Rasmeloungon Takes Off Capone’s

Rasmeloungon Takes Off Capone’sOut-of-towner shakes up Florida Pro Tour openerBy Paul BergWell known in action circles as a fearless up-and-comer, Pooky Rasmeloungon is often associated with the hard-knock pool atmosphere of Baltimore. Based in Springfield, VA, Rasmeloungon came through a tough field of Florida’s finest at the game of 10-ball, avenging his double-hill loss in the hot seat match with a 9-7 finals victory over Predator sales supervisor Neil Fujiwara.The win at the first stop of the Seminole Tribe Florida Pro Tour at Capone’s in Springhill, FL, marks the biggest tournament success thus far for Pooky, and he came through a tough field. With wins in races to 7 over Josh Hillard, Steve Knoll, and John Schmidt on Saturday, Rasmeloungon moved into his first race to 8 on Sunday with David Broxson. The tall, red-haired contender built a 7-3 lead, only to see it slip away as Rasmeloungon broke in two 10 balls in a row to draw within a game, and when Broxson scratched midway through the next rack, Pooky cleared and then broke and ran out to move on.
Rasmeloungon then stopped Robb Saez 8-4, icing the hottest man in the room after the Capone’s house pro had just smashed Charlie Williams 8-3. Fujiwara, a Jacksonville-area player, had come back from a 6-3 deficit facing Troy Frank to advance to Rasmeloungon as the last of the unbeaten.It was a surprising pair of names amongst those that had fallen. John Schmidt and Tommy Kennedy were both put out by Josh Degler, who got a taste of Saez in an 8-2 shellacking to finish tied for fifth. Williams joined him despite breaking the last two 10 balls in to finish Broxson the round before and forcing Frank into a stupendous jump shot on the 7 ball to pull out a hill-hill victory from a 7-3 lead.Saez and Frank played for fourth place, but Saez showed fierce defense of his turf by leaving Frank in the chair. Breaking and running a total of six times in an 8-1 win, Saez saved four of them for last in the tournament’s biggest package deal. It propelled him to a rematch with Pooky, who was coming off a brutal defeat in the winners’ bracket final that had seemed like certain victory.Fujiwara came back as he had on Frank, this time from a slightly steeper deficit of 7-3. While Fujiwara played brilliantly to force a deciding fifteenth game, his 8-7 win came by virtue of Rasmeloungon’s miscue on the 8 ball. The out-of-town operative took the liberty of cooling Saez down again, sprinting out to a 5-1 lead and going on to an 8-4 win to get a rematch in the finals.This time Pooky held on, taking a 6-2 lead in the extended one set tilt and then watching it slip to 6-5. Rasmeloungon managed to parlay solid defense into a seesaw from there, as both players took one at a time, with Pooky delicately running out the last for a 9-7 victory. Having battled a good-natured home gallery for Saez and an ardent cheering section for Fujiwara watching on the big screen in the back, even Capone’s owner Rocky McElroy had to admire the kid’s swing. Like it says the logo on the stools in this joint, bada bing, Pooky.Results:1st – Pooky Rasmeloungon ($4,000)2nd – Neil Fujiwara ($2,000)3rd – Robb Saez ($1,500)4th – Troy Frank ($1,200)5th/6th – Josh Degler/Charlie Williams ($900)7th/8th – David Broxson/Tommy Kennedy ($600)9th/12th – Wayne Catledge/Butch Croft/Steve Knoll/Ray Martin ($450)13th/16th – Tony Crosby/Bill Ferguson/Richie Richeson/John Schmidt ($300)17th/24th – Brian Butler/Benny Conway, Jr./Brian Davalos/Dave Grossman/Buddy Hall/Rodney Morris/Daniel Tietze/T.F. Whittington ($150) Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the Florida Pro Tour.

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.