Fresh off what proved to be his best earnings
year, to date, Jaydev Zaveri chalked up a win on the
Predator Pro Am Tour’s 2019 season opener on the
weekend of January 26-27. It took him until May to record
his first 2018 event victory, on the Tri-State Tour,
in what was nearly the end of that tour’s 2017-2018
season. He finished among the top five B players on
the 2018 Predator Tour, is currently the #1 B+ points
leader in the Tri-State’s 2018-2019 season (14
appearances) and with this season-opening win is #1
on the Predator Pro Am Tour, as well. His wife, Shweta,
in the meantime, has worked her way to the top of the
Tri-State Tour’s female competitors. The 2019
Predator season opener, a $1,000-added event that launched
the tour’s 12th year, drew 94 entrants to Steinway
Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Zaveri had to contend with Paul Carpenter twice in this
one. They met first in the hot seat match, after Zaveri
had sent Lidio Ramirez to the loss side 8-4 and Carpenter
had downed Greg Ackerson 7-2. Carpenter claimed the
hot seat 7-3 over Zaveri and waited on his return from
the semifinals against Matt Klein.
It was Ramirez who ran into Klein on the loss side.
Klein had recently eliminated Eli Trajceski and Bryan
Jeziorski, both 7-5. Ackerson picked up Romilo Tanglao,
who’d survived a double hill battle versus Suzzie
Wong, and got by Ryan Dayrit 7-5 to reach him. Tanglao
and Klein advanced to the quarterfinals after handing
Ackerson and Ramirez their second straight loss; Tanglao
over Ackerson 7-2 and Klein over Ramirez 8-2.
Klein eliminated Tanglao 7-4 in those quarterfinals
and advanced to meet Zaveri in the semifinals. A 7-5
win by Zaveri gave him a second shot at Carpenter and
he took full advantage, downing him 9-7 to complete
his first title run of the 12th Predator Pro Am year.
A Second Chance event drew 16 entrants. Duc Lam took
top honors and $160. Zain Sundaram took second place
($100) with Jimmy Acosta and Bianca Marinez tied for
3rd place ($30 each).
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and
his Steinway Billiards staff, as well as title sponsor
Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, NAPL, The DeVito Team,
PoolontheNet.com, Billiards Digest, AZBilliards, Pool
& Billiards Magazine and his entire staff, including
his lovely wife, Gail. The next stop on the Predator
Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of February 9-10,
will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Story by Skip Maloney AZBilliards |
