REMINDER! NEW EVENT! Predator A-B-C-D Event to be held at Raxx Pool Room

The Predator 9-ball tour has listened to the players and has now added an A-B-C-D event to the growing list of events for this season. The event will take place at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar & Grill on the weekend of September 27th & 28th. Thank you for supporting the tour. See you this weekend at Rack n' Roll!

This past weekend, Comet Billiards hosted the Women’s Open Predator 9-ball Event sponsored by Jim Murnak Cue Cases. The event brought in WPBA pros Liz Ford, Meghan Minerich and Caroline Pao. Iris Ranola, who has been cleaning up the regional events attended, along with recent Tri-State Invitational runner up Gail Glazebrook and the always deadly Emily Duddy arrived with Asia, who recently won the JPNEWT qualifier spot. The draw brought a very difficult 1st round match for Iris Ranola and Meghan Minerich. After moving here in February from the Philippines, Iris is a recent powerhouse edition to the northeast women’s events, winning many of the region’s qualifiers this year. Meghan Minerich, sponsored by Gallery Billiards, has been on the pro circuit for a number of years now. The ladies traded racks back and forth until a costly 8-ball miss proved deadly for Minerich and allowed Ranola to pull ahead and close the match 7-5, sending Minerich to the one-loss side much earlier than expected. Liz Ford was playing very strong pool this weekend. After a 7-0 win over Glazebrook, she continued her dominance on the winner’s side until she met with Caroline Pao in the quarter finals. Pao started the day with a nail-biter in the first round as Olga Gashkova fought tooth and nail against the WPBA pro, but a 6-ball miss in rack 13 allowed Pao to squeeze out the win 7-6. After that Pao blazed through the winner’s side to meet up with Ford. This was a great match as both players were equaling hungry for the win. At hill-hill it was still a coin toss as to who was going to take the match. Pao proved victorious as she clenched the win 7-6. Emily Duddy initially lost to Ford earlier in the day and was clearing the one-loss bracket. A close call with up and coming player, Borana Andoni 7-5 seemed to give Duddy the steam she needed to beat the dangerous Asia 7-5. This set up another chance at Ford. Unfortunately for Duddy, the second time was no different as Ford continued to show her experience and talent leaving Duddy to settle for 4th place. Exhibiting a phenomenal break, impeccable cue ball control and nerves of steel, Iris Ranola has been dominating the women players of the northeast. As the winner’s bracket came to the hot-seat match, Pao struggled to maintain her momentum and fell 7-3 to Ranola setting up a rematch between Ford and Pao. The loss to Ranola may have carried into Pao’s rematch with Ford. Both ladies were visibly tired and the day’s pressures had clearly taken a toll on each player’s game, but Ford was relentless and trudged through the match, not allowing Pao much room for error. As Pao struggled, Ford dominated and clenched the match 7-1. The day was long and draining and so in the late hours of the event, both Ranola and Ford decided to crown the other as champion of the event, so the first Predator Women’s Open 9-ball Event crowned Iris Ranola and Liz Forst co-champions of the tournament. Congratulations to both ladies for a great tournament and thank you again Jim Murnak for sponsoring the event.

Fresh off his IPT Challenge victory over Karl Boyes, Tony Robles continued his winning ways as Park Slope Billiards in Brooklyn, NY played host to stop #11 of the Predator 9-Ball Tour with a field of 42 players. Notable players included, Shin Park, Chris Lynch, Eddie Abraham, Marc Vidal, Bobby Blackmore, Michael Tosado, Holden Chin, Jeremy Sossei, Steve Lillis, Jorge Rodriguez, Mike Fingers, Joey Kong and Frankie Hernandez. In the top bracket, Steve Lillis scored victories over Jason Eglen 9-2, Shin Park 9-8, Mark Pamtovic 9-4 to earn a shot against Robles. Tony beat Bora Jeong 9-2, and eked out a win against a very strong Marc Vidal 9-8, Holden Chin 9-7, Joey Kong 9-2 and won against a very tough Steve Lillis 9-7 to earn a spot for the hot seat. In the bottom bracket, Mike Fingers beat Eric Mezz 9-8, Thomas Wan 9-7, Frankie Hernandez 9-6, before losing 9-3 to the always strong Eddie Abraham. Eddie Abraham had the toughest draw in the first round playing Ocean State Champion Jeremy Sossei. It was a great match but Eddie pulled it out 9-7. Eddie then beat Gelando Allie 9-3, Joe Hong 9-3 Mike Fingers 9-3 and the owner pf Park Slope Billiards Amilcar Contreras 9-3 to earn a shot at Robles for the hot seat. The match for the hot seat between Tony and Eddie was very close as both players struggled with their breaks. Tony managed to win 9-6 to earn his spot in the finals. After his close loss to Robles, Marc Vidal was tearing up the one loss side winning seven in a row beating Eric Mezz 9-7, Jose Cruz 9-3, Mike Wong 9-5, Mark Pamtovic 9-0, Joe Hong 9-0, Amilcar Contreras 9-2 and Mike Fingers 9-3 before losing in the semifinal to Eddie Abraham 9-6. This set up a rematch in the final between Tony and Eddie. The match went back and forth until it was tied at 6-6. Tony then held off Abraham by winning the next 5 racks to earn his third consecutive Predator 9-Ball Tour victory. The next Predator 9-Ball Tour Stop will be the first ever Women’s Event sponsored by Jim Murnak Custom Cue Cases and will be held July 19th & 20th at Comet Billiards in Parsippany, New Jersey. This special event is Open to all Ladies and is recognized by the WPBA. The next Pro Am Predator 9-Ball Tour stop will be taking place at Master Billiards in Sunnyside, Queens on July 26 & 27. Have a great Fourth of July weekend everyone!

The Predator 9-Ball Tour made it’s debut in Stamford, Connecticut this past weekend as Rack N’ Roll Billiards played host to stop #10. A very strong field of 51 players came out to support. Top players included, newly crowned 2008 BCA Generationpool.com women’s champion Xiao-Ting Pan, WPBA #2 ranked Ga-Young Kim, Mika Immonen, Marc Vidal, Shin Park, Mike Fingers, Bobby Blackmore, Victor Nau, Jeremy Sossei, Chuck Altomare, Steve Lillis, Ray McNamara and the great Earl Herring. After losing her third match to Victor Nau, Ga Young Kim won her next two matches on the one loss side before losing a hill-hill match to reigning Ocean State Champion Jeremy Sossei. Xiaoting Pan won her first three matches before losing to Robles 9-3 and would end with a 9th-12th finish. Marc Vidal was having his way on the winner’s side until he lost a heart breaker to Mika Immonen 9-8. Meanwhile, Mike Fingers was tearing them up on the top side of the winner’s bracket including a win over Shin Park 9-4. Mike had a few missed opportunities against Tony Robles which cost him the match 9-6. This set up the match between Tony and Mika for the hot seat. It was all Mika as he played a near flawless match to earn the win 9-3 sending Robles to the left side of the chart. Meanwhile, Shin Park knocked Marc Vidal out of the tournament 9-3 and got revenge against Mike Fingers to earn a spot in the semifinal against Robles. This was Tony’s chance to break the Shin Park curse. (Tony had a 0-9 record against Shin going into this match.) A determined Tony capitalized on a few mistakes by Park and took the win 9-5 to set up the final with Mika. In the final, both players started out strong but Tony lucked in three balls in one rack with the match tied 4-4 and again another ball in the next rack. That’s all it took to close the deal on Immonen as Robles finished out the following rack to take the 7-5 win. Stop #11 will be taking place next week at Park Slope Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. Please visit www.predator9balltour for more information, payouts and standings.

An impressive 50 player field over Father’s Day weekend gathered at Master Billiards in Queens, NY for the 9th stop of the season. With more than one third of the field at Open/Pro level and twenty percent of the field women, no one was safe from a difficult draw or the female power. First round action saw tough matches such as Frankie Hernandez over Mike Fingers 9-7, Bora Jeong over Victor Nau 9-8, Ryan McCreesh, over Marc Vidal 9-6, and Eddie Abraham over Chuckie Altomare 9-8 and the second round wasn’t any easier. Shin Park lost a close one to George “Ginky” San Souci 9-8, Abraham destroyed Shaun Wilkie 9-1, and femme fatale Liz Ford defeated the powerhouse, Frankie Hernandez in a crowd pleasing hill-hill match. Liz would win the Highest Finishing Female award of $100 and finish just shy of the money round losing to Shaun Wilkie 9-4. San Souci and Joey Kong were both having a great tournament. After defeating Park, Ginky went on to defeat Abraham 9-5, and won on the hill against Jeremy Sossei and Mhet Vergara before losing to Joey Kong, last week’s runner up, for the hot seat. Kong had earlier sent Tony Robles and Jorge Rodriguez both to the left side of the chart with 9-7 scores and waited in the hot seat for the left side of the chart to declare his opponent. After his lost to Kong, Robles was fighting his way back through the event with wins over Michael Yednak 9-6, Eddie Abraham 9-8, Mhet Vergara 9-5, Jorge Rodriguez 9-3 and a stunning 9-1 victory over Ginky to battle Kong again for the cash. The final was a close one up through the very end. In the race to 11, each player traded racks keeping the score tight. As his son Jonathan watched from the crowd, Tony would take the top prize of $1,000, a nice father’s day gift!

Announcements! Predator 9-Ball Tour Adds Three New Stops!!!

The Predator 9-ball tour has listened to the players and added more stops for this season. Women’s Open Event – July 19th & 20th – Comet Billiards (Women Only)
* Sponsored by Jim Murnak Custom Cue Cases Pro-Am Open Event – August 30th & 31st – Comet Billiards Pro-Am Open Event – September 6th & 7th – Cue Bar
* Sponsored by Dr. Louis Pannullo/Leukemia Foundation Charity Event All players in the women’s event will have points go toward the Female Player of the Year tally only. Remember, in order to play in the Finale and pay the standard entry fee, you must have competed in at least 3 events. If you have not played in 3 events, you will have to pay double the normal entry fee at the Finale. Thank you for supporting the tour. See you this weekend at Master Billiards!

Abraham Snaps Off First Predator Tour Stop Win

A field of 43 players came out to support the 8th stop of the Predator 9-ball tour this weekend held at Raxx Pool Room in Hempstead, NY. The tournament saw many close matches throughout the 2-day event. John Chong, a newcomer to the tour had a great opening event defeating such tough opponents as Holden Chin & Hiram Sherman. Day 2 of the event found Jonathan Smith battling Eddie Abraham for the hot seat. Jonathan Smith was having a great tournament, but Eddie Abraham who had earlier defeated Frankie Hernandez 9-5, was simply unstoppable and convincing defeated Smith with another 9-5 victory, sending Smith to the left side of the chart. Over to the one loss side, Joey Kong was delivered an early tournament blow by Frankie Hernandez with a crushing 9-1 loss. A fueled Kong battled back through the one-loss side to face off against Hernandez again, who just escaped from Bobby Blackmore with a score of 9-8. The Kong/Hernandez match was full of ups and downs, great safety play and incredible breaking skills, and at hill-hill Kong defeated Hernandez to advance face off against Jonathan Smith. The Kong and Smith match was another nail biter as both clearly wanted a chance at Abraham in the finals. Another hill-hill match victory for Kong would leave Smith to settle for 3rd place. In the finals it was all Abraham. The unbeaten champion just wouldn’t let up exhibiting a terrific break, great cue-ball control and the same battle-tested skills that kept him undefeated throughout the event. An incredible jump shot at 7-4 simply added fuel to his game and he closed the door on Kong 11-6.

The Predator 9 Ball Tour presented by Tony Robles and Predator Cues, made its 7th stop of the season at Comet Billiards in Parsippany NJ. The event drew 62 players. Top players included, Allen Hopkins, Karen Corr, Julie Kelly, Mika Immonen, Shin Park, Shane Winters & Warren Kiamco as well as the top ranked Open, A, B & C/D players that always come out to represent. Stop #7 had it’s share of women. Nine to be exact. Karen Corr won her first match against Dave Deserio 9-2 and ran into a very hot Shane Winters who defeated Karen 9-2. Karen’s next match was against Bobby Blackmore who lost to Warren Kiamco 9-5. Bobby was in dead stroke and defeated Karen 9-6 for a rare early exit. Liz Ford won her first two matches 9-6 & 9-0 before running into newly inducted Hall of Famer Allen Hopkins. Liz lost to Allen 9-3 and Bill Horne 9-6 but received $100.00 for the highest finishing female. Meanwhile, Gail Glazebrook got a bye in the first round and beat the always solid Lionel Rivera 9-6 in the second round before falling to the Iceman 9-1. She then gave Jason Michas a run for his money before bowing out 9-5. Gail received $100.00 for the highest finishing C/D player. Congratulations ladies! Mika was business as usual, taking care of the bottom portion of the chart by defeating Julie Kelly 9-6, Bill Gricenko 9-2, Gail Glazebrook 9-1, Jim Conn 9-1 and Warren Kiamco 9-8 to earn a shot at the hot seat. The Silent Assassin was taking aim defeating Jonathan Castillo 9-1, Bora Jeong 9-4, Carmen Lombardo 9-2, Victor Nau 9-5 and the always dangerous Allen Hopkins 9-6 to earn his shot at the hot seat. The hot seat was all Tony who played a near flawless match to beat the Iceman 9-5. The Iceman was not to be denied as he defeated Warren Kiamco 9-5 in the semifinal to earn another opportunity with Robles. In the final, Tony won the first two games and missed a semi tough 2-9 billiard and lost the next seven games in a row as Mika fell into dead stroke. Mika missed only one shot from that point on as Tony struggled throughout the match to pocket a ball on the break allowing Immonen to earn his first Predator 9-Ball Tour Championship.

In a very strong field of 50 players over Memorial Day Weekend at Master Billiards in Queens, NY, the Predator 9-Ball Tour hosted its 6th stop of the season. The event saw standout players such as Shin Park, Mika Immonen, Shaun Wilkie, Warren Kiamco, Frankie Hernandez, Matt Krah, Tony Robles and many others. Day one action saw a number of tough matches in the early rounds. Robles and Wilkie faced off in round one and with an early 6-1 lead, Wilkie was sitting comfortably ahead but some missed balls and opportunities later let Robles sneaked in for the win 9-7. Also in round 1 action, Frankie Hernandez met up with Evan Broxmeyer. This match was all Frankie and Broxmeyer was sent to the 1-loss side early. Eddie Abraham and Shane Winters had a grueling match, but in the end, Shane pulled it out with a 9-6 win. Mika Immonen faced Shin Park in round 3 action. Both played great pool, but Park took the win 9-8. As Day 1 ended, the final twelve were brought back for a chance at the top prize of $1,025. On the winner’s side, Frankie Hernandez battled newcomer to the tour Scott Simonetti in the quickest match of the day, lasting under an hour. The quick fires fought to hill hill and Simonetti looked to win the match with a killer safety on the 2-ball. But the unfazed Frankie kicked three rails to make an amazing 2-ball and run out for the 5-9 combination. Simonetti had a great tournament finishing out in 5th/6th place. The common match up of Robles and Park was the other winner’s side match. Robles took an early 5-2 lead on Park, but again Robles’ break proved inconsistent. Both struggled to make balls and Park managed to pull ahead and win the match 9-6. On the 1-loss side, action saw Kari Paloheimo (Mika Immonen’s brother) against Warren Kiamco. Kari had been playing a great tournament and played strong against Kiamco, but a few errors too many by Kari let Kiamco take the set 9-6. Kiamco played great this event and finished in 4th place. Mika was also battling his way back through the chart. After the loss to Park, Mika came back to win his next six in a row including wins over Bobby Blackmore, Thomas Wan, Eddie Abraham, Tony Robles, and Warren Kiamco to face Hernandez in the semi-final match. Hernandez came out strong and took an early lead over Immonen, but Mika fought back with some great offensive shots and a few good rolls to win the match 9-4 leaving Frankie to settle for 3rd place. The final was all Park. Immonen seemed to show signs of fatigue from the day’s battles and missed shots unexpectedly. Park capitalized and played some great pool earning a 9–5 win over the Iceman and winning the event. Congratulations to Shin Park for his second Predator Tour win of the season. He played impressive pool throughout the event and truly earned the win.