On January 23-24, 2010, the Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour made its second stop of the 2010 season at Eastside Billiards on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
In the amateur A/B/C/D event, the first day showcased strong play from John Alicea, Stu Warnock, and Andrew Kane in a full field of 64 players. The second day of the tournament kicked off at noon on Sunday, to bring back the final 8 players.
On the winner's side, Wilson Cruz rolled over Stu Warnock (7-3) in a dominant performance. Wilson was then matched up with Alex Gonzalez, who had previously defeated Matthew Harricharan (7-3).
Wilson continued his winning ways over Alex (7-3), earning him a spot in the finals, undefeated. Alex would wait for the west side of the bracket to fight it out, for a chance to get in the finals.
On Sunday, Andrew Kane had a gritty performance, defeating Pat DiBuono (7-6), Matthew Harricharan (7-4) and Stu Warnock (7-2), before losing to Alex Gonzalez (7-0).
Alex was hungry to bounce back in a rematch against Wilson Cruz in the finals. That final match would be one race to 9 games, which Alex came out first, completing the set with a 9-7 score and an impressive Predator Tour win.
In the Open/Pro 10-ball event, Tony Robles won his first two matches over Randy Jaragoske (8-5) and Paul Raval (8-4), before losing to Frankie Hernandez (8-6).
Frankie knocked George SanSouci to the one-loss side (8-6), before bouncing back over Randy Jaragoske (8-1), Mike Miller (8-4) and Tony Robles (8-5). This earned Ginky a rematch against Frankie Hernandez, who he was able to overcome with a major 8-4 win in the finals.
This was a landmark event for Ginky, because although he had finished second and third numerous times on the Predator Tour, he had not won an event on the tour until now. On top of that, this was also the first time in over 10 years (since the Ocean State Championship at Snookers) that arguably the top three New York players finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in an event together.
Congratulations to both Ginky and Alex for their impressive wins at Eastside Billiards. The tour is giving one paid invitation to the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championships in Vegas this May to the player in the Open/Pro ranks with the most points after stop # 6. So look for these top players to put the heat on in the remaining two events to vie for the entry.
Many thanks to Jerry Shipman and his amazing staff at Eastside Billiards for hosting this great event and to Jerry Tarantola & Alison Fischer of NYCGrind.com for writing the story and taking the photos.
Special thanks to PoolOnTheNet.com, Ozone Billiards, Predator, Poison Cues, Delta-13, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Billiards Press, RJH Custom Cues (Richard Hsu), Webb Custom Cues (Mike Webb), CueTable.com, Master Chalk, Dig-Ink.com (Official Print Company of the Predator Tour), AZBilliards, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Maxim Billiards, The Tournament Guide and especially Jim Murnak of JimMurnakCueCases.com and go4pool.net where you can see interviews of some of the world's greatest players as well as live matches of the tour at The Amsterdam Billiard Club, Raxx Pool Room Sports Bar & Grill and Master Billiards.
Open/Pro Payout:
1st: "Ginky" George SanSouci $600
2nd Frankie Hernandez $400
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Amateur Payout:
1st: Alex Gonzalez $900
2nd: Wilson Cruz $625
3rd: Andrew Kane $425
4th: Stu Warnock $300
5th/6th: John Alicea, Matthew Harricharan $200
7/8th: Pat DiBuono, Brian Hunter $150
9-12th: Diana Rojas, "Devil Dave" Ascolese, Luis Jimenez, Ricky Rangoonan $125
13-16th: Gary Murgia, Ron Mason, Jason Gonzalez, Walter Goller $100
