Ronnie Alcano (File Photo)
On November 11, at Stop # 22 on the Mezz Pro Am Tour, Adam Kielar double-dipped hot seat occupant Ronnie Alcano to win the event. A little over a month later, on December 15, Alcano once again made it to the hot seat, but this time, when Kielar came back from a three-match, loss-side winning streak, Alcano shut him down in the finals to claim the top prize. The $1,000-added event that drew 33 entrants to Castle Billiards in Edison, NJ, was to have played out over two days, but players chose to finish things late on Saturday night.
The two met first among the winners' side final four, where Alcano survived a double hill match that sent Kielar west. Michael Wong, in the meantime, defeated Joe Landi 6-3 and moved into the hot seat match against Alcano. Alcano prevailed 6-4 (seven of the event's final 14 matches were decided by that score) and waited in the hot seat for his second straight finals matchup against Kielar.
Kielar moved west to pick up Matt Krah, who'd gotten by Bill Gallagher and Mike Miller, both 6-4. Landi drew Rob Hart, who'd also chalked up two 6-4 victories over Wali Muhammad and Bruce Nagle. Two more 6-4 victories - Hart over Landi, and Kielar over Krah - sent Hart and Kielar to the quarterfinals, where yet another 6-4 win sent Kielar to the semifinals against Wong.
Kielar and Wong broke the 6-4 pattern that had characterized the previous five loss-side matches and battled to double hill before Kielar prevailed for a second chance against Alcano, and his second straight finals meeting with him on the tour. With memories of November no doubt on his mind, Alcano got right to work, and never stopped, winning six straight to claim the event title.
