Bruce Boomell and David Fendlay
Bruce Broomell went undefeated at this past weekend’s (Nov. 9-10), PA Pro-Am Pool Split-Bracket event, hosted by Bluegrass Billiards in Philadelphia. Broomell (580) went undefeated to the hot seat in the upper (500-599) bracket with 39 entrants, and in a subsequent, Final Four bracket, won two more to claim the event title. From the lower bracket (499 and below), which drew 51 entrants, it was David Fendlay (490), who went undefeated to the lower-bracket hot seat before being defeated by Broomell twice in the four-match, Final Four bracket. Rachel Walters (580), who would win the unofficial ‘most matches played’ contest (13), lost her second-round, upper-bracket match and won nine on the loss side to join the event’s Final Four. She won her opening-round (loss side), Final Four match before being defeated by Fendlay in the event semifinals.
Broomell, racing to 7 throughout, advanced through the upper-bracket field, giving up only two racks to his first three opponents. He shut out Mike Johnson in the opening round, before he gave up one rack each to Donte Goldman and Garrett Meagher. In his winners’ side quarterfinal match, Broomell’s opponent, Ben Klingholz, was awarded two ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 7 and forced a double-hill, deciding game. Broomell won that game, advancing to chalk up his second shutout, defeating Mark Nunan, Jr. in a winners’ side semifinal and moving into the hot seat match.
Ken Hahnen, in the meantime, alternated between 7-4 and 7-2 wins, against Chris Metzger, Richard Ng, Andres Kinones, and in a winners’ side semifinal, Ryan Smith to join Broomell in the battle for the upper-bracket hot seat. Broomell punched his ticket to the event’s Final Four with a 7-5 victory over Hahnen.
It was Ryan Smith who had the misfortune to draw Rachel Walters on the loss side. At that point, she was six matches into her loss-side winning streak, which had almost been derailed in its opening round by a double-hill challenge from Gerald Robinson. She survived that and defeated Eric Probst 7-3, before running into a second, double-hill challenge from Aldrin Manreal. She survived that one, too, and chalked up three more to draw Smith. Nunan, Jr. ran into Andres Kinones, who’d followed his loss to Hahnen with victories over Frank Markward 7-3 and Doug Cogliano 7-1.
Kinones handed Nunan, Jr. his second straight loss 7-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Walters joined him after defeating Smith 7-1. Walters won her eighth loss-side match, defeating Kinones 7-2 and then punched her ticket to the Final Four with a 7-4 win over Hahnen in the upper bracket’s semifinals.
Rachel Walters
Fendlay and McGarry earn their spots among Final Four with hot seat and semifinal wins
It took David Fendlay five, lower-bracket matches to join the Final Four, which he did by going undefeated to the hot seat with an aggregate score of 25 to 8. Ryan McGarry’s path to the Final Four got sidetracked in the third round when Fendlay sent him to the loss side 5-3, and then almost came to an end in a five-match, loss-side winning streak, twice. He was challenged, double hill, by Mijuel Diaz, in his opening, loss-side match and then, three matches later, by Branden Nash in the lower bracket’s semifinals.
The turning-point matches, so to speak, were the winners’ side semifinals and the loss-side matches that followed them through to the qualifying lower-bracket semifinals. Two of the four competitors in the winners’ side semifinals (of the three in the tournament) were women; Kelly Hossler, who won two of her first three matches, double hill, and Roseann Daw, who’d won her opening-round match, double hill. Both women moved to the loss side after defeats by Fendlay (vs. Daw) 5-1 and Branden Nash (vs. Hossler) 5-2. Fendlay claimed the lower bracket’s hot seat 5-1 over Nash and advanced to the Final Four.
On the loss side, Hossler ran into Ryan McGarry, two matches into the eventual, five-match, loss-side streak that would advance him to the Final Four. Daw picked up Steve Linberg, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Nash and then, eliminated Robert Carey 5-2 and survived a double-hill bout versus Zack Downs.
McGarry defeated Hossler 5-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Daw, who’d eliminated Linberg 5-1. McGarry defeated Daw 5-2 in their quarterfinal matchup and then, advanced to the Final Four with a double-hill win over Nash in the lower bracket’s semifinal.
The Final Four ‘scene’ consisted of four total matches, which began when the two, separate winners of the upper and lower bracket – Bruce Broomell and David Fendlay – faced off as the last two, undefeated competitors. In the meantime, Rachel Walters and Ryan McGarry, as the upper and lower bracket winners of their respective semifinals (each with one loss) squared off in a loss-side, Final Four match.
Broomell claimed the Final Four hot seat over Fendlay 7-3, as Walters was busy eliminating McGarry 7-4. Fendlay came over to the loss side and defeated Walters in the event semifinal 5-2 to earn a second shot at Broomell. The ‘second verse’ was the same as the first. Broomell defeated Fendlay a second time 7-3 to claim the event title.
PA Pro-Am Pool’s Frank Maialetti thanked the ownership and staff at Bluegrass Billiards for their hospitality, along with sponsors Integrity Cues, CrossRoad Cues, Kamui Tips, Marty Magee’s Irish Pub, MindForge Nutrition, GameOn Sportswear, Cue Pocket LLC, Perceptive Lighting, Magic Ball Rack, Trophy Smack, the Players Choice Pool Table Repair and digitalpool.com.
The Next PA Pro-Am Pool event, scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 7-8 and in collaboration with the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour, will be the $3,000-added, 2nd Annual PA State Women’s 9-Ball Championship. The event will be the tour’s 2024 season finale and be hosted by Bluegrass Billiards.
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