Predator Pro Open Whittled Down to 16

Predator Pro Open Whittled Down to 16 By Paul Berg, InsidePOOL Staff WriterThe UPA swung south for its last tour stop this calendar year to The Pool Room in Marietta, GA, for the Predator Pro Open this week, and 48 players thick with an established cast started their trek Thursday. With 16 seeded players with byes, it didn’t take long for a few shakeups to alter the composition of the field on the way to the conclusion of today’s afternoon rounds.Charlie Williams, who was hot during the last spurt of UPA activity with two wins, is one of the big names out the door after an 11-5 loss to Danny Harriman, which followed an opening loss to Tulsa, OK’s, Gabe Owen. Owen faces close friend and U.S. Open Champion Jeremy Jones at 7 p.m. Saturday, and the loser will walk away at the edge of the money with a 13th-place tie. Other matches at 7 p.m. on the one-loss side include Johnny Archer versus Mike Davis, Harriman up against Rodney Morris, and John Schmidt against Tony Crosby.
A bit later at 9 PM, the somewhat surprising winners' bracket will play on. Chief among the over-achievers is Japan’s Go “Rising Sun” Takami, who toppled hometown favorite Archer early in the proceedings. He’s fresh off beating Jimmy Wetch, who offered a strong comeback in the 11-9 defeat, and will contend with Ronnie Wiseman. Wiseman came away with a 11-9 decision against Young Hwa-Jeong, in which the Korean sensation disputed a call on a close hit for Wiseman that was not to his liking.The other half of the undefeated side will see Jose Parica take on Nick Varner. Varner trailed Wiseman’s countryman Danny Hewitt 7-2, but a Canadian half of the winners’ bracket was not to be. Varner cruised through racks on his way to a 9-7 lead that would result in an 11-10 win. “Little Big Man” shook his head and cursed his way through a see-saw opening, but Parica utilized a late spurt to beat Max Eberle 11-7.Notables who fell short of the cash besides Williams include Scott Frost, who lost to Wiseman despite running four consecutive racks in the set. Shawn Putnam lost a tight contest with Rodney Morris today and is gone, and Morris himself was the victim of the Detroit resident Wiseman, who’s cut a swath through the toughest draw. Buddy Hall was finished one-two by blows from Parica and Archer. Tony Robles found defeat to Jones, who ran out what had been a close set to win 11-7 over New York’s “Silent Assassin.”Visit InsidePOOL for all of the latest in the sport of billiards and pool.

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