Michael Wong, owner Holden Chin and Oscar Bonilla
Michael Wong has been kicking around the Northeast pool scene for a few years now, and though he's been among the top ten finishers on a variety of tours, like the Tri-State, Action Pool and Mezz Pro-Am, and finished 33rd in last year's US Open, he had, until Sunday August 21, failed to chalk up a major tour victory. That all changed when he showed up at Raxx Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY last weekend, and went undefeated through a field of 30 entrants, on-hand for the $1,000-added Mezz Pro-Am stop.
As it turned out, Wong was able to record the victory without benefit of a final match. His opponent in the finals – Oscar Bonilla, who had won seven on the one-loss side to get back to those finals – forfeited the match, and split the first and second place prize money. In recognition of the many ways that he had been helped by the man, Wong dedicated this first major victory of his to George "Ginky" Sansouci.
From among the winners' side final four, with three wins behind him, Wong sent Paul Revel west 7-3. He was joined in the battle for the hot seat by Manny Chau, who'd sent Bonilla west 7-3 in the event's second round, and defeated Holdin Chin 7-1 for the opportunity against Wong. Wong chalked up an impressive, hot seat shutout versus Chau, in what proved to be his last match of the day.
Revel moved over to face Scott Simonetti, who'd gotten by Ariel Rivera 7-1, and Mark Pantovic 7-3. Chin ran into Bonilla, who, with three wins already on the one-loss side, had survived a double hill battle versus Gregg McAndrews, and then defeated Scott Murphy 7-3 for the right to face Chin. Bonilla would win his last four matches by the same 7-3 score.
Simonetti downed Revel 7-2, while Bonilla eliminated Chin 7-3. In the quarterfinals that followed, Bonilla ended Simonetti's day with his third straight 7-3 win, and then, in his semifinal re-match versus Chau, defeated him 7-3, as well.
At this point, with the necessity of defeating Wong twice in a true double elimination final format, that could easily have chased the dawn, Bonilla conceded. An offer to split the first and second place prize money was agreed upon, with Wong as the winner of record. Wong had his first major event victory.
