(l to r): Raphael DaBreo, Suzzie Wong, & Jose Mendez
On average, Raphael Dabreo wins an event on the Predator Pro Am Tour about once a year, and has been doing so since 2009. In that same time frame, he’s won, on average, exactly one event on the Tri-State Tour every year. In the only year since 2009 that he failed to record a victory on either tour, he was runner-up in the Empire State 10-Ball Championships (won by Jorge Rodriguez) and the Mixed Masters division of the NYC 8-Ball Championships (won by Koka Davladze). On the weekend of October 28-29, DaBreo chalked up a second victory on the 2017 Predator Pro Am Tour, which he’d won in June. It was the first time in almost four years that DaBreo had recorded two wins on either or both of the tours. The $1,000-added Predator Pro Am event drew 59 entrants to Spin City Café Billiards in Woodside (Queens), NY.
Unlike his effort in June, when he won seven matches on the loss side to meet and defeat hot seat occupant, Koka Davladze, DaBreo took the undefeated route in this one. DaBreo was challenged by Jose Mendez in one of the winners’ side semifinals, while Suzzie Wong (about to record Predator Pro Am history) faced veteran Tony Ignomirello.
DaBreo got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Mendez, as Wong was sending “Tony Iggy” to the loss side 8-5. Wong became the first D-class player to get into a hot seat match in the history of the tour. Though she battled mightily, and forced a deciding game, she did not become the first D-class player to sit in a Predator Pro Am hot seat, because DaBreo sent her to the semifinals 11-10.
On the loss side, Ignomirello picked up his second straight female opponent, Amy Yu, who’d defeated Pascal Dufresne 7-2 and Jerry Almodovar 7-3 to reach him. Mendez drew Geovani Hosang, who’d eliminated “The Warrior” (Carl Yusuf Khan) and Dave Shlemperis, both 7-5.
As Wong had done versus DaBreo in the hot seat match, Yu put up a double hill fight against Ignomirello, but he prevailed to advance to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Mendez, who’d eliminated Hosang 7-4.
Mendez ended Ignomirello’s bid for a win with a 9-7 win in those quarterfinals. In the semifinals, with both players looking for a re-match against DaBreo, Mendez ended Wong’s bid to become the first D-class player in a Predator Pro Am final by defeating her 11-8. DaBreo closed it out with a 7-5 win over Mendez in the finals.
A concurrently-run Second Chance event drew eight entrants, and was won by Pascal Dufresne. Dufresne pocketed $100 with a victory over Duc Lam ($50) in the finals.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Spin City for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, the NAPL, Ozone Billiards, PoolOnTheNet.Com, Cappelle Publishing, and Delta-13 Racks. The next stop on the Predator Tour, scheduled for November 18-19, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens.
