Jorge Rodriguez spent most of his time during the January 14-15 stop on the Predator Tour in the west bracket. He'd been sent there in the opening round of the Open/Pro event on that stop by Jeremy Sossei, and spent all but the final match among fellow loss-side opponents; seven of them, to be precise, including a successful rematch versus Sossei. He faced and defeated hot seat occupant, Jennifer Barretta in the finals to capture the Open/Pro title. The $500-added Open/Pro event drew 21 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. The concurrently-run, A-D handicapped event, which drew 81 entrants, also featured a winner - Brian Hunter - who'd spent most of his time in the west bracket.
From among the winners' side final four, Barretta defeated Sean Morgan 8-6, while Sossei was busy sending Raphael DaBreo west 8-5. Barretta and Sossei battled to double hill before Barretta prevailed to sit in the hot seat. It would prove to be her final win of the event.
Over on the loss-side, with two notches on his loss-side belt already, Rodriguez benefited from a forfeit, and then, defeated Zion Zvi 7-4, to pick up Morgan. It was Jerry Tarantola, advancing past Rob Pole and tour director Tony Robles, both 7-5, who picked up DaBreo. Rodriguez and Tarantola combined to make Morgan and DaBreo's loss-side journey brief. Rodriguez moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-2 victory over Morgan. Tarantola joined him after downing DaBreo 7-4.
Rodriguez ended Tarantola's tournament bid with a 7-5 win in the quarterfinals, and got his chance at revenge against Sossei in the semifinals that followed. He took full advantage, defeating Sossei 7-2, and turned to face Barretta. He completed an eight-match winning streak, by allowing Barretta only two racks in the extended race-to-11 finals.
Robles thanked Manny Steinway and his staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.
