(l to r): Luis Carrasco, Matthew Harricharan, Troy Deocharran & Mac Jankov
Robles and Reyes battle in exhibition at Amsterdam Billiards
Tony Robles took a brief break from his duties as tour director of the Predator Pro Am Tour on the weekend of Oct. 20-21, and welcomed Efren Reyes to the Big Apple, on the occasion of what has been dubbed his Farewell Tour. As a field of 44 amateur competitors began their battles at a Predator Pro Am Tour stop at The Spot in Nanuet, NY, Robles and Reyes squared off in a series of exhibition matches at Amsterdam Billiards in lower Manhattan.
With hundreds of spectators on hand to watch and bid a bond farewell to the man who, for good reason, is known as The Magician, Reyes and Robles played three matches, one each in 9-Ball, 8-Ball and 10-Ball. Robles took the opening 9-ball series, double hill (9-8), but Reyes flexed his muscles a bit in the 8-ball series, 8-3.
“He crushed me,” said Robles, with more than just a hint of admiration for Reyes, who might well have been spending his last weekend in New York.
With the overall series of matches tied at 1-1, they played a short, race-to-3 series of 10-ball games. Robles won that short series, double hill, and with the gathered spectators and stream viewers on the Facebook page of Michael Yednak, they bid something of a ceremonial goodbye to one of the best players the sport has ever seen.
Meanwhile, up in Nanuet, NY, about 25 miles north on the west side of the Hudson River, the 44 amateurs were busy with their own quests for pool fame and fortune at the $1,000-added event, hosted by The Spot in Nanuet. Matthew Harricharan and Luis Carrasco battled twice to claim the event title; Carrasco taking the hot seat, with Harricharan coming back from a semifinal win to defeat Carrasco in the finals.
Carrasco advanced to the hot seat match with a 7-2 win over Mac Jankov. Harricharan advanced to the hot seat without sinking a ball as his scheduled opponent, Chris Kelly, failed to make it back to the second day of competition. Carrasco claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Harricharan and waited on his return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Jankov picked up Amy Yu (the tour’s #3-ranked female player), who’d defeated Irene Kim 7-3 and Ambi Estevez 7-2 to reach him. Jankov defeated Yu 7-5 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Troy Deocharran, who’d defeated Rikki Ragoonanan 7-4 and Abel Rosario 7-3 to enter the races for the 5th place tie, leapfrogged to meet Jankov in the quarterfinals, as a result of Chris Kelly’s forfeiture of that match.
Jankov downed Deocharran in those quarterfinals 8-5, but had his run ended by Harricharan 9-7 in the semifinals. Harricharan squared off against Carrasco a second time in the finals and snatched the event title away from him 10-8.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Rhys Chen and his staff at The Spot for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, NAPL, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), Ozone Billiards, the DeVito Team, and his Predator Pro Am staff. The next stop on the Predator Tour, scheduled for Oct. 27-28, will be hosted by Spin City Café and Billiards in Queens, NY.
