by Alison M. Fischer, NYCgrind.com

Chuck Giallorenzo took first place at the fourth stop on the Predator Tour over Mark Pantovic, besting him in the finals. in the 2011 season. This special one-day, amateur-only event was held March 27 at BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY, and was worth double points for the tour’s standings, where 62 players came out to compete for the $1,000 first prize.

L-R 3rd Place Winner: Steve Way, 1st Place Winner: Chuck Giallorenzo & 2nd Place Winner: Mark "Gypsy" Pantovic

While this event saw a number of strong performances by top up-and-coming players, Giallorenzo was the player to break through after a third-round loss on the winners’ side of the bracket. After having defeated Frank Ramos 7-5 and Rene Villalobos 7-3, Giallorenzo lost to Sam Mohamed 7-6.

He stayed focused and played with a lot of heart, going on to defeat Gus Mokkas 7-3, Frank Ramos 7-5, Michael Toohig 7-6, Gail Glazebrook 7-4, Sam Mohamed 7-2, Junior Sanchez 7-0, and Steve Way 7-6 on the one-loss side.

However, the player to dominate the winners’ bracket of this event was a familiar face to the pool scene in New York: Mark “Gypsy” Pantovic. En route to the finals, Pantovic bested Naldo Troncoso 7-6, Billly Cheng 7-5, Victor Nau 7-4, Brian Hunter 7-4, Lionel Rivera 7-5, and took the hot seat after an 8-7 win against Steve Way.

Pantovic then took on Giallorenzo in the finals, who had just come off a gritty hill-hill win against Way in the semifinals. The finals proved to be another tough battle for Giallorenzo, for this match also went double-hill, and Giallorenzo came away with the win at 8-7.

Results:

1st Chuck Giallorenzo $1,000
2nd Mark Pantovic $650
3rd Steve Way $450
4th Junior Sanchez $325
5th Lionel Rivera $200
Sam Mohamed
7th Brian Hunter $150
Gail Glazebrook
9th Kei Murata $100
Michael Toohig
Gary Murgia
Christian Smith
13th Dave Shlemperis $75
Ron Mason
Frank Ramos
Victor Nau

by Lea Andrews

Sam Monday, an extremely familiar face in the late rounds of the Great Southern Billiard Tour, went undefeated November 7-8 through a talented field to earn his first win on the tour this season. Monday and 71 other players gathered at Speakeazy Billiards in Sanford, NC, for the $1,500-added event.

AA-ranked Monday breezed past A-ranked Larry Faulk 11-2 to arrive in the hot seat match versus B-ranked Scott Johnson, who’d gone hill-hill 7-8 against A-ranked Eric Charlton, who was racing to 9. Cruising to victory once again, Monday allowed Johnson just two games to claim the hot seat.

On the left side of the bracket, Chuck Cuneo eased by James Blackburn 7-2 to face Michael Fuller, who’d ousted room owner Jimmy Bullis 11-6. Getting past Fuller 7-7, Cuneo moved on to Faulk and moved on 7-7 once again to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, B-ranked Kevin Boggs edged out last stop’s winner Adam Pendley 7-10 to face another previous winner, B-ranked Brad Shearer, whom he held to 2 games. Boggs didn’t fare as well against the next former winner he faced, Charlton, who advanced hill-hill 9-6 to meet Cuneo, who’d been on a west-side mission to the finals since falling to Boggs in the first match he played. Cuneo wasn’t about to stop, and he moved decisively past Charlton 7-4 to face Johnson, managing to hold him at bay 7-6 to face Monday.

On the way to the finals, Monday had given up, on average, not even two games per match. Cuneo, therefore, did very well to manage four games in the only set of the true double-elimination finals. Cuneo’s valiant effort earned him second place, while Monday’s stellar play all weekend earned him first. Another winner, Terri Faulk, earned $50 as the highest-finishing lady.

Sam Monday, an extremely familiar face in the late rounds of the Great Southern Billiard Tour, went undefeated November 7-8 through a talented field to earn his first win on the tour this season.

Results:
1st Sam Monday $1,000
2nd Chuck Cuneo $500
3rd Scott Johnson $400
4th Eric Charlton $200
5th Kevin Boggs $125
Larry Faulk
7th Brad Shearer $75
Michael Fuller
9th Jack Miller $50
Adam Pendley
Jimmy Bullis
James Blackburn

by Lea Andrews

Those looking for Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton’s familiar face at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships had disappointment coming their way, as he was busy running the show at his own Great Southern Billiard Tour stop, where he was witness to Larry Faulk’s undefeated run through the field. Faulk was one of the 40 competitors who arrived at Fast Freddy’s Billiards in Jacksonville, NC, for the $1,500-added A/B amateur event October 17-18.

AA-ranked Larry Faulk sailed 10-4 past A-ranked JR Poste, who was racing to 9, to reach the hot seat match. There, he met up fellow AA-player Ray McGinn, who’d gotten by another AA-player, Phillip Britt, 10-6. The battle of the talents that ensued was fierce, but it was Faulk who notched up the final rack to take the hot seat 10-9.

On the other side of the bracket, Glen Maready blew by Donald Arnold 7-1 to face Vernon Ringold, who’d moved past Calvin Roberts 7-5. Meanwhile, Don Strickland did the same to Vernon Rogers 9-4 to face Mickey Hucks, who’d made it past Greg Little 9-8. Maready and Strickland put their opponents in seventh 7-5 and 9-4, respectively, to welcome Poste and Britt to the west side. Both were a bit too welcoming, though—Maready landed in fifth 9-5 courtesy of Poste, while Strickland got there courtesy of Britt 10-6. In the quarterfinal match, Poste was looking to make his way to a rematch with Faulk in the finals, while Britt was looking for a semifinal rematch with McGinn on the way to the final match. It was Poste who prevailed 9-7 to fight it out with McGinn for the right to play the Faulk rematch. Both men fought hard, pushing the score to hill-hill in the weighted race before McGinn dropped the final 9 to move back over to Faulk 10-8.

Those looking for Daulton’s familiar face at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships had disappointment coming their way, as he was busy running the show at his own Great Southern Billiard Tour stop, where he was witness to Larry Faulk’s undefeated run through the field.

Unfortunately for McGinn, the final match of the true double-elimination event was quite unlike the hot seat match, where he’d come up just one game short of victory. This time, it was all Faulk, who marked up game after game to earn first place with a very decisive 10-1 victory.

Results:
1st Larry Faulk $1,000
2nd Ray McGinn $500
3rd JR Poste $250
4th Phillip Britt $125
5th Glen Maready $85
Don Strickland
7th Vernon Ringold $50
Mickey Hucks