Immonen Battles to the Top on Florida Tour Palm Harbor Stop

Immonen Battles to the Top on Florida Tour Palm Harbor Stop By Tori Hilty, InsidePOOL StaffMany great players, both pro and local favorites, gathered in Palm Harbor, FL, the weekend of May 8-9, 2004, for the third stop of the Florida Pro Tour. The $7,000-added event saw Mika Immonen steamroll his way through a field of tough players to meet Charlie “The Korean Dragon” Williams in the final match, where the Finn came out on top with a 13-8 victory.A field of 55 players including Buddy Hall and Tony Crosby, along with some locals such as house pro Donnie Mills, gathered at Stroker’s, which is owned by Jose Del Rio. Tournament director John Ditoro stated he thought that Del Rio did a great job in securing sponsors for the event. The Seminole Tribe of Florida is one of the main sponsors, but Simonis Cloth and J. Pechauer cues can be added to the list. Bud Lite also was a sponsor and provided some very nice signs for the room. The room sports fourteen 9-foot black Pro Line tables.
Sunday saw an upset when one of the world’s top players, Immonen, suffered a 9-3 loss to Dan Lavoie in the first match of the day and was forced to the one loss side. This was not the last Lavoie would hear from Immonen, though, for the former world champion had a chance to avenge himself in the quarters against Lavoie and took full advantage by doling out his punishment with a 9-2 win.While Immonen was gaining face in the quarters, the hot seat match was going on between Mills and Williams. Mills couldn’t heat up his game enough to get past Williams and claim the hot seat and suffered a 9-4 defeat.Mills traveled to the one-loss side to battle it out against Immonen for a spot in the finals. Mills got out ahead early in the match with a 6-2 lead. Immonen was not going to settle for another defeat in this tournament and went on a tear to win 9-6, securing himself the spot to challenge Williams for top honors.Williams and Immonen were both determined to grab that top prize of $3,500. They kept the match seesawing until Immonen pulled away10-6. Williams answered back with one more rack, closing the gap 10-7. While going for the next rack, Williams missed the 7 ball, allowing Immonen to get to the table for the break on the next rack. Immonen cleaned up the next three racks to earn a 13-8 victory, closing out the final match and the third stop of the Seminole Florida Pro Tour.Results:1st Mika Immonen $3,5002nd Charlie Williams $1,9003rd Donnie Mills $1,3004th Dan Lavoie $1,1005th Ben Conway Jr, Ray Martin $8507th Edgar Acaba, David Grossman $6509th Adam Wheeler, John Ditoro, John Stone, Buddy Hall $45013th Tony Crosby, Josh Degler, Luis Viera, Nomar Paula $350Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

Pool Balls and Billiard Balls at LOW PRICES!!!

About the Author:
Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.