The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour Kicks off 2010 with wins from Jeremy Sossei and Hiram Sherman

The season opener of the 2010 Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour kicked off on Saturday, January 16 at Raxx Pool Room, where it premiered the tour’s new format with an Open division and an A-D amateur division.

With an impressive field of 76 players in the handicapped amateur division, the tour’s players would face a long battle on the road to the finals.  This event featured a split format, where A/B level players would compete on one side of the bracket while C/D players were on the other, only to meet in the final two on the winner’s side.

Coming through the winner’s side to the final four were John Hacsi, who defeated Michael Hertz (7-5) on the C/D side, and Hiram Sherman, who came through with a 7-4 win against  Tommy Derasmo on the A/B side.  This win set Sherman up against Hacsi for the hot seat match, where Hiram Sherman would end up in a battle to hill-hill, but finish on top at 7-6.

Meanwhile, Jeff Firester and Stewart Warnock had made their way through the one-loss side to face Tommy Derasmo and Michael Hertz in the final four of the one-loss side.  To land a chance at the quarterfinals, Firester defeated Erin McManus (7-3) along with breakthrough junior player Darwin Vergara by the same score, while Warnock knocked out Shawn Sookhai (7-4) and Junior Sanchez (7-1).

Both Firester and Warnock would continue on their winning streak defeating Hertz (7-6) and Derasmo (7-4), respectively.  But, in the semifinal, Stu Warnock turned on the heat to defeat Jeff Firester 7-1 and move onto the semifinal.  Waiting for Warnock in the semifinal was John Hacsi, who showed no mercy and defeated him 7-2.

The final match turned in a true battle in the rematch between Hacsi and the undefeated Hiram Sherman.  The two would eventually tie at hill-hill, but Sherman would take the case game to finish off the event undefeated.

Payout:

1st: Hiram Sherman - $1,000
2nd: John Hacsi - $750
3rd: Stewart Warnock - $550
4th: Jeff Firester - $400
5th/6th: Tommy Derasmo, Michael Hertz - $225
7th/8th: Junior Sanchez, Darwin Vergara - $175
9th-12th: Erin McManus, Kevin Guimond, Diana Rojas, Shawn Sookhai - $125

In Open/Pro event featured 14 of the toughest players from the New York tri-state area.  Making their way to the winner’s side final four were “Ginky” George SanSouci who defeated Jeremy Sossei by a close score of 8-6, while tour owner Tony Robles sent Frankie Hernandez to the one-loss side in a hill/hill thriller.  This set up for a classic battle between Ginky and the Silent Assassin, where Robles from behind, ran a 4-pack to go ahead 7-6 before claiming the hot seat 8-6.

“Spain” Marc Vidal and Mhet Vergara would come through the one-loss side only to be sent packing in the final four after losses to Jeremy Sossei and Frankie Hernandez.  Sossei would then dominate Hernandez in the quarterfinal with a final score of 8-4 to move on to the semifinal against Ginky, where Sossei stamped another “W” on the bracket, winning 8-5.

The final match would face Jeremy Sossei against the undefeated Tony Robles in a shortened race to three.  Sossei decided to make quick work of that final match, winning all three right out of the gate to win the tour opener from the comeback side.

This puts Jeremy in the lead for points on the Predator Tour.  The tour is giving one paid invitation to the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championships in Vegas this May to the player in the Open/Pro ranks with the most points after the first four Pro/Open Tour stops of the season.

Congratulations to both Jeremy Sossei and Hiram Sherman for their victories at the Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour’s season opener.  The tour would like to thank all the players for participating in this event, along with their sponsors.

Payout:
1st: Jeremy Sossei - $850
2nd: Tony Robles - $550
3rd: George SanSouci - $365