by InsidePOOL Staff

Javier Chirino and Tony Crosby took home the trophies from the April 21-22 Poison Cues Tour, winning the amateur and open divisions, respectively. Cunningham’s Billiards in Vero Beach, FL, hosted the tournament, which featured a $1,000-added amateur event and a $1,000-added open 10-ball division.

The amateur event attracted 62 players, with 5 ladies taking advantage of the $20 entry fee. This event was made extra special, as Chirino supplied the top four places a beautiful glass trophy. It looked as though Chirino was aiming for a trophy himself, as he made his way to the hot seat with wins over Doug Johnson 6-2, Justin Gilsinan 6-4, Prescott Buckwold 6-3, Paul Mullins 6-0, and Jeff Mabry 6-4. In the winners’ side final, he met Raymond Linares and bested him 7-3.

Cunningham’s Billiards in Vero Beach, FL, hosted the tournament, which featured a $1,000-added amateur event and a $1,000-added open 10-ball division.

The one-loss side saw Tim Baron, after taking a 6-2 loss to Chris Gentile, make a strong push and take out Jay Zink 5-4, Derek Virgilio 5-1, Paul Mullins 5-2, and David Uwate 5-4 before Jason Sheerman ended his run 5-3. Sheerman then had the task of taking on Gentile, who deposited him in fourth place 5-2. Gentile backed this win up with a 5-0 whitewashing over Linares to put himself in the final.

The final match saw both players show why they got there with strong shot-making and good safety battles. But Chirino did not want to give his trophy up and eventually came out the 7-4 winner, taking the first-place trophy and cash.

The open 10-ball event garnered 42 players, and Hunter Lombardo was the man to beat on the day as he cruised his way to the finals with wins over Tim Baron 6-4, John Ditoro 6-1, Kira Brown 6-4, Mark Coats 6-0, and then a 7-3 win over Crosby in the winners’ side final to capture the hot seat.

Linares was proving to be a handful on the west side—after taking a first-round loss to Uwate 6-2, he went on a run to oust Lincoln Seifert, Robert Raiford, Prescott Buckwold, Chettan Chhabra, Ditoro, and Mark Coats before running into a determined Anthony Meglino, who stopped his run 5-0. Meglino then was eliminated by Crosby in a double-hill match that set up the finals. Neither Lombardo nor Crosby wanted to give an inch, so it went all the way, with Crosby taking it 7-6 to set up a one-rack sudden death shootout. A positional error by Lombardo left Crosby a quick 2-10 combo, which he pocketed to claim the event.

Lombardo and Crosby

Amateur Results:
1st Javier Chirino $700
2nd Chris Gentile $500
3rd Raymond Linares $300
4th Jason Sheerman $200
5th Tim Baron $130
Jeff Mabry
7th Vann Mangum $90
David Uwate
9th Scott Nodell $70
Lincoln Seifert
Glen Miller
Paul Mullins
13th Derek Virgilio $50
Prescott Buckwold
Zeno Rawley
Sam Kantar

Results:
1st Tony Crosby $700
2nd Hunter Lombardo $450
3rd Anthony Meglino $300
4th Raymond Linares $200
5th Mark Coats $100
David Uwate
7th John Ditoro $75
Javier Chirino