by InsidePOOL Staff

Mike “The Mouth” Sigel is poised to take a bite out of The Big Apple, as he is leading the pack at the Seminole Pro Tour’s Empire State Championship. The weekend event boasts an $8,000-added purse and is hosted by Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY.

Sigel is poised to take a bite out of The Big Apple, as he is leading the pack at the Seminole Pro Tour’s Empire State Championship.

Of the 64 players who gathered to vie for the top prize, only 32 remain after a long day of play. But Hall-of-Famer Sigel is the only one to go the distance without losing a game, let alone a match. He has dealt donuts so far to Darren Defilippis, Mike Wong, and Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie, an enviable record by any stretch. Sigel’s next match will be against Dustin Morris, who has sent west Brian Deska 7-6, Alex Gilvarg 7-3, and Robert Pole 7-4.

Other players still undefeated include Dennis “The Hatchetman” Hatch, who is defending champion at this event. Hatch’s victories include a whitewashing of Manny Chau, a 7-1 defeat of Barry Banks, and a 7-2 victory over Scott Freeman. Hatch recently took third place at the Turning Stone Classic XV. Hatch’s next opponent will be Jeremy Sossei, who has defeated George “Ginky” SanSouci 7-3, Tony Robles 7-5, and Jesse Ingall 7-3.

Corey Deuel is also going strong, having bested Bill Dunsmore 7-1, Rafael DaBreo 7-4, and Mike Miller 7-3. Deuel’s next challenge will come from Earl Herring, who has so far defeated Rob Owen 7-5, Sean Morgan 7-6, and Luis Tournea 7-3.

View the Seminole Raxx Pool Room tournament brackets (updated continuously)

Also unbested so far, Mike Dechaine has delivered losses to Oscar Bonilla 7-6, Bafdor Soolbhai 7-0, and David Deserio 7-3. Dechaine’s next opponent will be Josh Brothers, who has gone through Stevie Moore 7-2, Peter Ziemak 7-1, and Mhet Vergara 7-1.

Still alive but fighting for their life on the one-loss side include Tony Robles, Mike Davis, Joey Korsiak, Moore, and Krah.

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by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com

Thomas Wan and Tony Robles won their respective divisions on the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour’s June 5-6 stop, taking first place in the amateur and open/pro events, respectively. The tour’s ninth stop of the season was hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY, where 66 of the strongest players in the tri-state area came out to compete at the $1,000-added event to show they have the grit to fight through the tough field.

Dinko Busanich showed a lot of heart in the amateur division, going through several gritty matches as he fought through the winners’ bracket to earn a spot in the finals. Busanich went through Carl Yusef Khan 7-3, Mike Panzarella 7-6, Jerry Tarantola 7-6, Daniel Dagotdot 7-5, Thomas Wan 7-4, and Mike Hertz 7-5 to reach the finals.

On the one-loss side, there were a lot of warriors battling for the chance to come from behind to make a statement. While there were stand-out performances by Raphael DaBreo, John Hacsi, Dave Shlemperis, Arturo Reyes, Lionel Rivera, Michael Hertz, and Daniel Dagotdot, only one player reached the finals unscathed. Long-time tour player Wan was impressive by defeating Mike Wong 7-3, Rivera 7-5, Stewart Warnock 7-6, Rivera again 7-5, Shlemperis, and Hertz 7-4 to get a shot at Busanich in the finals. There Wan was dominant by putting up a solid 9-5 score to capture his first Ozone Billiards Predator Tour win.

Early on in the open/pro 10-ball event, Master Billiards house pro George “Ginky” Sansouci made a big statement by playing nearly flawless pool in a dominant 8-2 victory over reigning U.S. Open champion Mika “Iceman” Immonen. Immonen won his next match 8-6 against a game Arturo Reyes before getting bumped out of the event by Marc “Spain” Vidal.

On the lower half of the bracket Tony “The Silent Assassin” Robles was silently taking down his competition, going through Ron Mason, Zion Zvi, Marc Vidal, and then an impressive 8-4 win over Jeremy Sossei to reach the hot seat. Sossei bounced back from the loss to Robles by defeating visiting player Marco Tschudi of Switzerland 8-3 to set up a rematch with Robles. Tschudi was turning heads with his fast-paced game with wins over Mike Miller 8-4, Zvi 8-5, Sansouci 8-3, and Vidal 8-6 before Sossei eliminated him. In the finals, the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour founder and battle-tested veteran Robles defeated Sossei 8-4 for his second win of the season.

The tour’s ninth stop of the season was hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY, where 66 of the strongest players in the tri-state area came out to compete at the $1,000-added event to show they have the grit to fight through the tough field.

Robles and Sossei

by Lea Andrews

Zion Zvi may have entered Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, on May 22 without a Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour win on the record, but it was there when he left undefeated on May 23. As the last man standing out of the original field of 31, Zvi pocketed the biggest chunk of the $1,500-added purse.

Zvi took care of tour regular Kevin Guimond 9-7 to reach the hot seat match against Mhet Vergara, who’d just notched a strong 9-4 win over George “Ginky” Sansouci. Zvi earned the hot seat with a breezy 9-2 victory over Vergara, who moved into the semifinals for another chance at the finals.

On the left side of the bracket, Brian Veska squeezed past Mike Wong 9-8 before marking up a 9-2 win over George Rodriguez, who’d just ousted Jarrod Clowery 9-4. Meanwhile, Scott Tollefson held Stu Warnock to six games to face Chance Chin, who’d blown past Ray Romanski 9-3. Chin found himself at the wrong end of another 9-3 match against Tollefson, though, to finish in seventh, and Tollefson followed him soon after running into Guimond, who advanced to the quarterfinals 9-6. There Guimond met up with Veska, who’d continued his winning streak 9-4 over San Souci, and while Veska fought hard to keep it going even further, he came up one game shy, landing in fourth 9-8. In the semifinals, Zvi’s two most recent victims went head to head to try to face him again, and Guimond rose well above 9-5 for one last shot at Zvi.

Zion Zvi may have entered Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, on May 22 without a Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour win on the record, but it was there when he left undefeated on May 23.

by Jerry Tarantola, Nycgrind.com

Mika “Iceman” Immonen came back from a huge deficit in the finals of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour’s April 18 stop to take first place over Gregg McAndrews, winning $975. The tour’s seventh event of the season was hosted by Skyline Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, and drew a total of 30 players.

Along with Immonen, the event drew a number of up-and-coming New York players, along with several other notable players such as Tony “The Silent Assassin” Robles, Rob Pole, Daniel “Smitty” Smith, Mike “Fingers” Badsteubner, Mike Miller, Jorge Rodriguez, and WPBA pros Caroline Pao and Jennifer Barretta.

Tough performances were seen from a number of players at this event, including Skyline house player Sammy Wu, who went through the winners’ bracket in impressive fashion, notching wins over Mike Wong 7-4, Juan Peralta 7-3, Oscar Bonilla 7-2, and Immonen 7-5. In the hot seat match, Wu lost a tough hill-hill battle to McAndrews 7-6.

McAndrews had a breakthrough performance at this event, with impressive wins over Paul Bramwell 7-4, Robles 7-6, Jorge Rodriguez 7-3, and Wu 7-6 to earn a spot in finals. Meeting him there was Immonen, who scored victories over Jerry Tarantola 7-2, Michael Yednak 7-5, and Daniel Smith 7-1 before his loss to Wu. On the one-loss side, Immonen eliminated Dan Smith 7-4 and avenged his loss to Wu 7-5, earning a spot in the finals.

In the finals match, McAndrews was up 4-0 in a blink of an eye. When Immonen was down 1-0, he bobbled the 7 in the side pocket. McAndrews capitalized to extend his lead to 4-0. Immonen broke and ran the next rack, but McAndrews countered to take the next 5-1. But from that point it was all Immonen, as he won eight more racks to McAndrews’ two to win the match 9-7.

Immonen came back from a huge deficit in the finals of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour’s April 18 stop to take first place over Gregg McAndrews, winning $975.

by Jerry Tarantola, NYCGrind

The Predator 9-Ball Tour’s 2009 season came to a close the weekend of December 12-13, and their finale drew 92 of the Northeast’s strongest players. Danny Basavich, Marc Vidal, Jose Parica, George Sansouci, and Scott Tollefson came out to Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, for the $3,000-added event, with Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie taking home first place.

Wilkie’s road to the finals started out with a hill-hill battle against longtime friend and road partner Matt Krah, resulting with Wilkie as the last man standing. He followed this up with consecutive wins over Bill Dang 8-3, trick shot champion Andy Segal 8-4, and Tollefson 8-6 before being sent west by Sansouci 9-4.

Bouncing back from the one loss-side, Wilkie topped Filipino grinder Al Lapena 9-6, repeated over Tollefson 9-4, and then avenged his earlier loss to “Ginky” with a strong 9-4 win.

This win matched up Wilkie against another legendary New York player, Frankie Hernandez, in the finals. Through a display of entertaining shot-making and smart moves, Wilkie was able to grab the lead to win 10-3.

In the Sunday B/C/D tournament, Turkish women’s professional Neslihan Gurel was impressive in earning three strong wins before running into a brick wall against Raj Vannala. Vannala came back from a 5-3 deficit to defeat Gurel 6-5 before following it up with another strong come-from-behind win over Naldo Troncoso 7-6 in the finals.

The Predator 9-Ball Tour’s 2009 season came to a close the weekend of December 12-13, and their finale drew 92 of the Northeast’s strongest players.

B/C/D Class Results:
1st Raj Vannala $160
2nd Naldo Troncoso $100
3rd Dave Ascolese
4th Neslihan Gurel

by Lea Andrews

Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie’s first win on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour came in the form of a strong, undefeated run through the hard-hitting field of this season’s fifth stop. The $2,000-added event, held November 14-15, drew 35 players to Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY.

Wilkie blew by Marc Vidal 9-2 to face in the hot seat match Bucky Souvanthong, who’d held Sean Morgan to three games. Wilkie claimed the hot seat 9-6, while Souvanthong moved west to try for the rematch.

On the one-loss side, Joey Korsiak was making a move, getting by Zion Zvi 9-6 to face Nelson Oliveira, who’d had a 9-3 win over Oscar Bonilla. But Olveira managed only one game against Korsiak, who moved on to Morgan. Meanwhile, Al Lapena notched wins over Mike Wong 9-6 and Lenny Savata 9-2 to face Vidal. Lapena’s bid for the quarterfinals was unsuccessful, planting him in fifth 9-5, and Vidal met up with Korsiak, who’d advanced 9-6 over Morgan. Another 9-6 victory put Korsiak up against Souvanthong in the semifinals, and Korsiak’s 9-7 win earned him his spot in the finals.

For the first several games of the true double-elimination final match, a second set seemed inevitable. Korsiak broke and ran the first rack, then the next four after that. When Wilkie finally got his chance at the table, the two traded games to get the score to 7-2, but then Wilkie made his move, taking six racks in a row to reach the hill first 8-7. Korsiak managed to tie it up, and in the final rack, a safety battle determined the winner. Korsiak had a length-of-the-table makeable kick on the 5 ball, which was near the side pocket. The Cue ball hit its mark—or at least, it seemed to. The 5 ball hit both points of the side pocket before bouncing out, leaving Wilkie a run to the final 9 of his first top finish on the Joss Tour.

Wilkie’s first win on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour came in the form of a strong, undefeated run through the hard-hitting field of this season’s fifth stop.

Next weekend’s $5,000-added Ocean State Championship will be held at Snookers’ new Providence location.

Results:
1st Shaun Wilkie $1,400
2nd Joey Korsiak $950
3rd Bucky Souvanthong $700
4th Marc Vidal $550
5th Sean Morgan $400
Al Lapena
7th Nelson Oliveira $200
Lenny Savata

by Lea Andrews

With second round winners’ side matches nearing completion, day two of the 34th annual US Open 9-Ball Championships, held October 18-24 at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, VA, saw its fair share of both hill-hill battles and lopsided blowouts. As a result, several of the well-known names that saturate the 216-man field are now on the left side of the bracket, while others continue their trek towards the far right.

Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant is one of the fortunate ones who sunk the 21st 9 ball of the match, as he moved past Jonathan “Hennessee” Pinegar 11-10. Topping the list of the less fortunate was Nick Varner, who tied it up at 10 with Michael Badstuebner after being down 9-2. Demetrius Jelatis made it by Marcus Chamat 11-10 to face Eric Moore, who put Mike Davis on the other side 11-8. Having gotten by Edmundo Ambrose 11-10, Ryan “The Genie Man” McCreesh will face reigning 10-ball world champion Darren Appleton, who sent Jordanian champ Zaid Thweib west 11-4.

Topping the list of the less fortunate was Nick "The Kentucky Colonel" Varner, who tied it up at 10 with Michael Badstuebner after being down 9-2.

View the U.S. Open 9-Ball Double Elimination Tournament Brackets 1 (updated continuously)

View the U.S. Open 9-Ball Double Elimination Tournament Brackets 2 (updated continuously)

View the 2009 U.S. Open image gallery

View the LIVE STREAM from ACCU-STATS

Mike Wong was another fortunate, getting past Mac Harrell 11-10, while Qi Liu edged out Matt Krah 11-10 to face Mike Dechaine, who was one of the victors by blowout, having sent Steve Jenkins to the one-loss side 11-1. Rodney Morris allowed his opponent, Greg McAndrews, just one game as well, as did Shane Van Boening against Marvin Davis, and Donnie Mills permitted Steve Sones just two games to earn the right to face 1992 U.S. Open champion Tommy Kennedy, who got past Jimmy Wetch 11-5. Kim Davenport, who breezed by Joe Keith 11-3, will face Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam, who won 11-7 over Cliff Joyner.

Two-time runner-up Ronnie Alcano has joined the west side after running into Japanese player Tomoo Takano, who held him to six games. Meanwhile, five-time winner Earl Strickland displayed his true run-out colors by keeping Erik Hjorliefson away from the table after rack 10, closing out the match with a six-pack to advance 11-6.

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by Jerry Tarantola

World number-one-ranked player Mika Immonen made another first-place appearance at the Predator 9-Ball Tour, winning over Mike Dechaine in the finals. “Iceman” was joined by 40 other strong players at BQE Billiards in Queens, NY, the weekend of October 10-11.

Jose Parica was tearing up the field until he went head to head with reigning U.S. Open champion Immonen. In a gritty battle, it looked like it would be Parica to pull out the “W,” as he reached the hill first 8-6, but an error on a safety attempt gave the set to Immonen.

After the loss to Immonen, Parica was fired up and played a near-perfect set against Cleiton Rocha en route to a 9-4 score and then ousted top New York player Oscar Bonilla 9-6. This win lined up Parica to play the loser of the hot seat match in the semifinals. The hot seat match was a battle between Dechaine and Immonen, and they had recently dueled for the hot seat at the Galveston World Classic 10-ball event. In this rematch, it was again Immonen who earned the hot seat with a 9-4 win.

In the semifinal match between Parica and Dechaine, the 22-year-old young gun was able to capitalize on his big break and shot-making skills to overcome the battle-tested veteran 9-4. But the final match between Immonen and Dechaine was all Immonen, as the Finn took control early and never gave his opponent much to work with. In a clinic by the reigning number-one player in the world, Immonen took the set 11-5 for the win.

Immonen made another first-place appearance at the Predator 9-Ball Tour, winning over Mike Dechaine in the finals.

Open Results:
1st Mika Immonen $1,000
2nd Mike Dechaine $675
3rd Jose Parica $500
4th Oscar Bonilla $375
5th Cleiton Rocha $230
Holden Chin
7th Lionel Rivera $150
Mike Wong
9th Tony Robles $100
Dave Deserio
Antonio Guerrero
George Sansouci

Fourteen players turned out for the Sunday BCD second-chance tournament at BQE Billiards. In this event, Predator Tour tournament director William “Finn” Finnegan cruised through the winners’ bracket to secure a spot in the finals. A semifinal showdown between Naldo Troncoso and Ariel Rivera saw a hill-hill battle that ended with Rivera advancing to the finals. It was Rivera’s third consecutive appearance in the finals of the Predator BCD events, but it was Finnegan’s day to shine, as he won by final score of 5-3.

BCD Results:
1st William Finnegan $200
2nd Ariel Rivera $130
3rd Naldo Troncoso $80
4th Diana Rojas $45

by Skip Maloney

With an undefeated weekend on April 25-26, Dennis Hatch made it nine wins out of ten stops on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour. The $2,000-added event drew 41 entrants to Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ.

Hatch’s journey began with a bye in the opening round, followed by victories over Russ Stepnowski, Matt Tetreault, and Chris Taomina that put him among the winners’ side final four. As Hatch squared off against Shaun Wilkie, Tom McGonagle faced Dave Grau. Hatch and McGonagle sent Wilkie and Grau west by identical 9-7 scores and faced each other in the hot seat match. Hatch gained the hot seat with a 9-4 win.

Meanwhile, on the one-loss side, Hatch’s eventual opponent in the finals, Al Lapena, was working his way back from a second-round defeat at the hands of Holden Chin. Victories over Jason Michas and Joe Korsiak put him into the money rounds, where, after wins over Chris Taomina and Ken Kerner, he squared off against Grau. It was Matt Tetreault waiting for Wilkie. Lapena got by Grau 9-2, as Wilkie dropped Tetreault 9-4 and the two met in the quarterfinals. Lapena moved into the semifinals against McGonagle with a 9-4 win over Wilkie.

After steamrolling over McGonagle 9-1, Lapena opened the true double-elimination finals against Hatch by trading racks with him to 3-3. Lapena didn’t know that when he sat down to allow Hatch to break the seventh rack he wouldn’t get back to the table again until Hatch was on the hill. Hatch missed a shot in the twelfth rack, and Lapena stepped back to shoot for the first time in just over half an hour. He missed a subsequent shot, and Hatch made a second set unnecessary by finishing it 9-3.

With an undefeated weekend on April 25-26, Dennis Hatch made it nine wins out of ten stops on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour.

Results:
1st Dennis Hatch $1,400
2nd Al Lapena $980
3rd Tom McGonagle $750
4th Shaun Wilkie $550
5th Dave Grau $400
Matt Tetreault
7th Ron Piotkowski $200
Ken Kerner
9th Mike Wong $100
Chris Taomina
Holden Chin
Bruce Carroll

by InsidePOOL Staff

Lionel Rivera triumphed over a 79-player field at the April 18-19 stop of the Blatt Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour. This event was hosted by Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, and was the tour’s second A-B-C-D stop of the 2009 season.

The main tournament began Saturday and drew 62 of the Tri-State area’s strongest players. Picking up right where he left off from the first A-B-C-D event, where he took third place, Rivera took advantage of a first-round bye and fell into dead stroke by defeating John Mazes 7-2, Craig Seal 7-4, Mike Wong 7-4, and Thomas Wan 7-4 to remain unscathed after the first day. Albert Estevez also enjoyed a first-round bye and then defeated Dave Ascolese 7-3, Bobby Varughese 7-3, and Shawn Sookhai 7-6.

As day one came to a close, only four were left undefeated—Rivera, Beau Baer, P.J. Puma, and Albert Estevez. On the A-B side, Rivera faced Baer for a chance at the hot seat, while in the C-D bracket, Puma battled Estevez.

(L-R) Albert Estevez, Tony Robles, Lionel Rivera and Gail Glazebrook

While Rivera remained in control of his game on day two, Baer seemed to be a different player. Rivera took advantage of a couple of mistakes and dominated Baer 7-2 for a chance at the hot seat, while Estevez took care of Puma to earn his shot at the hot seat, winning 7-5. The match for the hot seat was a barn-burner, with Rivera squeaking out the win 7-6.

On the one-loss side, Shawn Sookhai staged a comeback by winning four in a row—three of them hill-hill matches—to earn a shot at the semifinals against Estevez. But Sookhai seemed to lose his steam against Estevez, who won 7-3 for a chance to redeem himself.

In the finals, Rivera could not be denied as he calmly ran rack after rack to claim his first Predator Tour stop of this season, winning 7-4.

The tour also hosted the Delta-13 second-day B-C-D event that was won Charles Lentini, who defeated Dave Deserio in the final 7-4.

Charles Lentini (L) and Dave Deserio (R)

Results:
1st Lionel Rivera $1,000
2nd Albert Estevez $ 675
3rd Shawn Sookhai $ 500
4th Beau Baer $ 350
5th Thomas Wan $ 250
PJ Puma
7th Alex Gonzalez $ 175
Shorty Santiago
9th Charlie Lentini $ 100
John Alicea
John Hacsi
Bobby Varughese
13th Bob Mammarella $ 50
Dave Manasseri
Mike Ettl
Ryan Klett