Jayson Shaw may have been the only person in the room (Mr. Cues in Lindenhurst, NY) who wasn't thinking ahead to a potential Tony Robles/Earl Strickland final in the December 2 Open event on the Predator Tour. Shaw was more likely thinking about his defeat at the hands of Robles in the hot seat match, and the path back that had to go through Strickland. He took that path, downed Strickland in the semifinals, and defeated Robles in the finals to capture his second straight Predator Open event title. The $500-added Open event, run concurrently with an A-D handicapped event, drew 13 entrants to Mr. Cues Billiards in Lindenhurst.
With The Pearl already at work on the loss side, having ended up on the wrong side of a double hill match against Robles, Shaw and Robles moved among the winners' side final four; Shaw to meet Scott Murphy, Robles to take on Oscar Bonilla. Shaw sent Murphy west 7-4, as Robles got by Bonilla 7-3. In their first of two, Robles sent Shaw to the semifinals 7-3.
Strickland, in the meantime, defeated Rich Lang 7-4 and then shut out Jeremy Sossei, to pick up Murphy. Bonilla met up with Ray Ramowski, who'd defeated Giovanni Hosang 7-1 and Greg McAndrews 7-3. Strickland chalked up his second straight shutout, against Murphy, sparking further speculation about a finals re-match against Robles. Bonilla, in the meantime, defeated Ramowski 7-4 and hooked up with Strickland in the quarterfinals.
Strickland downed Bonilla 7-4, and was a single match away from making a re-match versus Robles a reality. Unfortunately, for Strickland, he ran into Shaw, equally interested in a re-match. Shaw won the battle, defeating Strickland 7-4.
In the single, extended-race to 11, Shaw had to reach nine games to prompt the extension to 11. He did so, giving up only five racks to Robles to capture his second Predator Tour Open event title.
Tour director Tony Robles, though denied a fifth victory on his 2012 tour, thanked Mr. Cues Billiards' owner, Scott Murphy, Uncle Al and their "awesome" staff for hosting the event, as well as sponsor, Predator Cues. The Predator Tour's $3,000-added season finale is scheduled for this coming weekend, December 8-9, at Raxx Pool Room Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, Long Island, NY.
