A field of 43 players came out to support the 8th stop of the Predator 9-ball tour this weekend held at Raxx Pool Room in Hempstead, NY. The tournament saw many close matches throughout the 2-day event.
John Chong, a newcomer to the tour had a great opening event defeating such tough opponents as Holden Chin & Hiram Sherman.
Day 2 of the event found Jonathan Smith battling Eddie Abraham for the hot seat. Jonathan Smith was having a great tournament, but Eddie Abraham who had earlier defeated Frankie Hernandez 9-5, was simply unstoppable and convincing defeated Smith with another 9-5 victory, sending Smith to the left side of the chart.
Over to the one loss side, Joey Kong was delivered an early tournament blow by Frankie Hernandez with a crushing 9-1 loss. A fueled Kong battled back through the one-loss side to face off against Hernandez again, who just escaped from Bobby Blackmore with a score of 9-8. The Kong/Hernandez match was full of ups and downs, great safety play and incredible breaking skills, and at hill-hill Kong defeated Hernandez to advance face off against Jonathan Smith. The Kong and Smith match was another nail biter as both clearly wanted a chance at Abraham in the finals. Another hill-hill match victory for Kong would leave Smith to settle for 3rd place.
In the finals it was all Abraham. The unbeaten champion just wouldn't let up exhibiting a terrific break, great cue-ball control and the same battle-tested skills that kept him undefeated throughout the event. An incredible jump shot at 7-4 simply added fuel to his game and he closed the door on Kong 11-6.
For tournament payouts and standings visit: www.predator9balltour.com
Abraham Snaps Off First Predator Tour Stop Win
June 8, 2008