Alex Osipov, who plays on both the Predator and Tri-State Tours, won his first of either on the weekend of March 3-4. He went undefeated through a field of 39 entrants, on hand for the $500-added, A-D handicapped event of the Predator Tour, hosted by Mr. Cue in Lindenhurst, NY.
From among the winners' side final four, Osipov won two straight double hill matches to get into the hot seat. He sent Rich Turner west and then faced Naldo Troncoso, who'd defeated Billy Santiago 7-5. His second double hill win left him in the hot seat and sent Troncoso to the semifinals, where he met up with Roberto Mendoza, who was in the midst of a seven game, loss-side winning streak.
Mendoza, who'd been sent west by Tony Liang, defeated Juan Guzman and Frank Rapisarda to move into the money rounds. He then downed Victor Nau, double hill, and Steve Wright 7-2 for the right to face Santiago. Turner moved over from the winners' side final four to face Rich Lang, who'd defeated Boris Manzhelky 7-4 and Kevin Falco 7-5.
It was Mendoza and Turner advancing to the quarterfinals; Mendoza with a 7-5 victory over Santiago and Turner ending Lang's day 7-3. Mendoza went on to win his final match of the day, defeating Turner 10-7 in the quarterfinals, and advancing to the semifinals, where Troncoso prevailed 7-3. Osipov completed his undefeated run with a 10-8 victory over Troncoso in a single, extended-race match in the finals.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the owners and staff of Mr. Cue, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.
