Eduardo Cardova and Carlos Duque
The loss side of a double-elimination bracket is the place where you either win or go home. When a tournament employs a ‘modified double-elimination bracket,’ players from the winners’ and the loss side of the bracket advance to a single-elimination phase where everybody involved will either win or go home.
It’s a significant change for a player who’s yet to lose. Up to that point, it’s been win or go to the loss side for a second chance. They’re now in the same ‘win or go home’ boat as the loss-side competitors who’ve joined them in single-elimination play. It’s not as significant a change for the competitor who’s joined the new, single-elimination bracket from the loss side. It’s business as usual for them. They’ve been living with the ‘win or go home’ reality for a while.
For Eduardo Cardova this past weekend (Sat., Feb. 24), it was quite a while. He lost his opening match (to Luis Jimenez 7-5) at a $500-added, 10-ball stop on the Predator Tri-State Tour that drew 39 entrants to Shooters Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ. He moved to the loss side, where he won five straight to qualify for the single-elimination phase of the event (with four competitors from each side of the double-elimination bracket). Then, still under the ‘win or go home’ rules, he won three more to claim his first-ever (recorded) regional tour title, in his first year of reported earnings with us here at AZBilliards.
While Cardova was battling away on the loss side of the bracket, four competitors advanced on the winners’ side through three or four competitors, each (some had opening-round byes), to qualify for the single-elimination bracket. Mikhail Kim got underway with a 7-4 victory over Luis Jimenez, who’d just sent Cardova to the loss side. She went on to defeat Tri-Chau and Nilson Perez to become one of the four. Peter Franco joined her with victories over Aurelio Romero, Wilfredo Albay and Clint Pires. Carlos Duque (destined for the finals) defeated Jessica Keim, Mike Strassberg, Ifzaal Mohammed and Mark Antonetti to join Kim and Franco. Alfredo Altamarino got by Alex Guerrero, Brooke Villa, and Ambi Estevez to join the winners’ side crowd advancing to single-elimination.
From the loss side, Cardova won his five to advance to single-elimination. Mike Strassberg won four to do so, Julian Tierney won three and Ambi Estevez had to win just one.
Cardova never did get the chance for a rematch versus Jimenez, though in the opening round of single elimination, he did defeat the person who’d sent Jimenez to the loss side, Mikhail Kim, defeating him 6-4 and advancing to the semifinals. Tierney didn’t get to play the competitor who sent him to the loss side either, but he did defeat his first, single-elimination opponent, Peter Franco 6-2, advancing to a semifinal matchup versus Cardova.
As the upper end of the single-elimination bracket was busy advancing its loss-side competitors to the semifinals, the lower end of the bracket advanced its still-undefeated competitors. Carlos Duque defeated Ambi Estevez 5-2. Alfredo Altamarino downed Mike Strassberg 5-1 and advanced to his semifinal match against Duque.
Adding to a developing ‘nerves of steel’ reputation, it was all double-hill for Eduardo Cardova from here. He took the semifinal match against Tierney, double hill, while Duque downed Altamarino 5-3 to join Cardova in the finals.
Cardova completed his eight-match, ‘win or go home’ trek to the winners’ circle. He won his double-hill battle against Duque and entered the AZBilliards ‘books’ with his first 2024 payout (third overall, after two in 2023), his first regional tour win and with, presumably, his ‘nerves of steel’ in a confident position to continue development of his career at the tables.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooters Family Billiards, along with title sponsor Predator Cues, Romer’s Trophies, Phil Cappelle and Sterling/Gaming. The next stop on the Predator Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, March 9, will be hosted by El Ray 4 Restaurant in Queens, NY.
0 comments