names, as pool players looked to cement their reputation with suggestive name alternatives like 'Run 'em Out Ron, Pool Stud Pat, or who knows what else. We'll use "The Scorpion" nickname in a story, too, and include that nickname in his page on the site, but he goes into our database as 'Johnny Archer.'
Mike Lear, Mike Delawder, Benji Buckley and Tony Crosby
Benji Buckley cut his eye-teeth playing in Great Britain on the GB9 Tour, that country's "official professional 9-ball tour," and as late as last August, was still competing there. In May of last year, he competed in the Open division of a stop on the Florida Pool Tour and finished fourth, behind Donny Mills, Tony Crosby, and Anthony Meglino. In October, he competed in Florida State's Amateur 9-Ball Championship and finished ninth. On the weekend of January 16-17, 2016, he went undefeated to capture the Florida Pool Tour's $4,000-added Florida State Open 10-Ball Championships that drew 65 entrants to Zingale's in Tallahassee, FL.
Buckley got into the hot seat by first sending his eventual finals' opponent, Mike Delawder, to the loss side 8-5. Jeff Jordan, in the meantime, was busy sending Nathan Rose over by the same score. Buckley claimed the hot seat 8-3 over Jordan and waited on Delawder's return.
Delawder and Grossman battled to double hill before Delawder prevailed to face Owen, who'd defeated Rose 7-5. Delawder and Owen battled to a somewhat predictable double hill quarterfinal before Delawder prevailed again, to take on Jordan in the semifinals.
Delawder spoiled Jordan's plans for a re-match against Buckley with a 7-2 win in the semifinals. Buckley then spoiled Delawder's plans for a successful rematch with a 9-4 win in the finals to capture the Florida State Open 10-Ball Championship title.
