Eugene Ok, Mike Panzarella, Matthew Harricharan and Kevin Shin
Mike Panzarella, a regular on both the Predator and Tri-State Tours, followed a fifth place finish on the Tri-State Tour last weekend (Sept. 11), with an undefeated run on the Predator Tour this weekend (Sept. 17-18). To complete his run, he had to face and defeat Matthew Harricharan, who won seven on the loss side to face him in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 52 entrants to the Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY.
Panzarella advanced to the hot seat match, following a double hill win over Lidio Ramirez in one winners' side semifinal, as Kevin Shin defeated Michael Fedak 8-3 in the other. Panzarella claimed the hot seat 8-6 over Shin and waited on Harricharan.
On the loss side, it was Ramirez who picked up Harricharan, four matches into his loss-side streak, including most-recent wins over Brooke Meyer 7-3, and a successful 7-5 re-match against the opponent who'd sent him to the loss side, Miguel Laboy. Fedak drew Eugene Ok, who'd gotten by Tommy Schrieber, double hill, and Jaydev Zaveri 7-3.
Harricharan chalked up loss-side win #5 against Ramirez 7-2, as Ok was eliminating Fedak 7-4. Fedak became only the third D+ player in Predator Tour history to advance to a fifth place finish on the tour.
Harricharan and Ok locked up in a double hill quarterfinal, eventually won by Harricharan. He went on to defeat Shin in the semifinals 7-5 for a shot at Panzarella in the hot seat.
Harricharan put up a fight in the finals, coming within a game of double hill. Panzarella, though, hung on to complete his undefeated run and claim the event title.
