Jorge Rodriguez Captures the Predator Pro-Am Tour Opener at Steinway Billiards in the Open-Pro 10-Ball

By NYC Grind Contributor, Jerry Tarantola

The Open-Pro 10-Ball event of the first Predator Pro-Am 9-Ball Tour stop of the 2012 season got underway at noon on Sunday, January 15 with a field of 21 players.  The double-elimination, called-shot event was a race to eight on the winner’s side and race to seven on the one-loss side.

A number of the area’s top players came out to take a shot at this opening event, including Sean “Alaska” Morgan, Tony Robles, Mike Fingers, Zion Zvi, Mhet Vergara, Frankie Hernandez, Jeremy Sossei, and many others.

Some of the area’s strongest up-and-coming players had a standout day at this event, including Raphael Dabreo, who defeated Jerry Tarantola 8-2 and Evan Broxmeyer 8-0, before losing to Jeremy Sossei 8-5 on the winner’s side. Dabreo would finish tied for 7th place with Sean Morgan.

Dabreo then met up with Jerry T again on the one-loss side, where Tarantola avenged his earlier loss, winning 7-4.  Previously, Tarantola had a solid run through the loser’s bracket, knocking out Alex Borukhovich 7-5, Rob Pole 7-5, and Tony Robles 7-5. After defeating Dabreo, Jerry T fought a tough battle against Jorge Rodriguez, who came out the winner at 7-5, leaving Tarantola to settle for fourth place.

Jorge “J-Rod” Rodriguez had a long journey to get to that quarterfinal match after having lost his first round match to Jeremy Sossei 8-6. Rodriguez tore through the one-loss side in impressive fashion, defeating Victor Nau 7-5, Frankie Hernandez 7-6, Evan Broxmeyer 7-0, Zion Zvi 7-4, Sean Morgan 7-2, Jerry T 7-5, and Jeremy Sossei 7-2, to lock in a spot in the finals against Jennifer Barretta.

 

Jennifer had the been the story this weekend, with impressive wins over Frankie Hernandez 8-7, Rob Pole 8-2, Sean Morgan 8-6, and Jeremy Sossei 8-7 in an exciting hill-hill thriller to take the hot seat.  Barretta made headlines last season when she became the first female to win the Predator Tour’s Open/Pro event, defeating  Sossei in the finals. Right now, Jennifer is playing the best pool of her career, and proving that the women can win against the best players in the Tri-State area… showing she has major game to back up the buzz.

Jennifer Barretta has been named by ESPN as one of the 50 Sexiest Athletes, and has been featured in Maxim and Playboy magazine… and has now earned the respect of many more knowledgeable NY pool fans that have a new appreciation for the firepower this girl is packing. In the finals, undefeated Jennifer Barretta took on a hot Jorge Rodriguez at around 4am am Monday morning.

Rodriguez continued his very strong play from throughout the event in this match, with impressive shotmaking that was exciting to watch. While Rodriguez was in prime form, Barretta showed signs of fatigue and was not able to keep up her top game she showed throughout the event.

The match ended with a strong 11-2 win for Jorge Rodriguez to take the title.  With this win, Jorge solidifies himself as one of NY’s strongest players, and starts out leading the points rankings of the Pro/Am Tour.

Congrats to both Jorge and Jennifer, along with 3rd place finisher Jeremy Sossei on their performances in this event! Stay on the NYC Grind for the upcoming final results from the two-day Predator Tour Amateur 9-Ball event…

Final Results

1st: Jorge Rodriguez – $800
2nd: Jennifer Barretta – $600
3rd: Jeremy Sossei – $350
4th: Jerry Tarantola – $200
5th/6th: Raphael Dabreo, Sean Morgan – $75

For the second year in a row, the Predator Pro/Am Tour is going to be awarding an Open/Pro player with an entry into the invitational U.S. Open 10-Ball Championships.  After the end of the 7th stop of the season, the player who accumulated the most points will win the entry (worth $500) to the big event in Vegas.  Below is the breakdown of the points given to the top finishers.  Good luck to all the players working towards earning this big entry!

Open Pro Points:
Winner – 130
2nd – 110
3rd – 90
4th – 80
5/6th – 70
7-8th – 60
9-12 – 50