Tony Robles
Sent to the loss side from among the winners' side final eight, Tony Robles battled back through five matches to defeat Frankie Hernandez in the finals of the Open/Pro event of the Predator Tour stop on the weekend of February 11-12. The $500-added Open/Pro event drew 15 entrants to The Cue Bar in Bayside, NY.
Once he'd sent Robles west with an 8-6 victory, Geovani Hosang moved among the winners' side final four to face Coco Davladze. Hernandez, in the meantime, squared off against Jennifer Baretta. Hosang downed Davladze 8-6 and in the battle for the hot seat, faced Hernandez, who'd defeated Baretta 8-5. Hernandez got into the hot seat with an 8-3 victory over Hosang and waited for the return of "The Silent Assassin."
Said 'assassin' got to work on the loss side with a 7-3 victory over Oscar Bonilla and then defeated Jorge Rodriguez 7-4 to pick up Baretta. Davladze drew Juan Guzman, who'd defeated Alex Borukhovich 7-2 and Mhet Vergara, double hill, to reach him. Robles downed Baretta 7-5, and was joined in the quarterfinals by Guzman, who'd survived a double hill match against Davladze.
Robles gave up only a single rack to Guzman in those quarterfinals, earning himself a re-match against the man who'd sent him west earlier, Hosang. Robles gave up only three racks in a 7-3 semifinal victory that gave him a shot versus Hernandez. Had Hernandez reached seven games first, it would have been over, but it was Robles hitting that mark, and extending the race to nine games. They battled, eventually, to double hill before Robles prevailed to capture his own event title.
As tour representative, Robles thanked Sam An and the staff at the Cue Bar for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.
