In looking to win two Tri-State Tour stops in a row in as many weeks, C+ competitor Ryan Dayrit (#4 on the C+ list) did pretty much everything right. Except win the second event. He came within a single match of pulling it off, making it all the way to the hot seat before being challenged in the finals by the tour’s second-highest rated A/A+ competitor, Matt Klein, who lost his opening match, won 10 on the loss side and defeated Dayrit in the finals of the Saturday, Feb. 1 tour stop. The $1,000-added event drew 55 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
After defeating Klein 7-4 in the opening round of play, Shivam Gupta (#3 on that A+/A list) advanced through the field to eventually shut out Max Watanabe (the tour’s #1-rated A+/A competitor) in a winners’ side quarterfinal and face Emit Yolcu (B) in a winners’ side semifinal. Dayrit, in the meantime, advanced through the field to down Debra Pritchett 7-3 in another of the winners’ side quarterfinals and face Dementhris Hudson in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Dayrit got into the hot seat match with a 6-2 victory over Hudson. He was joined by Gupta, who’d defeated Yolcu 7-3. Dayrit claimed the hot seat with an 8-2 win over Gupta, more than likely feeling pretty good about his chances of chalking up that second straight win.
Meantime, on the loss side, Klein was at work. Half of his 10 loss-side matches went double hill, including the last three he played before his rematch against Gupta in the semifinals. By the time he got into the money rounds (9th-12th) to create the battle between the tour’s top two A+/A players (Klein and Watanabe), he’d already won two double hill matches, against Lidio Ramirez and Arturo Reyes. He eliminated Watanabe 7-5 and chalked up his third double hill win against Joe Mazzeo to draw Yolcu, coming over from the winners’ side semifinals. Hudson picked up Russell Masciotti, who’d eliminated Kevin Shin 7-5 and Debra Pritchett 8-5 to reach him.
Klein chalked up his fourth double hill, loss-side win against Yolcu and was joined in the subsequent quarterfinals by Masciotti, who’d sent Hudson home 7-3. Klein then recorded his fifth loss-side double hill win, eliminating Masciotti and earning an as-long-as-it-gets awaited rematch against Gupta in the semifinals.
Klein shut Gupta out in those semifinals, which likely gave Dayrit something to think about as the finals approached. In spite of the momentum on Klein’s side, Dayrit opened the finals with four straight racks. Klein had to reach 8 racks just to extend the match to 10, and he caught up to Dayrit in the 12th rack at the 6-6 tie. The 6th proved to be Dayrit’s last as Klein went on to win the next four and claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui, Phil Capelle, Paul Dayton Cues, Pool & Billiards, Liquid Weighted Cues, JohnBender Cues, Billiards Engineering and Bloodworth Ball Cleaner. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 9, will be hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Last Sunday’s (Jan. 26) Tri-State Tour stop at Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY featured one of those still-rare, but a lot more frequent than they used to be battles between a male and female in the finals of a regional tour. There was a little bit of ‘David and Goliath’ in the air, too, because Naoko Saiki, who’d only ever cashed in one other event on the tour (9th, two and a half years ago at Steinway Billiards) was going up against Ryan Dayrit, who’d cashed in 13 events last year alone, including one win each on the Predator Pro Am and Tri-State Tours. The woman got into the hot seat, but Goliath came back from the loss side to down the female ‘David’ in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 26 entrants to Cue Bar.
Dayrit had something of a shaky start. He survived an opening-round, double hill match against Johnny Colon and then fell 7-2 to Chris Luna, which, in a 32-player bracket, happened to be a winners’ side quarterfinal match. Luna advanced to face Nishant Narang in a winners’ side semifinal. Saiki, in the meantime, had her own kind of shaky start; opening with a double hill win over Jose Ramos, she avoided a second double hill scenario by a game, defeating Allison LaFleur 6-4 to face Lionell Swanston in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Saiki chalked up her second double hill win, over Swanston, and in the hot seat match, faced Narang, who’d sent Luna west 6-3. Saiki claimed the hot seat 6-4 over Narang, and waited for Dayrit to finish his loss side run.
Dayrit had opened that run with a 6-1 victory over Juan Melendez and then got locked up in a double hill fight against Qian Chen, before prevailing to draw Swanston. Luna, in the meantime, certainly mindful of a potential rematch versus Dayrit in the upcoming quarterfinals, drew Bob Toomey, who’d survived a double hill fight against LaFleur and eliminated Mike Strassberg 6-2 to reach him.
Dayrit got into the quarterfinals 6-4 over Swanston. Toomey spoiled the Dayrit/Luna rematch with a 6-3 win over Luna.
Dayrit won the next two 6-4, downing Toomey in the quarterfinals and Narang in the semifinals. Though the final match between Dayrit and Saiki see-sawed back and forth through its opening racks, Dayrit eventually pulled out in front to complete his comeback and win it 8-4.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, Paul Dayton Cues, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Joe Romer Trophies and Quick Slick. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, February 1, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
(l to r): Alberto Estevez, Ryan Dayrit, Jose Kuilan & Pascal Dufresne
It’s been a good year for Pascal Dufresne, his best to-date, capped this past weekend (December 14-15) with a come-from-the-loss-side win at the 2019, $9,930-added Predator Pro Am Amateur Tour Championships, which drew 93 entrants to the event’s annual host, Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY. Dufresne cashed in seven events this year; three on the Tri-State Tour, including two wins (April and September) and four on the Predator Pro Am Tour, including victories in March and this most recent event in the tour’s season finale. He also made an appearance at the 14:1 American Straight Pool Championships in October and though he failed to cash in the event, he was responsible for a computer program, utilized by the Billiards Sports Network that ran the event’s live stream that analyzed the performance of the event’s competitors.
Dufresne’s path to the winners’ circle began with back-to-back wins over Hector Torres and Chris Kelly, both 7-3, before he ran into Julie Ha, who moved his trip to the loss-side of the tracks with a 7-4 win. Ha moved on to a double hill win over Matthew Harricharan, which brought her to a winners’ side semifinal match against Alberto Estevez. Meanwhile, Ryan Dayrit, who’d gotten by Erick Carrasco 7-3, Brandonne Alli 7-1 and Ray Lee 7-4, chalked up two straight double hill wins over Pauls Carpenter and Lyons to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Jim Gutierrez.
Ha locked up in a second straight double hill fight, against Estevez, but it was Estevez who moved on to the hot seat match. He was joined by Dayrit, who’d defeated Gutierrez 7-3. Dayrit claimed the hot seat and what proved to be his last win 7-4 over Estevez.
Ha moved to the loss side and ran into an immediate rematch against Dufresne, who’d chalked up loss side wins #3 and #4 against Matthew Harricharan, double hill, and Dave Shlemperis 7-2 to reach her. Gutierrez drew a rematch, as well, against Jose Kuilan, whom he’d sent to the loss side in a double hill, third round battle and who’d subsequently gone on to win three, almost four straight, loss-side double hill matches; against Irene Kim (6-5), Chris Ganley (6-5), Corey Avallone (6-5) and Ray Lee (6-4).
Dufresne and Kuilan mounted successful rematch campaigns and eliminated Ha and Gutierrez; Dufresne 7-3 over Ha and Kuilan 6-3 over Gutierrez. Dufresne then won the subsequent quarterfinal battle against Kuilan 7-4.
A double hill semifinal followed, with Dufresne prevailing over Estevez to earn his spot in the finals against Dayrit. In the extended race-to-9 battle, Dufresne reached his target ‘7’ ahead of Dayrit, extending the race, and added the two he needed to win it.
Robles thanked Holden Chin, Matthew Harricharan, Troy Deocharran, and Joshua Friedberg’s Raxx staff for their hospitality, his own Predator Pro Am staff (to include his lovely wife, Gail) and title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest. The Predator Pro Am Tour will open its 2020 season at Steinway Billiards with an event scheduled for the weekend of January 18-19, 2020.
Robles wins 7 on the loss side and is runner-up for second straight year
(l to r): Mike Salerno, Jorge Rodriguez, Mika Immonen & Tony Roble
Ten years ago, in what was reportedly his best earnings year ever, Finland’s Mika Immonen (aka The Iceman) cashed in a total of 29 events all over the world, 21 of which he finished as either the winner (13), the runner-up (4; to include his appearance on Europe’s Mosconi Cup team) or in third place (4). Six of his 13 victories that year were chalked up in the state of New York; he won a stop on the Tri-State Tour, two on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour, and three on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Many of the cash winners in those three 2009 Predator events were present for the 2019 Tour Championships held on the weekend of December 14-15 at the event’s traditional location, Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY. They included Jorge Rodriguez, Frankie Hernandez, Mhet Vergara and Tour Director Tony Robles, who, in the 2009 events won by Immonen, finished third in February, 5th in July and 9th in October. Notable, as always, in his absence from this year’s event was George “Ginky” Sansouci, who was 5th in that 2009 February event, 13th in July and tied with Robles for 9th in October.
The Predator Pro Am Tour’s defending Open/Pro Tour Champion and the 2018 runner-up met in this year’s semifinal; Jorge Rodriguez and Tony Robles, respectively. It was, though, Mika Immonen who became the 2019 champion, going undefeated through a field of 24 entrants, on-hand for the $1,000-added, 10-ball event at Raxx Billiards.
A concurrently-run, $9,930-added A/B/C/D Amateur event (separate story), which drew 93 entrants, was won by Pascal Dufresne, one of the tour’s 18 event winners this year. Sent to the loss side early, Dufresne won seven in a row before meeting and defeating hot seat occupant Ryan Dayrit in the finals.
For the second year in a row at the Open/Pro Championships, Rodriguez battled for the hot seat; last year, versus Robles, this year, against The Iceman. This year, Robles was sent to the loss side by Frankie Hernandez and like Dufresne in the Amateur event would win seven on that side of the bracket for the right to face Immonen in the finals.
Immonen advanced through the field to draw Joey Korsiak in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Rodriguez, in the meantime, faced Mike Salerno in the other one. Immonen gave up only a single rack to Korsiak and moved on to the hot seat match. He was joined by Rodriguez, who’d sent Salerono west 7-4. The Iceman and Rodriguez battled to a somewhat predictable double hill battle that eventually sent Rodriguez to the semifinals.
On the loss side, Robles chalked up wins #3 and #4 against John Francisco (7-2) and Mhet Vergara (double hill) to draw Korsiak. Salerno picked up Frankie Hernandez, who’d eliminated Jimmy Conn 7-2 and Jonathan Smith 7-3 to reach him. A potential rematch between Hernandez and Robles loomed in the shortly-distant quarterfinals.
Robles did what he could to affect that rematch with a 7-5 victory over Korsiak in the event’s first money round. Salerno, though, ended Hernandez’ weekend 7-4.
Robles downed Salerno 7-5 in the quarterfinals, setting up a repeat of the 2018 hot seat match and final; Robles versus Rodriguez. They split those two matches last year. Robles, winning the first one and Rodriguez, claiming the title in the finals. Robles earned his shot against The Iceman with a 7-2 win over Rodriguez in that semifinal matchup, guaranteeing himself at least a repeat, runner-up finish and a certainly possible finish as the Open/Pro Champion.
According to Robles, he lost that final matchup, early. He missed an early shot that he says he shouldn’t have missed and The Iceman used the resultant momentum to move on and win the match 7-4.
“I made one mistake in that final match,” said Robles later, “and it cost me.”
Robles thanked Holden Chin, Matthew Harricharan, Troy Deocharran, and Joshua Friedberg’s Raxx staff for their hospitality, his own Predator Pro Am staff (to include his lovely wife, Gail) and title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest. The Predator Pro Am Tour will open its 2020 season at Amsterdam BIlliards with an event scheduled for the weekend of January 18-19, 2020
Ko Ping-Han, Fu Che-Wei, Tony Robles and Hsu Kai-Lun
Dayrit wins Amateur event
Four of the final five players competing in the Open/Pro event of the November 2-3 stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour had drifted north from participating in the International 9-Ball Open in Norfolk, VA. Can you guess which four, among Hsu Kai-Lun, Fu Che-Wei, Liu Cheng-Chieh, Ko Ping-Han and Tony Robles?
Hsu Kai-Lun and about half a dozen fellow Taiwanese players signed on to the $500-added event, with Kai-Lun going undefeated through the field of 19, hosted by The Spot in Nanuet, NY. Kai-Lun defeated separate opponents in the hot seat (Robles) and finals (Fu Che-Wei) to claim the title.
Kai-Lun had to defeat Fu Che-Wei twice; the first time in a winners’ side semifinal, as Tony Robles squared off against Liu Cheng-Chieh in the other one. Kai-Lun downed Che-Wei 7-4 and was joined in the hot seat match by Robles, who’d sent Cheng-Chieh to the loss side 7-3. Kai-Lun claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Robles.
On the loss side, Che-Wei picked up Lin Ta-Li, who’d defeated Mike “Fingers” Badsteubner 7-2, and Max Watanabe 7-4. Liu Cheng-Chieh drew Ko Ping-Han, who’d eliminated Chang Yu-Lung 7-4 and Joey Korsiak 7-3.
Ping-Han downed Cheng-Chieh 7-2, and in the quarterfinals, faced Che-Wei, who’d eliminated Ta-Li 7-4. Che-Wei then defeated Ping-Han to face Robles in the semifinals.
Che-Wei got a second shot at Kai-Lun in the hot seat, with a 7-4 win over Robles in the semifinals. The second meeting between Kai-Lun and Che-Wei was a double hill battle for the event title. Kai-Lun won it 7-6 to claim that title.
Dayrit goes undefeated through field of 62
Ryan Dayrit and Keith Guenzel battled twice to claim the $1,000-added Amateur event title that drew 62 entrants. They met twice, hot seat and finals, to claim the title.
They advanced to their respective winners’ side semifinals; Dayrit, facing Carlos Duque and Guenzel, squaring off against Levie Lampaan. Dayrit moved into the hot seat match with a 7-4 victory over Duque. Guenzel joined him after downing Lampaan 7-2. Dayrit took the first of two against Guenzel 8-4 and waited in the hot seat for the second to happen.
Zaveri advanced to the quarterfinals 7-4 over Lampaan and was joined by Duque, who’d defeated Croce, double hill. Duque took the quarterfinal match that followed 8-4.
Duque started the semifinals against Keith Guenzel with ‘4 on the wire’ in a race to 9. He managed to chalk up the four he needed to force a single deciding game, which Guenzel won for a second shot at Dayrit in the hot seat.
Dayrit and Guenzel then locked up in a double hill final, which Dayrit finally won to claim the event title.
A Second Chance drew nine entrants and was won by Julie Ha. She took home $110 for her efforts, which included her final 7-5 victory over Mike Harrington ($70).
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Rhys Chen and his staff at The Spot for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPT.com, The DeVito Team, Poolonthenet.com, Capelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Billiards Digest and his own Predator Pro Am team, to include his lovely wife, Gail. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 16-17, will be a Double Points, $1,000-added event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
(l to r): Tony Ignomirello, Gary Bozigian, Matt Klein & Ryan Dayrit
He came in search of his first 2019 event victory and found it. Gary Bozigian, making only his fourth appearance on the 2019 Predator Pro Am Tour, went undefeated in the Amateur division of the Eastern States Championships over Labor Day weekend (August 31-Sept. 2). With limited points in the tour standings as a B player (#24 on the list), Bozigian defeated the tour’s top-ranked B+ player, Matt Klein, twice to claim the title. The $1,500-added Amateur event drew 83 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Bozigian and Klein clashed first in a winners’ side semifinal, as Tony Ignomirello, the tour’s top-ranked C+ player (11 appearances) and Ryan Dayrit, the tour’s 3rd-ranked C player (12 appearances), met in the other one. Bozigian and Klein locked up in a double fight that eventually sent Klein to the loss side. Tony “Iggy” sent Dayrit to the loss side 7-4 and joined Bozigian in the hot seat match. Bozigian claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Ignomirello and waited on the return of Klein.
On the loss side, Klein and Dayrit met up with the Estevez brothers. Klein drew Alberto Estevez, who’d defeated Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz, double hill, and Max Watanabe 7-4 t reach him. Dayrit picked up Ambi Estevez, who’d recently eliminated Jonathan Martinez 7-2 and Amanda Andries 7-3.
The brothers Estevez went down to identical 7-4 defeats to Klein and Dayrit, who advanced to the quarterfinals. Klein then eliminated Dayrit 8-3 and got a second shot at Bozigian with a 7-4 victory over Ignomirello in the semifinals.
Klein may have had the momentum from loss-side action, but it didn’t improve his game play in the finals against Bozigian. Bozigian downed him a second time, this time 7-4 to claim the Amateur Eastern States Championship title.
Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, Poolonthenet.com, Capelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Billiards Digest and his own Predator Pro Am team, to include his lovely wife, Gail. Robles also acknowledged the work of UpstateAl and his AZBTv crew for the streaming of selected matches throughout the event weekend. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 14-15, will be a $1,000-added, double points event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
(l to r): Hector Torres, Max Watanabe, Kanami Chau & Abel Rosario
Max Watanabe had his best earnings year to date in 2018 and though he has a way to go to catch up and make 2019 an even better year, he’s doing what he needs to do to make that happen. Last week (August 4), he went undefeated at a stop on the Tri-State Tour, downing Dave Shlemperis twice. This week, on Sunday, August 11 at a $1,000-added Predator Pro Am Tour stop at Steinway Billiards that drew 64 entrants, he got sent to the loss side by Hector Torres in the battle for the hot seat and came back to defeat Torres in the finals. If you’re making a move to improve the second half of any given year, there’s nothing like back-to-back tour victories to signal that you’re on the right track.
Watanabe’s trip was almost derailed at the outset, as he opened his campaign with two double hill wins; one against Vinko Rumora and a second against Jose Estevez. He got a little traction with a 7-2 win over Miguel Laboy and a 7-4 victory over Elvis Rodriguez, which set him up in a winners’ side semifinal match against Abel Rosario. Hector Torres, in the meantime, got by Ron Bernardo, Paul Lyons, and Brandonne Alli before having to survive a double hill win over Mike Callaghan, which set him (Torres) up to face Ray Lee in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Torres downed Lee 7-1, while Watanabe locked up in his third double hill battle of the weekend against Rosario and won it. He survived three double hill matches out of five he played to get to the hot seat match, but Watanabe didn’t have an ‘answer’ for Torres, who defeated him 8-1 to claim the hot seat.
Over on the loss side, Ray Lee ran into an immediate rematch against Kanami Chau, who’d been defeated by him in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then chalked up two straight double hill wins, over Ryan Dayrit and Joe Morace, to face him a second time. Rosario picked up Luis Jimenez, who was working on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included a 7-3 win over Chris Kelly and a double hill victory over Jaydev Zaveri.
Chau chalked up her third straight double hill win and advanced to the quarterfinals over Lee. She was joined by Rosario, who’d ended Jimenez’ loss-side run, double hill, as well. Seven of the tour stop’s final 14 matches required a single deciding game.
The quarterfinal match between Rosario and Chau came within a game of double hill, but Rosario edged out in front to take it 9-7. Watanabe, though, anxious apparently for a second shot at Torres in the hot seat, gave up only a single rack to Rosario in the semifinals that followed.
Watanabe took full advantage of that second shot. He downEd Torres 10-7 in the final to claim his second straight event title in as many weeks.
A Second Chance event drew 14 entrants. Elvis Rodriguez and Irene Kim advanced through the single elimination bracket to meet each other in the finals. Rodriguez had defeated Duc Lam to play in the finals. Kim had eliminated Akiko Taniyama to join him. Rodriguez took home the top $140 prize, after downing Kim 11-6 in the finals. Kim took home the $100 second prize, while Lam and Taniyama pocketed $20 each.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine and Billiards Digest. The Predator Pro Am Tour will return to Steinway Billiards on Labor Day weekend (Aug. 31 – Sept. 2) for the $3,000-added ($1,500 Amateur, $1,500 Pro) Eastern States Championships.
Already having his best earnings year to date, Ryan Dayrit added his first major tournament win by going undefeated* on the Tri-State Tour’s second stop of its 2019-2012 season on Sunday, July 21. At the end of the $1,000-added event, which drew 41 entrants to Cue Bar in Astoria (Queens), NY, Dayrit and his opponent in the finals, Lidio Ramirez, opted out of a final match, leaving Dayrit, the undefeated occupant of the hot seat as the official winner.
Dayrit faced different opponents in the hot seat and finals of this one. After victories over Chris Schmidt, Sabrina Sherman and Luis Jimenez, he advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against DeMenthris Hudson, as Tony Kuo squared off against Kapriel Delimelkonoglu in the other one; Delimelkonoglu had just sent Ramirez to the loss side 7-2. Dayrit got into the hot seat match with a double hill win over Hudson, as Kuo downed Delimelkonoglu 7-5. Dayrit claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Kuo and waited for Ramirez to complete his three-match, loss-side run.
Delimelkonoglu moved to the loss side, where he ran into an immediate re-match against Ramirez, who’d defeated Basdeo Sookhai 7-5 and Amanda Andries 10-7 to earn the rematch. Hudson drew Luis Jimenez, who’d lost to Dayrit in a winners’ side quarterfinal and had defeated Sabrina Sherman 7-4 and Michelle Brotons, double hill.
Ramirez and Jimenez handed Delimelkonoglu and Hudson their second straight loss; Ramirez successfully wreaking his vengeance on Delimelkonoglu 7-2 and Jimenez sending Hudson to the figurative ‘showers’ 7-3. Ramirez then defeated Jimenez 8-6 in the quarterfinals.
By the same score (8-6), Ramirez then defeated Tony Kuo in the semifinals in what proved to be the last match of the event. Ramirez and Dayrit agreed upon a split, with Dayrit claiming the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Liquid Weighted Cues, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Quick Stik, Phil Capelle, Pool & Billiards, Bender Cues, Dayton Cues, and Romer Trophies. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, July 27, will be hosted by Shooters Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
(l to r): Omar Soto, Eugene Ok, Ryan Boursse & Mac Jankov
Eugene Ok and Frankie Hernandez both went undefeated to claim respective Amateur and Open/Pro titles in the July 13-14 stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Ok worked his way through a field of 83 entrants on-hand for the $1,000-added Amateur event, hosted by Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan. Hernandez, the tour’s current #1-ranked Open/Pro competitor, went undefeated through the Open/Pro field of 21 entrants in the $500-added event.
In the ‘almost’ department with two losses, the second of which occurred in the event final, were Ryan Boursse in the Amateur event and Tour Director Tony Robles in the Open/Pro, who won five on the loss side to get into the final match. Robles couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in an event final, which, according to our records, had been last September, when he downed Max Watanabe twice. Prior to that, it had been five years (2014) since he won two events and was runner-up in three others on the tour. He won four matches to win the 2018 event at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens. It took nine matches to be the runner-up this past weekend.
Jimmy Rivera sent Robles to the loss side in a winners’ side quarterfinal that went double hill before Robles gave him ball-in-hand to close out the 13th rack (7-6). Rivera advanced to meet eventual winner Frankie Hernandez, while Duc Lam and Sean Morgan met in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Lam downed Morgan, double hill, and in the hot seat match, faced Hernandez, who’d sent Rivera to the loss side 7-3. Hernandez claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Lam and waited for The Silent Assassin to come back from his five-match, loss-side trip.
Robles would play five matches on the loss side and the one match in the final. Three of those six matches went double hill, including the only one he lost, in the final. He opened his loss-side trip with his first double hill win, over Dominic Gauthier. He then eliminated John Messina 7-2 to draw Morgan, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Rivera drew Jonathan Smith, who’d recently eliminated Raphael Dabreo and Pat Fleming, both 7-5.
Robles downed Morgan 7-2. Smith spoiled the potential Robles/Rivera rematch by downing Rivera 7-5 to join Robles in the quarterfinals.
Robles won the next two matches, double hill, to meet Hernandez in the finals. He downed Smith in the quarterfinals and then, Lam in the semifinals, both 7-6. He ended up on the wrong side of his third straight double hill match and had to settle for runner-up, as Hernandez completed his undefeated run to claim the event title.
Ok moves up the tour’s B+ ladder with undefeated victory in the Amateur event
Eugene Ok’s trip through the 83-entrant Amateur field ended in his second victory on the Predator Pro Am Tour, his first since May of 2017, a year in which he finished among the top five in five events on the Predator and Tri-State Tours.
Ok had to get by Ryan Boursse twice in this event and the first, was in a winners’ side semifinal match. Mac Jankov, in the meantime, squared off against Alfredo Altamirano in the other one. Ok got into the hot seat match, downing Boursse 7-5 and was joined by Jankov, who’d sent Altamirano over 7-4. Ok claimed the hot seat 8-6 over Jankov and waited for Boursse to get back from the loss side.
Boursse and Soto advanced to the quarterfinals; Boursse 7-5 over Dufresne and Soto 7-3 over Altamirano. Boursse then eliminated Soto 7-4 in the quarterfinals and Mac Jankov 9-5 in the semifinals. Boursse was able to chalk up one more rack in the finals than he had in the winners’ side semifinal, forcing a 13th and deciding game in the final against Ok. Ok, though, closed it out to claim the Amateur event title.
A single elimination Second Chance event drew 15 entrants. Ambi Estevez claimed that title, with Jorge Collado as runner-up. Ray Lee and Luis Jimenez tied for third place.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Amsterdam Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine and Billiards Digest.
On the weekend of August 3-4, Robles’ Silent Assassin Productions will present a non-tour event at Steinway Billiards – The 4th Annual NYC 8-Ball Scotch Doubles Championships. The following weekend, August 10-11, Steinway Billiards will host the next Predator Pro Am Tour stop; a $1,000-added, double points event.
Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz-Forman’s first and most recent appearance in the AZBilliards database came as the result of winning a stop on the Tri-State Tour. Her first came in October of 2009, when she defeated Paul Everton in the finals of a stop at Master Billiards in Queens, NY. Her latest happened this past weekend (Sat., May 11), as she went undefeated (*) at a $1,000-added event that drew 46 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. This most recent victory is her first victory on the Tri-State Tour since 2012, although in the interim, she did win stops on the Predator Pro Am Tour in 2014 & 2015.
She’s cashed in two other events this year, marking the end of an extended, four-year ‘leave of absence’ from the tables, undertaken to get married to Brian Forman and have two children. Just to stay in touch (so to speak), her second child shares a birthday with Predator Pro Am Tour director Tony Robles. She is, more or less, back, although she continues to coordinate child-care activities. She practices on an 8-ft. table in her building during the hour or so she gets to herself when the two children nap.
“I shoot until they wake up,” she said, leaving open the question of how she was lucky enough to have two children under the age of four, who nap at the same time, for the same amount of time.
She has found, like others before her have found, that while children certainly bring disruption and a reduction in TAT (time-at-table), they also have a way of grounding a player in a way that eventually improves their game.
“It does change your mind-set,” she said. “You go into this Mama Bear mode.”
“Coming back,” she added, “I felt braver, (had) more heart; something in me ignited.”
In this most recent event, she and Jimmy Acosta played a double hill, winners’ side semifinal match that sent Acosta to the loss side. The suggestion that they might opt out of playing a final match was discussed early-on in the process, though the decision was not actually made until Acosta had defeated Ryan Dayrit in the event semifinals. At that point, dawn was creeping up over the East River, and both “Smiley” and her friend, Acosta were very tired, and “Smiley,” in particular, wanted to get home to her children. Though glad to accept the ‘asterisk’ title as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, she is also aware that her ‘return’ to former form, may take a little while.
“My brain is strong,” she said, “but my game hasn’t really come back from the absence yet.”
She opened her undefeated run with a 7-5 victory over Greg Matos and followed it up with wins over Amy Yu 7-0, and Ed Medina 7-5, before running into Acosta for the aforementioned double-hill winners’ side semifinal that sent Acosta to the losers’ bracket. Dayrit, in the meantime, faced and defeated Stewart Warnock, Sr. 6-3 in the other winners’ side semifinal. “Smiley” and Dayrit played a double hill hot seat match that eventually sent Dayrit to the semifinals.
On the loss side, Acosta picked up Eddie Medina, who, after his loss to “Smiley,” had chalked up two straight double hill wins over Amy Yu and Amir Rashad Uddin. Warnock, Sr. drew Joe Mazzeo, who’d shut out John Durr and defeated Jim Gutierrez 7-5 to reach him.
Medina’s third straight double hill match proved not to be the ‘charm’ he was hoping for, as Acosta, double hill, eliminated him. Mazzeo and Warnock, Sr. battled to double hill as well, with Mazzeo advancing to join Acosta in the quarterfinals.
Acosta eliminated Mazzeo 7-4 and then, locked up in a battle against Dayrit in the semifinals, which came within a game of double hill (9-7). Acosta and Feliz-Forman agreed to the split and left to greet the dawn.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, May 19, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
