Tony Robles
Tony Robles came back from a defeat in the hot seat match to best The Iceman, Mika Immonen, in the extended race-to-11 finals of a Predator Tour stop on Sunday, June 3. It marked the third time since February that the Silent Assassin had picked up a victory on his own tour. It was the second time this year that he and Immonen had squared off in the finals, with Immonen winning the battle to go undefeated in March. The $800-added June event drew 16 entrants to Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY.
Once Robles had sent Tony Liang west 7-2 and Immonen had dispatched Joe Landi to the loss side 7-4, the two convened their first meeting in the battle for the hot seat (Robles had to win five on the loss side to meet him in the finals back in March). Immonen prevailed 7-3 this time out and for the second time in three months, sat in the Predator Tour Open hot seat, awaiting an opponent.
On the loss side, Liang met up with Frankie Hernandez, who, after being sent west by Immonen, had shut out Marvin St. John and survived a double hill battle against Jeremy Sossei (third in the March event). Landi drew Rob Omen, who'd gotten by Pauli Caibano double hill and Joe Palone 7-5. Landi got right back to work, allowing Omen only a single rack and moving on to the quarterfinals against Hernandez, who'd ended Liang's day 7-3.
In a quarterfinal match that would likely have befuddled odds makers, Landi downed Hernandez 7-4 and then put up a hell of a fight in the semifinals against Robles, taking the match to double hill. Robles prevailed, though, and got his second chance against Immonen.
Coming from the loss side, Robles had to reach nine games first to extend the match to 11. He did so, and went on to win 11-6 to capture his third Predator Tour title on the year.
Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Raxx Pool Room, and Dr. Louis Pannullo for a contribution of $300 in added money to the event. He also thanked Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind for their sponsorship of the event.
