Tim Smith, Albert Luna, Benjie Piamonte, Sam Manole, Ricardo Espinosa, Jesse Rizo, Justin Espinosa and Daniel Schneider
The 4th tour stop of the Predator Arcadia Centex Pool Tour drew 75 players for this 2-day, $2000 added 9-ball event. The Open Division featured many favorites including the current tour point ranking leader, Justin Espinosa, along with his father Ricardo, Predator Pro Team player Daniel Schneider and local favorites Sam Manole, Eric Aicinena & Albert Luna. On the women’s side, several state and national BCA champions were in attendance including Sophie Lopez, Kawania Watson, Cristina Schneider and recently relocated, Tamara Parlette as well as local favorites like Naomi Garcia, Mille Almaraz & Nancy Cardenas.
Pushing through the winner’s side was local player Sam Manole with wins over James Berry 7-1, David Evans 7-5, Christopher Ayers 7-3, Jesse Rizo 7-3, and Tim Smith 7-4. He eventually met current tour leader, Justin Espinosa in the hot seat match where Manole came up short 4-7. Justin found his way to the hot seat with wins over Justin Huber 7-0, Albert Luna 7-4, Eric Aicinena 7-3, Benjie Piamonte 7-2 and Daniel Schneider 7-1.
Stand out performance in their first Arcadia Centex Tour stop were Ricardo Espinosa and Tim Smith. Ricardo won his first few matches before falling to Daniel Schneider 7-3 but continued his run on the 1-loss side with 4 more wins before eventually being eliminated by Daniel Schneider again. Tim Smith had an impressive 3rd place finish with Daniel Schneider rounding out the 4th place spot.
Manole eventually made his way back for a rematch with Justin Espinosa but Justin sealed the deal in 1-set with a decisive 7-1 win which protects his lead in the overall tour rankings.
Cristina Schneider and Mille Almaraz
On the women’s side, Mille Almaraz made her way to the hot seat match with a first-round bye and wins over Ciara Keyes 5-2, Kawania Watson 5-4, and Sophie Lopez 5-3 before being sent to the 1-loss side by Cristina Schneider in the hot seat match. In their first Arcadia Centex events, Christy Grigsby & Sophie Lopez finished in 5th/6th Place followed by Kawania Watson & Tamara Parlette in 7th/8th. Naomi Garcia had a great finish with wins over Barbara Wisdom, Tamara Parlette, Sophie Lopez and Nancy Cardenas to take 3rd place. Nancy Cardenas started the tournament out strong with several wins until she faced the eventual winner, Cristina Schneider and eventually finished in 4th place. Cristina Schneider defeated Mille Almaraz in the finals to earn the win for the First Ladies division of the Arcadia Centex Tour.
A big thank you to all the tour sponsors that make the events possible including Predator Cues, Arcadia Billiard Cloth, Kamui, Brutal Game Gear USA, Outsville, James Hanshew, ROIS Leather and our streaming partners Backwards Billiards.
