Qi Liu defeated Andrew Cleary twice, once in the battle for the hot seat and again in the finals, to take top honors in the Predator Tour's A-B handicapped event on the weekend of June 2-3. The $500-added event drew 52 entrants to Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY.
In the winners' side semifinals, Liu sent Raj Vannala west 7-6, as Cleary was busy defeating John Greslik 7-5. Liu took the hot seat match 10-8 and waited for Cleary to come back.
On the loss-side, Vannala met up with Giovanni Hosang, who'd defeated Shawn Sookhai and Lionel Rivera, both 7-5, to reach him. Greslik drew Charles Young, who'd gotten by Tony Ignomirello, double hill, and Steve Wade 7-3. Young made Greslik's loss-side trip short with a 7-3 victory, as Vannala downed Hosang 7-5. In the quarterfinals that followed, Young ended Vannala's weekend 8-6.
Cleary, though, finished Young's loss-side streak with a 7-4 victory that gave him a second crack at Liu. Cleary battled in the single set finals, but Liu prevailed 10-9 to capture the event title.
