Oscar Dominguez
Oscar Dominguez came back from a hot seat loss to meet and defeat Rodney Morris in the finals of the 20th Annual Jay Swanson (Swanee) Memorial Tournament, held on the weekend of February 20-21. The event's $10,000 prize package drew a full field of 128 entrants to On Cue Billiards in La Mesa, CA.
The tournament came within a match or two of featuring a finals contest between Oscar and his father, Ernesto, who faced separate opponents in the winners' side semifinals. Oscar met up with Amar Kang, as his Dad faced Morris. Oscar defeated Kang 8-5, as Ernesto was sent to the loss side by Morris 8-4. Morris took the hot seat 8-5 and waited on the younger Dominguez' return.
On the loss side, Ernesto ran into Johnny Kang, who'd defeated Jonny Martinez 7-5 and Santos Sambajon, Jr. 7-3 to reach him. Amar Kang picked up last year's runner-up Hungarian Vilmos Foldes, who'd eliminated Max Eberle 7-4 and Brendan Crockett 7-2.
Ernesto locked up in a double hill battle that he won versus Johnny Kang, while Amar Kang fell to Foldes 7-2. Ernesto then downed Foldes in the quarterfinals 7-5, setting up a father-son semifinal, which, by family tradition, they chose not to play; Ernesto allowing Oscar to face Morris in the finals.
"When we first started playing together," Oscar explained, "we were both so bad that it was funny, so we decided that we wouldn't play against each other, and it stuck.
"It's usually me who advances," he added, "because my father always wants me to get more experience."
It paid off handsomely, although there's no way to determine whether it would have paid off just as handsomely if Ernesto had faced Morris. As it turned out, Oscar got his second shot at Morris and delivered, 11-9, to claim the 20th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial title.
