At the first stop of the Tiger Products & Team DMIRO Nationwide 10-ball Tour, presented by Allen Hopkins, a tough group of pros and amateur from around the area as well as other parts of the world turned out to play at host room Eastside Billiards in NYC.
Top players who attended the event include Allen Hopkins, Mike Davis, “Alaska” Sean Morgan, Mike Yednak, Jonni Fulcher, Zion Zvi, and Zaid Thweib, with 24 players total.
Team DMIRO, which stands for “Don't Miss… I'll Run Out” will feature 20+ stops across the country and culminate in a final event to be held at the Super Billiards Expo in March, 2010.
What makes this tour unique is that it guarantees that four amateurs will place, incorporating a multi-bracket format. The amateurs play in one bracket and the pros play a separate bracket until the final 4 of each side has been determined. Then, the final eight players will be matched up by a mixed draw.
Sponsors for the Team DMIRO Tour include Tiger Products, Mcdermott Cues, Delta-13 Racks, OB Cues, Hammond Custom Cues, Diekman - Cue Builder, The Super Billiards Expo, and Run Out Sportswear.
On Saturday August 29th the pool world welcomed the new national tour that stops at 20+ cities, offering 20+ chances to win. The inaugural Team DMIRO Pro/Am event (Stop #1), was hosted by NYC hotspot pool room and bar Eastside Billiards.
With the preliminary round of the event completed, the four amateurs to move on were Mike Yednak, Ron Gabia, house player Basdeo “Sean” Sookhai, and Andrew Kane. Along with them, the four pros to advance were Mike Davis, Sean Morgan, Zaid Thweib, and Allen Hopkins. The final eight were re-drawn into a double-elimination bracket. The tour staff would like to thank Beau Hopkins for drawing the names for the final bracket.
NYC's, Mike Yednak was having a strong run through this event going through the amateur field undefeated, with wins over tournament director Mike Andrews (7-0), Diana “Snooky” Rojas (7-0), and Dan Cintron (7-1), pushing him through to the final 8.
Diana was one of two ladies that turned out for the event, along with Erin McManus who had a good performance, with wins over “Pool, Poker, & Pain” creator Blair Thein, Patrick Myers, and Vincent Vella, finishing 9-12th.
In the Final 8, Mike Yednak defeated Shawn Sookhai then “Alaska” Sean Morgan 7-0 to take the hot seat.
In the preliminary pro bracket, Allen Hopkins was a dominant force in his first two matches, with 7-5 wins over Mike Davis and Zaid Thweib.
However, NYC's “Alaska” Sean Morgan would knock the hall of famer into the one-loss side in the Final 8 by a score of 7-4. Allen went on to play a nearly flawless set against Zaid Thweib to win 7-0, went on to defeat Mike Davis 7-5, and would then knock out “Alaska” Sean Morgan by a score of 7-0 to land in the hot seat against Yednak.
The final match was one race to 9 between Mike Yednak and Allen Hopkins. To start the set, Mike and Allen were tied at 2-2, when Allen would move on to win the following two games for a 4-2 lead. In the 7th rack, Mike broke and scratched, making the 10-ball, which was re-spotted. Allen had ball in hand, but would get snookered on the 6-ball, and miss a two-rail kick, giving Mike ball in hand for the runout.
Mike followed up with another win to tie again at 4-4 and he was back in the match. The next rack was also dominated by Mike, but unluckily, the 9-ball skidded and the lead went back to Allen. This was a big turning point in the match. Mike could not seem to get back into the groove, and could not get a roll to go his way either. Allen took full advantage of this and beared down to win the match 9-4.
The tour staff would like to thank everyone who came out for this inaugural event, as well Eastside Billiards owner Jerry Shipman.
“This is the nicest pool room that I have been in New York City yet,” said Tour Director, Mike Andrews, “Professional staff and excellent equipment. And I personally want to thank Jerry Shipman for helping the Team the DMIRO staff make this event possible. I would also like to thank all of the players for showing up and supporting our inaugural event.”
Assistant Tournament Director Geoff Bradshaw also mentioned that, “Everyone that participated in the event made it a really pleasant experience, and it was nice to kick off the event with such a player-friendly atmosphere".
The next event on the Team DMIRO Tour will be held at Breaker's Billiards & Lounge in Pittsburgh, PA. Check out www.teamdmiro.com for more information on the tour and schedule.
