At the last stop on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, back in June, Anthony Meglino claimed the title as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, though neither a final nor a semifinal match was played. Tour director Tommy Kennedy had to settle for 9th place in that event, when a loss-side forfeiture left him out of the running (had the player who forfeited done so a round earlier, Kennedy would have advanced and potentially altered what happened afterwards). On the weekend of July 29-30, once again on the J. Pechauer tour, Kennedy and Meglino battled twice; in the hot seat and finals, with Kennedy winning them both to complete an undefeated run and claim the title. The $800-added event drew 38 entrants to Capone's in Spring Hill, FL.
Their first meeting, in the battle for the hot seat, occurred after Kennedy had survived a double hill struggle against Jason Richko in one of the winners' side semifinals. Kennedy was on the hill in the match and saw Richko chalk up two to force a deciding game. Meglino, in the meantime, had sent Stephen Richmond to the loss side 9-6. In something of a reversal of fortunes in the hot seat match, Meglino reached the hill first, with Kennedy two games behind. Kennedy chalked up two to force a deciding game and then won that to sit in the hot seat.
On the loss side, Richko picked up another perennial Sunshine State veteran, Tony Crosby, who'd gotten by Joe Scarborough 7-3, and Chris Gentile 7-4 to reach him. Richmond drew yet another Florida veteran in Mike Delawder, who'd defeated Ed Peterson 7-4 and Bobby Garza 7-2.
Crosby and Delawder advanced to the quarterfinals; Crosby in a double hill win over Richko, and Delawder 7-2 over Garza. Crosby downed Delawder in the quarterfinal 9-5, only to be shut down 9-6 by Meglino in the semifinal match.
In the finals, Kennedy and Meglino played the same number of games that they'd played in the hot seat match, only this time, the race was to 11. Instead of winning just 53% of the games, as he had in the hot seat match, Kennedy chalked up 65% of them, resulting in an 11-6 win that allowed him to claim the event title.
As tour director, Kennedy thanked the ownership and staff at Capone's, as well as sponsors J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Simonis Cloth, Mueller Recreational Products, and Chris and Israel Hightower of Cue Man Billiard Products. The next stop on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Saturday, August 12, will be a $1,000-added event hosted by Uncle Waldo's in Daytona Beach, FL.
