On September 11-12, Tony Robles spearheaded the $1,000, added 1st Annual Reverend Clarence Keaton Memorial Tournament, as the 14th stop on the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour 2010 season. Reverend Clarence Keaton, known as "The Rev" by many players, frequented Master Billiards (where the memorial event was held), along with many other New York pool rooms. Well-loved by many members of the pool community, Reverend Clarence Keaton lost his battle against cancer last year. Reverend Keaton was a close friend of tour founder Tony Robles, and would regularly drive to the US Open and The Super Billiards Expo with Tony and his son Shawn Keaton, who is one of New York's top emerging talents.
Along with Shawn, a number of other up-and-coming players competed in the A/B/C/D 9-ball event in this memorial, including John Alicea, Noel Bensurto, Daniel Dagatdot, Jerry Tarantola, Mike Panzerella, and Stewart Warnock. In total, 70 of New York's top players came out to help memorialize "The Rev's" presence and influence on pool in NYC.
The story of the Amateur event of the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour 9-ball championships was centered around the transition of Daniel Dagotdot from a B player to an A player. Daniel has been playing progressively stronger, and building confidence in his game and tournament play. This up-and-coming Fil-Am pool player has been impressive in a combination of dominant and clutch wins, helping him pull all of the pieces of his game together in a way that is a threat to any pool player in the NY landscape.
Daniel went through the field undefeated with wins over Tony Liang 7-5, Ed Culhane 7-4, John Alicea 7-4, Alex Gilvarg 7-4, Steve Wright 7-2, and ultimately Andrew Kane 7-4. Andrew Kane bounced back with a "W" over Arturo Reyes 7-5, giving him the re-match opportunity. In the final match, Daniel capped off an impressive tournament with a dominant performance, which led to a dominant 7-2 win for his first Ozone Billiards Predator Tour 9-ball win. In July's tour stop at Amsterdam Billiards, Daniel had finished second to John Alicea in the finals, and showed the field in this event that his close loss in the finals fueled him to take his game to the next level.
Other stand-out players in this event were Gail Glazebrook, who won a total of four matches, but lost one round before the money, along with Arturo Reyes and Steve Wright, who both showcased heart and explosive play.
Final Results
1st: Daniel Dagotdot $1,000
2nd: Andrew Kane $600
3rd: Arturo Reyes $400
4th: Steve Wright $300
5/6th: Patrick Meyers, Alex Gilvarg $200
7/8th: Luis Novas, Stewart Warnock $150
9-12th: Alberto Estevez Willie Santiago, Mike Hertz, Juan Guzman $100
Kicking off late Saturday afternoon, the Open/Pro 10-ball event featured top-level talent such as Hunter Lombardo, Holden Chin, Jeremy Sossei, George Sansouci, Mike Miller, Sean Morgan and Zion Zvi. Top NY female player "Snooky" Diana Rojas showed a lot of heart to tangle with the big boys in this event as well.
Top Florida pro player Hunter Lombardo stayed around NY long enough after the Seminole Empire State 10-Ball Championships to participate in this 10-ball event. Hunter opened with an impressive 8-3 win over Holden Chin, as well as a clutch hill-hill victory over Mhet Vergara, before losing to Tony Robles 8-6 and Ginky 8-5. Tony Robles brought his "A" game, and was determined to honor his late friend Clarence Keaton by showing the heart that "The Rev", as he is known by his friends, always brought to the table. Tony defeated Phil Davis 8-5, Jeremy Sossei 8-6, Hunter Lombardo 8-6, and "Alaska" Sean Morgan 8-3… earning a spot in the finals undefeated. Meanwhile, Sean Morgan had been turning heads with gritty play, defeating Zion 8-4, Mike Wong 8-7, and Jerry Tarantola 8-6, before losing to Tony Robles 8-3, then Jeremy Sossei 8-7.
Young gun Jeremy Sossei opened up with an 8-6 win over Diana Rojas before losing to Tony Robles 8-6. However, Jeremy dug deep to grind back from the one-loss side to eventually meet Tony Robles in the finals for a rematch. Jeremy's road to the finals led him through Zion Zvi 8-6, Mike Miller 8-2, Jerry Tarantola 8-6 and Ginky 8-7. Jeremy followed the semifinal up with another hill-hill match in the finals to capture top honors in the 1st Annual Clarence Keaton Memorial.
Tony Robles and the Predator Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Poolonthenet.com, AZBilliards.com, www.pool.bz, Billiards Press, Cuetable.com, Master Chalk, RJH Custom Cues, Webb Custom Cues, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, NYCgrind.com, Billiards Digest, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiards Magazine, Maxim Billiards & The Tournament Guide.
Open/Pro Final Results:
1st: Jeremy Sossei $800
2nd: Tony Robles $500
3rd: Sean Morgan $345
4th: George Sansouci $200
