The 6th Annual Predator FL Open started its pro side today with several big names already dropping to the losers side in the 1st round. The total field drew 73 players with 1/3 of the field being international.
Strickland, Archer, Jones, Petroni, Owen, Souquet and Morris are some of the star names that found themselves on the wrong end of the stick today.
Strickland led the whole match till the end before Go Takami of Japan went one ahead at the right time to win 9-8. Archer trailed the whole match against fast shooting road player Sparky Ferrell. Owen lost a 9-7 match to local Jacksonville favorite Butch Croft. Petroni lost to young 20 year old European Gun Nico Otterman 9-6. Jones tried to make a rally from 8-4 down to 8-6 but missed a makeable 2 ball before Engert ran out for the win. Morris lost a close 9-7 match to Luat and the final match saw the man with the hot streak Ralf Souquet succumb to the Hatchet Man Dennis Hatch, who recently is also on a hot streak of wins. He recently switched to Predator shaft and Predator Break Cue and has won 6 events in the 3 months he's been using it.
Matches continue at 11am on Friday with the US Amateur 8 Ball Open winding down to the finals for the Open, Women, and Seniors divisions. At 6pm the US Amateur 9Ball Open will begin. Spots are still available and players can pay at the site. Call 407-782-4978.
Full bracket and live scoring coverage can be found at www.seyberts.com