At the end of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s 2013 season, Thomas Rice won the ‘Player of the Year’ award for the C+ class. At the end of the tour’s 2014 tour, at age fifteen, Rice won the Predator Tour Finale, as a B+. The event was held over the weekend of December 13-14, 2014 at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY, which has hosted the tour’s season finale since its launch in 2008. In 2013, Thomas Rice became the youngest player to win a Predator Tour stop at age fourteen, and went on to finish in the top four three times in 2014…before capping off the season with an ‘undefeated’ status at the finale. Also in 2014, Rice went undefeated to claim the first-ever Gotham City 9-Ball Classic on the Tri-State Tour at Gotham City Billiards, his home room in Brooklyn, NY. To get to the top, the teen put together a string of mainly hard-earned wins over Peter Cornell A (7-4), Lidio Rasta A+ (7-5), Mike Panzarella A+ (7-6), Tom Hagan (7-6), and Laszlo Kovacs (7-6), which sent him into the final of the winner’s bracket. In the split-bracket format for the Amateur 9-Ball division of the tour, the D, C, and B-ranked players are placed in the lower half of the bracket, and the top player from that half would match up for the “hot seat” against the final player from the B+, A, and A+. For the second week in a row on the tour, the player to emerge from the lower bracket would be Todd Trent, a New York-based C+ player. On his path to the winner’s side final, Trent had a strong performance; only one of his opponents made it to four games in their races to seven against him. to make into the “hot seat” match versus Rice, Trent defeated Wanlop Chantarakolkit (also rated C+) by a score of 7-2. In the match to see who would make it to the final, however, Trent did not fare as well. Thomas Rice, who spotted Trent two games in their race to seven, would only allow Trent to win one more, putting the final score at 7-3. On the loss half of the bracket, Trent would eventually take on local Long Island player Mike Panzarella, who was dealt his first loss of the tournament by Rice in round four. As Panzarella posted on his Facebook page, “gunning for Thomas Rice” is exactly what he would do. Moving on from his loss, Panzarella would rack up a total of seven wins on the loss side. In the final rounds, Panzarella survived two close matches; a 9-7 win over Wanlop Chantarakolkit in the quarterfinal and another 9-7 win against Todd Trent in the semifinal. Joining Trent and Chantarakolkit as top finishers were Laszlo Kovacs and Josh Friedberg, who finished tied for 5th/6th. Moving on to the final, Panzarella took on Rice for their rematch from day one. Despite the wait to play for the title, Rice appeared as energetic as ever, and made his way to a 7-4 final winning score. Along with other feature matches throughout the weekend, their face-off was featured on the live stream presented in a co-production from AZBtv & NYC Grind. Matches will be made available for future viewing on the AZBtv YouTube Channel. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-1 3 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The tour’s 2015 season will kick off with the season opener on the weekend of January 17-18 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. Stay tuned for more details and the full schedule to be released soon.

After coming up short in a few of his recent tour appearances, Jayson Shaw would finish the 2014 Predator Pro/Am Tour season on top, as he nailed a comeback win at the tour’s finale on Sunday, December 14. Along with Shaw, the event at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY featured a number of top area names that are regulars on the tour, such as Earl Strickland, Jeremy Sossei, Mike Dechaine, Frankie Hernandez, Jorge Rodriguez, Mhet Vergara, and Sean “Alaska” Morgan. Joining them were some Canadian newcomers to the tour who are sometime seen competing on the Joss Tour—Martin Daigle, Richen Francoeur, and Sylvain Grenier. Things started out rocky for the finale’s eventual winner, who drew one of the tour’s top guns, Jeremy Sossei, in the first round. Sossei stole the match away from Shaw at 7-5, and proceeded to the final of the winner’s bracket after a narrow 7-6 win over Mike Dechaine. Meeting up with Sossei in the winner’s bracket final was one of New York’s veteran greats, Frankie Hernandez, who has been top gear as of late. Hernandez charged through the bracket with wins over Mhet Vergara (7-4), Richen Francoeur (7-2), recent tour winner Spanky Kaba (7-3), and Raphael Dabreo (7-4), then put the hammer down in the ‘hot seat’ match against Sossei, 7-2. While Hernandez waited for his chance in the final, Jayson Shaw was continuing run through the loss side and eventually meet him there. Following Shaw’s loss in the first round, he went on to defeat Joey Korsiak Sylvain Grenier, Chris Derewonski, Phil Davis, and Raphael Dabreo to make it to the quarterfinal. Meeting Shaw in the quarterfinal would be Mike Dechaine, who eliminated Jorge Rodriguez in the previous round with a score of 7-4. The match would be a close bout between the two former Turning Stone champions, but Shaw pulled away to win it 7-5. Remarkably, Shaw drew the attention of the entire room during this match, as he dropped seven balls on one of his breaks. The remaining two matches were massacres, as Shaw moved on to run a five pack against Sossei for a 7-2 win in the semifinal, and did not allow Hernandez to win a single game in the final, for a 7-0 win to close out the tournament. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The tour’s 2015 season will kick off with the season opener on the weekend of January 17-18 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY.

Connecticut top amateur John Ortiz would come out swinging at the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s final stop of the 2014 season, the 1st Annual Mr. Cue Holiday Classic, held on December 6-7, 2014 at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY. The ‘A’-rated player would one-up his previous best finish on tour of second place and go undefeated for his first tour win. Throughout the event’s first day, matches from the amateur side were live streamed via the AZBtv Ustream Channel, in a co-production between NYC Grind and AZBtv. On day two, the stream picked up with the Open/Pro 10-Ball division. To make it through the first day in the winner’s bracket, Ortiz defeated Long Island player Justin Muller (7-2), Pete Cornell (7-6), Jack Smith (7-4), and Omar Alli (7-2). This would leave him among the last two players in the upper division of the winner’s bracket, where he was joined by Lidio “Rasta” Ramirez. While Ortiz would overcome Ramirez by a score of 7-4 on day two, in the lower half of the bracket, Todd Trent make his way to the ‘hot seat’ match to take on Ortiz after a 7-6 win over Alison Fischer. In the winner’s side final, Ortiz would outlast Trent in a match that ended at 8-6. Coming from the loss side of the bracket, one of the Tri-State area’s most consistent top finishers, Koka Davladze, would again make his way to the final rounds. After successfully making it through three rounds of matches without a loss, Davladze was narrowly surpassed by Lidio Ramirez, 7-6. He then proceeded to score a comeback win over local player Justin Muller (7-6), followed by another hill-hill win over Thomas Rice (7-6), and a revenge victory over Ramirez (7-2). This set Davladze up for the quarterfinal against Alison Fischer, who had just come off a comeback win over Adrian Daniels (7-6). Davladze made easy work of the quarterfinal, winning 10-6 over Fischer to move on to the semifinal. The semifinal was closely-contended between Davladze and the player who lost the winner’s side final, Todd Trent. Their match went down to the wire at 8-8 before Davladze secured the final game for a 9-8 win. The final match would be a race to seven between Davladze and Ortiz, and in the extended-race format, if Davladze reached seven first, the set would be pushed to nine game. In their match for the title, Ortiz would successfully defend his undefeated position. He took off with an early lead, and close the set with a score of 7-5. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. Coming up next on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be the $5,000-added season finale, to be held on December 13-14 at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY. This event will be live streamed in a co-production between NYC Grind and AZBtv.

As in the Amateur 9-Ball division of the event, the Open 10-Ball division of the Mr. Cue Holiday Classic was dominated by a Connecticut player, or more precisely, two of them. The event, held on Sunday, December 7 at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY, was the final regular-season stop for the Predator Pro/Am Tour, where Connecticut pro Jeremy Sossei made it to the top for the fifth time in the 2014 season. After Sossei drove to the event with his friend Phil Davis, a former winner of the tour’s amateur division, the two met in the very first round at Mr. Cue, and would meet again in the final. Sossei would take his match against Davis by a score of 7-3, and continued on to the hot seat after wins over room owner Scott Murphy (7-2), top Long Island player Joey Korsiak (7-3), and tour owner Tony Robles (7-5) in the winner’s side final. Phil Davis did not seem to be too discouraged, as he forged ahead with wins over Rich Lang (7-4), Joey Korsiak (7-6), and another strong Long Island name, Evan Broxmeyer (7-5) in the quarterfinal, to move on the the semifinal against Robles. While Robles held the lead through the match, Davis was not far behind. Robles reached the hill at 6-5, but opened up an opportunity for Davis to put another bead on his score and tie it 6-6. In the hill-hill game, Davis stayed on point, and capitalized on an error from Robles, scoring the final game to continue on to the final. The final match was an “extended format” race to nine, where Sossei would win if he reached nine first, while the match would be extended to eleven if Davis reached nine first. Sossei got out to a strong lead and made few errors, and although Davis made a late push, he was able to close out a 9-5 win to stay on top. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. Coming up next on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be the $5,000-added season finale, to be held on December 13-14 at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY. This event will be live streamed in a co-production between NYC Grind and AZBtv.

Although Shpendi Kaba, better known as “Spanky” had been virtually unseen for the majority of the 2014 Predator Pro/Am Tour season…he has come out of the woodwork to become a back-to-back winner in the tour’s Open 10-Ball division. To follow up his recent win in Stop #24 at Cue Bar, Kaba came back for more, and successfully repeated at Steinway Billiards on Sunday, November 30.
After a first-round ‘bye’, Kaba opened with a 7-3 win over Rob Omen, then stepped up in a tight battle against Tony Robles, where he won 7-6. In the winner’s bracket ‘final four’ match, Kaba came with an impressive 7-4 win over Jayson Shaw, which sent him into the winner’s side final. Meeting him there was Steinway-based pro Zion Zvi of Israel, who had previously scored wins against Kevin Guimond, Lee Kang, and Earl Strickland (7-3). Zvi fell short in the ‘hot seat’ match, and was sent to the one-loss bracket to play the semifinal.
One of New York’s top veteran names, Frankie Hernandez, would be the player to forge a path to the final through the loss side. Hernandez was struck out early by a loss to Jayson Shaw (7-3), but made his way through with wins over Jonathan “Little Focus” Russell (7-2), Lee Kang (7-5), Rob Omen (7-1), Jayson Shaw (7-3), Earl Strickland in the quarterfinal (7-4), and Zion Zvi in the semifinal (7-6). For the second consecutive Predator stop in a row, it would be Hernandez vs Kaba, Frankie vs Spanky, in the final. In their previous meeting, at Cue Bar, it went to double-hill…and their Steinway match was nearly as close. Kaba held Hernandez to five, closing the match out at 7-5 for an undefeated run at Steinway.
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta 13-Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next Predator Tour stop will be the Mr. Cue Holiday Classic on December 6-7 at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY.

For only the second time in the 2014 season, one of the tour’s female players made her way to the top of the Predator Pro/Am Tour. This time, it would be Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz who walked away with her first tour win at Steinway Billiards. Feliz, who is originally from the Dominican Republic and now lives in Brooklyn, has been playing on the tour since 2009. Her previous best Predator finish was 5th place at Steinway in 2013. In the event held over the course of November 29-30, tour stop #25, Feliz (rated a ‘B’) started off start, working her way through the winner’s bracket of the ‘D’ through ‘B’ side to get into day two. To get there, she made it through a narrow victory over Chris Karp at 7-6 at the end of day one…only to lose her following match, on the second day, to tour veteran Naldo Troncoso (7-2).
Troncoso then progressed on to the top of the bracket after a 7-4 win over George Poltorak (B), which set up for his first-ever appearance in the ‘hot seat’ match on the Predator Tour. On the upper half of the bracket, featuring the tour’s ‘B+’ through ‘A++’ players, Steinway manager Manny Stamatakis maintained his stride in the winner’s bracket on day one, only to lose to Christian Smith (7-6) on Day 1. Smith went on to face 2014 Ginky Memorial winner Kapriel Delimelkonoglu (B+), who would rise up for a 7-5 win. Delimelkonoglu would then join Troncoso in the winner’s side final. Troncoso, who was spotted one game on the wire, surged ahead to a 7-3 win to claim his spot in the final.
Yomaylin Feliz, meanwhile, was making tracks to meet with Troncoso in the final. Along the way, she defeated Jud Parker (7-0), Dennis Lake (7-3), George Poltorak (7-6), and Koka Davladze (8-6) to move on to the semifinal, where she defeated Kapriel Delimelkonoglu 7-2. After a run of six wins, Feliz earned her rematch against Troncoso. The match would be an “extended format” race to seven, where Troncoso would win if he got to seven games first, but if Feliz reached seven first, the set would go on to nine. To start out the match, Feliz scored the first two racks for a 2-0 lead, but Troncoso won the following four to lead 4-2. Feliz then began to pick up speed, playing very solid to regain the lead at 5-4. In the following rack, a missed shot from Troncoso proved to be the turning point, and Feliz went on to get to the hill at 8-4. After both players made some errors, Troncoso scored the next rack to make it 5-8.
In what would be the final game of the match, there were many twists and turns. After Feliz missed a shot on the four, she would leave it hidden behind the five. Troncoso was able to hit the ball, but ended up lining up a 4/9 combination shot. She made the nine, but fouled, and the nine was spotted. Troncoso then ran out to the nine, before missing a back cut. The ball landed on the end rail, and Feliz attempted a thin cut. She over-cut the ball, and the cue ball was on track for the cross-corner pocket, but hung up. Troncoso had a tough shot, and missed, turning over the long fight to Feliz, who then took the match down at 9-5. In speaking with Feliz about what led to her success, she replied, “Practice made me more consistent. I practiced for two weeks and competed in two tournaments, while focusing on not being afraid to lose.” The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta 13-Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next Predator Tour stop will be the Mr. Cue Holiday Classic on December 6-7 at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY.

Roberto Mendoza Takes His First Predator Win Since 2012 at Cue Bar By Alison Fischer / NYCgrind.comWith 2014 in its final months, that means that the Predator Pro/Am Tour is also soon to close another season. The tour, under the leadership of Tony Robles, his wife Gail Glazebrook Robles, and tour director William Finnegan, will be completing its seventh season running, following its launch in 2008. 2014 has been a big year for the tour, in part because it has had the most tour stops scheduled of every year running, which included new locations like Corner Pocket Billiards, CT and Snookers in Providence, RI. At Snookers, the tour joined forces with the New England 9-Ball Series and the New England Ride the Nine Tour to resurrect what was known as one of the toughest tournaments on the East Coast, the Eastern States Championship. Adding excitement and international attention the tour received in 2014 was the new, free live stream coverage of a number of its events, which was co-produced by NYC Grind and AZBtv. The tour is soon to wrap up its season with the 2014 finale, where top players from each skill division will be invited to compete in an event which features $4,000 added to the prize fund. Between now and the finale, scheduled for December 13-14 at Raxx Pool Room on Long Island, the tour will hold two final stops—at Steinway Billiards and Mr. Cue Billiards. View the complete schedule on the Predator Pro/Am Tour website. In the tour’s latest stop of the season, held on November 8-9 at Cue Bar Lounge & Billiards, over forty players turned out for the two-day Amateur 9-Ball division. New York-based player Roberto Mendoza, who hails from Granada, Nicaragua, would work his way to an undefeated victory in this event. While Mendoza has had a number of top finishes on the tour, this would mark only his second win, following his first win two years ago in October, 2012. Mendoza is grouped in the highest handicap rating on the tour, which is ‘A++’, and this is his first top finish after being raised to that level. On his way to the top, Mendoza defeated Omar Alli (8-5), Eugene Ok (8-6), Rhio Anne Flores (8-7), and Efrain Torres (7-3), which put him at the top of the upper level of the bracket. This run of wins sent Mendoza into the second day of competition, where he was joined in the winner’s side final by Joei Huang. Huang came out as the top player in the B/C/D half of the bracket, following his 7-4 win over Naldo Troncoso—in which Troncoso initially held a strong lead. In their match to determine which player would be guaranteed to appear in the final, Mendoza would pull ahead to win 9-7 over Huang. Among the players fighting for a shot to eventually play the semifinal against Huang, two were particularly impressive. Two players (one from the upper bracket and one from the lower), Juan Guzman (A+) and Dan Faraguna (B), had both lost their opening matches of the event—only to come back and meet one another in the quarterfinal. Faraguna, who initially lost to Eric Hummel in the winner’s bracket, went on to reel off seven wins, finalized by a 7-5 victory over Naldo Troncoso. In the quarterfinal, Faraguna’s run would be halted by Juan Guzman, who finished strong at 8-3. Guzman then made tracks to the semifinal, but his attempt to make it to the final was ended by Joei Huang, who won the match 8-6. Huang was then back in the ring against Mendoza for the final match. Their battle would end up going right down to the wire at eight each, before Mendoza nailed the win at 9-8. Although Huang fell short of the win, he did achieve his best tour finish to date, while Mendoza had a breakthrough with his first win as an A++. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta 13-Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next tour stop will be held on November 29-30 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY.

While the amateur 9-ball competition went into the final rounds of Stop #24 of the Predator Pro/Am Tour, the Open 10-Ball division got underway at noon on Sunday, November 9. Some less-frequent faces were seen in this event, including the tournament’s eventual first-time winner, Spanky Koba. New Jersey-based Koba would start out strong as one of the few players without a first-round bye, defeating one of New York’s top open players Mhet Vergara 7-2 and proceeded to defeat Elvis Rodriguez 7-1, before narrowly losing to Ray Lee 7-6. Lee had previously come on strong in his opening match against tour owner Tony Robles, winning 7-5. Ray Lee would then move on to the final of the winner’s bracket, where he would be met by veteran New York legend Frankie Hernandez. To get to that match, Hernandez defeated Florida’s Hunter Lombardo 7-5…and would stay strong in the winner’s final, to win 7-3 over Lee. Moving on to the loss side, Spanky Koba was making his comeback, as he defeated Lee Kang (7-5) to get into the quarterfinal. Meeting him there would be Tony Robles, who came away with wins over Eugene Ok (7-1) and Hunter Lombardo (7-3). However, Robles would be dealt a stunning loss in the quarterfinal by Koba with a score of 7-1, and Koba continued on with a gritty 7-6 win in the semifinal against Ray Lee. The pairing of rhyming names, Spanky and Frankie, then faced off in the final round. Again, Koba would prevail in a hill-hill battle, walking away with a 7-6 win for his first Predator title, in his first tour appearance of 2014.

On the weekend of November 1-2, Castle Billiards was the featured location for Stop #23 on the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s 2014 season. To start off the event at noon on Saturday, 37 players turned out for the two-day Amateur 9-Ball division. Over the course of the two days, Queens-based player Ron Mason (rated as a ‘B’) would prove to be unstoppable in the amateur event and score his second season win, following up his first win at Mr. Cue in September. Mason, who is veteran on the tour and owner of tour sponsor Gotham City Technologies, made it to the top of the winner’s bracket following a ‘final four’ win over Chickie Romero (C+) and a forfeit win in the ‘hot seat’ match from Koka Davladze, who did not arrive to the match in time. Featured in the one-loss bracket, 15-year-old Thomas Rice (B+) came through to the quarterfinal after winning over Brooke Meyer (7-5) and Daniel Schneider (7-5), to face Chickie Romero, who previously made it past Julie Ha (7-3). Rice had a strong run that included six wins over ‘A+’ rated players, but his run was ended in the quarterfinal by Romero, by a score of 7-5. After Koka Davladze’s forfeit loss to Mason, he picked the ball back up and went on to defeat Romero in the semifinal at 7-5. Davladze may have earned another chance to take on Mason, but he was unable to seal the win, as Mason pulled ahead for an 8-6 win in the final. Following Ron Mason’s second win of 2014, tour staff have raised his rating from ‘B’ to ‘B+’. NYC Grind followed up with Mason to hear about his perspective on the event. “I want to thank Tony & Gail Robles, tour director Bill Finnegan, Castle owners John and Minnie Trobiano, and the entire Castle staff. I was having fun the entire weekend, so I’m sure that contributed to my success. I’m also happy that the tour has raised me to a B+. I will now be able to meet new challengers and play with the higher bracket players. That should be fun,” said Mason. While the Amateur division was picking up its second day of action, the Open/Pro 10-Ball event got started at noon on Sunday, November 2. In this event, Jayson Shaw would turn his visit to Castle into another undefeated Predator finish. To get to the top of the bracket, Shaw first had to deal with a tough opponent in Hunter Lombardo, who took their final four match to double-hill before Shaw closed out a 7-6 win. In the other final four match, tour owner Tony Robles took out top tour amateur Juan Guzman, 7-1. In the winner’s bracket final, Shaw was ruthless in his 7-0 shutout win against Robles, guaranteeing him a spot in the final. Following wins over Spanky Kaba (7-1) and Juan Guzman (7-2), respectively, Hunter Lombardo and Kevin Guimond met on the one-loss side, in the quarterfinal. Lombardo would hold Guimond to only winning a single rack in the quarterfinal, sending him on to match up with Robles in the semifinal. The semifinal would be a battle, but at 6-6, Robles claimed the deciding rack to move on and face Shaw for a second time. Robles’ final match against Shaw would also be dramatic. as he started with running the first two racks before scratching on the break, giving way to four straight runs from Shaw. Shaw would go on to take the hill at 6-3, but Robles worked his way back in to tie 6-6. After a successful break, Robles had a scratch on the three that turned the rack over to Shaw, which landed him another tour win for 2014. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta 13-Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards.

Tour founder Tony Robles would end up back on top at the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s twenty-second stop of the 2014 season. The tour’s single-day Open 10-Ball division of the stop was held on Sunday, October 19 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. In the only match without a first-round bye, Robles started out with a 7-3 win over NYCgrind.com founder Jerry Tarantola, then continued to move forward with wins over Frankie Hernandez (7-5), and Chris Derewonski (7-3), to secure a place in the winner’s side final. That match would come down to Robles and Gotham house pro Jorge Rodriguez, who had previously marked wins over Mike Miller (7-2) and touring pro Hunter Lombardo from Florida (7-6). However, Rodriguez was unable to hold up against Robles in the winner’s side final, and the score landed at 7-1 for “The Silent Assassin” to secure a place in the final. Following Lombardo’s loss to Rodriguez, he got back on a winning track, defeating one of the tour’s amateur players Brooke Meyer (7-5) and move on to the quarterfinal. Joining him there would be former Gotham winner of the Amateur 9-ball division, Chris Derewonski, who was recently moved up to the ‘open’ class on the tour. Derewonski had a strong 7-2 win over Sean “Alaska” Morgan to make it to the quarterfinal, but would be stopped there by Lombardo, who finished the match ahead 7-5. Lombardo then had his second chance at Rodriguez, where he would end up reversing the previous score…this time winning 7-6. Moving on to the final, the match between Lombardo and Robles would go right down to the wire before Robles secured the case game at 7-6. This would make for Robles’ third win in the 2014 tour season. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta 13-Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next Predator Pro/Am Tour stop will be held at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

October 18-19 would be a breakout weekend for Predator Pro/Am Tour ‘C’ class player Karim Moumen, as he went through the tour’s twenty-second stop of the season undefeated for his first Predator win at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. The win would mark Moumen’s second top finish, as his previous best had been at Cue Bar in 2013, where he took second place. In the split-bracket format for the Amateur 9-Ball division of the Predator Tour, Karim Moumen would rise out of the B/C/D bracket with wins over Jamiyl Adams (7-3), Joei Huang (7-4), Kyle Bubet (7-6), and Jamie Polito at double-hill (7-6). This run would set Moumen up for the winner’s side final against the player to emerge from the upper bracket, comprised of ‘B+’ through ‘A++’ players. ‘B+’-ranked Max Watanabe would make a strong season debut on the tour in this event, as he took wins over Brooke Meyer (7-4), Alex Osipov (7-6), Carl Yusuf Khan (7-4), and Victor Nau (7-4) to match up with Karim Moumen to see who would move on to the final. However, Moumen stayed on track in their battle, and had a solid win of 8-4 against Watanabe. Among the stand-out players fighting on the one-loss side of the bracket was Andrej Kaldan, who made it through four match after his first loss, before making it to the final four. Jamie Polito, who was fresh from his loss to Moumen, would then match up with Kaldan, ending his run with a 8-0 shutout, which put Polito into the quarterfinal. In the other ‘final four’ match, on the upper half of the loss bracket, Victor Nau would top Carl Yusuf Khan by a score of 7-5, which sent him into the quarterfinal against Polito. With the player who dealt him his first loss, Karim Moumen, waiting in the hot seat…Gotham regular Jamie Polito was successful in earning a rematch, as he moved forward with an 8-5 quarterfinal win over Victor Nau, and shot down Max Watanabe in the semifinal at 7-1. In an uncommon occurrence on the tour, both players in the final were from the B/C/D bracket. ‘C’-rated Moumen would be spotted two games on the wire in a single race to seven against Polito, rated a ‘B’. However, in the extended-format final, if the player with a loss reached seven first, the race would be extended to nine. Polito would indeed take the lead in this match and reach seven first…but Moumen retaliated and pushed ahead to win the match by a score of 9-7.
In addition to his $1,000 first prize, this win would earn Moumen an upgrade to the ‘C+’ class on the Predator Tour and rank him in the #3 spot in the ‘C’ class. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta 13-Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next Predator Pro/Am Tour stop will be held at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

Since playing on the Predator Pro/Am Tour since its inception in 2008, Long Island-based player Mike Panzarella has finally seen his day in the sun…as he won his first tour title at Steinway Billiards in Queens, NY on the weekend of October 11-12. This tour stop was the twenty-first event of the Predator’s 2014 season, and drew 76 players from around the New York tri-state area and beyond. Panzarella’s trek at Steinway did not come without a road bump, however. The winner’s bracket would hang him up in the final four, with a loss to one of Steinway’s regular players, Koka Davladze at a score of 7-5. Leading up to that match, Panzarella had taken out recent Cue Bar winner Miguel Laboy (7-2), Steve “The Russian” Astashen (7-6), Kirill Safronov (7-4), and Keith Adamik (7-5). While Panzarella headed to the one-loss side of the bracket, Davladze continued on with a successful win in the ‘hot seat’ match against one of the ‘C’ class’s top players, Bob Toomey of Queens, NY. Making it all the way to the top of the B/C/D bracket after a 7-0 win over Kyle Bubet, Toomey would record his personal best finish on the tour, eventually taking third place. A tour newcomer also had a strong performance at Steinway, as Kaz Takagishi, who recently relocated to Long Island from Tokyo, Japan. Takagishi had a streak of wins on the one-loss side against Ron Mason (7-4), Gus Iliopoulos (7-1), Bob Schlott (7-4), Dennis Lake (7-4), and Kyle Bubet (7-3) to get to the quarterfinal. That would be where Takagishi’s run would end, as he was then eliminated from the event by the winner-to-be, Mike Panzarella. Following Panzarella’s loss to Davladze, he went on to defeat former Predator winner Raphael Dabreo (7-1), and had two close finishes in the quarterfinal and semifinal, winning both at 10-8. . His score in the quarterfinal would be 10-8, and Panzarella continued to progress by winning the semifinal by the same score, 10-8. In the final rematch between Koka Davladze and Mike Panzarella, who played an extended-format race to seven, where if the player with a loss reaches seven first, match would be extended to nine games for both. It was clear that Panzarella was in high gear from having come off his streak of three matches, and he got out to a 4-1 lead over Davladze, who had been waiting in the hot seat for some time. Panzarella exhibited aggressive, yet smart play, and pushed his lead ahead to 6-2. At 7-4, he then secured the race to nine. Davladze then made a push to stay in the match and capitalized on a missed six ball, going on to tie the match 7-7. However, a ball did not drop on his next break, and Panzarella ran out to get to the hill at 8-7. He continued with a successful break in the next rack, but would miss the four ball…resulting in a safety battle, before Davladze missed the six ball. Panzarella then ran out for his final needed win, ending the match at 9-7. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta 13-Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards.

Despite a 7-2 loss in the winner’s bracket to top Filipino touring pro Warren Kiamco, Jayson Shaw would once again prevail in the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s Open 10-Ball division, at the tour’s 20th stop of the season. This event, which was held at Cue Bar in Bayside, NY on October 5, 2014, also drew some visiting international talent, including the U.K.’s Del Sim and Qatar-based players Waleed Al-Hassan and Ali Al-Marri. Al-Hassan, who played for Team Qatar at the recent World Cup of Pool, commented that he is enjoying playing in as many tournaments as possible here in the U.S., as he and Al-Marri are preparing to compete at the US Open for the first time. In addition to competing in the Predator Tour, they have also been practicing regularly at Steinway Billiards in Queens. After an opening-round loss to Kiamco (7-5), Al-Hassan had a strong run through the bracket at Cue Bar, defeating Mhet Vergara (7-6), Juan Guzman (7-5), and Tony Robles (7-2) to land in the quarterfinal. Kiamco, meanwhile, proceeded to take the hot seat after wins against Ali Al-Marri (7-2). Meeting Al-Hassan in the quarterfinal would be the previous stop’s Amateur runner-up, NYC Grind founder Jerry Tarantola. To start out the event, Tarantola had two successful matches against Del Sim and Juan Guzman, before falling to Jayson Shaw (7-4). He then moved on to defeat Sim for the second time, which put him into the quarterfinal match. Tarantola’s battle against Al-Hassan would go down to the wire, but the visitor from Doha would prevail at 7-6. Waiting in the wings for the semifinal was Jayson Shaw, who had hopes of taking on Kiamco for a second time in the final…and his goal would be fulfilled after shutting out Al-Hassan with a 7-0 score. In the final race to seven, Kiamco had gotten out to an early 4-2 lead, but before long, Shaw tied up the match at 4-4. Kiamco proceeded to get to the hill at 6-4, but Shaw held on and fought back to win the final at 7-6. Jayson Shaw’s fast-and-loose style of play is consistently exciting to watch, and fans in the New York area are frequently treated to seeing him appear at local events. The young gun out of Glasgow, Scotland has made Connecticut his new home, and recently also broke out as the champion of the coveted Turning Stone Classic. Next up, he will be joining top pros from around the world as they journey to Chesapeake, VA for the 39th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championships, which will get underway on Monday, October 13. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY on October 11-12.

Just one week out from his undefeated win on the Tri-State Tour, Miguel Laboy was again triumphant in Queens, in a very tough field at the Predator Pro/Am Tour at Cue Bar in Bayside, NY. Bronx-based Laboy, who is native to Puerto Rico, would have an undefeated run on the way to his first-ever Predator Tour victory, out of a field of forty-seven players. 2014 has been Laboy’s first full season playing on the tour, and as of this event at Cue Bar (the tour’s 20th stop of the season) on October 4-5, he has competed in a total of twelve Predator events around the New York Tri-State area. Following his win at Cue Bar, Laboy has moved up the rankings in the ‘A’ class from #3 to #1, rising above Marco Dy and Shawn Sookhai. In the split-bracket format implemented for all of the tour’s event (‘A++’ through ‘B+’ players in one half and ‘D’ through ‘B’ players in the other), Laboy had a streak of wins in the upper bracket against Cue Bar house player Eugene Ok (7-3), Arturo Reyes (7-4), Carl Yusuf Khan (7-5), Roberto Mendoza (7-4), and Alex Osipov (7-5) in the winner’s bracket semifinal. The B/C/D half of the bracket would also feature a personal best tour showing from New York’s Jud Parker, who is rated a ‘C+’. Parker had three close wins against Luis Jimenez, Mike Kendall, and Paulo Valverde, all with scores of 7-5, which moved him into day two. Parker would have his final win of the event in this round, as he defeated Meshak Daniel (B) with a score of 7-2 to move on to the ‘hot seat’ match. In the ‘hot seat’ match, Parker faced off with Miguel Laboy, who pulled ahead to secure an 8-6 an move on to the final. Also having a breakout weekend in the B/C/D bracket was NYC Grind editor Alison Fischer (C+), the sole female competing in the event. Fischer started out the tournament by defeating two recent tour winners, Ron Mason and Jamiyl Adams (both 7-4), before she was sent to the one-loss side by Meshak Daniel (7-2). Her following win against Joe Wilson-Torres moved her on to day two, where she defeated Paulo Valverde (7-1) and avenged her earlier loss with a 7-3 win over Meshak Daniel to move on to the quarterfinal. Former tour winner Tom Hagan (A+) also had a successful fight through the left side of the bracket to land in the quarterfinal. Hagan was dealt a loss on day one by Alex Osipov (7-5), but moved on to make tracks with wins against Carl Yusuf Khan (7-3), Roberto Mendoza (7-4), and reversed his prior result against Osipov with a 7-4 victory. Hagan continued on with successful matches against Alison Fischer (10-6) and Jud Parker (9-6) to have a chance at the title. In that match, however, undefeated Miguel Laboy would remain dominant, and run away with a 7-3 win to make his debut as a Predator Tour winner. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY on October 11-12.

In the final Predator Pro/Am Tour event for the month of September, the tour’s tristate-based players headed to Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY for the nineteenth stop of 2014. The event’s amateur 9-ball division featured a twenty-seven player field that competed over the course of September 27-28. Throughout the weekend, “Upstate Al” Leon of AZBtv and Jerry T of NYC Grind were on-site doing coverage and providing a free live stream of the event. Longtime tour player and owner of Predator Tour sponsor Gotham City Technologies Ron Mason would come to score his second tour victory on that weekend and have an undefeated run to the top. Rated a ‘B’ and currently seated in the #2 position in the ‘B’ class, Mason (who is based in Queens) made his way through the B/C/D winner’s bracket after defeating Mark Perel (7-0), George Poltorak (7-6), Kevin Falco (7-5), and Dan Faraguna (7-4) to move into the “hot seat” match. In the upper half of the bracket, comprised of ‘B+’ through ‘A++’ players, Roger Lakotko (rated ‘B+) came away with a final 7-3 win over John Schott to match up with Ron Mason in the match for the hot seat…where Mason would survive the ‘hill-hill’ battle with a 7-6 win, putting him into the final. Making his way into the final from the loss-side was NYC Grind founder and creative director Jerry Tarantola “Jerry T”. Following wins versus Justin Muller (7-4) and Ed Culhane (7-5), “A+” rated Tarantola lost in the third round to John Schott (7-1), to then make a comeback and land in the final round. Tarantola made it through with wins over Asa Shaw (7-2), Victor Nau (7-6), and got revenge against John Schott with a narrow 7-6 victory to get into the quarterfinal. One of the tour’s top-performing ‘B’ class players of 2014, Dan Faraguna (ranked #3 in the ‘B’ division), would again make it to the final rounds and meet Tarantola in the quarterfinal. Faraguna made it to the final four of the winner’s bracket before his loss to Mason and secured a win over Kevin Falco (7-3) to take on Tarantola. Faraguna was unable to halt Tarantola’s run, and fell by a close score of 8-6 for a finish in fourth place. Tarantola then matched up with Roger Lakotko in the semifinal, where he had another successful bout and came out ahead, 7-5. For the final match, an extended-format race to eight was held between Tarantola and Mason. Mason was spotted three games in this set, and would hold the lead throughout the match…landing himself a final score of 8-5 for the title. This would be Ron Mason’s first tour win in over two years, as his prior win was in March of 2012 at Steinway Billiards. This event was also a breakthrough finish for Tarantola, who made it to the finals for the first time since 2009, when he won at Castle Billiards. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held at Cue Bar in Bayside, NY (Queens) on October 4-5. Visit PredatorProAmTour.com for tour information and complete schedule.

At Long Island pool room Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY, Jeremy Sossei would return to the Predator Pro/Am Tour to nail his second straight tour win. The event was the tour’s nineteenth stop of the season, and the Open/Pro 10-Ball division was held in a single day, on Sunday, September 28. Throughout the weekend, AZBtv & NYC Grind teamed up to present a free live stream of the event on the AZBtv Ustream Channel, hosted by “Upstate Al” Leon. At the previous Predator stop at Steinway Billiards, Sossei went undefeated…while at Mr. Cue, he would have to make a return from his loss in the winner’s side final. Florida pro Hunter Lombardo, who has taken up residence in New York, would be the player to deal Sossei a hot seat loss in a match that went down to the wire to end at 8-7. Leading up to that round, Lombardo defeated Joey Korsiak (8-6) and Phil Davis (8-4), while Sossei took out Frankie Hernandez (8-6) and room owner & amateur player Scott Murphy (8-2). In this short field event, there were a few notable upsets. Long Island-based player Korsiak defeated Filipino touring pro Warren Kiamco in round one (8-7), and Frankie Hernandez delivered a second loss to Kiamco by a score of 8-5. Another surprise outcome was Scott Murphy’s win over tour owner Tony Robles (8-6), who had earlier been defeated in the first round by Hernandez. After Murphy’s win over Robles, he was then eliminated by Korsiak (8-3)…who would be defeated by Hernandez in the quarterfinal. Hernandez would be stopped from proceeding to the final by Jeremy Sossei, who knocked in out in the semifinal. Sossei, who is on the list of candidates for the 2014 Mosconi Cup USA team, moved on for a rematch in the final against Lombardo. Lombardo would strike first blood, and jump ahead to a 3-0 lead in their single race to eleven. Sossei retorted by winning the next three to tie, and they alternated racks to tie 4-4 and 6-6. The next rack would be won by Sossei, would would continue to lead the rest of the match, pushing ahead to 9-6, before winning the final by a score of 11-8. Slated on the horizon for both Sossei and Lombardo will be the 2014 US Open 9-Ball Championships, set to take place in Chesapeake, Virginia on October 13-18. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held at Cue Bar in Bayside, NY (Queens) on October 4-5.

At tour stop #18 of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s 2014 season, Jeremy Sossei broke his dry spell, and would again find his way to the top. In the Open/Pro 10-Ball division of this event, held on Sunday, September 14 at Steinway Billiards, Sossei would go undefeated in a particularly tough field. After starting the event with a first-round ‘bye’, Sossei moved through the bracket with wins over Jorge Rodriguez (7-6), Shane Van Boening (7-4), and Jonathan Smith (7-3) to get to the winner’s bracket final. Another impressive force in this event was Queens-based player Chris Derewonski, who would eventually finish third. At the previous week’s tour stop at Cue Bar in Bayside, NY, Derewonski won the Amateur 9-Ball division while rated with an ‘A++’ handicap, and was consequently moved to the open class on the Predator Tour. This move was hardly a deterrent for Derewonski, who earned wins against Ron Mason (7-3), Nigel Francis (7-3), and Florida pro Hunter Lombardo (7-5) to meet up with Sossei. Going up against Sossei in the match for the ‘hot seat’, Derewonski fought hard, but fell short with a final score of 7-5. New Yorker Jorge Rodriguez also rose to the occasion at Steinway, as survived his early loss to Sossei and made it all the way through to the final for a rematch with him. Rodriguez proceeded by scoring wins over Zhi Ting Wu (7-0), Nigel Francis (7-3), Tony Robles (7-3), Jonathan Smith (7-1), Jayson Shaw (7-6) in the quarterfinal, and Chris Derewonski (7-4) in the semifinal. Rodriguez’s winning streak ended with the semifinal, as Jeremy Sossei prevailed in the final match. With the late-running finish of the tournament, the players decided to play a shortened race to five, and Sossei walked away with a 5-2 victory. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. Next up on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be Stop #19, to be held at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY (Long Island) on September 27-28.

Despite his loss in the final four winner’s bracket round, Poland native Chris Derewonski On Sunday, September 14, 2014, Brooklyn-based player Jamiyl “Mr. Mega” Adams would make his debut as a Predator Pro/Am Tour Champion, going undefeated in the Amateur 9-Ball division at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. The event, which was Stop #18 of the tour’s 204 season, got underway on September 13 with a total of 55 players competing for the $1,000 first prize. Adams, who is rated as a ‘B’ on the tour, started out the event with a first-round ‘bye’, and went on to defeat Jim Weden (7-5), Todd Trent (7-6), Irene Kim (9-5), and Amir Uddin (7-4), to make it to the top of the ‘B/C/D’ side of the winner’s bracket. Coming in from the upper bracket to meet Adams in the winner’s side final would be Southport, CT-based player Brooke Meyer. Meyer also had a ‘bye’ to start the event, and moved through the bracket with wins over Edwin Guzman (7-4), Rhio Anne Flores (7-4), Stewart Warnock (7-5), and Nick Chuang (7-6). Meyer would be shot down in the ‘hot seat’ match by Adams, who marked a 7-3 victory, and secure a place in the final match. A number of the tour’s recent top finishers had hopes for working their way back through the bracket to the final, including Rhio Anne Flores, Koka Davladze, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Miguel Laboy, and Dan Faraguna. The one who would make it the farthest would be former tour stop winner Stewart Warnock, as he made it through matches against Greg Antonakos (7-6), Kapriel Delimelkonoglu (8-5), and Nick Chuang (7-3), to get to the quarterfinal. Steinway regular Amir Uddin would be the player to join Warnock in the quarterfinal, following his 7-2 win over Tony Ignomirello. Uddin continued to play strong in the quarterfinal, for a 8-6 win over Warnock. The semifinal match between Uddin and Brooke Meyer would be a close fight, that came down to a 9-ball combination battle. After both players missed their first attempts at it, Meyer made a bank shot to pocket the hanging 9-ball and move on for a rematch against Jamiyl Adams in the final. Adams was dominant against Meyer in their final rematch, and he capped of his undefeated run with a 7-3 win, for the title. Throughout the two days, Adams had a confident demeanor, which was reflected in his solid play. At the end of the day, Adams commented on his performance. “The key for me was my ability to keep calm and stay within my ability. I found my rhythm,” said Adams. Congratulations to Jamiyl Adams on his breakthrough win. Other notable players who had personal best finishes included semifinalist Amir Uddin and recent newcomers to the tour, Irene Kim & Todd Trent, who tied for 9th-12th. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. Next up on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be Stop #19, to be held at Mr. Cue Billiards in Lindenhurst, NY (Long Island) on September 27-28.

Despite his loss in the final four winner’s bracket round, Poland native Chris Derewonski would find himself back on top for his second Predator Pro/Am Tour win of the 2014 season. Derewonski was among the field of forty-four top amateur players to stack Cue Bar in Bayside, NY for Predator stop #17, on the weekend of September 6-7. Derewonski (rated A++) had a series of close matches to make it into the fifth round of the winner’s bracket, including wins over Arturo Reyes (8-6), Omar Alli (8-6), Dave Shlemperis (8-7), and Brooke Meyer (8-7). It was then that Derewonski would be sent to the left side of the bracket, as he suffered a loss to Alex Osipov (8-4). From that point, Osipov would move forward to the winner’s side final, where he would take on the top player from the B/C/D bracket, Kyle Bubet. Bubet made it to the ‘hot seat match’ following his win over Ron Mason, and continued with his success by securing a win over Alex Osipov (7-5) to make it into the final. While Derewonski got back to work on the one-loss side with a win over Brooke Meyer (8-5) in the upper bracket, Paulo Valverde took charge in the lower bracket. Valverde won matches against Tony Ignomirello (7-4), Roy Lim (7-5), and Ron Mason (7-6) to meet with Derewonski in the quarterfinal. Derewonski prevailed in the quarterfinal for a score of 10-7 against Valverde, which put him into the semifinal for a rematch against Osipov…where he would avenge his first loss with a winning score of 8-6. In the event’s finale, the match between Derewonski and the undefeated Bubet was a single extended-race format. Based on their handicaps (A++ and B), Bubet would get four games on the wire in a race to nine. If Bubet reached nine first, he would win, but if Derewonski made it there first, the set would be extended to eleven. Early on in the final, Bubet scored the two games that put him at a 6-2 lead. Those two games would be the last of the match that Bubet would win, as Derewonski charged full speed ahead. He expertly cleared rack after rack to seal a final win at 11-6. Congratulations to Derewonski on a strong comeback, as well as to Bubet, Osipov, and Valverde, who recorded personal best finishes at Cue Bar. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held on September 13-14 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, NY.

One of the UK’s top stars, Jayson Shaw of Scotland, came out swinging at the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s seventeenth stop of 2014, held on the weekend of September 6-7 at Cue Bar in Queens, NY. Shaw, who is now based in Connecticut, appears frequently on the Predator Tour and other events in the region, including the previous week’s Eastern States Championship at Snookers in Providence, RI. While Shaw fell short at Snookers, losing to Jeremy Sossei both in the winner’s bracket and the quarterfinal to finish in fourth, he would get revenge at Cue Bar. In the two ‘final four’ matches, Shaw defeated tour owner Tony Robles (8-3) and Sossei took out Frankie Hernandez (8-7), which set them up for a face-off in the ‘hot seat’ match. Shaw pulled away to lead from the start of this match, and ended it with an 8-5 final score to move into the final. Jayson Shaw vs Jeremy Sossei in the winner's side final. (Photo: Alison Fischer)
The players to come into the quarterfinal would be Robles and Hernandez, who had identical 8-2 victories over Nigel Francis and Jerry Tarantola, respectively. In the quarterfinal match, Hernandez would put down a stunning shutout over Robles to make his move into the semifinal. In the semifinal, Hernandez got out to an early 5-1 lead in his rematch against Sossei, but before long, it became a close battle. Sossei would win the following game to make it 5-2, and although he scratched on his next break, Hernandez hung the eight ball in the corner to give the game to Sossei. Hernandez then got two away from the win at 6-3, but also scratched on the break, allowing Sossei to make it 6-4…and he would go on to tie it at 6-6.
They exchanged wins in the following two games to tie it 7-7, and after Sossei broke dry, Hernandez played a safe that won him the match, as he ran out with ball in hand for the win (8-7). In his final match against Shaw, Hernandez would not be given as many opportunities at the table. Shaw left very little breathing room, and charged ahead to win by a solid score of 8-3. Next up, Shaw is set to appear at Castle Billiards for the first ‘King of the Castle’ $50,000 purse event on September 12-13 and his challenge match against Shane Van Boening over the same two days.
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held on September 13-14 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, NY.

Bringing together veteran greats and young hotshots, the first Eastern States Open 10-Ball Championship at Snookers Billiards Bar & Grill in Providence, Rhode Island showcased some of the greatest talent the Northeast has to offer. On the amateur division’s second day of competition on Sunday, August 31, the Open division got underway, and completed on Monday, September 1. Surrounded by the New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame memorabilia on the walls, Snookers made for the ideal atmosphere to accompany the revival of this prestigious event. It would be Snookers house pro & reigning, back-to-back, Ocean State Champion Mike Dechaine who would make his way to the top at the Eastern States Championship. Dechaine looked most comfortable in his home court, and was firing on all cylinders on his way to an undefeated victory. To start out the tournament, Dechaine received one of only two ‘byes’ in the draw, and went on to defeat Dave Fernandez (9-5) and Nelson Oliveira (9-6) to get to the final four of the winner’s bracket. There, he would meet Connecticut pro Jeremy Sossei, who had previously defeated Jayson Shaw by a close score of 9-8. Dechaine kept an edge over Sossei throughout this match, taking a 6-3 lead and getting to the hill at 8-4. While Sossei hung in the match and capitalized on his opportunities, Dechaine closed the door with a final score of 9-6. Moving through the lower half of the bracket would be the Snookers-based duo of Joe Dupuis (2014 Hall of Fame Tournament Champion) and New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame member Ray McNamara. Dupuis, with his customary fast and loose style, jumped out to a 4-0 lead before McNamara had much opportunity to get started. Dupuis would close out a solid 9-4 win to move on to the winner’s side final and take on Dechaine. The players who returned from the one-loss side on Monday, Jayson Shaw and Sean “Alaska” Morgan, were then paired against the two who lost in the final four. While Shaw progressed after his win against Ray McNamara, Morgan was eliminated after his loss to Jeremy Sossei. Sossei and Shaw were then matched up for the second time, in the quarterfinal. While Sossei was clearly dialed in, Shaw was not quite on his ‘A’ game. The lead was held by Sossei through most match, but Shaw stayed close behind. With the score tied at 7-7, Sossei reached the hill, then broke and ran out to win the match at 9-7. Running concurrently with the quarterfinal was the ‘hot seat’ match between Joe Dupuis and Mike Dechaine. This match would feature a clinical performance from Dechaine, who set the tone by making five balls on the break in the opening rack. By the match’s end, he had run out six of the nine total racks won, ending with a 9-1 final score. With Dupuis heading to the loss side, he met with Jeremy Sossei for the semifinal. Both players struggled in this match, and had some uncharacteristic misses. However, at 7-7, Sossei was able to take advantage of an error from Dupuis, and went on to win the match by a score of 9-7. Sossei moved on to the final match, where he took on Dechaine for the second time in the event. Despite waiting through the semifinal, Dechaine’s game was hot, regardless. In the extended-format race to 13/15, Dechaine got out to a staggering lead, and put the score at 9-1. It was at this point that Sossei was able to make some headway in the match, but still did not become a threat to catch up with Dechaine…who pushed ahead to seal a 13-6 victory. Along with their staff, Snooker's owner Steve and Regina Goulding deserve credit as great hosts throughout the weekend. Along with their staff, Snooker's owner Steve and Regina Goulding deserve credit as great hosts throughout the weekend. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held on September 6-7 at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY.

Coming together in competition and camaraderie on Labor Day weekend, August 30-September 1, 2014, members of three Northeast-based tours revived the historic Eastern States Championship. The Predator Pro/Am Tour, New England Ride the Nine Tour, and the New England 9-Ball Series made their collaborative debut at Snookers Billiards, Bar & Grill in Providence, RI, where a field of 75 top amateur players from around the region put in their best effort to get to the top. The story of this event would come from the one-loss side of the field…as Hartford, CT player Eric Tang avenged his first loss to Dennis Levesque of Fall River, MA by making it through to the final to face him again. Before his first loss, Tang (rated an ‘A’) made it all the way to the final four, defeating Kerry McAuliffe (7-6), Phil Davis (7-6), Jared DeMalia (7-5), and Paul Dryden (7-3), before his loss to Dennis Levesque (7-3). Levesque’s win would move him into the final day of action as the last undefeated player in the B+/A++ bracket, and he would be joined by Massachusetts-based Mark Small (rated C) in the ‘hot seat’ match. Mark had a solid run through the winner's bracket that showcased his shot making firepower, ending with a 7-4 win over Dan Faraguna in the final four. In the 'hot seat' match, Levesque would score a strong 8-4 victory over small, which guaranteed him a place in the final match. One of the stand-out players who bounced back after their first loss would be Josh Gormly of Smithfield, RI. Gormly was dealt his first loss by Mark Small in round five, but would go on to win matches against Chris Amaral (7-4), Mike Demarco (7-4), and Dan Faraguna (7-3). This would put Gormly into the quarterfinal, where he would be met by Eric Tang. Tang had previously scored a 7-2 win over Paul Dryden to finish off day two, and continued on with a 7-4 win over Gormly and a 9-2 win against Mark Small in the semifinal. Moving on to final, Eric Tang would have a fitting battle against his prior opponent, Dennis Levesque, on the AZBtv & NYC Grind co-produced live stream. With Levesque have a ‘B+’ rating and Tang an ‘A’, Levesque was spotted one game on the wire in the “extended-format” race to 7/9. As the undefeated player, Levesque could win the match by getting to seven games first, but if Tang won seven first, the set would be extended to nine. After both players struggled to shake the nerves in the first game, Levesque went on to take an early 4-1 lead. However, Tang then picked up momentum, and managed to reach seven first, after Levesque made it to the hill at 6-6. Tang would make it to the six ball after his next break, before missing and allowing Levesque to tie the match again at 7-7. In the following rack, Levesque failed to make a ball on the break, and Tang ran out the rack to make it to the hill, 8-7. The next game would bring about an intense safety battle that ended when Tang missed a thin cut on the 3 ball, and Levesque ran out to make the score 8-8. To decide the match and the title, there would be another gritty fight. After Levesque broke dry, Tang played a safe, forcing Levesque to foul. Tang attempted another safe with ball in hand, but left an easy kick. After exchanging safeties, Tang’s effort for a kick safe did not work out in his favor, and Levesque played a safe that lined up the 1 ball and the 9 together along the rail. If Tang attempted a kick and missed, he would give away a combination on the 9, so instead, he broke the two balls apart. Unfortunately for Tang, this resulted in the 9 lining up for a combination with the 3 and ball in hand on the 1 for Levesque. However, after making the one and the two, Levesque over-cut the combination on the nine, and shockingly turned the winning game over to Tang. At the end of the day, both players showed a tremendous amount of heart to make it all the way to the finale. Eric Tang, who last had a Predator Tour win in 2011, took to Facebook to comment about the event. “Even though it was an amateur-level tournament, there was definitely not a lack of good players and competition. I wasn’t really expecting to make it that far, let alone win it. It was a pleasure to meet and play against some of the players I came across,” said Tang. The lineup of top-finishing players was dominated by the strong New England base of competitors, including Katie Fiorilla, who was the only female to finish in the money rounds (tied for 9th-12th). While most of the players were seasoned to tournament action, Worcester, MA-based Jared DeMalia, who finished 13th-16th, is a relative newcomer to playing in a serious competitive setting. DeMalia gave an apt description of what he enjoyed about the experience: “Here, everyone’s nice, they compliment you, and they’re respectful. Everyone knows how to win and knows how to lose. I think that’s what I like most about it.” The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held on September 6-7 at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY.

Following its two full days of competition on August 2-3, the Steinway Classic celebrated a new champion…one of the top touring players out of the Philippines, Warren Kiamco. Kiamco secured his spot at the top following an undefeated tournament performance at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. In the first round of the event, streamed live, Kiamco was matched up against his eventual opponent in the final, Dennis Hatch. Kiamco threw down a 9-4 score over Hatch, and went on to tear through the bracket with wins against John Morra (9-7), Jeremy Sossei (9-6) Tom D’Alfonso (9-6), Evgeny Stalev (9-2), and Shaun Wilkie (9-6) to earn a spot in the finals. Warren Kiamco in the hot seat match vs Shaun Wilkie. (Photo: Alison Fischer)
After his opening loss to Kiamco, it was then time for “The Hatchetman” to grind, as he went on to beat Thomas Rice (9-2), Phil Davis (9-2) Travis McKinney (9-5), and Chris Derewonski (9-4) to make it to the second day. In the 12:00pm noon round on day two, Hatch eliminated Jonathan Smith (9-4), and continued on his tear to defeat Mika Immonen (9-7), Mike Dechaine (9-3), and Evgeny Stalev (9-4), which put him into the quarterfinal. Dennis Hatch breaking vs Russian champion Evgeny Stalev. (Photo: Claude Gregoire)
There were a number of other top names looking to make their way through the bracket, including many who traveled long distances to compete at Steinway. Round by round, they were whittled away, including house pro Earl Strickland, who lost out to Toronto young gun John Morra (9-3) and one of the top players out of Connecticut, Tom D’Alfonso, who lost to Mike Davis (9-5). Davis would continue his success in the following round, with a 9-5 win over Morra, but after a back-and-forth battle in his next match against New York’s Jorge Rodriguez, he was eliminated with a 9-8 score. Next up for Rodriguez would be his quarterfinal match, where he would collide with Dennis Hatch. Hatch was in steamrolling mode, and he came out of the gate hot…which eventually landed him a 9-5 final score.
In the semifinal, Hatch would be met by the player who lost to Warren Kiamco in the ‘host seat’ match; Shaun Wilkie. This match stayed close through the bulk of their meeting. But, when things were tied at 6-6, Wilkie got out of line on the seven, and gave over the rack to Hatch. From this point on, Hatch would rule the table, and take a 9-6 win. A day and a half after their initial meeting, it was Hatch and Kiamco again in the final. Hatch got out a 5-2 lead in this race to 14 match…but it wasn’t long before Kiamco had it tied up 5-5. From that point on, they kept the score in line, alternating racks. While Hatch stayed on-point for the most part, his break was a struggle, which allowed Kiamco to keep right on his heels. At 10-10, Hatch took the lead to get within two, at 11-10…but his next break left him a tough shot at the one, and after missing it, Kiamco ran out to tie 11-11. Kiamco then scored the next two racks to finalize his undefeated win, 13-11.
The players completed a long weekend of battles, while host Steinway Billiards and its staff were hard at work to provide hospitality. Credit goes out to the Tony Robles, Gail Robles, and director William Finnegan of the Predator Tour for putting on the event. NYC Grind would like to thank all of the fans who followed the event both in-person at Steinway and online through the live stream co-produced by AZBtv, NYC Grind, and the Predator Pro/Am Tour.

On day two of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s 14th stop of the 2014 season, the Open 10-Ball event got underway at 12:00pm…and tour founder Tony Robles would begin to make his way to an undefeated win. The tour stop was held at Amsterdam Billiards in New York, NY, where Robles is house pro and can regularly be seen practicing straight pool for the upcoming World Tournament of 14.1. The practice clearly paid off for Robles in this event, as he beat out some of region’s top names to take the top spot. After a first-round bye, Robles defeated Gregg McAndrews (8-2) and Hunter Lombardo (8-5) to get to the final of the winner’s bracket.
Coming into the winner’s side final from the lower half of the bracket was New York-based Israeli champion Zion Zvi, who previously took wins over Jeremy Sossei (8-4) and Frankie Hernandez (8-4). Zvi moved on to the match for the hot seat against Robles, which was closely-contended, but Robles pulled ahead for a final winning score of 8-6. Among the players grinding to come out of the comeback side of the bracket was visiting Orlando, FL-based player Adam Wheeler, who is originally from Albany, NY. Wheeler went toe-to-toe with Frankie Hernandez to get to the quarterfinal, and when the two were tied at 7-7, Hernandez scratched on the break. Wheeler then played two consecutive safeties, forcing Hernandez to foul three times and turn over the match.
Joining up with Wheeler in the quarterfinal was Connecticut-based pro & 2014 Mosconi Cup candidate Jeremy Sossei, who had a solid 8-4 win over Hunter Lombardo to get there. Sossei would continue to play strong in the quarterfinal, leaving no breathing room for Wheeler. Sossei walked away with an 8-1 win over Adam Wheeler, but he would have the tables turned on him in the semifinal against Zion Zvi, who had hopes of getting a rematch against Robles in the final. Zvi ended Sossei’s run with the same score as the quarterfinal, 8-1, which landed him in third place. In Zvi’s rematch against Robles in the final, it was a close fight to the end, but Robles one-upped Zvi in the final game…wining it 9-8. This victory would mark Robles’ second win of the season, with his first win being almost exactly seven months prior, at Steinway Billiards.
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. Coming up next on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be Stop #15: The 3rd Annual Steinway Classic on August 2-3.

After losing his fourth match in the winner’s bracket Phil Davis would emerge from the elimination side of the bracket to win the Amateur 9-Ball division of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s 14th stop of the season. The event, held at Amsterdam Billiards in New York, NY on the weekend of July 12-13 drew a total of 56 players in the running for a $1,000 first prize. As Davis’s most recent tour win was the 2013 Predator Season Finale, this event would make for his first win of 2014. To make it into the second day of competition, Davis, who is based out of Ansonia, CT, marked win over Diana Rojas (8-5), Kirill Safronov (8-6), George Poltorak (8-5), and Raphael Dabreo (7-4), but would be ejected from the winner’s bracket by Steinway Billiards-based player Chris Derewonski by a score of 7-1. On day two, Derewonski moved on to play the match for the ‘hot seat’ to determine who would guarantee a spot in the final. Derewonski’s opponent would be one of New York’s standout junior players, 15-year-old Thomas Rice. After three very close matches to open the tournament, Rice hit a stride with strong wins over Gabriel Palacios (7-3) and Akbar Karmoddien (7-2) to meet up with Derewonski. Rice would only allow him to win one game, and he moved on to win it at 9-1.
Ron Mason, owner tour sponsor Gotham City Technologies, would be one of the stand-out players to come from the one-loss side. Following his third-round loss to Akbar Karmoeddien (7-4), Mason moved forward to defeat Wanlop Chantarakolkit (7-6), Dax Linden (7-3), and made good on his prior loss to Karmoeddien, knocking him out with a score of 7-5. While that win moved Mason into the quarterfinal, Phil Davis took out one of the tour’s other top names, Raphael Dabreo, with a 7-2 final score. Davis then proceeded into the quarterfinal, to take on Ron Mason. Despite Mason’s early lead in this match, Davis was determined, and came away the winner at 9-8. Up against Davis in the semifinal was Chris Derewonski, who waited for the match following his loss to Thomas Rice in the winner’s side final. Once again, Davis found himself trailing in this match at 3-1, but turned things around and took the lead at 5-4. Davis then got on the hill at 6-4, and although Derewonski won the next rack to go 6-5, he scratched on the break, and Davis ran out the final rack to continue on to the final.
In the final match between Phil Davis (rated ‘A++’) and Thomas Rice (‘B’), the young gun teen came out firing and was in free-wheeling mode. The format was a modified single race set, where if Rice got to nine first, he would win the match as the undefeated player…but if Davis got to nine first, the set would be extended to eleven. It appeared that Rice would run away with the final…as he had gotten to the hill with eight racks, while Davis had merely two on the board. Davis won the following rack to put the score at 8-3, when Rice was confidently and quickly running out his last needed game to win the match. However, the nine ball did not find the pocket, and would become Davis’s salvation. That missed nine ball would come back to haunt Rice, as little by little, Davis began to tally up the beads. Davis showed both patience and grit, and was able to capitalize on the opportunities he was given. Although the odds seemed to be against him, Davis got to nine first after Rice missed position for the two ball. Davis made few errors from that point on, and would finish the match with an 11-8 score. Phil Davis (1st), Thomas Rice (2nd), Ron Mason (4th) - Photos: Alison Fischer
Phil Davis came away with a very scrappy win, to which he credited his advantage in experience, as well as his ability to control his emotions. “I didn’t get mad if I made a mistake, I just let it roll off,” Davis explained. While Thomas Rice may have come up short, he succeeded in impressing the crowd of enthusiasts and players who followed the event throughout the weekend. Few players ever make it to the final of a Predator Tour event, an accomplishment that Rice has now achieved three times. Other notable players from the event include Akbar Karmoeddien, who had his season high finish on the Predator, and Amsterdam league player Dax Linden, who finished in the money in his first-ever tour stop. Congratulations to all the top finishers at Amsterdam! The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards. Coming up next on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be Stop #15: The 3rd Annual Steinway Classic on August 2-3.

On the weekend of June 28-29, New York-based player Lidio “Rasta” Ramirez would reign supreme in the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s thirteenth tour stop of 2014. The two-day Amateur 9-Ball division of the event, held at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, featured Ramirez as the undefeated player. Impressively, this would make for Ramirez’s second straight weekend tournament win, as on the previous weekend, he was the undefeated winner in the Tri-State Tour’s final event of the season at Steinway Billiards. The ‘A+’ ranked player would get through day one with wins against Jack Smith (7-5), James Stevens (7-4), Brooke Meyer (7-5), and Diana Rojas (7-4). On day two, Ramirez was then among the last four undefeated players. In the 1:00pm round, he defeated B+ rated Dave Shlemperis (7-5), while in the lower half of the bracket, Luis Jimenez had a 7-1 win over Josh Friedberg. Jimenez and Ramirez then moved on as the final two undefeated players remaining in the bracket. In their match to see who would move on to the final, Ramirez closed the door at 8-6 over Jimenez, who would then wait to face the top player of the one-loss bracket in the semifinal. Coming with an impressive performance on his birthday, that player would be longtime tour player Ray Feliciano. Following his early loss to Josh Friedberg in the winner’s bracket, Feliciano came with a run of seven wins, topped off by a 7-6 win in the quarterfinal against former tour winner Dave Shlemperis and a semifinal win of 7-5 against Luis Jimenez. Moving on to the final match, Ray Feliciano took on undefeated Lidio Ramirez. Ramirez and Feliciano would have a close match for the title, but at the end of their late-finishing match, Ramirez would come out ahead at 11-9. This would mark Ramirez’s first Predator win, along with Feliciano’s first finish in the top three since 2012, when he took second at Steinway Billiards. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards.

To follow up his recent runner-up finish in the NYC 8-Ball Championships, Sean “Alaska” Morgan one-upped himself three weeks later, taking down the Open 10-Ball division of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s thirteenth stop of the season. The event, held at Raxx Pool Room on Sunday, June 29, would mark Morgan’s first win on the tour, which he has been competing in since the tour’s launch in 2008. After a first-round bye, Morgan came away from a close call against Steve Wright at 8-7, then went on to defeat Elvis Rodriguez (8-4) to move on to the winner’s side final. Meeting up with Morgan as the other undefeated player was one of Russia’s top champions, Moscow native Evgeny Stalev. Stalev took out tour amateur Lionell Swanston in the first round, then went on to defeat tour owner Tony Robles (8-4) and top NYC veteran player Frankie Hernandez (8-5). To determine who would take the hot seat and guarantee a spot in the final, Stalev had a close fight against Morgan, and it went down to the wire before Morgan won 8-7. Although Frankie Hernandez was sent to the left side of the bracket by Stalev, it was not ‘game over’ for him. Hernandez went on to defeat Steve Wright (8-7) to make it to the quarterfinal…where he would end up playing tour newcomer Elvis Rodriguez of Queens. Rodriguez had just come away from a big win over Tony Robles (8-6), but would be topped by Hernandez by a score of 8-4. Hernandez then moved on to the semifinal, where he successfully avenged his earlier loss to Stalev, sending him into third place with a 8-4 winning score. Going up against Morgan in the final, Hernandez would fight hard, but “Alaska” persevered to win by a two-game margin of 9-7 and remain undefeated for the day.

On Sunday, May 25, 2014, the Open/Pro 10-Ball division of the 4th Annual George “Ginky” SanSouci Memorial got underway at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. The three-day event, presented jointly by the Predator Pro/Am Tour, The Tri-State Tour, and The Mezz Pro/Am Tour, had started off with the handicapped Amateur 9-Ball division on the previous day, Saturday, May 24, and both events continued into their completion on Monday, May 26. Joining the tour directors and staff at Steinway were the teams from AZBtv and NYC Grind, who collaborated together to co-produce a live stream of feature matches, free to view on the AZBtv Ustream Channel. Matches from the event will also be available to watch at any time, on the AZBtv YouTube Channel. The fans and supporters at Steinway, included some of Ginky’s family members, were treated to a lineup of some of the Northeast’s most notable names, many of whom were personal friends of his. Included among the top-rate players were 2011 Champion Mike Dechaine, former World Champion Mika Immonen, 2013 Empire State Champion Jayson Shaw of Scotland, BCA Hall of Famer “The Irish Invader” Karen Corr, top Virginia-based player Danny Mastermaker, Ohio-based touring pro Adam Smith, Boston’s Jarrod Clowery, Florida’s Hunter Lombardo, WPBA touring pro Emily Duddy, and Predator Tour owner Tony Robles. Through the two-day run of action at Steinway, Mike Dechaine would forge through the winner’s bracket to capture his second Ginky Memorial title. On his way to the top, Dechaine took out Travis McKinney (8-5), Joe Dupuis (8-5), Rich Britt (8-1), Karen Corr (8-2) on the live stream table, and Danny Mastermaker (8-5), which sent him into the hot seat match. Coming from the upper half of the winner’s bracket into the hot seat match was Adam Smith, whose run included wins against Jarrod Clowery, Mika Immonen (8-6), and Steinway player Mhet Vergara (8-5) in the final four. However, in the hot seat match, Dechaine held Smith to only four games, for a final score of 8-4, which sent Dechaine into the final. Following his upset loss to Adam Smith, Mika Immonen charged back through the one-loss bracket, with wins against Society Billiards house pro Johnathan Smith (8-6), Hunter Lombardo (8-1), and Danny Mastermaker (8-5) to get to the quarterfinal. Meeting up with Immonen in the quarterfinal was Jayson Shaw, who had previously taken wins against New Yorkers Frankie Hernandez (8-4) and Mhet Vergara (8-2). The quarterfinal between Shaw and Immonen was a close one, and had Shaw reaching the hill first. However, Immonen mounted a comeback, and tied it 7-7. In the final rack, Immonen played a good safety, which resulted in Shaw jumping to hit the four ball. Shaw contacted the four, but being that it was close to the rail, the ball flew off the table, and Immonen had ball in hand to run out the rack. Immonen then moved on to his semifinal rematch against Smith, who he had played the previous day. While Smith got out to an early 4-1 lead, the tide turned in Immonen’s favor, and he would eventually win by a score of 8-6. The modified extended-race final between Immonen and Dechaine could not have been more exciting. The players exchanged racks, staying nearly-tied the entire time, until it was 10-10. With the entire event on the line, Dechaine broke, and the ten ball was kicked into a position in front of the side pocket. Dechaine successfully banked the one ball into the ten to capture the win in the case game, securing a second Ginky Memorial title to add to his collection of honors.

The 4th Annual George “Ginky” SanSouci Memorial has reached its conclusion on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26 at Steinway Billiards (Astoria, NY). The first of the two divisions featured in the event to complete was the Amateur 9-Ball, where a full field of 128 players fought to make it to the top on the third and final day. Collaborating together in this celebration of one of New York’s most accomplished players in professional pool, were the area’s three top amateur and pro/am tours, The Tri-State Tour, Predator Pro/Am Tour, and Mezz Pro/Am Tour, which include top players from around the regional. Emerging as the victor of this event was Predator Pro/Am Tour & Tri-State Tour player Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, who could not be contained by any of his opponents, and earned undefeated status at Steinway. Only recently, Delimelkonoglu (rated with a ‘B’ handicap) had his first Predator Tour win at Cue Bar in Queens in April of this year. At the Ginky Memorial’s start on Saturday, May 24, Delimelkonoglu began his route to the top, defeating Jack Cuomo (7-6), Kevin Cheung (7-6), Julie Ha (7-4), his friend Joe Wilson-Torres (7-6), Chris Karp (7-4), and Glenn Ramsey in the final four. Kapriel "Kapo" Delimelkonoglu in the finals. (Photo: Claude Gregoire)
While Delimelkonoglu held down the lower bracket (comprised of B/C/D players), his contender in the hot seat match reigned supreme in the B+ through A++ bracket. John Ortiz, an ‘A’ rated player based in New Haven, CT, would clear the upper bracket with a run that included a 7-6 win over former tour winner James Stevens and a 7-4 win over Christian Smith to meet up with Delimelkonoglu in the hot seat match. In the match for the hot seat, which took place on day three, Delimelkonoglu had a solid 9-4 win over Ortiz to secure his place in the final match. In the rounds to complete on the final day, four players on the one-loss side joined the last two who were undefeated. In the ‘final four’ of the one-loss, Glenn Ramsey defeated Thomas Rice in the lower side, while Christian Smith had a 7-5 win over Lidio Ramirez. Smith and Ramsey then met up in the quarterfinal, which was soundly won by Smith at 7-3. In the semifinal, Smith took on John Ortiz in a hard-fought battle that went to hill-hill. After Ortiz led 6-5, Smith bumped the score to 6-6. In the final break of the match, Smith came up empty, and Ortiz ran out the rack to take a 7-6 win. This win would make for a rematch in the final between Ortiz & Delimelkonoglu. The final would be a modified “extended-race” format, where Delimelkonoglu would win if he reached nine first, but if Ortiz got to nine first, the race would go on to eleven games. While Delimelkonoglu got out to an initial lead, Ortiz stayed close behind. However, Delimelkonoglu pulled ahead to to secure a 9-7 victory to take the match. You can watch the final match, as commentated by Upstate Al, Ed Culhane, and Larry Ross here in the video player below, from the AZBtv YouTube Channel. Kapriel “Kapo” Delimeklonoglu, who is originally from Turkey and came into pool with a three-cushion background, has had big improvements in his game in recent years, and went from a ‘C’ handicap to a ‘B’ in a short period of time. Following his performance in the Ginky Memorial, his tour handicap will be raised to a ‘B+’. This win for Kapo was a significant one. “I came back to playing pool after a nine-month break, and made the goal of winning the Ginky Memorial when I started to play again,” said Kapo. “As an amateur in the Tri-State area, in pool, there is no better accomplishment as a goal. Ginky was a great player,” he went on to say. Steinway owner Georgios Nikolakakos & Kapriel Delimelkonoglu (Photo: Alison Fischer)
Runner-up John Ortiz is among the contingent of Connecticut players who compete on the Predator Pro/Am Tour, and he also finished in the top of the rankings at Steinway in the 2013 tour season opener, in the third place position. New Jersey-based third semifinalist Christian Smith has also been a notable name on both the Predator and the Tri-State Tours for a number of years, and this finish marks a highlight of his 2014 tournament showings. Fourth place was also an outstanding finish for Steinway Billiards regular Glenn Ramsey, who won the Megabucks League Straight Pool playoffs at Steinway earlier this year. Tony Robles of the Predator Tour, Christian Smith (3rd), Kapriel Delimelkonoglu (1st), John Ortiz (2nd), John Leyman of The Tri-State Tour (Photo: Alison Fischer)
A strong showing of sixteen New York area female competitors were included in the 128-player lineup at the Ginky Memorial, and NJ-based player Julie Ha would have the top finish of the women, tied for 9th-12th place. Ha, who was notably the 2013 and 2014 Super Billiards Expo Amateur Women’s runner-up, was one of three women who finished in the money rounds, along with Erin Bechner (25th-32nd) and myself, Alison Fischer (17th-24th).
Tour directors Tony & Gail Robles, Todd Fleitman, John Leyman, and Jose Burgos earned credit for a very smooth-running three days of competition, and had the support of the hard-working staff and owners of Steinway Billiards. “Upstate Al” Leon was in the commentating booth throughout the weekend for the free live stream co-produced by AZBtv & NYC Grind, and was joined by me and special guests attending the event. Al’s son Joey was also on-site to assist him, and a network of online supporters helped to get the word out about the stream.
Other people on the scene who should be recognized include Jimmy Martinez and David Padilla, who produced the Ginky Memorial shirts. Part of the proceeds for the shirts went toward a breast cancer awareness charity, selected by Ginky’s family members, who were at Steinway to support the event and players throughout the weekend. New York-based Focused Apparel, a Predator Tour affiliate, was also on-site throughout the event. David Padilla & John Leyman at the tournament bracket table, with players Joey & Danny Mastermaker in the background (Photo: Alison Fischer)
Stay tuned for the full results from the Open 10-Ball event, which coincided with the amateur division on May 25-26.

Out of the field of forty-two players who headed out to Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY on the weekend of May 17-18, Rhio Anne Flores proved that it was her time to shine, as she paved her way to an undefeated victory in the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s Amateur 9-Ball division. While Flores has had numerous top finishes in Tri-State area events in recent years, this would be her first-ever Predator Tour win, and make her the first female tour winner of 2014. Flores regularly plays out of Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY, which is where she had her previous high finish of runner-up in the Predator at the April 14, 2013 tour stop. At Cue Bar, following her opening win against Scott Murphy (7-3), Flores would take on her significant other & former tour winner Raphael Dabreo for a solid 8-3 win, then continued on to defeat Carl Yusuf Khan (7-1), and Shawn Sookhai (7-4) to make it to the winner’s bracket final. Meeting Rhio Anne Flores in the ‘hot seat match’ would be another breakout performer in the event, Dan Faraguna. Faraguna made it to the top of the B/C/D side of the bracket following a narrow 7-6 win over Luis Jimenez, but would not be able to get past Flores, who pulled away to take the hot seat at 7-4. The two players to lose in the ‘final four’ of the winner’s bracket, Luis Jimenez and Shawn Sookhai, would both rebound with wins on the one-loss side against Paulo Valverde and Jerry Tarantola, respectively. Sookhai and Jimenez moved on to face one another in the quarterfinal, where Sookhai soundly won at 7-4. Dan Faraguna, was waiting in the wings to take on Sookhai in the semifinal, in what would be a closely-contested match. In the end, it came down to a couple untimely positional errors by Sookhai, which were capitalized on by Faraguna…leading to his 7-6 victory. This would make for Shawn “Snoop Dogg” Sookhai’s second straight top place finish on the Predator, as he finished in second at stop #10. In her final rematch against Dan Faraguna, Rhio Anne Flores continued to display her well-measured pace and strong focus that are characteristic to her style. Flores took control of the final from the start, and went on to win by a score of 7-2. Along with a first-time win for Flores, this would be Faraguna’s record top finish, with his previous best being ninth place. Following the final, NYC Grind caught up with Flores, who mentioned that she did not come into the event with high expectations and was looking to get warmed up for the following weekend’s Ginky Memorial. “I’m just happy that I played well throughout the event,” said Flores. Congratulations to Rhio Anne Flores on her strong win, along with all of the event’s top finishers. Next up on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be the 4th Annual George “Ginky” SanSouci Memorial, coming up on May 24-26 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. The event will be jointly-presented by the Predator Tour, Tri-State Tour, and Mezz Tour, and NYC Grind will be teaming up with AZBtv to present a free live stream via ustream.tv/channel/azbtv. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and the tour’s newest sponsor, Ozone Billiards, along with Cue Bar and their staff. Visit PredatorProAmTour.com fore more tour information.

It was the out-of-towner who came in to upend the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s Open 10-Ball event at Cue Bar in Bayside, NY on Sunday, May 18. Despite having tour owner Tony Robles and Steinway Billiards resident pro Earl Strickand to contend with, Virginia pro Brandon Shuff stood on top at the end of the day. However, Robles would prevent Shuff from going undefeated on this day, as their hot seat battle ended with a narrow 7-6 victory for “The Silent Assassin”, who kicked in the one ball on his opening shot, to run out and win the rack. Robles had come off a prior 7-1 trouncing of Strickland, while Shuff had sent tour regular Michael Yednak to the one-loss side at 7-4. On the left side of the chart, Steinway-based open player Mhet Vergara met up with 2013 Ginky Memorial amateur champion Yednak with a 7-5 ending victory, while Strickland knocked out Raphael Dabreo at 7-4. Strickland would have little trouble with Vergara in the following quarterfinal round, which resulted in a 7-3 finish to bump Strickland up to the semifinal. Strickland then took on Brandon Shuff for the semifinal, in a match that went right down to wire before Shuff closed out a 7-6 win. In Shuff’s second meeting with Robles, a different outcome would ensue. From an early 2-2 stage in the match, Shuff pulled away to lead 7-2. Although Robles began to right the course, he left the door open in a few key situations, and Shuff concluded the match with a 10-5 win to finish the day strong. Next up on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be the 4th Annual George “Ginky” SanSouci Memorial, coming up on May 24-26 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. The event will be jointly-presented by the Predator Tour, Tri-State Tour, and Mezz Tour, and NYC Grind will be teaming up with AZBtv to present a free live stream via ustream.tv/channel/azbtv. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and Ozone Billiards, along with Cue Bar and their staff. Visit PredatorProAmTour.com fore more tour information.

On Sunday, April 13, Earl Strickland would take down the Predator Pro/Am Tour for the second week running. As a follow-up to his win at Steinway Billiards on April 6, Strickland went undefeated at the tour’s tenth stop of the season, held at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY. The event was streamed live in an AZbilliards.com & NYCgrind.com co-production via the AZBtv Ustream Channel, and "Upstate Al" Leon was on-site as commentator of the feature matches. To make it to the top at Cue Bar, Strickland started out with an 8-1 win over Anthony Chiapp, and in the second round, took out New York open player Michael Yednak, who held an initial 4-1 lead…but Strickland struck back, and went on to win 8-4. Along with Strickland and tour owner Tony Robles, Mika Immonen made an appearance at this event as the third pro competing at Cue Bar. Immonen was struck down in the winner’s bracket by an in-form Robles by a close score of 8-6. While Immonen headed to the one-loss side, Robles and Strickland faced off in the hot seat match. After being closely-tied at the start, Strickland pulled away at 4-4, and went on to win the set at 8-4. On the left side of the bracket, Immonen went on to defeat Bryan Singh (8-1), Michael Yednak (8-1) in the quarterfinal, and exacted revenge on Tony Robles in the semifinal with an 8-3 finish. Immonen moved on to face his former Mosconi Cup opponent, Strickland, in the final…but even the Iceman was unable to freeze the Pearl. Strickland ran through the final set with a 9-3 score to take the win. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and the tour’s newest sponsor, Ozone Billiards, along with Cue Bar and their staff. Stop #11 of the Predator Tour will also to be held at Cue Bar, on the weekend of May 17-18. More photos by Alison Fischer from the event can be found on the NYC Grind Facebook page.

On the weekend of April 12-13, the Predator Pro/Am Tour headed to Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY for stop #10 of their 2014 tour season. Throughout the first day of the event, AZbilliards.com & NYCgrind.com teamed up to present a free live stream via the AZBtv Ustream Channel, while on day two, the Open/Pro 10-Ball division was streamed. A full field of 64 players came from around the New York Tri-State area to put in their bid in this event…but the player to break through to the top would be Queens-based player Kapriel “Kapo” Delimelkonoglu, as he captured his first tour win. Delimelkonoglu (who is rated a ‘B’) on the tour and regularly plays at Steinway Billiards and Amsterdam Billiards, got through to the top of the bracket with a string of six wins. Along his path, he took out Mike Woike (7-3), Meshak Daniel (7-5), Ron Mason (7-5), Bryan Singh (7-4), Chickie Romero (7-6), and made it out of the hot seat match as the winner over Shawn Sookhai at hill-hill (7-6). Sookhai (a former tour winner and dedicated player on the Predator and Tri-State Tours) then waited to contend with the player to come out of the one-loss bracket. This player would be the ‘A+’-ranked Tom Hagan, who previously scored his first win at Cue Bar earlier this year. Hagan was dealt a loss in the winner’s bracket on day one, but recovered well, with a run to the semifinal including wins over Jack Smith, Marco Dy, Stewart Warnock, James Stevens, and Laszlo Kovacs, to get to the quarterfinal. The quarterfinal match would pit Hagan against tour regular and owner of Predator Tour sponsor Gotham City Technologies, Ron Mason. Mason also had a tough fight through the one-loss side, where he defeated Tony Ignomirello, Glenn Ramsey, Meshak Daniel, and Chickie Romero. In the quarterfinal, Hagan and Mason had a gritty battle that went all the way to 6-6, when Hagan broke and ran out to move on to the semifinal. Hagan went up against Shawn Sookhai in the semifinal, which was won convincingly by Sookhai with a 7-4 score. In a repeat of the hot seat match, Sookhai took on Kapo Delimelkonoglu once again…with the same results, a 7-6 win for Delimelkonoglu. In speaking with Kapo following his win, he attributed his breakthrough win against Chickie Romero (who he had previous repeated hill-hill losses against) to helping him achieve his first tour victory, as it helped to boost his confidence moving forward. Congratulations to Kapo, along with all of the top finishers at Cue Bar! The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, and the tour’s newest sponsor, Ozone Billiards, along with Cue Bar and their staff. Stop #11 of the Predator Tour will also to be held at Cue Bar, on the weekend of May 17-18. More photos by Alison Fischer can be found on the NYC Grind Facebook page.

On the weekend of April 5-6, the ninth stop of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s 2014 season was held in Astoria, NY, at one of New York’s most popular spots for competitive pool, Steinway Billiards. The two-day Amateur 9-Ball division featured a total of 72 players at the event’s start on Saturday…but on the second day, only twelve would remain with a shot at winning the title. The double-elimination handicapped division of this stop features a split format, with B+ through A++ players in one half of the bracket, and D through B ranked players in the other half. The top players to come through each group then face off in the winner’s side final. Following a number of top finishes on the tour in recent times, New York’s Omar Alli would be the player to walk away with his first tour victory at Steinway. Making his route through the winner’s bracket, Alli defeated Gus Iliopoulos (7-3), Paulo Valverde (7-4), Kirill Safronov (7-6), George Poltorak (7-6), and Ray Feliciano (7-3). With four players left in the winner’s bracket on Sunday, Alli moved forward after a 7-4 win over Enoch Houper, while on the other half of the bracket, former tour winner Eric Grasman got through a close match to win 7-6 against another former winner, Billy Santiago. Grasman and Alli moved on to face one another in the match for the hot seat, which was won in a near-shutout by Alli at 8-1. Fighting for redemption on the one-loss side of the bracket, the final four players matched up to see who would make it to the final rounds. On the B/C/D side, Enoch Houper recovered from his previous loss to Alli with a 7-4 win over Kirill Safronov. In the B+/A++ half of the bracket, it was Miguel Laboy who was the rising force, who took wins over Diana Rojas (7-3), James Stevens (7-6), Shawn Sookhai (7-2), Junior Sanchez (7-5), and Billy Santiago (7-5) to get to the quarterfinal. However, Laboy’s strong run would end in the following round, after an 8-1 loss to Enoch Houper in the quarterfinal. Houper would then take to the semifinal versus Eric Grasman. Things were shaping up to be a runaway win for Houper, as he took the hot seat with a wide gap of 8-2. But, things were not yet over, as Grasman went on to win six straight games and tie it at double-hill, 8-8. In the final game, Grasman made a tough shot on the four, but ended up having an unfortunate scratch. In another interesting turn of events, Houper got to the eight, but would have to play a back-cut in the side. He ended up under-cutting the ball, and missed. Grasman was left with a long cut on the 8, and he missed the ball also. Houper would make the eight, but in yet another twist, missed the nine and scratched, turning over the match to Grasman. In the final, Eric Grasman would get another shot at the undefeated Omar Alli. While this would be a closer match than their previous meeting, Alli would lead the way through the set, to finish with an 8-5 win. Congratulations to Alli on a well-played weekend of competition, along with all of the event’s top finishers. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Steinway Billiards and their staff. Next up on the Predator Tour will be the tour’s 10th stop of 2014, to be held at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY on April 12-13

On the second day of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s ninth stop of 2014, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY, the tour’s Open/Pro 10-ball event got underway at noon. In a live stream co-production from NYC Grind & AZbilliards.com, “Upstate Al” Leon hosted the live show at Steinway for fans to watch live via the AZBtv Ustream Channel. Despite strong efforts by one of the tour’s top up-and-coming talents, resident pro Earl Strickland could not be denied at Steinway, and he laid down another Predator win on his home turf. As Strickland is now a full-time New Yorker, he is regularly seen in area tour events, and most recently won the tour’s February stop at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn. Meeting up with Strickland in the final of the winner’s bracket was the previous week’s Predator winner at Gotham, Chris Derewonski (aka “The Polish Champion), who also plays out of Steinway. On his path, Derewonski had some heavy-handed wins over Jerry Tarantola 7-2, Keith Adamik 7-1, and Jorge Rodriguez 7-3. On the lower half of the bracket, Earl “The Pearl” also had little trouble on his way to the hot seat match, taking out Steve Wright 7-3, Tony Robles 7-2, and Zion Zvi 7-2. Strickland’s only real threat of the day would come in the winner’s side final against Derewonski, who nearly stole the show from the Hall of Famer. Derewonski got out to an early lead in this match, and with the score at 5-2, he was on his way to getting on the hill…before an untimely miscue shifted the gears in Strickland’s direction. Strickland went on to win the next four games to get on the hill first at 6-5, to lead for the first time in the match…but a dry break in the next rack allowed Derewonski to tie it up at 6-6. Derewonski would also break dry as a follow-up, and Strickland executed a touchy 2/10 carom shot to win the match on the live stream. To make it to the quarterfinal, Jorge Rodriguez defeated tour owner Tony Robles 7-2, while Zion Zvi took a 7-5 win over Michael Yednak. Zvi and Rodriguez would have a closely-contended match in the quarterfinal, where Rodriguez sealed the win at 7-6. In an equally-close semifinal, Chris Derewonski defeated Jorge Rodriguez for the second time in the event, with a narrow 7-6 final. Derewonski would then go up against Strickland on the live stream once again…but this time, Strickland led the way for his final win of the night, with a score of 9-4 to remain undefeated. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Steinway Billiards and their staff. Next up on the Predator Tour will be the tour’s 10th stop of 2014, to be held at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY on April 12-13.

On Sunday, March 30, the Open/Pro 10-Ball division of stop #8 at the Predator Pro/Am Tour got underway at noon. This weekend’s event was hosted by one of Brooklyn’s most notable pool rooms, Gotham City Billiards, which is one of the few rooms in New York City to feature all Diamond tables. In a co-production between NYC Grind & AZbilliards, a free live stream of feature matches was made available for followers of pool around the world to watch the event all weekend on AZBtv’s Ustream Channel, which started with the Amateur 9-Ball division on the first day of the event. Read the Amateur 9-Ball results here. In a similar fashion to the recent tour stop at Steinway Billiards, local New York top player Jorge Rodriguez went through the winner’s bracket to claim his spot in the final. Rodriguez took out the multiple-Predator Tour winners Jeremy Sossei (7-5), Steinway house pro & former World Champion Earl Strickland (7-4), and in the winner’s side final, international touring pro Jayson Shaw (7-2).
However, that would not be the last time Rodriguez would be hearing from Shaw. In his move over to semifinal in the one-loss side, Shaw would meet up with Earl Strickland, who had previously come away with a close 7-6 win over tour owner Tony Robles in the quarterfinal. Robles had received his first loss of the event from Shaw earlier on, but rebounded with a 7-3 win over Hunter Lombardo to get to the quarterfinal. In the semifinal match against Strickland, pool’s top player out of Scotland had all cylinders firing once again, and Shaw got through with a 7-3 win. The final match against Rodriguez was a similar performance from Shaw, whose break at full-speed. There were few opportunities afforded Rodriguez in this match, as Shaw cleared rack after rack…to end with an 11-5 victory. Earl Strickland (3rd), Jayson Shaw (1st), Jorge Rodriguez (2nd), and room owner Kevin Buckley (Photo: Alison Fischer / NYC Grind)
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Gotham City Billiards and their staff. Next up on the Predator Tour will be the tour’s ninth stop of 2014, to be held at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY on April 5-6.

At Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, two players were vying for their first-ever Predator Pro/Am Tour win in the tour’s Amateur 9-Ball division. This event, held on the weekend of March 29-30, was the tour’s eighth stop of the 2014 season, and would be the second time ever that the tour was hosted by Gotham. NYC Grind & AZbilliards joined forces to present a free live stream of the event, via the AZBtv Ustream Channel. The two players who had their shot to win in the final were also the two who were the last players standing undefeated. Mike Harrington (rated a C+) and Chris Derewonski (rated A++). The format for each of the tour stops divides players ranked D through B in the lower half of the bracket, and the players ranked B+ through A++ in the upper half…leading to a face off between the two sides in the winner’s bracket final.
Harrington, a longtime area tour player based in New York, would have one of his best finishes in the event, and played very strong in the hot seat match to win 10-3 over Derewonski. On his path through the bracket, he took out Josh Friedberg (7-5), Joe Diamond (7-6), Patrick Meyers (7-3), Bob Schlott (7-5) on day one, followed by Sookdeo Ramkissoon (7-1) on the second day in the final four. The top force on the one-loss side of the event would be the Predator Tour’s own Gail Robles (formerly Glazebrook), who would eventually meet up with Chris Derewonski in the semifinal. Robles would have her first loss of the event in the last round of day one (to Sookdeo Ramkissoon 7-4), but got back in the groove on the second day, with wins against Patrick Meyers, Meshak Daniel, Sookdeo Ramkissoon, and in the quarterfinal Steve “The Russian” in a 7-0 shutout. The semifinal between Robles & Derewonski would be a close one, but Derewonski pulled ahead to win it 9-7 and earn a second chance at Mike Harrington in the final. This would place Robles in third, which would be her record high finish in seven season on the tour.
In the final match, Chris Derwonski, who plays out of Steinway Billiards, was in top-form for his rematch against Mike Harrington. With their handicap difference, Harrington was spotted five games in an extended-format race to ten. If Harrington got to ten first, he would win as the player with no losses…but if Derewonski got to ten first, the race would be extended to twelve. In this case, Derewonski pushed full speed ahead, giving no breathing room to Harrington. The match closed out with a final winning score of 12-6 for Derewonski to take his first tour win. Chris Derewonski was impressive throughout the weekend at Gotham, and made a run through the winner’s bracket with wins against recent tour winner James Stevens (8-6), Victor Nau (7-6), Nigel Francis (8-7), “Devil Dave” Ascolese (8-4), and Brooke Meyer (8-4). Derewonski joined Harrington & Robles in their best tour finishes to date.
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Gotham City Billiards and their staff. Next up on the Predator Tour will be the tour’s ninth stop of 2014, to be held at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY on April 5-6.

The seventh stop on the 2014 season for the Predator Pro/Am Tour was held at one of the tour’s new venues, Corner Pocket Cafe, in Orange, CT on March 22-23. A strong base of tour players hail from Connecticut, many of whom made it out to compete at Corner Pocket. However, in the Amateur 9-Ball division, New York would come out on top in this event, as Josh Thiele of Cold Spring, NY would take home an undefeated victory & his first tour win. Along his path, Thiele took out recent Steinway winner James Stevens (7-3), Junior Sanchez (7-1), Phil Davis (7-5). Things picked back up with the final four of the winner’s bracket on Sunday at noon, where Thiele narrowly defeated Jack Smith at 7-6 after being down 6-2, and Chickie Romero gave Joe Torres his first loss at 7-4. Josh Thiele would have another close fight against Romero in the match for the hot seat, which ended in his favor at 8-6. Also on the second day of the stop, the Predator Tour’s Open 10-Ball event kicked off at noon, read the results & watch NYC Grind’s newest video featuring Jeremy Sossei’s winning finale here.
Brooke Meyer was also busy fighting for redemption on the one-loss side, after having lost his opening match to John Barton 7-4. Meyer went on to knock out Sal Midolo 7-2, Ervin Simpkins, Junior Sanchez, Dave Shlemperis, Jack Smith, and Joe Torres in the quarterfinal, by a score of 7-2. The semifinal continued Meyer’s hot streak, as he edged out Chickie Romero at hill-hill, with a 7-6 win. In the final match, Meyer took on the undefeated player in the ‘hot seat’, Josh Thiele. Thiele would maintain his perfect record for the event, with a big 7-2 win to take the event after breaking and running out in the final game. At the start of the tournament, Thiele was rated as an ‘A’, but his performance at Corner Pocket led to his handicap being raised to ‘A+’. Along with this being a first-time win for Thiele, all four of the top players had breakthrough showings in this event, with record best finishes on the tour. Congrats to all of the top players at Corner Pocket!
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Corner Pocket Cafe & their staff. Corner Pocket owner Bart Rivezzi & his family are to be credited for stepping up to contribute to the growing landscape of pool supporters & enthusiasts in the region with their first Predator Tour stop. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY on March 29-30. This event will be streamed in a co-production between AZbilliards & NYC Grind, via the AZBtv Ustream Channel: ustream.tv/channel/azbtv.

On the weekend of March 22-23, the Predator Pro/Am Tour made its first appearance in Connecticut in many years, as its seventh stop of 2014 was held at Corner Pocket Cafe in Orange, CT. Fittingly, Bethlehem, CT pro Jeremy Sossei rose to the occasion to put another win in the books. As a follow-up to his win in the Predator at Steinway, Sossei once again made a return from the loss side. After an initial 7-2 win over room owner Bart Rivezzi, Sossei lost 7-3 to Mike Dechaine. On the lower half of the bracket, Tony Robles came away with a 7-3 win over top CT amateur Phil Davis, and he went on to win the hot seat at 7-5 over Dechaine. Following his loss to Dechaine, Sossei moved on to defeat Mike Jackson 7-3 and Kevin Guimond 7-5, in the quarterfinal. His close win over Guimond put Sossei up into a rematch against Mike Dechaine in the semi…which had the opposite outcome, as this time, it was Sossei winning solidly at 7-3.
Jeremy Sossei would then go up versus tour founder Tony Robles in an extended-format race final. Robles would win the match if he got to nine games first, but if Sossei reached nine first, the race would be extended to eleven. Sossei ran away with this set, as he put on a finely-tuned performance to lead 8-1. Robles would manage to put up a few more racks on the board, but Sossei nailed down an 11-5 victory by the night’s end. NYC Grind’s latest video, created by Jerry T, highlights Sossei’s strong finish to capture his victory at Corner Pocket. Watch in the video player at the top of the page. Recently, Jerry T also spotlighted the Amateur 9-ball division of the tour, in the video highlighting the February tour stop at Steinway–watch the video here. Mike Dechaine (3rd), Tony Robles (2nd), Jeremy Sossei (1st), and room owner Bart Rivezzi - Photo courtesy Linda Moreiras Piddington
Sossei has recently been announced as one of the 2014 Team USA Mosconi Cup candidates, and is joined by other top young American talent. As Sossei has proven to be one of the toughest forces in pool on the East Coast, and a reputation as a sportsman, many in the region will be pulling to see “The Giant Killer” make the roster. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 Racks, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Corner Pocket Cafe & their staff. Corner Pocket owner Bart Rivezzi & his family are to be credited for stepping up to contribute to the growing landscape of pool supporters & enthusiasts in the region with their first Predator Tour stop. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY on March 29-30. This event will be streamed in a co-production between AZbilliards & NYC Grind, via the AZBtv Ustream Channel: ustream.tv/channel/azbtv.

March 8-9, 2014 was a big weekend for pool in the New York Tri-State area, as many amateurs and pros alike were out in droves to get ready for the upcoming Super Billiards Expo, happening a short drive out of NYC in Edison, NJ on March 13-16. The players of the Predator Pro/Am Tour were among those in action, at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. While the remaining players in the tour’s Amateur 9-Ball division continued into day two, the Open 10-Ball event kicked off at noon on the second day. With a strong combination of local talent and touring players, the tour was also host to the co-produced NYC Grind & AZbilliards live stream, which featured them in the worldwide webcast hosted by ‘UpState Al’ Leon.
While notable touring names such as Warren Kiamco, Jayson Shaw, Mike Dechaine, and Earl Strickland highlighted the field, it was top local Steinway player Jorge Rodriguez who stole the show in the winner’s bracket of this event. Rodriguez was unable to be stopped on his run to take the hot seat, after wins against Jonathan Smith 7-5, Ed Culhane 7-4, CT pro Jeremy Sossei 7-6, Earl Strickland 7-4, and lastly, Mike Dechaine at 7-4. Dechaine had come off previous wins against Zion Zvi & Tony Robles, but would then have to bounce back in the semifinal to get another shot at Rodriguez in the final. Mike Dechaine shooting on the feature table (Photo by Alison Fischer)
For the semi, Dechaine would have to contend with one of his opponents from earlier in the day, Jeremy Sossei. Sossei made a fierce recovery after his loss to Dechaine, devastating his opponents on his run to the final rounds. On the one-loss side, Sossei knocked out Raphael Dabreo 7-2, Jonathan Smith 7-1, Zion Zvi 7-2, and in the quarterfinal, Earl Strickland at 7-2. Jeremy Sossei would again follow suit in the semifinal match against a clearly-worn out Mike Dechaine, as he again won by a 7-2 scoreline. Jeremy Sossei in the semifinal on the feature table. (Photo by Alison Fischer)
In the finals, Sossei starts out strong against the hot seat occupant Jorge Rodriguez, going up 5-1 in the extended-format single race set. Rodriguez won the next rack to go 5-2, but misses the one ball off the next break. Sossei went on to extend his lead at 9-3, and it would not be long before Sossei cleaned up the last two needed racks, putting away an 11-4 win. Sossei performed with his customary methodical, disciplined style, and it proved to be successful, landing him his first tour win of the season. Jeremy Sossei, along with many of the other competitors in this event, will be seen at the upcoming Super Billiards Expo. Best of luck to everyone in Edison!
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Steinway Billiards & their staff.

On the weekend leading up to the annual Super Billiards Expo, the Predator Pro/Am Tour held their sixth stop for the 2014 season, the ‘Expo Warm-Up’ tournament, on March 8-9. For the two-day Amateur 9-Ball division, a total of seventy-two top amateur players turned out at host room Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY.
In an undefeated run out of the gate, New York-based Paris native Vincent Rochefort came away with his first-ever Predator Tour win. Starting out on day one, Rochefort went on a run with wins against Diana “Snooky” Rojas 7-4, Alberto Estevez 7-6, Shawn Sookhai 7-6, Jimmy Acosta 7-6, to make it to the final four. In the next round on day two, Rochefort had another hill-hill finish, where he defeated Chris Derewonski 8-7 to get to the hot seat match. While Rochefort dominated the upper half of the bracket, made up of B+ through A++ players, Josh Friedberg came out firing in the D-B half. A newcomer to the tour in 2014, Long Island-based Friedberg had an impressive run in this event, and eventually place in third. To make it to the hot seat match, Friedberg had a string of wins against Nick Spinnato 7-3, Mike Woike 7-1, Gail Robles 7-3, Dennis Lake 7-6, and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu 7-3. In the match for the hot seat, Friedberg had a close match against Rochefort, but fell short at 7-5. Josh Friedberg (Photo by Alison Fischer)
Another impressive young up-and-coming player on the tour, Omar Alli, had a long grind after losing his second-round match to eventually make it all the way to the final. Alli, who was a recent winner in the Tri-State Tour’s December 14 stop at Steinway, lost to Dave Heyman 7-5, but went on to win a string of ten matches to get to the final. On his path, Alli took out Adrian Daniel 7-2, Tony Ignomirello 7-5, Thomas Rice 7-5, Naldo Troncoso 7-4, Steve Kalloo 7-5, Joe Gibbons 7-4, and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu 7-4 to make it to the quarterfinal. Meeting Alli in the quarterfinal was a player who had just as long of a journey through the elimination side, Laszlo Kovacs. Kovacs (rated ‘A’) also lost in the second round to Jimmy Acosta 7-5, and went on for a strong run of wins against “Devil Dave” Ascolese 7-5, Steve Astashen 7-5, Miguel Laboy 7-2, Juan Guzman 7-2, Jimmy Acosta 7-5, Brooke Meyer 7-5, and Chris Derewonski 7-3. In their quarterfinal match, Kovacs and Alli had a close fight, but Alli pulled away to win 7-5 and move on to the semifinal. Josh Friedberg awaited Omar Alli for the semifinal, and they would have an even closer match…going all the way to 6-6 before Alli finished off the winning rack to make it to the final. Undefeated Vincent Rochefort then took on Omar Alli for the title match. Rochefort stayed on-point and looked very at ease throughout the match, and went on to win easily at 7-3 to take his first title on the Predator Tour. In addition to this win, Rochefort also recently won two weekly tournaments at Steinway, showing that he had some game to reckon with in New York. Rochefort’s previous best finish on the tour was 9th-12th place, so this win was a big achievement in his performance record. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Steinway Billiards & their staff.

The Predator Pro/Am Tour’s fifth stop of 2014 was hosted by hotspot Queens pool room Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. The Amateur 9-ball segment of the event kicked off on Saturday, March 1 and ended on Sunday, March 2 on. A very strong showing of the most impressive up-and-coming talent in the New York area came out to compete over the excitement-filled weekend. A total of 96 players, ranked from D+ to A++ converged at Steinway for this double-points event, and set out on a quest to earn the honor of being named champion. It’s clear to the NYCgrind.com team that pool is hot right now, and there is more excitement, buzz, and dialogue being sparked around all that’s cool in the pool world. We are glad to see the momentum gaining steam, and being fueled by those who believe in the future of the sport.
Predator Cues, the largest pool cue manufacturer in the world, is the title sponsor of the tour, and the brand recently announced they will be sponsoring two of the pro events at the upcoming Super Billiards Expo: the men’s 10-ball and women’s 9-ball competitions. With the Super Billiards Expo coming up around the corner on March 13-16, it seems that almost all the amateurs in the New York area have been tuning up their stroke and getting in the competitive swing for the upcoming Expo. Known as the “Greatest Show on Pool Earth”, the Expo is known for having events for all ages, and is the largest consumer & player pool Expo in the world. Predator Tour’s fifth stop served as a great warm-up for the Expo, and coming up this weekend, March 8-9, the tour’s Expo Warm-Up event will continue to heat up the action for players in the area. During the two days of competition at Steinway for the Predator Pro/Am Tour event, I was moved by the gritty performances by 15-year-old Thomas Rice, veteran female grinder Diana “Snooky” Rojas, Victor Nau, and the eventual winner, who not long ago made the decision to step back from his successful business to focus on seeing how far he elevate his pool game. NYCgrind.com is pleased to introduce our Super News video from the event at Steinway, which summarizes the action from our unique perspective. This video is a little longer than our recent work, as we took a new approach in capturing the energy and the excitement as the action unfolded. Check out new video in the player below. Predator Tour at Steinway Billiards, 2014 Stop #5 – Super News from NYC Grind on Vimeo. NYC-based junior phenom Thomas Rice showed poise and experience well beyond his years by earning win after win in front of a knowledgeable New York crowd of tour supporters. Meanwhile, veteran player Victor Nau grinded through the one-loss bracket in impressive fashion, capping off his run with a gritty 7-5 win over Steve Wright for a spot in the finals. In that final match, Victor would face undefeated James Stevens, a Connecticut-based tour player who capped off an undefeated run to win his first-ever Predator Tour stop, and most importantly, proved to himself that practice and immersing yourself in the game pays dividends. Over the last year, James has competed in many events, and has been part of the fabric of the New York pool scene, while rediscovering his love for the game. Over this last weekend, James clearly took his game to a new high, as he found the confidence and trust to perform to the best of his ability. Kudos to James on a number of hard-fought battles en-route to a dominant 8-2 final score to seal his first Predator Tour victory. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Steinway Billiards & their staff.

It was a weekend for breakthroughs at the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s fourth stop of the 2014 season, held at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY on February 22-23. Gotham owners Kevin & Isabel Buckley and their staff welcomed a contingent of 48 strong amateur competitors from around the New York Tri-State area for the two-day A-D 9-ball division of the event. This tournament would bring out strong showings from a number of players, including one in particular who only recently made a return to the game after taking a nine-year stretch of time off: Eric Grasman. 2013 was the season that Grasman got back into the game, and had a strong finish at the Predator’s season finale at Raxx, where he came in fourth place. Rated an ‘A+’, Grasman played in the upper bracket, which included players from ‘B+’ to ‘A++’. He was not granted a weak route in this field, but Grasman successfully made it Billy Santiago 7-4, Raphael Dabreo 7-5, Roberto Mendoza 7-5, and got to the final four to defeat Steve Wright 7-5. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Thomas Rice was on the path with hopes of winning his second Predator stop. Making his way through the winner’s bracket, Rice took out Niko Berdzenishvili 7-3, Omar Chavez 7-5, Ron Mason 7-2, and James Stevens 7-6, to line up a match with longtime New York player Diana “Snooky” Rojas in the final four. Leading up to their match, Rojas defeated Joe Gibbons 7-4, Sammy Alvarez Jr. 7-3, Steve Persaud 7-3, and John Crescente 7-4. Rojas proved to be too strong for Rice in their match-up, as she won it soundly at 7-1. Rojas moved on to the hot seat match, where she took on Eric Grasman. Grasman came out ahead with a final score of 8-4 to move on to the finals. On the second day of the event, the players left standing one the one-loss side would fight to keep their hopes alive. In the final four, Chris Derewonski eliminated Roberto Mendoza 7-6, while James Stevens knocked out Tony Ignomirello by a score of 7-4. Stevens moved on to see another round, but his run would end there, as Thomas Rice would win 7-2. Derewonski would likewise also be sent home in that round, as Steve Wright dealt him a shutout at 7-0. Rice and Wright paired up in the quarterfinal, where Rice earned a 7-5 win, and continued to stay strong in his rematch against Diana Rojas, where he won 7-3. Thomas Rice would then face Eric Grasman in the extended single-race format final. Rice got out to a solid lead in this match, and made it to nine games first, which extended their race to 11. This is when Grasman began to mount his comeback, and the match would go all the way to 10-10 before Grasman claimed the victory and remained undefeated at Gotham. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Gotham City Billiards & their staff.

On day two of the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s fourth stop of 2014, held a Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday, Feb. 23, the Open 10-Ball segment of the event took place alongside the second day of the Amateur 9-Ball division. Of the top players who made it out to take theirs shot at Gotham, the two final players in the winner’s bracket would be none other than Earl “The Pearl” Strickland and Jeremy “The Giant Killer” Sossei, who were also opponents in the final of the last Turning Stone Classic, won by Strickland in September, 2013. While Strickland now calls Queens, NY his home (where he is house pro at Steinway Billiards), and Sossei is based nearby in Connecticut, both players appear regularly on the tour, and are frequent opponents. To make it into the hot seat match, Sossei had a strong win over tour owner Tony Robles (7-3), while Strickland got past top New York open player Jorge Rodriguez (7-5). In the hot seat match, Strickland came out the winner at 7-3 to take his post in the hot seat. Heading to the left side of the bracket, Top Long Island-based player Joey Korsiak would eliminate Tony Robles with a 7-3 victory, while Jorge Rodriguez took out Emily Duddy 7-2. Emily and Tony would finish tied for 5th place. In the quarterfinal match, Rodriguez would deal a shutout to Korsiak (7-0), to then go up against Jeremy Sossei in the semifinal. Sossei prevailed in the semi by a three-game margin at 7-4, which put him up for a rematch against Earl Strickland. The outcome of their second meeting of the day would turn out much the same, with Sossei gaining only one more game than in their prior match, as Strickland put down a 7-4 score for the win. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Gotham City Billiards & their staff. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held this weekend, March 1-2 at Steinway Billiards. For more event information visit PredatorProAmTour.com and SteinwayBilliards.com.

Fighting for the Empire State 10-Ball Open Championship’s top honor of having their name on the 2014 banner at the event’s annual venue, Raxx Pool Room Sports Bar & Grill, was a total turnout of twenty-four pro, open, and top amateur players hailing from around the region and beyond. Alongside Tony & Gail Robles and tournament director William Finnegan of the Predator Pro/Am Tour, Raxx proprietor Holden Chin and his staff set the stage with great service and hospitality for the players over the course of the single-day event on Sunday, February 16. AZBtv director 'Upstate Al' Leon was also on-site to live stream feature matches throughout the full two days of the Empire State weekend, starting with the Amateur 9-Ball event which got underway on Saturday, February 15. By around 8:00pm that evening, the last player standing in the winner’s bracket had been determined. In the hot seat match to determine who would lock down a spot in the final, Zion Zvi and Wang Can matched up after getting through four rounds of some of the toughest players the area has to offer. Zvi, one of the top players out of Israel who now calls Queens, NY home, started off the day strong with a 7-2 win over top Long Island player Joey Korsiak, and went on to beat Connecticut pro Jeremy Sossei 7-5, Earl Strickland 7-4, and room owner Holden Chin 7-3 to get to the winner’s side final. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Shanghai phenom Wang Can took out Greg McAndrews 7-2, Joe Gibbons 7-1, Chad Bowling 7-2, and in the final four defeated defending champ Jayson Shaw in a 7-0 whitewash. Despite Can’s tear through the bracket, he was not able to hold back Zion Zvi in the match for the hot seat, and Zvi plowed through to a 7-2 finish. The one-loss bracket had quite a bit of catching up to do…and following his early loss to Zvi, Jeremy Sossei would end up as one of the last players standing. In his closest match-up, Sossei one-upped Tony Robles at 7-6, and overpowered regional semi-pro Kevin Guimond at 7-5. In the same round, Earl Strickland knocked out Connecticut top amateur Phil Davis 7-1 on the live stream, but Strickland was unable to get past Jayson Shaw, who sent him out with a 7-5 scoreline. Strickland was resigned to fifth place, along with room owner Holden Chin, who was eliminated by Jeremy Sossei, 7-3. Sossei and Shaw were then left to fight in the quarterfinal, in what would be a closely-contended match. Taking the initial lead, Sossei forged ahead to go 4-1, but an unforced error gave Shaw his needed opportunity, and he caught up to tie 4-4. Shaw then took the lead at 5-4 and got to the hill first at 6-4, but broke dry in the next rack, allowing Sossei to run out and make it 6-5. After Sossei tied it up at double-hill, it came down to one game. Sossei had a successful break at 6-6, and played a good safe on the two. Shaw played a jump, but unintentionally pocketed the ball in the cross-corner pocket, while leaving an open shot on the three. Sossei had the remainder of the table open…but missed the six, giving over the final rack to Shaw. The semifinal would offer a second chance for Shaw against Wang Can, who waited out the rounds following his hot seat loss. Can won the lag, and started out hot with a runout from the break, making a jump shot along the way. In the following rack, he failed to make a ball, and Shaw ran out to tie 1-1. However, Shaw’s opportunities in the rest of the match were few and far-between, as Can put on a clinic, exhibiting his mastery of the table to end with a 7-2 win. The final match immediately followed, and Zion Zvi, who was waiting in the hot seat, won the flip for the break against Wang Can…who was hoping to make good on his previous loss to Zvi. For the title, Can and Zvi would play an ‘extended format’ final set. Having no losses, Zvi could win if he got to nine first, but if Can got to nine first, the set would be extended to eleven. At the start of the match, things were tied up at 2-2 when Zvi failed to get out to take the lead. Juxtaposed with his earlier powerful, fast-and-loose play, the wind seemed to have dropped from Zvi’s sails…and Can took full advantage of the opportunities Zvi afforded him. Can moved through the rest of the match like a hot knife through butter, running out like a machine to get to nine games first…while Zvi only had three. Zvi was only able to get two more games up before Can put away the match with a final score of 11-5. While Wang Can was clearly in the driver’s seat of the final match, and was a pool fan’s dream to watch, Zion Zvi had a very strong day on his path to the final, and made his name one of the headlines of the event. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Raxx Pool Room & their staff. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held this coming weekend, February 22-23 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. For the complete tour schedule and more information, visit PredatorProAmTour.com.

Over the weekend of February 15-16, the Predator Pro/Am Tour continued its seven-year run of the Empire State Championships, held annually at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, on Long Island. The talent in this event ranged from both long-standing tour members to some newcomers looking to make their name in one of the Predator Tour’s biggest events of the season. Top names included the event’s defending champion Yesid Garibello, and many other former tour winners such as Raphael Dabreo, Tom Hagan, Phil Davis, and Shawn Sookhai. One of the most standout performances of the event was seen from Mike Hertz (Washingtonville, NY), who had a dominant showing in the winner’s bracket to get to the hot seat and lock in his spot in the finals. On his way, he took out Andrew Cleary 7-2, Larry Ross 7-2, Mike Harrington 7-1, Joe Torres 7-4, Randy Fisher 7-5, Chris Brooks 7-2, and for the hot seat, Marco Dy, by a score of 7-4. Dy, who has made a recent return to competing, had a first-round bye to start off the tournament, then defeated Victor Nau 7-5, Austin Ouilette 7-6, Dave Shlemperis 7-2, Jimmy Acosta 7-2, and then beat Roberto Mendoza 7-2 in the final four to meet with Hertz. Among the grittiest fighters on the one-loss side was Omar Alli (rated B), who lost in the very first round, but went on to win eight straight matches before a loss to Randy Fisher that went down to the wire at 7-6. Alli finished in 7th place, while Fisher was knocked out in the following round after a hill-hill loss to Chris Brooks. Brooks moved on to the quarterfinal to face Roberto Mendoza, who lost his winner’s bracket match to Marco Dy. Following that loss, Mendoza played near-perfect and defeated Romeo Singh 7-2. Mendoza had another strong win in the quarterfinal against Brooks…but would face a tougher challenge in the semifinal. Marco Dy would come out the winner over Roberto Mendoza in the semi after a battle that went all the way to 6-6 before Dy won the final game. Marco Dy then got another turn to take on Mike Hertz in the finale. Hertz was spotted one game on the wire going to seven, but if Marco got to seven first, the final would be extended to nine for both players. After the one-game spot, Hertz won the opening rack to lead 2-0, but Dy then won the next two to tie it 2-2, and took the lead at 3-2. In the next rack, Dy played a safe on the seven, but the cue ball leaked out from behind the eight. Hertz got funny on the eight, and missed a cross-side bank. They alternated safes until Hertz made a full-table bank on the eight, but missed his bank attempt on the nine, double kissing the cue ball, for Dy to go up 4-2. After getting ball in hand, Dy then put the gap to three games, at 5-2. After Dy missed a relatively easy shot on the eight, Hertz scratched, allowing Dy to go up 6-2…then got his needed seven games to extend the race, at 7-2. Hertz then earned his first game after having lost seven straight, but that would be his last stand, as Marco Dy put away the last two racks for a final winning score of 9-3. Throughout the final, Dy showed his strong shot selection knowledge, and played smart both offensively and defensively. Both Marco Dy and Mike Hertz came out as the players with the most heart in this event, and had a long haul to make it to the finals. Congratulations to them both! The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with Raxx Pool Room & their staff. The next stop on the Predator Pro/Am Tour will be held this coming weekend, February 22-23 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. For the complete tour schedule and more information, visit PredatorProAmTour.com.

On the weekend of January 18-19, the Predator Pro/Am Tour held its second tour stop of the 2014 season at one of Queens’ upscale spots for pool, Cue Bar in Bayside, NY. As in each event, an impressive field of amateur talent from around the New York Tri-State area turned out to take their shot in the Amateur 9-Ball division of one of the area’s toughest tours. In this event, Brian Toolsee took second place for the second consecutive week…while former top finisher Tom Hagan prevented him from breaking through to his first tour victory. It was instead Hagan’s day to shine, as he came back from his loss to Toolsee in the hot seat to take down the field. On Tom Hagan’s route to the finals, he took out Alex Borukhovich 8-4, Jack Smith 7-4, Ed Culhane 7-1, and Victor Nau 7-4 to get lined up for the hot seat match. In the bottom half of the bracket, on the B/C/D side, Brian Toolsee was busy dealing losses to Matt Vascellaro 7-5, Bob Schlott 7-4, Dan Faraguna 7-4, and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu 7-4. Toolsee continued on his charge with an impressive hot seat win over Hagan at 8-2. Area player Delimelkonoglu also had a strong showing, and make a good effort on the one-loss side to make it to the quarterfinal, with a final win against up-and-coming junior talent Thomas Rice 7-2. However, it would be former tour winner Dave Shelmperis who would make the best run from the left side of the bracket, as he made it past Gary Murgia 7-5, Alex Osipov 7-4, Ed Culhane 7-4, Rhio Anne Flores 7-4, and Victor Nau 7-4 to get to the quarterfinal and get Delimelkonoglu at 7-4. Shlemperis was then bumped up to the semifinal, but could not get past Tom Hagan, who finished off the semi at hill-hill, 7-6. In the final match, Hagan stayed on his game, and walked away with a 10-8 win over Toolsee to take the event’s finale at Cue Bar. Hagan one-upped his previous top finish at Cue Bar in 2013, where he finished in second.
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with host room Cue Bar & their staff. The next stop on the Predator Tour will be the $3,000-added 7th Annual Raxx Empire State Championships, to be held at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY on Long Island on February 15-16.

In the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s second edition of 2014, Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY was the venue, held on the weekend of January 18-19. The one-day Open/Pro 10-Ball division of the even was held on Sunday, January 19, and touted some of pool’s top touring names, including 19-year-old runner-up Wang Can of Shanghai, China and ‘The winner Earl Strickland, who was featured in last week's 'Last Showdown' challenge vs Efren Reyes. Strickland would be the player to go the the hot seat undefeated…and continue on to stay untouched. Leading up to the hot seat, Strickland’s toughest opponent Can took out Zion Zvi 7-3, Jayson Shaw 7-1, and Omar Alli 7-0…while Strickland claimed wins against Steve Kalloo 7-2, Mhet Vergara 7-1, and Tony Robles 7-2. Strickland held up in the hot seat match, and locked in his spot in the final. Meanwhile, Zion Zvi and Jayson Shaw (who has recently returned to the States from Scotland) were working their way through the one-loss bracket. In the final four of the loser’s side, Shaw’s run was cut short by Tony Robles with a 7-6 score, while Zvi defeated New York amateur player Omar Alli 7-3. Robles continued on strong with a 7-5 win against Zvi, but would end his run in the semifinal against Wang Can at 7-4. In the final match of the event, Earl Strickland ran through Can in the final, and the score would end with a 9-2 victory for ‘The Pearl’.
The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with host room Cue Bar & their staff. The next stop on the Predator Tour will be the $3,000-added 7th Annual Raxx Empire State Championships, to be held at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY on Long Island on February 15-16.

A very tough field of twenty-six players turned out for the Predator Pro/Am Tour’s 2014 season opener in the Open/Pro 10-Ball Division. Players from around the region were in full force at the opener’s host room Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, in front of a very knowledgeable crowd of New York City pool aficionados. Two generations of top players in the Northeast were headed on a collision course to the hot seat it this event, up against both local and international talent. One being Predator Tour founder Tony “The Silent Assassin” Robles, a living legend in New York’s pool scene and former BCA Champion…and the other being a young player who broke out from Waterville, Maine in the last decade to top the charts of the toughest tours and pro tournaments in the U.S, Mike “Fireball” Dechaine. Dechaine would be the player to take down the winner’s bracket, dealing losses to Gregg McAndrews (7-5), Frankie Hernandez (7-4), Steinway house pro Earl “The Pearl” Strickland (7-5), and local top amateur Bogie Uzdejczyk (7-1). Dechaine moved like a freight train through the hot seat match against Robles, and got out to a 4-1 lead before he finished the set at 7-2. Robles would wait for the player to come away from the one-loss side of the bracket, who would turnout to be his good friend Zion Zvi. After having taking a hiatus from the game to work full time, Zvi had a very strong return to competing at Steinway, his home room. Zvi’s last tournament was also an appearance at Steinway, in the 3rd annual Ginky Memorial. In this event, Zvi suffered an early loss to Hunter Lombardo in the first round of the event, but went on to win six straight matches and make it to the semifinal match. Along his path, he eliminated Sean Morgan (7-4) Jennifer Barretta (7-2) Ed Culhane (7-4), Earl Strickland (7-1), 2013 Open Class Player of the Year Runner-Up Travis McKinney (7-2), and one of New York’s strongest veteran players, Frankie Hernandez (7-3). The semifinal between Zion Zvi and Tony Robles would be a tooth-and-nail battle. Zvi and Robles were closely tied early on in the match, but Zvi would make it to the hill first at 6-5. Zvi looked to run out the next rack for the win, but a surprising miss gave Robles another shot to get into the match. This would end up being a lethal miss for Zvi, as following a lengthy battle, Robles fought back to win the set 7-6. Robles then had his second shot against the Providence, RI-based young gun Mike Dechaine. After getting tuned up in his fantastic finish against Zvi, Robles maintained the charge against Dechaine in the final, and held the lead throughout the match. The hour was very late and both players were showing signed of weariness in their games, but Robles maintained the most energy and momentum in his game, and got two games away from the hill at 8-4. Dechaine would get only one more win under his belt in this match, and it ended in an 11-5 match in favor of Robles. In a tough field including a number of full-time pro players, Robles stamped his name on this event, with an authoritative finish in the final. Robles pulled off a strong feat in winning the tournament while also running the tournament. Tony and Mike both deserve credit for showing a lot of grit in a late-running final. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The national Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with host room Steinway Billiards & their staff. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with host room Steinway Billiards & their staff. The next tour stop will be held on January 18-19 at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY.

The Predator Pro/Am Tour’s season opener at Steinway Billiards got 2014 started off big, with an impressive turnout of 105 players. While most of the competitors who appeared are regulars on the Predator as well as the Tri-State Tour, a number of new names were also seen in the running at Steinway. Among the top names in the event were a number of former tour winners, including regular Steinway grinder Tony Liang, 2013 Predator Tour ‘A’ Class Player of the Year Bogie Uzdejcyk, Stewart Warnock, Marco Dy, Billy Santiago, Victor Nau, Dennis Lake, Shawn Sookhai, Yesid Garibello, Juan Guzman, and Dave Shlemperis, among others. However, none were able to topple the firepower of Raphael Dabreo, whose game has been on the fast track to high-caliber in recent years. With greater frequency, Dabreo has been racking up wins at many of the New York Tri-State area locations, and had his most recent Predator win at Cue Bar in September, 2013. He was also a force to reckon with at Castle Christmas Classic at Castle Billiards in December, finishing third in a field of top open and pro level players. Dabreo is one of Steinway’s house players, and he also runs his cue repair service ‘Cue 2 Go’ out of the Astoria pool room. Dabreo went to the hot seat of the tournament chart in his undefeated run to victory at Steinway. Along the way, he took out Brooke Meyer 7-5, Juan Guzman 7-5, Alberto Estevez 7-5, Koka Davladze 7-5, Eric Grasman 7-4, and Keith Adamik 7-3 to get to the hot seat match. Up and-comer Brian Toolsee (rated C+) matched up with Raphael Dabreo for the hot seat, but Dabreo left him no space to roam, as he won it 10-5 after spotting him five games on wire. Toolsee, who has recently been a frequent name on the listings of top finishers, had a strong run to make it to the hot seat. He marked wins against Jose Kuilan 7-5, Chuckie Romero 7-5, Tom Romano 7-1, Omar Chavez 7-3, Meshak Daniel 7-4, and Bryan Singh 7-4 in the final four. A newcomer to the top of the charts was the player to be named #4 at Steinway, Izac Horne. Following his loss in the winner’s bracket, Horne went on to defeat James Stevens 7-6, Ron Mason 7-4, Meshak Daniel 7-4, Chuckie Romero 7-4, and had a 7-5 win over Bryan Singh to make it to the quarterfinal. Horne’s run was ended in the quarterfinal match by one of the top performers, Keith Adamik, who won by a score of 9-5. Keith Adamik earned both the ‘A Class’ Player of the Year Runner-Up award and the tour’s Sportsmanship Award in 2013, and got off to a strong start in 2014. Adamik had bounced back from his ‘final four’ winner’s bracket loss to Dabreo, but was prevented from getting a rematch with him…as Brian Toolsee dealt him a 9-5 loss in the semifinal. In the extended-format final race, Dabreo would win it if he reached ten games first, but if Toolsee got to ten, the race would be extended to twelve for both players, with Toolsee getting a five-game spot. In the amount of time that Dabreo won six games, Toolsee put one more up on the board, which tied the match at 6-6. Toolsee would retake the lead at 7-6, and then go up 8-6. Dabreo then moved forward to win the next four racks, and finish his undefeated run in the event at 10-8. The Predator Pro/Am Tour would like to give special thanks to their sponsors for their support: Predator Cues, The national Amateur Pool League, Delta-13, NYCgrind, and PoolOnTheNet.com, along with host room Steinway Billiards & their staff. The next tour stop will be held on January 18-19 at Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY. Visit the tour on the web at PredatoProAmTour.com for more details.