The Ozone Billiards Predator Tour rolled through Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY for its 2010 Season Finale. The $3,000-added event attracted 94 players to participate in the two-day event that took place on the weekend of December 11-12, 2010. It was really exciting to see so many players looking to make a statement at the Tour's final event of the year. Standout players who competed in the A/B/C/D 9-ball event included Mike Panzarella, Stewart Wanock, Phil Davis, Derek Schwager John Alicea, and Tim Cahill. This event also attracted some of the area's top aspiring pro ladies including Gail Glazebrook, Erin McManus, Diana Rojas, Borana Andoni, Yomaylin Feliz and Neslihan Gurel. Tony Robles gave out the Player of the Year awards right before the start of the tournament. Many thanks to Predator Cues for awarding the 1st Place winners with a brand new BK2 Break Cue along with a beautiful 1x1 Blak series case and to Jim Murnak Cue Cases who donated 3 cases for the A,B & C Player of the Year. Special thanks to Ron Shapiro of Crown Trophy in New Hyde Park () for providing the gorgeous awards for the tour. The player of the year awards went to: Sportsman of the Year Award: Luis Novas
Pro Player of the Year: Tony Robles, Runner-Up: George Sansouci
Open Player of the Year: Oscar Bonilla, Runner-Up: Kevin Guimond
A Class Player of the Year: Stewart Warnock, Runner-Up: John Alicea
B Class Player of the Year: Scott Simonetti, Runner-Up: Daniel Dagotdot
C Class Player of the Year: Matthew Harricharan, Runner-Up: Alberto Estevez
Female Player of the Year: Borana Andoni, Runner-Up: Diana Rojas

Photos courtesy of Yomaylin Feliz   Pro Player of the Year Tony Robles & A Class Player of the Year Stewart Warnock     A Class Player of the Year: Stewart Warnock B Class Player of the Year: Scott Simonetti     C Class Player of the Year: Matthew Harricharan Sportsman of the Year Award: Luis Novas     Female Player of the Year: Borana Andoni Female Player of the Year: Runner-up: Borana Andoni     A Class Player of the Year: Runner-up: John Alicea C Class Player of the Year: Runner-up: Alberto Estevez

In the final event, consistent grinder Stewart Warnock went through the winner's side undefeated, with wins over Steven Wright 7-3, Phil Davis 7-5, Tim Cahill 7-3, Brian Hunter 7-5, Derek Schwager 7-6, Barry Banks 7-4, and Tony Conzensa 7-5. Tony Conzensa who is a veteran of the game had taken a lot of time off and mentioned that he has been re-inspired to play again. Tony used to be a regular in the weekly tournament scene in the Tri-State area before hanging up his cue. It seems that Tony knocked enough rust off of his cue to make a statement in this event. Tony went through the winner's side in impressive fashion. Tony defeated Mike Davie 7-2, Andrew Kane, 7-3, Henry Lau 7-3, Michael Hertz 7-6 & Troy Deocharran 7-6 before losing to Stewart Warnock 7-5 in the hot seat match. Tony bounced back with a clutch 7-5 win over Tim Cahill to earn a rematch against Stewart in the finals. The final was a close contest but in the end, after coming so close all year long, Stewart Warnock saved the best for last by defeating Tony 7-5 to earn his first win on the Predator Tour. It couldn’t have happened at a better time now that Stewart is waiting for the birth of his daughter.
Stewart has been one of the most consistent players on the Tour, and continues to display his heart for the game on and off the table. Alongside the amateur event, the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour's Pro/Open Event also drew a gritty field of some of the toughest players in the region. Legendary straight pool player Earl Herring was impressive with standout wins, defeating Mike Miller 8-4, Bill Dunsmore 8-5 and Tony Robles 8-7 before losing 8-3 to Shaun Wilkie. Skyline Billiards owner Rob Pole defeated Mike Miller 8-7 before losing to "The Silent Assassin" Tony Robles 8-5. In a feature match, Tony was lined up against regional standout Manny Chau. Tony defeated Manny earlier 8-4 but Manny bounced back with wins over Zion Zvi 8-5, Joey Korsiak 8-3, and Jeremy Sossei 8-4 before the rematch with Tony. Manny controlled the set and beat Tony 8-5 to set up a semifinal match against the great Earl Herring. Manny was ahead of Earl 4-0 but the cool and confident Earl staged a comeback and fell short losing the match 8-5. Shaun who won this event last year, was determined to defend his championship and came out swinging against Manny. In the end, Shaun earned the victory by a score of 9-7. Tony Robles & The Predator Tour would like to thank all the players who came out to compete this stop and for participating in the 2010 season. The Predator Tour would also like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, PoolontheNet.com, AZBilliards.com, www.Pool.bz, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, NYCGrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, & Maxim Billiards. The 2011 Predator Tour Season schedule should be completed in the next couple of weeks.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

The final points event for the 2010 Ozone Billiards Predator Tour took place on December 4-5 at Eastside Billiards in NYC. This event was the 1st Annual Eastside Billiards Manhattan Classic and was a last chance for players to make their mark in the point’s rankings for the 2010 Predator Tour season, and featured $1,500 in added prize money. Many thanks to Eastside Billiards owner Jerry Shipman & his wonderful staff for hosting this event. Standout players who made it out included Carl Yusef Khan, Scott Simonetti, Christian Smith, Brian Hunter, Derek Schwager,Noel Bensurto, William Shorty, and Mark Pantovic. While the field was littered with up and coming players, and solid veterans… a few players definitely made a statement at Eastside. In the winner's bracket, Andrew Kane went on a run against Luis Novas 7-6, Diana Rojas 7-6, Bob Severance 7-5, and Rene Villalobos 7-2 to earn a spot in the hot seat match against William Shorty. William was also impressive with wins over Mark Pantovic 7-3, Mike Yednak 7-2, Neslihan Gurel 7-3, and Scott Simonetti 7-6. In the match between Andrew Kane and William Shorty, William clutched out a close 7-5 win to earn a spot in the finals. On the one-loss side, Borana Andoni bounced back from a first round 7-6 loss to Ray Feliciano to win seven matches in a row. Borana defeated Yomaylin Feliz 7-4, Luis Novas 7-4, Matthew Harricharan 7-5, Teddy Cook 7-5, Bob Severence 7-4, Diana Rojas 7-5, and Rene Villalobos 7-5 before losing to Scott Simonetti 7-3, finishing in fourth place. Borana, who is a member of "Kiss of Death", has been showing herself to be one of the most prominent and hard-working female players in the region, and this fourth place finish secured her position as the Predator Tour's 2010 Female Player of the Year. Borana had also recently finished 3rd place at the tour stop at Mr. Cue Billiards, and is consistently working to improve her game, and is definitely one of the top players to watch. Scott Simonetti has also had an impressive season while he continues to take his game to the higher levels. Scott had a nice run through the winner's side with wins over Rikki Ragoonanan 7-6, Carl Yusef Khan 7-6, Lidio Rasta 7-0, Raj Vannala 7-2, before losing to William Shorty 7-5. Scott bounced back with the 7-3 win over Borana Andoni and 7-5 win over Andrew Kane in the semifinal to earn a rematch against William Shorty in the final. Although William Shorty went undefeated into the final, Scott persevered in the final match to win ---- and avenge his earlier loss to Shorty.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

The Ozone Billiards Predator Tour 2010 season is winding down, and only one tour stop remains before the $3,000-added Tour Finale on December 11-12, which will be held at Raxx Pool Room, Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY. For their most recent tour stop on November 6th, The Predator Tour held an A/B/C/D-only 9-ball event at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. Tony Robles & the Predator Tour would like to thank the Castle Billiards staff & owners John & Minnie Trobiano for their hospitality in hosting this event. A field of thirty-seven players made their way out to Castle to compete for top honors, as well as points towards the 2010 Player of the Year standings. This event would be the last event of the season worth double points, and the finalists would definitely see some swings in the standings with the conclusion of this event. One of the tour's young breakthrough players, Matthew Harricharan, showed his best game in this event. As fate would have it, after a first-round bye, Matthew would have to go to battle against friend and tournament road partner, Troy Deocharran, who he defeated 7-3. From there, Matthew went on to beat Andrew Kane 7-2, Luis Novas 7-5, and Erin McManus 7-4 to make it to the winner's bracket final in the C/D half of the bracket. Meanwhile, in the A/B bracket up-and-coming PA player Derek Schwager would dominate. After a first-round bye, Derek took wins over Thomas Wan 7-3, Scott Simonetti 7-5, Jack Smith 7-4, and finally Juan Guzman 7-6 to go to the hot seat match vs Matthew Harricharan. Derek won this match handily, with a final score of 7-2 to guarantee him a spot in the finals. After this loss, Matthew would have to face off against Dinko Busanich, who had just won four consecutive matches on the one-loss side. On his way through the one-loss side, Dinko matched up with Donald Chu, who had an exceptional event. Incredibly, Donald Chu had five double-hill matches in this event… after winning his first two matches against "Devil Dave" Ascolese and Victor Nau 7-6, he lost to Juan Guzman 7-5 to go to the one-loss side. Donald bounced back to grind through three hill-hill wins over Thomas Wan 7-6, Ariel Rivera 7-6, and Jack Smith 7-6, but fell short in his match against Dinko Busanich by the opposite score, 7-6. Dinko then moved on to the semifinal match against Matthew Harricharan, which would also go to double-hill… both players made a few errors in the case game, but Mathew would close out the win at 7-6 and move on to a rematch in the finals versus Derek Schwager, who had a four-hour wait for the other finalist to emerge. The format for the final match between Derek and Matthew would be a modified single race to seven. Derek, the undefeated player, would have to reach seven games first, however, if Matthew got to seven first, the race would be extended to nine. Derek and Matthew would have a close battle in this final match, where Matthew would reach seven games first at 7-5, when the race was extended to nine. Derek countered back to tie at 7-7, but Matthew closed out his two remaining games to seal the win at 9-7. Congratulations to Matthew Harricharan for this hard-fought win, which awarded him 260 points towards the final standings. This victory has now bumped Mathew into the #1 position in the "C Class" player of the year race, with 650 points, now ahead of #2-ranked Alberto Estevez with 590. Luis Novas's 4th place finish in this event also bumped him into the #3 spot with 570 points. For more player of the year standings, visit http://predator9balltour.com/points_all.htm The final event of the season for players to earn points in the 2010 season will be the $1,500-added 1st Annual Eastside Billiards Manhattan Classic on December 4-5, which will be an open event. Tony Robles & The Predator Tour would like to thank all the players who came out to compete in this stop. The Predator Tour would also like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, PoolontheNet.com, AZBilliards.com, www.pool.bz, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, NYCgrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside PoolMagazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, Maxim Billiards & The Tournament Guide.
- "Written by Alison M. Fischer, NYCgrind.com"

On October 23, the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour held its 16th tour stop of the season at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY. This $700-added A/B/C/D event drew 38 of the most talented players from around the area. As the season is drawing to a close with only two events before the tour finale, many players are close races for top honors in the Player of the Year standings. With this event at Mr. Cue being worth double points, it gave the highest-finishing players a boost in their overall points for the season. One such player was one of the tour's top-performing ladies, Borana Andoni. Borana drove through the C/D winner's bracket in this event, defeating Bryan Russell (7-5), King Victory (7-3), James Wendel (7-3), and Mike Harrington (7-2) to move into the match for the hot seat. Meeting up with Borana from the A/B bracket was Maryland player Brian Deska, who took wins over Ed Culhane (7-3), Scott Murphy (7-2), Tony Sinacore (7-3), Juan Guzman (7-5), and Justin Muller (7-3), to follow up with a 7-5 win over Borana in the winner's bracket final. Although Justin Muller had a tough loss against Brian Deska in the winner's bracket, it did not prevent him from putting up a fight on the one-loss side. Justin went on to defeat Juan Guzman 7-2 and Mike Harrington 7-4, to move on to the semifinal versus Borana Andoni, where he proved triumphant to win 7-3. Borana had to settle for 3rd place in this event, however this finish moved her into the 1st-place position for the Female Player of the Year award, who is followed by Diana Rojas, then Gail Glazebrook. After his win in the semifinal, Justin Muller faced undefeated Brian Deska in a late-night match up. Brian and Justin had a long battle to meet at double-hill… where Justin would win the case game to come out the winner at 9-8. Congratulations to both Justin and Brian for their standout performances! Another notable competitor in this event was Long Island player Teddy Cook, who after his first-round loss to Dave Shlemperis (7-0), went on to win five straight matches on the one-loss side to finish tied for 7th with Scott Simonetti. Tony Robles & The Predator Tour would like to thank all the players who came out to compete in this stop, along with Scott Murphy & Mr. Cue Billiards for hosting the event. The Predator Tour would also like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, PoolontheNet.com, AZBilliards.com, www.pool.bz, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Co4Pool.net, NYCgrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside PoolMagazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, and Maxim Billiards & The Tournament Guide.
- "Written by Alison M. Fischer, NYCgrind.com"

A field of 24 players came out to battle at Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ on September 18-19th for the 15th stop of the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour 2010 season. This event would feature both the Amateur 9-ball division and the Open-Pro 10-ball division. Noteable players in the amateur field included Noel Bensurto, Victor Nau, Wali Mihammed, Daniel Dagodot, John Ortiz, and several strong female players. Neslihan Gurel, Borana Andoni, Diana Rojas, Pam Ogarek, Brenda Heras, and 2010 BCAPL Women's Open 8-ball Champion Gail Glazebrook. The six strong aspiring pro female players clearly all wanted to make a statement.. and one of them would. It would be Brenda Heras who would would deliver a breakthrough performance, by not only going farther than any other woman, but also any other man. On that weekend, Brenda earned the honor of becoming the first woman player to ever win a Predator Tour event. Brenda's road to the finals included wins over Soner Bulut 7-2, Daniel Dagodot 7-2, and Noel Bensurto 7-4, before losing to Pat Dibuono 7-3. Brenda would grind back to the finals with a buzzworthy 7-2 win over the previous week's Predator Tour winner Daniel Dagotdot. Pat Dibuono's undefeated run to the finals included wins over Ramilo Tanglau 7-4, Gail Glazebrook 7-1, Roger Hanas 7-6, and ultimately Brenda Heras in the hot seat match. After rolling over Daniel Dagotdot in the semifinal, Brenda continued her momentum going into her rematch with Pat Dibuono in the finals. In the finals, Brenda's play was dominant, as she defeated Pat Dibuono 7-3. The win capped off an impressive tournament, and the achievement of being the first woman to win a Predator Tour event. Brenda has had breakthrough potential for some time, and has been seasoning herself through both team and singles competition. Congratulations to Brenda Heras on this impressive win! The Open/Pro 10-ball event's notable players were Jeremy Sossei, George "Ginky" Sansouci, Matt Krah, Oscar Bonilla, and Tony Robles. Ginky would bounce back from a first-round 8-2 loss to Jeremy Sossei to win the event. Ginky defeated Matt Krah 8-4, Neslihan Gurel 8-1, Jeremy Sossei 8-5 and Mustafa Dikilitas 8-5. In the finals "Ginky" would defeat Tony Robles hill-hill for the "W". - "Written by Alison M. Fischer, NYCgrind.com"

On September 11-12, Tony Robles spearheaded the $1,000, added 1st Annual Reverend Clarence Keaton Memorial Tournament, as the 14th stop on the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour 2010 season. Reverend Clarence Keaton, known as "The Rev" by many players, frequented Master Billiards (where the memorial event was held), along with many other New York pool rooms. Well-loved by many members of the pool community, Reverend Clarence Keaton lost his battle against cancer last year. Reverend Keaton was a close friend of tour founder Tony Robles, and would regularly drive to the US Open and The Super Billiards Expo with Tony and his son Shawn Keaton, who is one of New York's top emerging talents. Along with Shawn, a number of other up-and-coming players competed in the A/B/C/D 9-ball event in this memorial, including John Alicea, Noel Bensurto, Daniel Dagatdot, Jerry Tarantola, Mike Panzerella, and Stewart Warnock. In total, 70 of New York's top players came out to help memorialize "The Rev's" presence and influence on pool in NYC. The story of the Amateur event of the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour 9-ball championships was centered around the transition of Daniel Dagotdot from a B player to an A player. Daniel has been playing progressively stronger, and building confidence in his game and tournament play. This up-and-coming
Fil-Am pool player has been impressive in a combination of dominant and clutch wins, helping him pull all of the pieces of his game together in a way that is a threat to any pool player in the NY landscape. Daniel went through the field undefeated with wins over Tony Liang 7-5, Ed Culhane 7-4, John Alicea 7-4, Alex Gilvarg 7-4, Steve Wright 7-2, and ultimately Andrew Kane 7-4. Andrew Kane bounced back with a "W" over Arturo Reyes 7-5, giving him the re-match opportunity. In the final match, Daniel capped off an impressive tournament with a dominant performance, which led to a dominant 7-2 win for his first Ozone Billiards Predator Tour 9-ball win. In July's tour stop at Amsterdam Billiards, Daniel had finished second to John Alicea in the finals, and showed the field in this event that his close loss in the finals fueled him to take his game to the next level. Other stand-out players in this event were Gail Glazebrook, who won a total of four matches, but lost one round before the money, along with Arturo Reyes and Steve Wright, who both showcased heart and explosive play. Kicking off late Saturday afternoon, the Open/Pro 10-ball event featured top-level talent such as Hunter Lombardo, Holden Chin, Jeremy Sossei, George Sansouci, Mike Miller, Sean Morgan and Zion Zvi. Top NY female player "Snooky" Diana Rojas showed a lot of heart to tangle with the big boys in this event as well. Top Florida pro player Hunter Lombardo stayed around NY long enough after the Seminole Empire State 10-Ball Championships to participate in this 10-ball event. Hunter opened with an impressive 8-3 win over Holden Chin, as well as a clutch hill-hill victory over Mhet Vergara, before losing to Tony Robles 8-6 and Ginky 8-5. Tony Robles brought his "A" game, and was determined to honor his late friend Clarence Keaton by showing the heart that "The Rev", as he is known by his friends, always brought to the table. Tony defeated Phil Davis 8-5, Jeremy Sossei 8-6, Hunter Lombardo 8-6, and "Alaska" Sean Morgan 8-3… earning a spot in the finals undefeated. Meanwhile, Sean Morgan had been turning heads with gritty play, defeating Zion 8-4, Mike Wong 8-7, and Jerry Tarantola 8-6, before losing to Tony Robles 8-3, then Jeremy Sossei 8-7. Young gun Jeremy Sossei opened up with an 8-6 win over Diana Rojas before losing to Tony Robles 8-6. However, Jeremy dug deep to grind back from the one-loss side to eventually meet Tony Robles in the finals for a rematch. Jeremy's road to the finals led him through Zion Zvi 8-6, Mike Miller 8-2, Jerry Tarantola 8-6 and Ginky 8-7. Jeremy followed the semifinal up with another hill-hill match in the finals to capture top honors in the 1st Annual Clarence Keaton Memorial. Tony Robles and the Predator Tour would like to thank their sponsors:
Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, AZBilliards.com, www.pool.bz, Billiards Press, Cuetable.com, Master Chalk, RJH Custom Cues, Webb Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, NYCgrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, Maxim Billiards & The Tournament Guide. - "Written by Alison M. Fischer, NYCgrind.com"

Mike Dechaine defeated Corey Deuel twice to win the Empire State Championship, a co-sponsored event of the Ozone Predator and Seminole Pro Tours on the weekend of Sept. 4-5. The $6,500-added event, broadcast on Ustream, under the production auspices of Ray “Big Truck” Hansen and PoolActionTV, drew 64 entrants to Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY. Before Dechaine faced Deuel for the first time in the hot seat match, he had to take on Mike Sigel, who was in the midst of a 30-game winning streak, in which he had shut out four straight opponents – Ray Romanski, Mike Wong, Shaun Wilkie and Dustin Morris. Playing among the winners’ side final four, Sigel won the opening game against Dechaine, before his 30-game streak came to an end. The two went on to battle to double hill before Dechaine prevailed and moved into the hot seat match. Deuel, in the meantime, who’d given up an average of only 1.6 racks in the four victories that had put him among the winners’ side final four, defeated Jeremy Sossei 8-6 to face Dechaine for the first time. Dechaine got into the hot seat with an 8-6 win and waited for Deuel’s return. On the one-loss side, Josh Brothers, who’d been sent west by Dechaine 8-6 from among the winners’ side final eight was making his way back. He got by Scott Freeman 8-4 and George “Ginky” Sansouci 8-5 to pick up Sossei. Sigel picked up Mike Davis, who, having moved west after the second round, won five straight, including double hill wins over Matt Krah and Dennis Hatch, and an 8-6 win over Tony Robles. It was Brothers and Davis moving into the quarterfinals, with identical 8-5 wins over Sossei and Sigel. Brothers defeated Davis 8-6 and was one match away from earning a re-match against Dechaine. Unfortunately for Brothers, it was Corey Deuel that stood between him and that re-match. The two exchanged racks to a 4-4 tie, before Deuel won three straight to reach the hill at 7-4. Brothers took the 12th rack, but Deuel won (for him) the lucky 13th rack and moved back to take on Dechaine a second time. Dechaine jumped out to an early 3-1 lead that he never relinquished. At that, Deuel’s single game among the first four was the result of a 10-ball that rattled in a corner pocket on Dechaine’s shot at it. In the fifth rack, it was a Deuel ‘rattle’ that gave Dechaine a 4-1 lead. Deuel won the sixth rack, and then Dechaine chalked up two in a row for a four-game lead at 6-2. Corey came back to win two of his own and reduce the lead back down to two at 6-4. Shooting the 11th rack, Deuel made his first ball on the break in the match, but Dechaine ending up winning it for a 7-4 lead. Dechaine reached the hill on the next rack, and then, in what proved to be the final game, used a 3-10 combination to finish the match and take home the Empire State Championship title.

The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour was hosted by Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY on August 14-15th. This $1,000-added event was worth double points as this 12th stop of the season was a warm-up for the upcoming Seminole Tribe of Florida Empire State Championships. A total field of 52 players came out to take a shot at the $1,000 first prize, including Scott Simonetti, Stewart Warnock, Michael Yednak, Charlie Lentini, Jerry Tarantola, John Alicea and Mike Panzarella. Four of the tour's lady players, Gail Glazebrook, Linda Cheung, Borana Andoni, and Diana Rojas also came out to battle. Diana would be the eventual highest-finishing female, placing tied for 9th. The tournament bracket for this event was split up between the A/B players the C/D players. Rene Villalobos was impressive in grinding out several tough wins over Taran Gunness 7-4, Anthony Zoccolillo 7-5, and Bob Schlott 7-6, before losing a nail-biter to Zee Shan Safba 7-6. Zee Shan fought through the C/D bracket with wins over Linda Cheung 7-4, Pat Dibuono 7-6, Al Frances 7-3, and ultimately Rene. This run set up a hot seat match against Mr. Cue veteran house player, Charlie Lentini… which ended in Zee Shan's favor at 7-4. Several C/D players were also putting together impressive performances on the one-loss side, including Diana Rojas, Anthony Zoccolillo, Al Frances, and Bob Schlott. After losing to Zee Shan Safba on the winner's side, Rene squeaked out a close 7-6 win over Bob Schlott, lining up the quarterfinal match against Scott Murphy, who was grinding through the A/B west side of the bracket. Scott Murphy is the owner of Mr. Cue Billiards, and proved that the house room advantage can definitely come into play. Scott, who is rated a B, lost his first round to one of the favorites, John Alicea (7-6), then began an impressive comeback. Scott battled through the one-loss side with wins over Chris Laz 7-6, Bob Mammarella 7-2, Michael Yednak 7-6, Ryan Klett 7-2, T.J. 7-3, Scott Simonetti 7-4, Stewart Warnock 7-5, Jerry Tarantola 7-3 and ultimately Rene Villalobos 7-3. This long battle set Scott up for the semifinal match against house man Charlie Lentini, who had previously lost to Zee Shan Safba in the hot seat match. Before losing to Zee Shan, Charlie has been the player to beat, having wins over Darren DeFilippis 7-3, Raphael Dabreo 7-0, T.J. 7-3, Stewart Warnock 7-0, and Jerry Tarantola 7-3. In the semifinal match between the two house players, Scott Murphy emerged victorious with a dominant 7-3 score. The final match was then set between Scott and Zee Shan Safba. When the dust settled, it was Bellerose, Queens player Zee Shan Safba who edged out a hill-hill 9-8 victory, breaking through for his first Predator Tour win. This stop on the Predator Tour also featured a $300 added second day, single elimination event. Ten players participated, and rising to the top of the bracket were Tony Sinacore & Scott Murphy, who split in the final, each taking $180. Coming in tied for 3rd/4th were Shawn Sookhai & Geoff Conway, winning $60. The top finishing players in this event enjoyed earning double points, which boosted up their season ranking status as they prepare for the upcoming Seminole Tribe of Florida Empire State Championship. This banner event will take place at Raxx Pool Room over the weekend of September 4-5, and boasts an $8,000-added prize fund. The added funds are made possible in part by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
- "Written by Alison M. Fischer, NYCgrind.com"

Hosting a field of sixty-seven players, the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour held its 11th stop of the 2010 season at the Amsterdam Billiard Club on July 24-25. With a wide range of top NYC-area amateur players in the A/B/C/D 9-ball event, along with the eight-player Open/Pro 10-ball event, there was plenty of great play to be seen at Amsterdam Billiards on this weekend. Top players in the amateur event included Michael Yednak, Victor Nau, John Alicea, Stewart Warnock, and Jerry Tarantola, along with three top female players, Emily Duddy, Diana Rojas, & Gail Glazebrook. In this event, one of the New York area's top young rising stars, John Alicea from Bayonne, NJ, would run to the top of the A/B/C/D 9-ball event. John rolled through the winner's bracket with wins over Peter Ziemak 7-5, Donald Chu 7-5, Tony Liang 7-6, Simon Lau 7-2, Daniel Dagotdot 7-3, and then defeated custom cue case maker Jim Murnak 7-4 to take the hot seat on day two. Jim Murnak won the top (C/D) bracket while John Alicea took down the bottom (A/B) bracket to set up the match for the hot seat. While Daniel Dagotdot has been showing impressive advances in his Predator Tour performances, he would make this event his best finish yet, eventually claiming 2nd place. On day one of the tournament, Daniel claimed four winner's side matches against Christian Smith (7-6), Stewart Warnock (7-4), Noel Bensurto (7-5), and John Ortiz (7-4) before his loss to John Alicea in the winner's side final four. On day two, Daniel went on to defeat Victor Nau (7-2), Alberto Estevez (7-5), followed by Jim Murnak in the semifinal (7-2) to move on for a rematch against John Alicea in the finals. In the final match, Daniel Dagotdot came back from behind in a battle against John Alicea, but still fell short. John completed his undefeated run through the event with a 7-6 final score, to win his first Predator Tour event of the 2010 season. The top female finisher in this event would be longtime Amsterdam league player and reigning BCAPL National Champion Gail Glazebrook. After winning her first-round against Ramilo Tanglao (7-5) Gail lost to Troy Deocharran (7-4), but came back on the one-loss side to defeat Chuck Giallorenzo (7-4), Suleyman Savci (7-5), and avenged her loss to Troy Deocharran (7-6) before falling to John Stiles (7-5) to finish tied for 13th. Strong performances were also seen from Mike Panzarella, Victor Nau, Jim Murnak, and Mathew Harricharan. Congratulations to John Alicea for his dominant win in this event, along with Daniel Dagotdot for his strong runner-up finish! Open/Pro 10-ball: With Amsterdam Billiards being home to some of NYC's top powerhouse players, pool fans who came out for this Predator Tour stop were due to see some great match ups. Many of the notable players who played in this event also play in the leagues at Amsterdam, including George "Ginky" San Souci, Zion Zvi, Mike Miller, and House Pro Tony Robles. Amsterdam 14.1 League Director Danny Barouty along with Connecticut top pro Jeremy Sossei also came to make their mark at this event. "The Silent Assassin" Tony Robles was given a first-round loss from Jeremy Sossei, 8-4. But, Tony then charged through the one-loss side with wins over Jose Cruz (8-5), Zion Zvi (8-5), Danny Barouty (8-5), then got retribution against Jeremy Sossei with an 8-2 win to move on to the finals. Meanwhile, George "Ginky" San Souci was busy firing through the winner's bracket, with wins over Ron Mason (8-4), Zion Zvi (8-2), and Jeremy Sossei (8-0) to claim the hot seat. In the final match, Ginky faced Tony Robles in a match that Tony dominated. Congratulations to Tony Robles for bouncing back to win this event. Tony currently holds the #1 position on the tour's rankings, while George San Souci trails at #2. Tony Robles and the Predator Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, AZBilliards.com, Digital Ink Printing, www.pool.bz, Billiards Press, Cuetable.com, Master Chalk, RJH Custom Cues, Webb Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, NYCgrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, Maxim Billiards & The Tournament Guide.
- "Written by Alison M. Fischer, NYCgrind.com"

On June 26-27, 2010, the 10th tour stop of the Predator Tour season was hosted by Raxx Pool Room, Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY, where 70 players came out to compete in the $1,000 added Amateur A/B/C/D event and the Open/Pro 10-ball event. In the amateur event, strong performances were seen from Diana Rojas, Pam Ogarek, Stewart Warnock, Neslihan Gürel, Pete Ziemak, Christian Smith, Scott Murphy, John Hacsi, and Matthew Harricharan. However, John Hacsi, one of the oldest players on the tour, would be the player to go through the winner's bracket unscathed, grinding through several tough matches. John defeated Joe Morace 7-5, Gene Hartnell 7-1, Neslihan "Ness" Gürel 7-6, Meshak Daniel 7-2, and Christian Smith 7-4 to earn a spot in the hot seat. Another strong showing was put on by "Queen B" Borana Andoni as she showed a lot of heart, with two big comebacks. Borana grinded back from trailing 6-3 in the first round against Sam Li, showing heart and grit in her game early on. "Queen B" then went on to defeat Carlos Alvardo 7-5 and Pam Ogarek 7-3, before losing to Meshak Daniel 7-5. Borana then bounced back in her first one-loss side match from another 6-3 deficit, earning her a spot in the second day of the two-day event. On Sunday, Borana defeated Neslihan Gürel in a close hill-hill 7-6 nail biter. Ness had an opportunity to get out of the set to claim the win, but her display of focus, smart play, and willingness to bounce back only barely failed her. As Neslihan continues on her journey as an aspiring pro in the US, her solid foundation shows a promising future. Following up her win against Ness, Borana avenged her winner's side loss in dominant fashion, defeating Meshak Daniel 7-3 before losing to Stewart Warnock 7-5. This 4th place finish makes "Queen B" the highest finishing female in the tour history. This is also another very notable finish for Stewart Warnock, who currently holds the #1 position in the "A" Class on the Predator Tour. After defeating Borana, Stewart Warnock moved onto the semifinal, where he would have to settle for third place after a 7-3 loss to Christian Smith. In the final match, John Hacsi soundly beat Christian Smith 7-4 to claim the win, undefeated. Had Christian made it to seven games first, the race would have been extended to nine games. Congratulations to John Hacsi on his dominant win, taking home the $1,000 first prize, along with Christian Smith for a strong runner-up finish. John, who only recently made a return to the game after a 40 year hiatus, has been proving on the Predator Tour that he still has what it takes... he currently holds the #2 position in the points standings for the "C" class.
Despite having to deal with some pain during this event, John Hacsi pushed through the tournament undeterred. Also, if you noticed a renewed spring in John Hacsi's step, it is because he has found a new love in his life in his baby grandaughter, Brooke who visited him during the tournament! And as John has mentioned, this joy has definitely been reflecting in his pool game! The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour also attracted top players from the NY area to participate in the Open/Pro event that ran along side the Amateur event. Top players such as Shaun "Get Some" Wilkie, George SanSouci, Zion Zvi, Tony Robles, Evan Broxmeyer, and reigning Empire State Amateur 9-Ball Champion Kevin Guimond filled up a strong field. "Get Some" Shaun Wilkie, who just came off a great 2nd place finish at last weekend's Maryland State 14.1 Championships, went through the winner's bracket with wins over George "Ginky" SanSouci 8-4, Kevin Guimond 8-7, and Tony Robles 8-7, earning him a spot in the finals undefeated. Ginky bounced back from his second-round loss to catch a major gear with a series of dominant wins. The top NY player rolled over Evan Broxmeyer 8-0, Raphael Dabreo 8-1, and Wali Muhammad 8-1 before losing to Zion Zvi 8-3. In the match between Ginky and Zion, Ginky jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and was in complete control… before an unlucky kiss led the cue ball to scratch. That would end up to be the turning point of the set, as Zion turned the tables and took control of the set to win 8-3. Zion continued his hot hand to edge out a close win against Predator Tour founder Tony Robles 8-7, earning him a spot in the finals to play Shaun Wilkie. In the final match, Shaun Wilkie capped off an impressive tournament with a close 9-7 win over Zion Zvi, trumping his finish in Maryland, making this his first win for the 2010 Predator season. Tony Robles and the Predator Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, AZBilliards.com, Digital Ink Printing, Billiards Press, Cuetable.com, Master Chalk, RJH Custom Cues, Webb Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, NYCgrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, Maxim Billiards & The Tournament Guide.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

On June 5-6, 2010, The Ozone Billiards Predator Tour held its 9th stop of the season at Master Billiards in Sunnyside, Queens, NY. Sixty-six of the strongest players in the NY tri-state area headed to Sunnyside, Queens for the $1,000 added event to show they have the grit to fight through the tough field. In the amateur event, players such as Wali Muhammed, Phil Davis, Noel Bensurto, John Alicea, Thomas Wan, Mike Wong, Lionel Rivera, Stewart Warnock, and Jerry Tarantola highlighted the tough field. The field also featured some standout women's players including WPBA board member Cristina De La Garza, "The Other" Alison Fischer, Borana Andoni, and "Snooky" Diana Rojas. Dinko Busanich showed a lot of heart in this event, going through several gritty matches as he fought through the winner's bracket to earn a spot in the finals. Dinko went through Carl Yusef Khan (7-3), Mike Panzarella (7-6), Jerry Tarantola (7-6), Daniel Dagotdot (7-5), Thomas Wan (7-4), and Mike Hertz (7-5). On the one-loss side, there were a lot of warriors battling for the chance to come from behind to make a statement. While there were stand-out performances by Raphael DaBreo, John Hacsi, Dave Shlemperis, Arturo Reyes, Lionel Rivera, Michael Hertz, and Daniel Dagotdot… there would be only one player who reached the finals unscathed. Long-time tour player Thomas Wan was impressive by defeating Mike Wong (7-3), Lionel Rivera (7-5), Stewart Warnock (7-6), Lionel Rivera again (7-5), Dave Shlemperis, and Michael Hertz (7-4) to get a shot at Dinko Busanich in the finals. In the final match, Thomas was dominant by putting up a solid 9-5 score over Dinko Busanich to capture his first Ozone Billiards Predator Tour win. Congratulations to Tom Wan on this breakthrough performance! In the Open/Pro 10-ball event, the headlining players were Mika Immonen, Zion Zvi, Mhet Vergara, "Ginky" George SanSouci, Jeremy Sossei, Mike Miller, Frankie Hernandez, Tony Robles, Swiss pro player Marco Tschudi, and Marc "Spain" Vidal. Early on in this event, Master house pro and NY legend, George "Ginky" SanSouci made a big statement by playing near-flawless pool in a dominant 8-2 victory over reigning US Open champion Mika "The Iceman" Immonen. Mika won his next match 8-6 against a very game Arturo Reyes before getting bumped out of the event by Marc “Spain” Vidal. Up-and-coming phenom Jeremy Sossei then defeated Ginky (8-4), to win his first three matches, looking to be the favorite to win, the way he was playing. On the lower half of the bracket Tony Robles was silently taking down his competition going through Ron Mason, Zion Zvi, and Marc Vidal... then was impressive with a 8-4 win over Jeremy to get to the hot seat. Jeremy bounced back from the loss to Tony by defeating visiting player Marco Tschudi of Switzerland (8-3) to set up a rematch with Tony. Marco was turning heads with his fast-paced game with wins over Mike Miller (8-4), Zion Zvi 8-5, Ginky 8-3 and Marc Vidal 8-6 before losing to Jeremy. In the finals, Ozone Billiards Predator Tour founder and battle-tested veteran Tony Robles defeated Jeremy Sossei 8-4 for his second win of the season. Tony Robles and the Predator Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, AZBilliards.com, Digital Ink Printing, Billiards Press, Cuetable.com, Master Chalk, RJH Custom Cues, Webb Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, NYCgrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, Maxim Billiards & The Tournament Guide.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

On May 29-30, the Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour brought a crew of 64 players to Master Billiards for the $1,000 added eighth tour stop of the 2010 season. The tour's A/B/C/D division hosted a number of the New York area's toughest amateur players… including Mike Wong, Wali Muhammed, John Alicea, Scott Simonetti, Michael Yednak, and many others. Among the field were also a number of NY's top female players, including house player Diana "Snooky" Rojas, Borana Andoni, Yomaylin Feliz, 2010 BCAPL Women’s Open Champion Gail Glazebrook, Sandie Patarino, Kim Meyer, and Olga Gashkova. Of these ladies, Borana Andoni, who often plays in Master Billiards' weekly tournaments, was the highest finishing female in the event, tying for 9th place. With the bracket for the amateur event being divided with A/B class players on the top half of the bracket, and C/D level players on the bottom half, one player from each grouping would meet in the winner's side finals. Coming through the end of day one unscathed, only four players remained on the winner's side come Sunday to get a chance to make it to the final two. Facing off at 11am, Raphael DaBreo solidly defeated Stewart Warnock, 7-4 in the A/B half of the bracket. On the bottom half, Asif Mostafa sent Arturo Reyes packing to the one-loss side, 7-5. In the winner's bracket final, Raphael DaBreo had a serious battle with Asif Mostafa, which was claimed in the final game by Mostafa, 7-6. The one-loss side saw some tenacious performances on both the upper and lower sides of the bracket. In the C/D section, Sam Li had an early 7-5 loss to Asif Mostafa in the second round, but bounced back for a strong run on the one-loss side, defeating Tran Tran (7-4), Sameer Mohamed (7-5), Kajone Ky (7-2), Andrew Kane (7-6), Borana Andoni (7-5), Chris Karp (7-3), and Arturo Reyes (7-4) to land in the quarterfinals. On the upper half of the bracket, John Alicea also received a surprisingly early loss from Gary Murgia (7-5) in the second round. But, Alicea also made a big rebound with match wins over Michael Yednak (7-1), Shawn Sookhai (7-3), Gary Murgia (7-4), Scott Simonetti (7-5), Derek Schwager (7-3), and Mike Wong (7-5) before being eliminated by Stewart Warnock (7-6) to finish tied for fifth place with Arturo Reyes. The quarterfinal match between Stewart Warnock and Sam Li would be another close set, with Warnock pulling ahead to close it out 7-5 and move on to the semifinal. But that would not be the last challenge Warnock would face, as he and Raphael DaBreo went toe-to-toe in the semifinal, where DaBreo would finish out the hill-hill game to win 7-6. In the final match, which was a single race to nine games, the undefeated Asif Mostafa and Raphael DaBreo would again go all in, fighting through to the very last game, with DaBreo coming out victorious. Congratulations to Raphael DaBreo on a hard-fought win!
In the Open/Pro 10-ball division, "Ginky" George Sansouci was on point, defeating Carl Yusef Khan (8-2) and Oscar Bonilla (8-5), to meet with Frankie Hernandez for the hot seat, who he would also send to the one-loss side. Oscar Bonilla was also showing dominance in this event, having defeated Tony Robles 8-6 before his loss to Ginky. Following that loss, Oscar would defeat Shaun Wilkie 8-6, then make quicker work of Tony Robles (8-4), before demolishing Frankie Hernandez in the semifinal, 8-2. Although Oscar Bonilla did not pose that much of a threat to Ginky earlier on in the winner's bracket, Oscar would come back with a vengeance in the finals… but come up short, with Ginky winning the hill-hill game to close out the event with an undefeated victory. Tony Robles and the Predator 9-ball Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, AZBilliards.com, Digital Ink Printing, Billiards Press, Cuetable.com, Master Chalk, RJH Custom Cues, Webb Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, NYCgrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, Maxim Billiards & The Tournament Guide.
- "Written by Alison M. Fischer, NYCgrind.com"

The Predator Tour would also like to congratulate Gail Glazebrook for winning the 2010 BCAPL Women's Open 8-Ball National Championship held in Las Vegas in May with a field of 402 women! Congratulations Gail!

On May 8th & 9th, Tony Robles welcomed 51 of the strongest players in the Tri-State area for the 7th stop of the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour. This tour stop was hosted by BQE Billiards in Queens NY. Special thanks to BQE owners and staff Nick, John, Theo & Gus for adding $1,000 and letting us use their beautiful room. Top amateur players like Victor Nau, Michael Yednak, John Alicea, Mike Wong, Lionel Rivera, and Scott Simonetti topped off a strong field. In the amateur event, Melvin Aguilera made a strong statement coming in as a D player… knocking off several top guns. Melvin went straight through the winner's bracket, defeating Travis Walker (7-4), John Hacsi (7-4), Alberto Estevez (7-4), Sam Li (7-5), and Brent Boemmels (7-5), earning a spot in the hot seat. Before the hot seat match began, Tony Robles raised Melvin from a D to a C player for his much-improved speed. Brent Boemmels, who was rated an A in this event, also made a strong statement. Brent grinded out W's over John Ortiz (7-6), Mike Wong (7-3), Alex Gonzalez (7-2), Scott Simonetti (7-3), and Wellington Reyes (7-4)… before losing to Melvin Aguilera (7-5). In the one-loss bracket, Brent was lined up with a rematch against Wellington Reyes. Wellington bounced back from that loss to Brent to defeat John Alicea (7-6) and Sam Li (7-4). Sam had an impressive run on that day, winning four consecutive matches, before losing to Melvin Aguilera (7-5) and Wellington Reyes (7-4). In the hot seat match, Brent came out strong, but a combination of a few bad rolls and costly errors shifted the momentum. Wellington capitalized and took over the flow and control of the set… leading to a 7-3 final score. The stage was set for a final match up between Wellington Reyes, who came in on the one-loss side, versus Melvin Aguilera in the hot seat. Wellington had come from the one-loss side to win the tournament… capping off a stand out day with a 9-8 victory in the finals. In the Open/Pro field, things got shaken up by Kevin Guimond. Kevin, who had won the Empire State Amateur Championships in March, stormed through Oscar Bonilla 8-6, Zion Zvi 8-6, and George "Ginky" Sansouci 8-7 to make it to the finals. Jeremy Sossei came from the one-loss side to meet Kevin in the finals, but was unsuccesful, and Kevin claimed the case game to win the final match. Congratulations to Kevin Guimond for an impressive first win in the Open/Pro Predator field. Tony Robles and the Predator 9-ball Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, Digital Ink Printing, Billiards Press, RJH Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, and NYCgrind.com.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour made its sixth tour stop of the season at Master Billiards on April 24-25, 2010. This event drew a full field of 64 amateurs, including many top up-and-coming players from the Tri-State area. Several standout players included Wilson Cruz, Michael Yednak, Mike Panzarella, Derek Schwager, Yesid Garibello, Stew Warnock, Mike Davis, and Phil Davis. The event also featured an Open/Pro tournament, which drew several top legendary NY players, including Tony Robles, "Ginky" George Sansouci, and Frankie Hernandez. One of the regular players in the Master Billiards weekly tournaments, Tony Liang, made a statement playing strong throughout the event. Tony Liang's undefeated road to the finals was impressive. Tony defeated Eddie Medina (7-5), Shawn Sookhai (7-2), Stew Warnock (7-5), Mike Wong (7-3), and Alex Gonzalez (7-4) before he clutched out a gritty hill-hill (7-6) win over Alan Chan to claim a spot in the finals and wait for the player who would eventually grind back through the one-loss side. Eight players on the one-loss side earned the opportunity to fight back on Sunday. John Stiles displayed heart defeating Chuck Giallorenzo (7-6) and Asif Mostafa (7-5),then continued on to defeat Alberto Estevez 7-2 and Mathew Harricharan 7-4 before falling to Phil Davis. Phil Davis also had an incredibly strong showing at his first Predator event. As one of eight players making it back to the second day, Phil was determined to make the most out of his hour and a half ride from his home in Ansonia, Connecticut. After losing his first match to Yesid Garibello 7-6 on Saturday, Phil went through Mike Panzarella (7-4), Junior Sanchez (7-6), Yesid Garibello (7-3), Alex Gonzalez (7-4), John Stiles (7-3), and ultimately Alan Chan (7-3) making it to the finals. In the final match Phil, who is rated an A player, matched up against the undefeated Tony Liang, rated a B. Phil was dominant in the finals, leading the match through to a 9-6 final score, including the one game on the wire spot that an A player has to give to a B. Congratulations go out to emerging young gun Phil Davis from CT for a truly impressive performance.
The next event on the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour will be May 8-9 at BQE Billiards & Cafe in Jackson Heights, NY. In the Open-Pro 10-ball event, legendary New York-area pool player Frankie Hernandez was on a roll going through the field in dominant fashion. Frankie rolled over"Ginky" George Sansouci (8-0) & Mhet Vergara (8-1) before falling to Tony Robles 8-4. Frankie would then best Oscar Bonilla 8-3 to get another chance at Robles in the finals. The combination of Frankie's big break and aggressive play was too much for the Silent Assassin this go around as Frankie beat Robles 8-4 to win the event. Frankie is also the winner of a paid entry fee to the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championships in Vegas next month as he was the points leader for the Predator Tour after the 5 qualifying events. Congratulations Frankie!
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour took the 7 train to Queens last weekend, March 26-27, for their fifth stop of their season. For each of the tour stops, the event is split into two separate tournaments: one for pros and the other for amateurs. The amateur event started at 1:00 pm on Saturday, and drew a full field of 64 players and the Pro event drew 14 Open and Pro players. It is clear that the amateur pool scene is thriving, which is a good sign that pool players are shaking off their rust and getting back into the game. You can also see more new players stepping up to compete for the first time. Case in point, Tony Robles was excited to say that they filled up the 128 player field for the first-ever Empire State Amateur 9-ball Championships, won by Kevin Guimond. Moving onto the event at Masters, there were several players showing stand-out performances, including Christopher Chang, Bob Schlott, Dinko Busanich, Scott Simonetti, Mark Finkelstein. Victor Nau, and Alberto Estevez. The two-day event brought back a total of 16 players on Sunday to play for top honors. Victor Nau clutched out a tight 7-6 win over-up-and-coming player Michael Yednak, lining up a match up with Dinko Busanich. Dinko, whose game has been much-improved, impressively knocked the favored Victor Nau to the one loss side 7-3. Matthew Harricharan seemed to be unstoppable on this day… going through Asif Mostafa 7-3, Luis Novas 7-5, Michael Hertz 7-6, Bob Schlott 7-6, Christopher Chang 7-2, and ultimately Dinko Busavich 7-3. This impressive run put Matthew in the finals undefeated, where he would wait for two matches to finish on the one-loss side. On the left side of the chart, Victor Nau was not able to stop Alberto Estevez, who was impressive in the 7-5 win, as well as for making a strong run through the one-loss side. Alberto continued his hot hand, as he rolled over Dinko Busavich 7-3 in the semifinal match. The win put him in the finals with Matthew Harricharan. Alberto had a strong break going for him, and he showed the composure and shot selection of a seasoned veteran. In the final match, Albert's firepower was too much for Matthew to handle, as he went on to cap off an impressive 9-4 win in the finals. In the Pro 10-ball Event, Oscar Bonilla earned a clutch win over Joey Korsiak, 8-6, to get a chance to come back on Sunday. Tony Robles topped Mike Miller 8-6, lining up a match up with Oscar. Oscar proceeded to beat Tony 8-7 for the hot seat. Kwa Nguyen shook off some rust after taking some time away from the game to come back strong. Kwa made a statement by defeating top NY player Frankie Hernandez 8-7. Joey Korsiak was his next opponent, who was too much for Kwa to handle as joey clutched out the set 8-7. Jorge Rodriguez then topped Joey 8-6 before falling to Tony Robles 8-4 in the semifinal. In the finals Tony, defeated Oscar Bonilla 8-4, while also regaining the lead in the point standings for the season. Tony Robles and the Predator 9-ball Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, Digital Ink Printing, Billiards Press, RJH Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, and NYCgrind.com. The next Ozone Billiards Predator Tour event will be at Master Billiards in Queens, NY April 24-25.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

On March 6-7, 2010, Tony Robles and the Predator Tour staff & players helped make pool history in New York. This season, the Predator 9-Ball Tour has introduced a new dual-tournament structure, allowing amateurs to compete amongst themselves instead of alongside the pros, unlike the first two seasons. This move helped created the first-ever amateur 9-ball title in NY State, the Empire State Amateur Championships. The combination of having $2,500 added prize money, along with the ability to etch your name in the history books, pushed the event to exceed everyone's expectations, with a full field of 128 players at Raxx Pool Room, Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY. Tony Robles announced that the event sold out at 12:15pm, and ultimately 20 players were turned away. “I always knew that I would end up with a 128 player field. It was just a question of when. I sincerely thank all the players who came out to support this historic event” stated Tony Robles. Players from all around the Northeast came out to make a statement, including nine strong female players. While there were many stand-out matches… a few players made the top class with gritty performances. Several players started the event off with strong performances, making their presence felt. Players that stood out were John Hasci, Yesid Garibello, Justin Muller, Scott Simonetti, Niko Berdzenishvili, Thomas Wan, Raphael Dabreo, Raj Vannala, Eddie Crespo, Daniel Smith, and Tom Seminaro Jr. of CT. Kevin's road to the finals included wins over Dinko Busanich (7-2), Mike Panzarella (7-2), John Trobiano (7-2), Peter Ziemak (7-2), Tom Seminaro (7-6), Thomas Wan, (7-6) and Duane Toney (7-4). Duane Toney’s (also known as Wu-Tang) road to the finals included wins over Rob Slayback (7-6), Arturo Reyes (7-5), Brian Russell (7-6), Albert Estevez (7-5), Niko Berdzenishvili, and Bob Schlott, before losing to Kevin Guimond (7-4). On the one-loss side, Duane was able to overcome the very hot Bob Schlott, who just came off of a huge (7-5) win over favored Justin Muller, earning Wu-Tang a shot in the finals. In the finals, the match up was between the strongest "A" and "C" players of the day. Kevin Guimond went through the winner's bracket undefeated while "Wu-Tang" Duane Toney was grinding through the one-loss side. An "A" ranked player would give a "C" ranked players a 2-game handicap, which Wu-Tang took advantage of out of the gate in the exciting final match. Wu-Tang captured the first two games in impressive fashion, and took control of the set early on. If Wu-Tang would to get to 8 games first, then the set would extend to a 10-game race. This format gave the winner's side player the advantage over the player from the one-loss side in the finals. Once Wu-Tang led 5-0, Kevin caught a gear after taking advantage of a few missed shots. In the 7th game, Wu-Tang scratched on the 4-ball, which proved costly. Kevin ran out, serving as a turning point in the set. Kevin was able to battle back, only trailing by one game, 7-6, to then even the score 7-7 after Wu-Tang scratched on the break. Kevin continued to impress in getting back up to break and run out to win the final game and defeat Wu-Tang 8-7. With the drop of the last 9-ball, Kevin Guimond was able to claim the first-ever Empire State Amateur Championship title in a major comeback battle. Kevin is from Manchester, CT and his home room is World Championship Billiards, also in Manchester. The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour would like to acknowledge its sponsors for their support: Ozone Billiards, Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Delta-13, Master Chalk, RJH Custom Cues, Webb Custom Cues, and Digital Ink printing, along with Jim Murnak Cases, Go4Pool.net, and NYCgrind.com. The next event on the tour's schedule will be held on March 27-28 at Master Billiards, 39- in Sunnyside, NY.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

On January 23-24, 2010, the Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour made its second stop of the 2010 season at Eastside Billiards on Manhattan's Upper East Side. In the amateur A/B/C/D event, the first day showcased strong play from John Alicea, Stu Warnock, and Andrew Kane in a full field of 64 players. The second day of the tournament kicked off at noon on Sunday, to bring back the final 8 players. On the winner's side, Wilson Cruz rolled over Stu Warnock (7-3) in a dominant performance. Wilson was then matched up with Alex Gonzalez, who had previously defeated Matthew Harricharan (7-3). Wilson continued his winning ways over Alex (7-3), earning him a spot in the finals, undefeated. Alex would wait for the west side of the bracket to fight it out, for a chance to get in the finals. On Sunday, Andrew Kane had a gritty performance, defeating Pat DiBuono (7-6), Matthew Harricharan (7-4) and Stu Warnock (7-2), before losing to Alex Gonzalez (7-0). Alex was hungry to bounce back in a rematch against Wilson Cruz in the finals. That final match would be one race to 9 games, which Alex came out first, completing the set with a 9-7 score and an impressive Predator Tour win. In the Open/Pro 10-ball event, Tony Robles won his first two matches over Randy Jaragoske (8-5) and Paul Raval (8-4), before losing to Frankie Hernandez (8-6). Frankie knocked George SanSouci to the one-loss side (8-6), before bouncing back over Randy Jaragoske (8-1), Mike Miller (8-4) and Tony Robles (8-5). This earned Ginky a rematch against Frankie Hernandez, who he was able to overcome with a major 8-4 win in the finals. This was a landmark event for Ginky, because although he had finished second and third numerous times on the Predator Tour, he had not won an event on the tour until now. On top of that, this was also the first time in over 10 years (since the Ocean State Championship at Snookers) that arguably the top three New York players finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in an event together. Congratulations to both Ginky and Alex for their impressive wins at Eastside Billiards. The tour is giving one paid invitation to the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championships in Vegas this May to the player in the Open/Pro ranks with the most points after stop # 6. So look for these top players to put the heat on in the remaining two events to vie for the entry. Many thanks to Jerry Shipman and his amazing staff at Eastside Billiards for hosting this great event and to Jerry Tarantola & Alison Fischer of NYCGrind.com for writing the story and taking the photos. Special thanks to PoolOnTheNet.com, Ozone Billiards, Predator, Poison Cues, Delta-13, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Billiards Press, RJH Custom Cues (Richard Hsu), Webb Custom Cues (Mike Webb), CueTable.com, Master Chalk, Dig-Ink.com (Official Print Company of the Predator Tour), AZBilliards, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Maxim Billiards, The Tournament Guide and especially Jim Murnak of JimMurnakCueCases.com and go4pool.net where you can see interviews of some of the world's greatest players as well as live matches of the tour at The Amsterdam Billiard Club, Raxx Pool Room Sports Bar & Grill and Master Billiards.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"

The season opener of the 2010 Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour kicked off on Saturday, January 16 at Raxx Pool Room, where it premiered the tour’s new format with an Open division and an A-D amateur division. With an impressive field of 76 players in the handicapped amateur division, the tour’s players would face a long battle on the road to the finals. This event featured a split format, where A/B level players would compete on one side of the bracket while C/D players were on the other, only to meet in the final two on the winner’s side. Coming through the winner’s side to the final four were John Hacsi, who defeated Michael Hertz (7-5) on the C/D side, and Hiram Sherman, who came through with a 7-4 win against Tommy Derasmo on the A/B side. This win set Sherman up against Hacsi for the hot seat match, where Hiram Sherman would soundly win 7-4. Meanwhile, Jeff Firester and Stewart Warnock had made their way through the one-loss side to face Tommy Derasmo and Michael Hertz in the final four of the one-loss side. To land a chance at the quarterfinals, Firester defeated Erin McManus (7-3) along with breakthrough junior player Darwin Vergara by the same score, while Warnock knocked out Shawn Sookhai (7-4) and Junior Sanchez (7-1). Both Firester and Warnock would continue on their winning streak defeating Hertz (7-6) and Derasmo (7-4), respectively. But, in the semifinal, Stu Warnock turned on the heat to defeat Jeff Firester 7-1 and move onto the semifinal. Waiting for Warnock in the semifinal was John Hacsi, who showed no mercy and defeated him 7-2. The final match turned in a true battle in the rematch between Hacsi and the undefeated Hiram Sherman. The two would eventually tie at hill-hill, but Sherman would take the case game to finish off the event undefeated.
- "Written by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com"