It was 3:30 in the morning when Tommy Kennedy, sitting in the hot seat, and Anthony Meglino opted out of a final match during the $500-added, November 30 stop on Kennedy's Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, which drew 41 entrants to Cunningham's in Vero Beach, FL. As far as Kennedy was concerned, the default event title worked out just as well for him, because Meglino, he noted, coming off a nine-match, loss-side winning streak was shooting lights out as he got closer.
"He was shooting really well," said Kennedy, "so it did kind of work out for the best for me."
Kennedy had sent Meglino west in the second round, and Kennedy moved on, advancing, eventually to the winners' side final four, where he met up with Carlos Torres. Jim Sandaler, in the meantime, locked cues with Chris Gentile. A 7-4 win for Kennedy and a double hill win for Sandaler, put them into the hot seat match, where Kennedy prevailed 7-2.
With four matches behind him, Meglino defeated Devin Brown 6-1 and shut out Prescott Buckwold to draw Gentile, coming over from the winners' side semifinals. Torres drew Chris Daly, who'd gotten by Justin Hall 6-3 and Billy Burke 6-2.
Torres got successfully back on the winning track with a 6-4 victory over Daly, but Meglino handed Gentile his second straight loss, defeating him 6-1. Meglino advanced to the semifinals without lifting his cue, as Torres forfeited the quarterfinal match.
Meglino then eliminated Sandaler in the semifinals 6-3, which gave Kennedy, looking on, a glimpse of what he might be facing. They opted out of the final match, declaring Kennedy, in the hot seat, the event winner.
Kennedy thanked Chris Devila, owner of Cunningham's and his staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Tiger Products, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Mueller Recreational Products, Chris Nitti Custom Cues, Chris Hightower of Cue Man Billiards, Daivd Adams of Byron, GA and Simonis Cloth.
