Juan Guzman, Gary Bozigian, Bob Toomey & Rhio Anne Flores
With two wins on the Tri-State Tour in 2016 and a runner-up finish (to Tony Liang) in the 6th Annual Ginky Memorial, Juan Guzman has added a win on the Predator Tour. On the weekend of September 24-25, Guzman came from the loss side to win a $1,000-added Predator Tour Amateur stop that drew 66 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Depending on which tour's rankings are referenced, it turned out to be a final match between the #2-ranked A+/A class player (Guzman) versus the #1-ranked C class player (Bob Toomey) on the Tri-State Tour, or the #6-ranked A+ class player against the #8-ranked C class player on the Predator Tour. In both, with their respective handicaps in play, they're evenly matched, as the double hill final made clear.
With Guzman already at work on the loss side, Toomey advanced to a winners' side semifinal versus Eugene Ok. Rhio Anne Flores, in the meantime, squared off against Lidio Ramirez. Toomey got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Ok, and was met by Flores, who'd defeated Ramirez 7-5. Toomey claimed the hot seat 8-7 over Flores and waited on Guzman's return.
Over on the loss side, it was Ramirez drawing Guzman, who'd defeated Miguel Laboy, double hill (LaBoy is #1 to Guzman's #2 position on the Tri-State Tour) and Mio Celaj 7-4. Ok picked up Gary Bozigian, who'd gotten by Troy Deocharran 7-2 and Thomas Schreiber 7-1.
Bozigian and Guzman handed Ok and Ramirez their second straight loss; Bozigian 7-2 over Ok, and Guzman 7-4 over Ramirez. Guzman took the quarterfinal match that followed 9-6 over Bozigian, and defeated Flores 7-5 in the semifinals.
With Guzman racing to 10 and Toomey racing to 5 in the finals, they battled to double hill. Guzman finished it at the 10-4 mark to claim the event title.
The tour stop included two Second Chance tournaments (technically, a second and third chance tournament). Both finals went double hill. The Second Chance event drew 13 and was won by George Poltorak, who defeated Thomas Schreiber, double hill in the final. The Third Chance event, which drew only seven entrants, was won by Eric Carrasco, who downed Mio Celaj, double hill to claim that mini-title.
