Brian Hunter was sent to the loss-side early in the January 14-15 stop of the Predator Tour and clawed his way back through 11 matches to get into the finals, where he first, forced an extension to 10 games and then prevailed over hot seat occupant, Ray Feliciano to capture the event title. The $500-added, A-D handicapped event drew 81 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. A concurrently running, Open/Pro event was still underway, when the handicapped event came to a conclusion after midnight Sunday.
As Hunter was battling his way through the loss-bracket, Feliciano was moving among the winners' side final four to face Junior Singh. Joining them were Dave Ascolese and Wellington Reyes. Feliciano downed Singh 7-5 to get into the hot seat match versus Ascolese, who'd defeated Reyes by the same score. Feliciano got into the hot seat with an 8-3 victory over Ascolese.
Hunter, in the meantime, who would not be afforded the opportunity to face the player who'd sent him to the loss side (Ricky Ragoonanan), was in the midst of his 11-match winning streak. With six behind him, Hunter defeated Steve Wright, double hill, and Lionel Rivera 7-2 to draw Reyes. Singh picked up Bob Schlott, who'd defeated Mike Fisher 7-3 and Brian Russell 7-2 to reach him. Hunter and Schlott advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 7-5 victories over Reyes and Singh.
Hunter then survived a double hill battle versus Schlott to get into the semifinals against Ascolese. A 7-4 victory over Ascolese put him into the single, potentially extended-race finals, where he would first need to reach eight games ahead of Feliciano, and then win two more to secure the event title. He did both, reaching eight games, ahead by two already. Feliciano, though, fought back to win three of the next four and knot things at double hill. Hunter won the final game to bring home the top prize.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Steinway and his staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.
