Matthew Harricharran, Gary Bozigian, Dan Faraguna and Troy Deocharran
It had been a month or so since Gary Bozigian's father passed away, when he signed on to the March 4-5 stop on the Predator Tour; a $1,000-added event that drew 51 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY. He'd competed in events since his father had died, and before this particular stop on the tour, but it wasn't until he got into the hot seat of this one that the possibility of winning it led him to speak to Tour Director Tony Robles. Bozigian asked that in the event of his completing an undefeated run through the field of entrants, that his victory be dedicated to the memory of his father.
Bozigian chalked up two, back-to-back double hill victories (hot seat and finals) over Matthew Harricharan to claim the event title. The memory of his father will now live on in his memories of a first tour victory.
Bozigian got into the hot seat match, following a 7-2 victory over Troy Deocharran in a winners' side semifinal, as Harricharran was downing Dan Faraguna 7-3. Bozigian claimed the hot seat over Harricharan in their first of two straight double hill battles.
Deocharran moved over and picked up Kevin Shin on the loss side. Shin had defeated Irene Kim 8-6 and Carmine Andujar 8-3 to reach him. Faraguna drew Miguel Laboy, who'd eliminated Lidio Ramirez 7-3, and Max Watanabe 7-2.
Two 7-4 wins sent Deocharran and Faraguna to the quarterfinals. Two 7-5 wins sent Faraguna (over Deocharran) to the semifinals, and Harricharan (over Faraguna) to a re-match against Bozigian in the hot seat. For the second time, Bozigian and Harricharran locked up in a double hill fight, with the same result. Bozigian won it to claim his first Predator title, and an ever-lasting tribute to his Dad.
