Tony Robles (File Photo)
In a 13-entrant, Open/Pro field on the seventh stop of the Predator Tour, Tony Robles emerged to capture the event title. He came back from a defeat in the hot seat match against Jeremy Sossei, and defeated him in the finals of the $500-added event, run concurrently with the A-D handicapped Empire State Championships and hosted by Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY.
Robles and Sossei were among the winners' side final four, and by identical 8-3 scores, sent Raphael DaBreo and Zion Zvi, respectively, to the loss-side. Sossei was on the winning side of the double hill match that left him in the hot seat, awaiting Robles' return.
Moving to the loss-side, DaBreo ran into Jorge Rodriguez, who'd been sent west by Sossei when both were among the winners' side final eight and then defeated Frankie Hernandez 7-5 and Greg McAndrews 7-3. Zvi picked up Pat Di Buono, who'd shut out Scott Bannon and defeated Mike Wong 7-4. Rodriguez won his third straight loss-side match, defeating DaBreo 7-4 to move into the quarterfinals. He was met by Zvi, who'd given up only one rack in a victory over DiBuono.
Zvi ended Rodriguez' loss-side streak with a 7-5 victory, placing him one match away from a re-match against Sossei. Only Robles stood in his way. The two battled to double hill in the semifinals, until Robles prevailed to earn the re-match. Robles took full advantage of his second chance, defeating Sossei 11-7 to capture the event title.
As tour director, Robles thanked the ownership and staff of Raxx Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.
