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.
Joey Korsiak, Zion Zvi, Raphael DaBreo & Jimmy Rivera
It is a significant rite of passage; moving from the top ranks of Amateur status to the loftier competitive environment where the Open/Pro players do battle. On the weekend of March 3-4, at a $250-added Open/Pro event on the Predator Pro Am Tour, Raphael Dabreo took that step, winning his first-ever Open/Pro event, and according to tour director Tony Robles, was “super happy about it.”
“Like a kid in a candy store,” said Robles.
DaBreo, working as a B player, first showed up on the AZBilliards’ radar 10 years ago, when he won his first stop on the Tri-State Tour. A year later (2009), he won two more on that tour. He won his first stop on the Predator Pro Am in 2010. Over the next eight years, he chalked up a baker’s dozen (13) more on the two tours, as he climbed the rankings ladder. On average, we reported here last October, he’d won an average of one event per year on both tours, dating back to those initial victories.
In a concurrently-run, $750-added Amateur event over the weekend, Lukas Fracasso-Verner went undefeated through a field of 53 entrants to claim that title (more on this a little later in this report). Both events were hosted by The Spot in Nanuet, NY.
DaBreo had a crack at a Predator Open/Pro event about three weeks ago, (Feb. 10-11), when he made it to the semifinals (downing Robles on the loss side along the way), before being eliminated by the event’s winner, Kudlik Marek. His first Open/Pro victory followed the same script, with the significant difference of coming back from the loss side to win it. He advanced to a winners’ side semifinal versus Jimmy Rivera in this most recent event, while Joey Korsiak and Zion Zvi squared off in the other one.
Korsiak got by Zvi 7-4. DaBreo battled Rivera to a deciding game, before Rivera sent him to the loss side. Korsiak claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Rivera and waited on DaBreo’s return.
On the loss side, DaBreo picked up Robles (whom he’d met in the quarterfinals of the Feb. 10-11 event), who’d defeated Victor Nau 7-3 and Mike Salerno 7-2 to reach him this time. Zvi drew Jorge Teixeira, who’d gotten by Yesid Garibello 7-3 and Dave Shlemperis 7-1. DaBreo got by Robles again; this time, 7-4, as Zvi eliminated Teixeira 7-2.
DaBreo, apparently very motivated to collect his first Open/Pro title, chalked up two straight double hill wins to get a shot at Korsiak in the hot seat. He downed Zvi in the quarterfinals, and then, Rivera in the semifinals. A 9-5 win over Korsiak in those finals secured DaBreo’s first Open/Pro win.
[photo id=48780|align=right]Fracasso-Verner goes undefeated to take Amateur division
Last February, at the age of 15, Lukas Fracasso-Verner became the second-youngest player to ever win a stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour; the first, being Thomas Rice, who, at 14 won a stop on the tour in 2013. What was particularly significant about Fracasso-Verner’s victory at the time was that he’d won 13 loss-side matches to meet and defeat the hot seat occupant, Atif Khan.
At this most recent stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, Fracasso-Verner, now 16, chalked up another victory, this time going undefeated through a field of 53. He advanced through the field to a winners’ side semifinal against Rhio Anne “Annie” Flores, while Adam Miller met up with Feng Zhao in the other winners’ side semifinal. Miller downed Zhao 7-3, while Fracasso-Verner and Flores locked up in a double hill battle that did eventually send Flores to the loss side. Fracasso-Verner then downed Miller 9-5 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Zhao picked up Suzzie Wong, who’d gotten by Greg Matos 6-3 and won a double hill match against Matthias Gutzmann. Flores drew Mark Zamora, recent double hill winner over Ocheign Carlos and Max Watanabe 7-5. The ladies advanced to the quarterfinals; Wong, over Zhao 7-2, and Flores over Zamora 7-4.
The ladies then locked up in a double hill fight, won by Wong. Miller took the semifinal 6-3 over Wong. Fracasso-Verner completed his undefeated run with a double hill 9-8 win over Miller in the finals.
A Second Chance event drew eight entrants. It was won by Wax Watanabe, who defeated Rich Hourihan in a double hill final. Watanabe pocketed $100, while Hourihan took home $50.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at The Spot for their hospitality, as well as special thanks to 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 March 17-18, will be an A/B/C/D event hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
(l to r): Mieszko Fortunski, Konrad Jusczyzszyn & Zion Zvi
Carandang goes undefeated to capture Amateur title
At the conclusion of the 2017 Empire State 10-Ball Championships (Open/Pro division), at which Zion Zvi had gone undefeated through a field of 25, he spoke of coming back from a break that he’d taken over the past few years.
“I’m going to be more active,” he said at the time, noting that he’d be “coming back one step at at a time.”
One week later, he’d claimed the 8th Annual New England Hall of Fame Tournament title, and before the year was out, he’d pocketed the best recorded earnings in his 15-year career. On Sunday February 25, he began 2018 the same way, by successfully defending his title at the 11th Annual Empire State 10-Ball Championships. He missed going undefeated by a single game, battling for the hot seat, but came back to defeat Mieszko Fortunski in the finals. For the second year in a row, the $1,000-added Open/Pro division of the Championships drew 25 entrants to the event’s traditional venue, Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY.
Commencing on Saturday, February 24, Raxx Billiards also played host to the annual Amateur division of the Empire State Championships, competing in 9-Ball. This year’s $2,000-added event drew 111 entrants, three more than it had last year. Jason Carandang went undefeated through the field to claim his first major title.
Zvi’s trek to the winners’ circle advanced through to a winners’ side semifinal match against Michael Yednak. Fortunski, in the meantime, met up with Joey Korsiak in the other winners’ side semifinal. Zvi and Fortunksi got into the hot seat match with identical 7-4 wins over Yednak and Korsiak. Fortunski claimed the hot seat 7-2, and waited on Zvi’s return from the semifinals.
By identical 7-4 scores, McAndrews and Jusczyzszyn advanced to the quarterfinals over Korsiak and Yednak. Jusczyzszyn then downed McAndrew 7-3 in those quarterfinals. Zvi put a stop to Jusczyzszyn’s run 7-3 in the semifinals, and then, in a successful 11-7 re-match against Fortunski, claimed the event title.
[photo id=48723|align=right]Carandang and Romann battle twice for the Amateur title
They met early and late. Jason Carandang sent Steven Romann to the loss side in a double hill match early in the Amateur event. Caradang advanced to the hot seat, as Romann chalked up seven wins on the loss side to meet him a second time. The finals fell a game short of being a second double hill match (7-5), but the result was the same.
Caradang advanced through the field to a winners’ side semifinal against Ada Lio, the Predator Pro Am Tour’s top female at this early-in-the-season juncture. Shawn Jackson and Frank Cutrone met up in the other winners’ side semifinal. Carandang sent Lio to the loss side 7-2, as Jackson sent over Cutrone over 7-5. Carandang and Jackson locked up in a double hill fight that left Carandang in the hot seat, and Jackson on his way to the semifinals.
It was Lio, who picked up the eventual runner-up, Steve Romann on the loss side. He was four matches into the loss-side streak that was taking him to the finals. He’d most recently downed Adam Miller 7-5 and Jose Kuilan 7-4. Cutrone picked up teenager Lukas Fracassso-Verner, who’d eliminated Steinway Billiards’ owner, Manny Stamatakis in a double hill fight, and Paul Everton in an almost-double hill fight (7-5).
Romann defeated Lio 7-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Cutrone, who’d put Fracasso-Verner on the wrong end of another double hill fight. Two more, apparently very popular 7-4 wins, in the quarterfinals against Cutrone and in the semifinals, against Jackson, gave Romann a second shot against Carandang. To no avail, as it turned out. Carandang completed his undefeated run with a 7-5 win in the finals.
A Second Chance event that drew 16 entrants was Mike Callaghan defeat George Poltorak 7-3 in the finals. Dan Faraguna finished third, with Debby Buyukdeniz in fourth place. Max Watanabe defeated Mike Salerno 7-2 in the finals of a Third Chance event that drew 8 entrants.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Raxx Billiards 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 March 3-4, will be hosted by The Spot in Nanuet, NY.
Lio joins growing list of female winners on Predator Pro Am Tour
Both winners on the most recent Predator Pro Am Tour stop on the weekend of February 10-11 came back from the loss side to claim victory in the event’s Amateur and Open-Pro events. Kudlik Marek came back from a loss in the hot seat match of the $250-added Open/Pro tournament (10-ball), which drew 21 entrants, to down Alex Kazakis in the finals. Ada Lio came back from a winners’ side semifinal in the $750-added, Double Points Amateur event (9-ball), which drew 89, to defeat Bryan Toolsee in the finals. The 13 amateurs who opted to compete in the Open/Pro event paid a reduced entry fee of $60 to sign on. Both events were hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
In the Open/Pro segment of the weekend’s activities (Sunday), Marek faced Alex Kazakis twice; first, in the hot seat match and then later, victoriously in the finals. Marek had sent Raphael Dabreo to the loss side, double hill, in one winners’ side semifinal, while Marek was busy downing tour director Tony Robles 7-5. Kazakis claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Marek, and waited on his return.
Robles and DaBreo got right back to business on the loss side; Robles downing Joey Korsiak 7-3 and DaBreo eliminating Jimmy Rivera 7-4. DaBreo then defeated Robles 7-4 in the quarterfinals to earn himself a re-match against Marek. Marek downed him a second time 7-4 in the semifinals to earn his own re-match against Kazakis. The two fought to double hill at 8-8, before Marek closed it out to claim the Open/Pro title.
Ada Lio gets by the boys to claim Amateur title
[photo id=48693|align=right]Ada Lio has been appearing on payout lists in the New York area for about five years, splitting her tournament time between the Tri-State and Predator Tours. As a D+/D player on the Tri-State Tour, she went undefeated, knocking off a couple of A players, to win a Tri-State event in September of 2014. At this most recent event (now playing as a “C”), she came back from a winners’ side semifinal loss to down Bryan Toolsee in the finals of the Amateur event, which played out over two days.
She was sent to the loss side by Matt Klein 7-5, as Toolsee was busy dominating Geovanni Hosang 7-0 in the other winners’ side semifinal. At double hill, poised to claim the hot seat, Klein missed a shot at the 9-ball, and left the door open for Toolsee. Toolsee walked in, sunk the 9-ball and sat in the hot seat, awaiting Lio’s return.
Lio picked up Erick Carrasco on the loss side, who’d defeated Ryan Dayrit and John Salmon, both 7-5, to reach her. Hosang drew Rikki Ragoonanan, fresh off two straight double hill wins against Dan McGinnis and Jim Curti. As had happened in the Open/Pro event, the two recent arrivals from the winners’ side bracket got right back to business; Lio, downing Carrasco 7-4, and Hosang, coming out on the win side of Ragoonanan’s third double hill match.
Lio and Hosang locked up in a double hill quarterfinal fight that eventually sent Lio to the semifinals against Klein. She gave up only a single rack to Klein in those semifinals (7-1) and got a shot at Toolsee in the hot seat. She took full advantage, defeating Toolsee 9-5 to claim the event title.
A Second Chance event on Sunday drew 15 entrants. Jason Carandang came out on top to win $150. Juan Guzman finished as runner-up to the tune of $90, while Ambi Estevez and Max Watanabe finished in the $30 tie for third place.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, as well as sponsors 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 will be the 11th Annual Empire State Championships, scheduled for the weekend of February 24-25 at Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead (Long Island), NY.
(l to r): Andrew Cleary, Rick Miller & Matthias Gutzmann
When the Predator Pro Am Tour held its annual tour championships back in early December, the $10,500-added event drew 89 invited entrants. The winner, Rhys Chen, pocketed $7,000 for his undefeated run through the field. Though correlation does not always signify causation, it would appear that the $7,000 top prize in that event has led to increased interest in sufficient participation in Predator Pro Am Tour events this year to qualify for (be invited to) the 2018 Tour Championships. The Predator Pro Am Tour opened its 2018 season with a record 115 entrants at a $1,000-added event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Though Andrew Cleary battled Rick Miller and claimed the hot seat in this event, Miller returned from the semifinals to defeat Cleary and win the Predator Pro Am season opener.
Second and Third Chance events drew 16 and 14 entrants, respectively. Jason Carandang won the Second Chance event, downing George Poltorak in the finals. Victor Nau chalked up the win in the Third Chance event, defeating Jessica Lynn in that one.
In the main event, Miller advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Tom Wan, as Cleary squared off against Matthias Gutzmann in the other one. Cleary got into the hot seat match with a 7-2 win over Gutzmann, and was joined by Miller, who’d sent Wan west 7-5. Cleary claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Miller and waited on his return from the semifinals.
Singh advanced to the quarterfinals 8-6 over Wan, and was joined by Gutzmann, who’d ended Zamora’s weekend 7-6. Gutzmann advanced another step, downing Singh in those quarterfinals 7-5. Miller ended Gutzmann’s three-match, loss-side trip with an 8-5 win in the semifinals.
In the extended-race-to-9 finals, Cleary was tasked with chalking up seven racks before Miller, at which point, the match and tournament would have ended with Cleary as its undefeated winner. Miller, though, reached the seven-match mark first, and added two more – to Cleary’s 3, total – to claim the event title.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff for their continuing hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PoolontheNet.com, Capelle Publishing, NAPL, TheDeVitoTeam.com, and his own Predator Pro Am staff, including his wife, Gail Robles, Irene Kim, Mandy Wu, William Finnegan, and Rob Omen. This year's Predator Pro Am Tour will feature 11 stops that will include both Amateur and Pro events. The first of these, scheduled for February 10-11, will combine a $750-added event for Amateurs and a $250-added event for Pros, both to be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Drawing on a strong field of players, many of whom had recently competed in the 40th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championships in Virginia, including winner Yu-Hsuan Cheng, and world champion Pin-Yi Ko, the 4th Annual Steinway Classic in New York drew the largest field of competitors, 92, in its history. Yu-Lung Chang defeated Ko Pin Chung twice to go undefeated and claim title to the $7,000-added event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, from November 1-3.
"It was our largest field, and the most competitive," said event director Tony Robles, "because it was truly an international event."
Though Yu-Hsuan Cheng, Pin-Yi Ko and four-time US Open champion Shane Van Boening entered the tournament among the highly favored competitors, all were eliminated early. Cheng went two and out, Ko finished in the tie for 9th place and Van Boening finished out of the money.
Chang and Ko Pin Chung advanced to the winners' side semifinals; Chang, against Warren Kiamco and Ko, squaring off against Jayson Shaw. Chang and Kiamco battled to double hill before Chang advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Ko, who'd sent Shaw to the loss side 9-6. Chang took the first of two against Ko 9-7 and waited in the hot seat for his return.
Awaiting Shaw and Kiamco on the loss side were Nick Van Den Berg and Darren Appleton. Nick Van Den Berg had eliminated world champion Pin-Yi Ko 9-6 and Rodney Morris 9-4 to draw Shaw. Appleton had won two straight double hill matches, against Alex Kazakis and Francisco Felicilda, for the right to face Kiamco. Appleton had been down 2-7 to Felicilda, before rallying to win that match. Appleton and Shaw downed Kiamco and Van Den Berg, both 9-7, and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Shaw opened those quarterfinals with five straight racks, and though Appleton would split the final eight games with Shaw evenly, Shaw won it 9-4. Shaw's loss-side run came to end in the semifinals, with Ko eliminating him 9-5 for a second shot against countryman Chang. Chang punctuated his undefeated run with a 13-11 victory over Ko in the finals.
Predator Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League (PlayNAPL.com), Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 racks, Gothamcitytechnologies.com, PoolontheNet.com, Phil Cappelle of Billiards Press, and TheDevitoTeam.com. Special thanks went out to event photographers Eli Ceballos, Karl Kantrowitz and to Robles' tour staff – William Finnegan, Mandy Wu, Ron Mason, Rob Omen, Irene Kim, Upstate AL of AZBTV (which streamed the event throughout the weekend), Dan Faraguna, Jim Gutierrez, Joe Wilson Torres, and (his) "amazing wife, Gail Robles."
Four of those 14 advanced to the winners' side semifinals, which pitted Rodriguez against Dechaine, as Kiamco faced Klatt. Dechaine downed Rodriguez 10-4 and in the battle for the hot seat, faced Klatt, who'd sent Kiamco to the loss side 10-7. Dechaine claimed the hot seat 10-4 over Klatt.
By the time Kiamco and Rodriguez came to the loss side, nine of the 14 mentioned had been eliminated. Kiamco drew Orcollo, who'd just defeated Davis 10-4, and Mazon 10-7; Mazon having previously ended Shaw's weekend 10-4. Rodriguez picked up Francisco Sanchez Ruiz who'd ousted Immonen 10-8 and Biado, double hill; Biado having previously stopped Appleton's bid 10-7. Gone before all of this were Strickland, Hohmann and Boyes, who, along with Alex Kazakis, finished in the last money round, tied for 13th place.
Ruiz defeated Rodriguez 10-6, as Kiamco was busy dropping Orcollo 10-8. Kiamco then took the quarterfinal match versus Ruiz 10-5 to earn himself a re-match versus Klatt in the semifinals. Kiamco successfully wreaked his vengeance on Klatt 10-6 and turned his attention to Dechaine in the hot seat.
In the modified race to 13, Kiamco, coming from the loss side, needed to reach that figure first, to extend the match to 15 games. Though he kept it relatively close, and got to 10, Dechaine got out in front to reach 13 first and claim the event title.
Predator Tour director Tony Robles thanked Gotham City Billiard Club owners, Kevin and Isabel Buckley, for their hospitality and the money added to the tournament. Thanks were also extended to sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League (PlayNAPL.com), Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 racks, Gothamcitytechnologies.com, PoolontheNet.com, Phil Cappelle of Billiards Press, and TheDevitoTeam.com. Special thanks went out to event photographers Eli Ceballos, Laye Kaba, Karl Kantrowitz and to Robles' tour staff – William Finnegan, Mandy Wu, Ron Mason, Rob Omen, Irene Kim, Upstate AL of AZBTV (which streamed the event throughout the weekend), Brad McDuffie, Joe Wilson Torres, and (his) "amazing wife, Gail Robles."
Next on tap, moving from one Classic to the next, will be the $7,000-added, 4th Annual Steinway Classic, set for November 1-3 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Coming on the heels of the US Open 9-Ball Championships, the Steinway Classic has already signed up many of the players who competed in the Gotham City Billiards Pro 9-Ball Classic, including the Steinway Classic's defending champion, Warren Kiamco. The event's 2013 champion, Shane Van Boening, will be competing as well, along with (among others) Ralf Souquet, Alex Pagulayan, Johnny Archer, Rodney Morris, Justin Bergman, Dennis Hatch, Jeremy Sossei, and Brandon Shuff. According to contributing AZBilliards writer, Geoff Conway, the field will be the largest turnout for this event in the four years that it has been held.
Jeffrey Ignacio chalked up his third victory of the year on the Predator Tour by coming from the loss side and defeating hot seat occupant, Jayson Shaw, for the second time, in the finals of the $500-added Open/Pro portion of the March 14-15 stop on the tour. Yomaylin "Smiley" Feliz, also coming from the loss side, took home the top prize in the concurrently-run, $500-added A/B/C/D event. The Amateur event drew 59 entrants, while the Open/Pro event drew 12 to The Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Ignacio's victory went through Shaw twice, the first time in a winners' side semifinal, as Frankie Hernandez and Sean Morgan squared off in the other. Shaw gave up only a single rack to Ignacio in sending him to the loss side, as Hernandez downed Morgan 7-5. Shaw claimed the hot seat 7-2.
On the loss side, Ignacio picked up Zion Zvi, who'd defeated Rob Omen 7-2 and Giovani Hosang 7-3. Morgan drew Michael Wong, who'd gotten by Eugene Ok 7-2 and tour director Tony Robles 7-3. Wong eliminated Morgan 7-5 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Ignacio, who'd defeated Zvi 7-4. Ignacio then downed Wong 7-3 and in the semifinals, Hernandez 7-4. He completed his loss-side run with an 11-6 victory over Shaw in the finals.
Like Ignacio, Yomaylin "Smiley" Feliz' trip to the winners' circle, took a detour at the winners' side semifinals, where she fell to Abel Barriento 7-5. By the same score, Tom Hagan took down Arturo Reyes. Hagan then claimed the hot seat 8-5.
On the loss side, Feliz met up with Wanlop Chantarakolkit, who'd gotten by Bob Toomey 7-2 and Jim Gutierrez 7-5 to reach her. Reyes drew Stephen Dempsey, who'd defeated Basdeo Shawn Sookhai 7-3 and survived a double hill match against Steve Wright.
Feliz, at that point, began a series of three straight double hill wins, eliminating Chantarakolkit, Reyes (who'd defeated Dempsey 7-4), and in a re-match, Abel Barriento. She completed her winning campaign with a 10-6 win over Hagan in the finals.
Yomaylin ‘Smiley’ Feliz, playing in the Amateur event of the November 29-30 stop on the Predator Tour, came back from a loss to Naldo Troncoso among the winners’ side final eight to meet and defeat him in the finals. The $500-added Amateur event drew 72 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
A concurrently-run, $500-added Open/Pro event drew 20. Spanky Kava went undefeated in this one, knocking off, in order at the end, Jayson Shaw, Zion Zvi and Frankie Hernandez.
With Feliz out of the way in the amateur tourney, Troncoso moved on to face George Poltorak, as Kapriel Delimelkonoglu squared off against ChristIan Smith in the two winners’ side semifinals. Troncoso defeated Poltorak 7-4, and in the battle for the hot seat met Delimelkonoglu, who’d sent Smith to the loss side 7-5. Troncoso won his last match, defeating Delimelkonoglu 7-3 and waited in the hot seat for vengeance to come at him from the loss side.
Feliz wasted no time getting back on track, opening her five-match, loss-side trek to the finals with a shutout over Judd Parker. She then downed Dennis Lake 7-3 and drew Poltorak. There to meet Smith was Koka Davladze, who’d defeated room owner Manny Stamatakis 7-5 and survived a double hill match against Keith Adamik.
The two battles to determine the amateur event’s quarterfinalists were just that; battles. Feliz survived, double hill, over Poltorak, while Davladze just did avoid a double hill deciding game by downing Smith 7-5.
Feliz moved on and avoided a double hill deciding game in the quarterfinals by defeating Davladze 8-6. She had a smoother run in the semifinal match against Delimelkonoglu, downing him 7-2 for a second shot against Troncoso. She completed her run with a 9-5 victory over Troncoso to claim her first Predator title.
In the Open/Pro event, Spanky Kava took the undefeated route, facing separate opponents in the hot seat and finals. He and Zion Zvi prevented a marquee hot seat match by defeating Jayson Shaw 7-4 and Earl Strickland 7-3, respectively. Kava then defeated Zvi 7-4 and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Frankie Hernandez.
On the loss side, Hernandez got by Lee Kang 7-5, gave up only a single rack to Rob Omen and faced Shaw. Strickland picked up Kevin Guimond, who’d defeated Jamiyl Adams 7-2, and survived a double hill fight against Mhet Vergara. Hernandez and Strickland eliminated Shaw and Guimond, both 7-3 and met in the quarterfinals.
Hernandez ended Strickland’s day 7-4, and then, double hill, defeated Zvi for a shot at Kava in the hot seat. To no avail, as Kava completed his undefeated run with a 7-5 win over Hernandez to claim the Open/Pro title.
Tony Robles’ Predator Pro-Am Tour, Steinway Billiards and William Finnegan are proud to announce the 3rd Annual Steinway Classic on August 2nd & 3rd at Steinway Billiards!
This $7,000 Added event will be streamed live via Pay Per View by Upstate Al, of AZBTV and co-produced by NYCGrind.com and the Predator Pro-Am Tour.
To purchase the live stream for this amazing event please visit www.steinwaybilliards.com/livestream/ Day 1 is $15, Day 2 $15 and you can purchase both days for $25.
Here are some of the top players that are confirmed to play:
Pros have priority to pay their entry first for this event. We have compiled a list of amateur players that will get the opportunity to play as long as we don’t have a full field of 64 pros.
The entry for pros is $125 and $75 for amateurs. Please contact Tony Robles if you’re interested in playing at TonyRoblesNYC@gmail.com.
Dragon Promotions will also have their 14.1 World Straight Pool Tournament at Steinway Billiards August 4-9 and most of the players mentioned above as well as others above will be playing in this prestigious event as well. For more information please visit www.WorldStraightPool.com.
Special thanks to Predator Cues, Delta-13, Ozone Billiards, GothamCityTechnologies.com, Rob Omen of PoolOnTheNet.com, The National Amateur Pool League (PlayNAPL.com), AZBTV, AZBilliards.com, NYCGrind.com, Billiards Digest and Steinway Billiards and their amazing staff! And last but not least my amazing wife Gail Robles!
For more information about our tour please visit www.PredatorProAmTour.com.
We hope to see you all at Steinway August 2-9 for these two amazing events! Stop by and show your support of the game we all love.
