The Predator 9 Ball Tour
continues to impress in terms of turn out and
prize money. The fourth stop of the season drew
a record 84 players to the heart of NYC, as
Tony Robles introduced Soho Billiards to the
hottest tour in the Tri-State area. The Predator
9 Ball Tour surpassed its previous record of
83 players set on the second stop of the season.
The tournament drew many new faces to the tour
along with the usual standout players. Some
of the top players in attendance were Tony Robles,
Shin Park, George Sansouci, Jeremy Sossei, Frankie
Hernandez, Eddie Vasquez, Chuckie Altomare and
Evan Broxmeyer as well as Joe Pierce from Kentucky.
Frankie Hernendez came close to repeating "Back
to Back" Predator Tour wins as he and Shin
Park were the two undefeated players of the
winner’s bracket. The two battled it out
for the hot seat and it was Shin Park who cam
e out undefeated for the event, sending Frankie
to the one-loss side.
Tony Robles was sent to the one-loss side late
Saturday night in a grueling match against Frankie
Hernendez on day 1. With Tony at the hill, a
devastating scratch on the break would prove
fatal to Robles as Frankie closed out the rack
and broke and ran to win 9-8. The loss fueled
Tony in Day 2 as his incredible momentum gained
him 6 consecutive wins in the loser’s
bracket defeating George Sansouci 9-1, Eddie
Vazquez 9-2, Altomare 9-2 and Jorge Rodriguez
9-6 to face off against Hernendez again. Jorge
Rodriguez continues his impressive play of late,
as he had a tremendous tournament in claiming
a very respectable fourth place finish.
In the battle of two of NY's greatest players,
Tony proved unstoppable convincing defeating
Frankie 9-3.
In the finals, Shin Park took an early 3-0 lead,
but Tony would fight back to even the score.
Throughout the match, Shin Young Park's break
was consistently effective, while Tony struggled
in keeping the cue ball on the table, scratching
5 times. The battle continued all the way to
8-8. A missed 7 ball by Robles, would allow
Shin Park to gain a 10-8 lead. Shin surprisingly
missed an easy 4 ball to give Tony an opportunity
to close the gap. Tony was clearly frustrated
from the costly errors, and continued to run
out the balls with a confident force.
 |
Park broke and made two balls, stopping the
cue ball in the dead center of the table, but
had no shot on the two ball. Park pushed allowing
Tony the choice to shoot it or give Park back
the shot. Tony elected to play a safe, and left
Park a very difficult two rail kick on the two
ball. Park made an unbelievable high risk shot,
as he kicked the two ball in two rails and cut
it down the long rail in the corner pocket,
while getting perfect position on the 3 ball.
Park took a quick second to sip some water,
and continued to run out the rest of the rack
to capture the 4th stop of the Predator tour
by a score of 11-9.
In this event, Tony added a new prize to inspire
women to play in the event, as he announced
that the highest finishing female would receive
an additional $100. NY's own Caroline "CaPow"
Pao, not only claimed the highest finishing
spot, but remained undefeated as day 1 concluded,
and impressed the crowd with an stellar 9-12th
finish amongst some of the best in NY.
Tony Robles would like to welcome and thank
his new sponsor Billiard Life Clothing for contributing
to the Predator 9 Ball Tour's season of prizes.
The next stop of the Predator 9ball Tour will
be April 12th and 13th at Comet Billiards in
Parsippany, NJ. The tour would like to also
thank all it’s sponsors who continue to
add more to the finale and player of the year
funds for the season. Also you can view key
“Cuetable” shots of the tournament
at NYCGrind.com.
- by Jerry Tarantola
NYCGrind.com
