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Meyer goes undefeated to claim Predator Amateur stop at Steinway Billiards

Brooke Meyer has been climbing the Predator Tour ladder, steadily. Last year, he finished in the money six times; once in 13th place, once in 7th, twice in 5th and twice as runner-up. On the weekend of April 11-12, he broke through to record his first victory on the tour, punctuating it by going undefeated. The $500-added Amateur event drew 68 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. A concurrently-run Open/Pro event (see separate story), won by Earl Strickland drew 19.
 
A trio of 7-4 wins left Meyer in the hot seat. Wilfredo Albay sent Jose Kuilan to the loss side, as Meyer was busy doing the same to Billy Santiago. In the last of the three 7-4 wins, Meyer sent Albay to the semifinals, from which, as it turned out, Kuilan would return.
 
On the loss side, Kuilan drew Ms. Akio Taniyama, who'd squeaked by Eric Carrasco, double hill and defeated Luis Jimenez by the recurring score of 7-4. Santiago picked up Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, who'd gotten by Dave Shlemperis 7-3 and James Stevens 7-1. 
 
Two more 7-4 scores sent Kuilan (over Taniyama) and Delimelkonoglu (over Santiago) to the quarterfinals, where Kuilan survived a double hill fight for his second shot against Albay. Though Albay would battle to within a game of double hill in the semifinals, Kuilan took it 7-5 and got a shot at Meyer in the hot seat.
 
To no avail, as it turned out. Kuilan brought Meyer to within a single game of double hill, before Meyer pulled out in front to win it 9-7, claiming his first Predator title.

Warnock goes undefeated to take Tri-State stop

Jaydev Zaveri, Stewart Warnock and Lidio Ramierez

Stewart Warnock came out of the gate fast on Sunday, April 27, chalking up a shutout in his first match, and following through with an undefeated run through five other opponents to capture the event title on a Tri-State Tour stop. The $1,000-added event drew 52 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
 
Ari Hirshfeld was on the receiving end of Warnock's opening-round shutout, before Bogie Uzdejczyk, Robert Pamilar, and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu went down, moving Warnock into a winners' side semifinal against Vinny Ferri. Jaydev Zaveri, in the meantime, who'd end up facing Warnock twice, faced Kevin Ippolitto. Warnock defeated Ferri 8-5, and met up with Zaveri, who'd downed Ippolitto 7-6. Warnock took the first of two against Zaveri 9-7 and waited in the hot seat for the second.
 
On the loss side, Lidio Ramirez was putting together an eight-match winning streak that had started when he fell in the opening round to Mike Pruitt. Halfway through the run, he defeated Wilfredo Albay 7-6, and Basdeo Sookhai 7-5, which set him up to face Ferri. Ippolitto, in the meantime, met up with David Gumbs, who'd defeated Yurgos Hatziefthimiou 7-4 and Shane Torres 7-5, to reach him.
 
Ramirez got by Ferri 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Ippolitto, who'd eliminated Gumbs 7-2. Ramirez completed his loss-side run with a 10-7 win over Ippolitto, and then ran into Zaveri, who stopped him 8-5 for a second chance against Warnock.
 
Like Warnock in the tournament, Zaveri came out of the starting gate in the finals, fast. He opened up a 4-0 lead, before Warnock responded. He responded, though, with a vengeance, chalking up nine straight to take the match and the event title.
 
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for May 3 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

Falco comes from the loss-side to win A-D event on Predator Tour

Kevin Falco recovered from a defeat among the winners’ side final four and returned to challenge and defeat hot seat occupant, Elvis Rodriguez, in the A-D handicapped portion of the May 5-6 Predator Tour Stop. The $500-added amateur event drew 64 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

It was Vincent Morris who sent Falco west 7-5 in the winners’ side semifinals, as Rodriguez was busy sending Joe Palone over, 7-4. Rodriguez moved into the hot seat with a 7-4 victory, and waited on Falco.

Falco moved over and picked up Aaron Moody, who’d gotten by Wilfredo Albay and Patrick Myers, both 7-4. Palone drew Mike Yednak, who’d defeated Steve Wright 7-3 and Junior Sanchez 7-5. Palone and Falco advanced to the quarterfinals; Palone with a 7-3 win over Yednak and Falco, 7-5 over Moody. 

Falco went on to win two straight double hill matches; over Palone in the quarterfinals and his re-match versus Morris in the semifinals. He completed his tournament bid with a 12-5 victory over Rodriguez in the finals.

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.

Reyes goes undefeated on A/D Predator stop; The Iceman does likewise on Open/Pro

Wellington Reyes won three straight double hill matches to finish an undefeated, March 24-25 weekend on the A-D handicapped Predator Tour. In a concurrently run Open/Pro event on Sunday, Mika Immonen stopped a loss-side challenge from Tour Director Tony Robles to also go undefeated. The $500-added handicapped event drew 52 entrants, while the $500-added Open/Pro event drew 14 to Carom Cafe and Billiards in Flushing, NY.

The first of Reyes’ final double hill wins came among the winners’ side final four, when he sent Lidio Rasta to the loss-side 7-6. Andrew Cleary, in the meantime, defeated Wilfredo Albay 7-4 to join Reyes in the battle for the hot seat. Reyes chalked up his second straight double hill win with a 10-9 victory over Cleary that left him in the hot seat.

Albay and Rasta moved to the loss side and lost no time getting back into the swing of things. Albay shutout Hector Ruiz, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Rasta, who’d eliminated Tony Liang 7-4. Rasta then squeaked by Albay double hill and defeated Cleary in the semifinals 9-7. Reyes, though, ended Rasta’s three-match, loss-side bid with his third double hill victory in the finals to complete his undefeated weekend. 

The Iceman’s journey through the short field on-hand for the Open/Pro event went through Robb Saez among the winners’ side final four. Saez moved west on the heels of a 7-5 Mika victory, as Jeremy Sossei was busy sending Zion Zvi over, 7-4. Immonen and Sossei battled to double hill before The Iceman sunk the 9-ball that left him in the hot seat.

Over on the loss-side, Tony Robles, who’d been sent over by Zvi, was at work on a five-match streak that would set him up against Immonen in the finals. He got by Brian Russell 7-1 and Frankie Hernandez 7-3 to pick up Saez. Zvi drew Jorge Rodriguez, who’d defeated Jennifer Baretta 7-2 and Greg McAndrews double hill. Robles gave up only a single rack against Saez, and a Zvi/Robles re-match was avoided when Rodriguez eliminated Zvi 7-5.

Robles downed Rodriguez in the quarterfinals 7-3, and then survived a double hill semifinal match against Sossei for a chance against The Iceman. Immonen allowed Robles only a single game in the match that completed his undefeated day.

Tour director Robles thanked the owners and staff of Carom Cafe and Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.

A-D
1st Wellington Reyes $1,000
2nd Lidio Rasta $700
3rd Andrew Cleary $450
4th Wilfredo Albay $300
5th Hector Ruiz $200
Tony Liang
7th Charles Young $125
Bill Davis
9th Mike Fisher $75
Patrick Meyers
Simon Lau
Shawn Sookhai

Open/Pro

1st Mika Immonen $650
2nd Tony Robles $450
3rd Jeremy Sossei $300
4th Jorge Rodriguez $200