Following in the footsteps of (in order) Raj Vannala, Daniel Dagotdot, Mike Yednak, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and Rhys Chen, Tony Liang became the sixth Amateur competitor to win the annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament. Liang came from deep on the loss side to challenge and defeat hot seat occupant Juan Guzman in the finals of the $2,000-added Amateur 9-Ball event that drew 190 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Combined with the 53 entrants in the $2,000-added Open-Pro event (separate story), the 6th Annual Ginky Memorial drew a record 243 entrants; three above the 2105 total.
The 190 entrants in the Amateur event were initially divided into two, 128-entrant brackets by ranking; one bracket for the A, A+ and B+ players, and one, for the B and below. Two players from each advanced to the winners' side final four. Juan Guzman (an A player) faced Eddie Kunz (B+), as Erick Carrasco (C) squared off against Rene Villalobos (B). Guzman and Villalobos advanced to the hot seat match; Guzman 7-3 over Kunz and Villalobos, 7-5 over Carrasco. Guzman won his last match, claiming the hot seat 7-4 over Villalobos and waited on Liang.
On the loss side, Liang survived a double hill match versus the 2014 winner, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and eliminated Shawn Sookhai 7-3 to pick up Kunz. Carrasco drew Chickie Romero who'd eliminated Marshall Piercy 7-5 and Joe Torres 7-4, to reach him.
Liang eliminated Kunz 7-5, as Carrasco was busy surviving a double hill fight against Romero. Liang took the quarterfinal match versus Carrasco 10-8 and earned his slot in the finals with an 8-6 win over Villalobos in the semifinals. He completed his long, loss-side run by first, extending the final race to 9 games by reaching 7 games first, and then winning two more to claim the event title over runner-up Juan Guzman 9-6.
In addition to thanking everyone who came down to Steinway Billiards to honor George "Ginky" Sansouci, Tony Robles thanked both the Tri-State and Mezz Tours for their cooperation and assistance, along with Steinway Billiards' owner, Manny Stamatakis, and his staff. He also extended his thanks to sponsors Predator Cues, National Amateur Pool League, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 racks, Gotham City Technologies, PoolOnTheNet.com, The DeVito Team, Billiards Press, AZ Billiards, Billiards Digest, and Pool & Billiard Magazine. He also thanked William Finnegan, Mandy Wu, and Irene Kim for their assistance with the tournament, as well as his wife, Gail Robles.
