Iceman Finally Breaks the Ice

Iceman Finally Breaks the Ice
Predator 9-Ball Tour / Parsippany, NJ
by InsidePOOL Staff
The Predator 9 Ball Tour made its seventh stop of the season at Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ, the weekend of May 31-June1. The event drew 62 players, with Mika “Iceman” Immonen coming out on top.
Stop 7 had nine women participating. Karen Corr had a rare early exit after winning her first match against Dave Deserio 9-2 but lost her next two to Shane Winters 9-2 and Bobby Blackmore 9-6. Also, Liz Ford was the highest-finishing lady, earning $100. She won her first two matches but then ran into newly elected Hall of Fame member Allen Hopkins, who bested her 9-3. Once on the one-loss side, she was eliminated by Bill Horne 9-6.
Immonen was business as usual, taking care of the bottom portion of the chart by defeating Julie Kelly 9-6, Bill Gricenko 9-2, Gail Glazebrook 9-1, Jim Conn 9-1, and Warren Kiamco 9-8 to earn a shot at the hot seat.
Tony “The Silent Assassin” Robles was taking aim, defeating Jonathan Castillo 9-1, Bora Jeong 9-4, Carmen Lombardo 9-2, Victor Nau 9-5, and the always-dangerous Hopkins 9-6 to earn his shot at the hot seat.
The hot seat was all Robles, who played a near flawless match to beat the Iceman 9-5. But Immonen was not to be denied as he defeated Kiamco 9-5 in the semifinals to earn another opportunity with Robles.
In the finals, Robles won the first two games and missed a tough 2-9 billiard and then lost the next seven games in a row as Immonen fell into dead stroke. The Finn missed only one shot from that point on, as Robles struggled throughout the match to pocket a ball on the break, allowing Immonen to earn his first Predator 9-Ball Tour Championship.
Results:
1st Mika Immonen
2nd Tony Robles
3rd Warren Kiamco
4th Allen Hopkins
5th Joey Kong
Shane Winters
7th Steve Lillis
Jason Michas
9th Jimmy Conn
Victor Nau
Mike Fingers
Chris Lynch
13th Mike Wong
Wali Muhammad
Bill Horne
Marc Vidal