Bobby Emmons, Tommy Kennedy and Anthony Meglino
Dimitrov goes undefeated in Amateur (600 and under) 9-Ball tourney
All things being equal, it seems likely that Anthony Meglino did not regret the absence of Jeffrey De Luna at the most recent stop on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour this past weekend (April 24-25). Meglino was on-hand for the Open/Pro portion of that tour stop (#4), looking for his first win on the 2021 tour. He’d been frustrated competing in stops #2 & #3 by De Luna, who defeated him in the finals, both times. De Luna was busy this past weekend, finishing in the tie for 7th place at the 5th Annual Barry Behrman Memorial Tournament in Virginia Beach. In the vacuum he left behind, Meglino stepped in, and though he’d lose the battle for the hot seat to Arizona’s Bobby Emmons, he’d return from the semifinals to down him in a double hill fight and claim the title. The $450-added event drew 64 entrants to Rack’s Billiards & Sports Bar in Sanford, FL.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza apparently decided that they didn’t have enough to do on the weekend, so they set up a $410-added Amateur event for Fargo rates 600 and below to their normal, single-tournament agenda. The Amateur event drew 64 entrants, as well. Kristian Dimitrov went undefeated in the Amateur event, downing Ronald Machado twice to claim the title.
Meglino’s path to the hot seat went through a bye, Sean Knowles, Randall McLuckie and Lee Heuwagen to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Ricardo Joel Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Emmons got by Marco Bielostozky, Kerry Beland, Jerry Arvelaez and Justin Gilsinan to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match versus Bobby Garza.
Emmons got into the hot seat match 7-5 over Garza, while Meglino was busy sending Rodriguez to the loss side 7-3. Emmons made short work of Meglino, downing him 7-2 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Garza picked up Tommy Kennedy, who’d lost his opening match to McLuckie and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side streak that would end in the semifinals. He downed Garza 7-3 to move into the quarterfinals. Rodriguez picked up Gilsinan, who defeated him 7-1 to join Kennedy.
Kennedy advanced one more step, defeating Gilsinan 7-4 in those quarterfinals. Meglino, though, anxious for a second shot at Emmons in the hot seat, ended TK’s loss-side run 7-4 in the semifinals.
They’ll tell you as often as you’ll listen, that distractions in a pool game are ruinous; that you focus on the table and the situation at hand and that nothing about matches you’ve lost in the distant past or games you lost 10 minutes ago, should matter a damn. But it’s likely that Meglino had a lot on his mind when he went into the finals against Emmons. Two losses in the finals of back-to-back tournaments and losing in the hot seat match doesn’t just fade into the background, no matter how meticulously you try to put thoughts about them aside. Meglino and Emmons battled to double hill before Meglino dropped the final 10-ball to claim his first 2021 title on the tour.
Andrew Cleary, Kristian Dimitrov and Ronald Machado
Dimitrov gets by Cleary and Machado to go undefeated in the Amateur 9-ball event
Prior to this past weekend, Kristian Dimitrov’s only two (recorded) cash finishes in pool tournaments came on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour in 2020 and the 2018 Florida State Open 10-Ball Championships. He finished 9th in both. He broke through to chalk up an undefeated run through a field of 64, battling Ronald Machado twice and separate opponents in the hot seat match (Andrew Cleary) and finals (Machado).
Dimitrov’s path to the winners’ circle threw up a couple of challenging obstacles. After opening with victories over Vershred Lasthrasho and Jordan Belleville, Dimitrov ran into two straight double hill challenges against Oscar Mora and Joel Vetrono. He survived them both to face Machado and defeat him for the first time 7-5 in a winners’ side semifinal match.
Andrew Cleary, in the meantime, who is apparently playing ‘under the radar’ to avoid the endless headhunting by representatives of the USA Mosconi Cup team, apparently anxious to have him commit to the team as soon as possible (See YouTube video of a year ago). In this event, Cleary clearly attempted to come across as a vulnerable competitor by allowing himself, like Dimitrov, to be caught up in two double hill matches, though in Cleary’s case, unlike Dimitrov, he cleverly broke them up, so as not to arouse suspicion that he was capable of winning two double hill matches in a row. He had no qualms about shutting out his first opponent, Kerry Beland, but slowed things down with his first double hill win, over Brian Sudney. He got by Shane Unger and Dominick Dunn, both 7-3, before getting cleverly caught up in his second double hill match, versus Gary Gilsinan in a winners’ side semifinal. He prevailed to face Dimitrov in the hot seat match and then let the man claim his first hot seat by only scoring a single rack against him.
On the loss side, Machado met and defeated Manuel Montas 7-3. Gilsinan survived a double hill fight against Tim Moss to join Machado in the quarterfinals. Machado won that quarterfinal match 7-3 and then faced an exhausted Andrew Cleary, who allowed himself to win two of the nine racks that they played against each other, so that Machado could get a second shot at Dimitrov in the hot seat. Dimitrov claimed his first event title with a 9-6 victory in his second match versus Machado.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked the ownership and staff at Rack’s Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator, Kamui, Stitch It To Me Embroidery, Diamond Products and Central Florida USA Pool League. They also thanked Leah Nusbaum and Rob McLaren for their assistance in running the dual event, and all the players who travel and follow the tour from stop to stop. The next stop to stop at (#5), scheduled for May 1-2, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by Stroker’s Bar & Grill in Palm Harbor, FL.
