Ferrara Comes Through with CNY Victory

By Bill Rosenberger

In the past two years, John Ferrara seemed to actually find ways to lose a tight grip o­n what appeared to be a CNY tournament victory.  Finally, o­n January 29-30 at Paul's Pocket Billiards in Auburn, NY, Ferrara slapped his personal jinx in the face o­n his way to winning his second CNY event in the past three years.

Early o­n, it seemed like any o­ne of the 40 players in competition could steal the luster and earn the tour win, but it was Ferrara who stepped up to plate in every o­ne of his matches.  o­n Sunday, he faced Jose Mendez for the hot seat, and in his closest match of the day, Ferrara edged out a 7-6 win.

In the semifinals, two players were fighting to stay alive after early defeats.  Gary Empey and Jim McMahon had both played well in their left bracket matches, but when the two players faced in the quarterfinals, something had to give.  McMahon quickly gained a 5-1 lead, but Empey came storming back to get within two at 6-4.  Then he took control of the table for good, putting together four more racks for the 8-6 win. 

Empey's semifinal opponent was Mendez, the same competitor that had put him o­n the o­ne-loss side in the fourth round.  The match was close early, but Empey turned his game up a notch and nabbed an 8-5 win to reach the finals.

The finals featured two players who often reach the late rounds but seldom cash in o­n the top prize.  Empey won the third stop of the season in November, while finishing in the top five in most of the other events.  But Ferrara was determined to keep his record unblemished, and he confidently ousted Empey 7-3 to take home the win. 

Results:

1st John Ferrara $450
2nd Gary Empey $280
3rd Jose Mendez $210
4th Jim McMahon $160
5th Steve Countryman, Doug Wells $120
7th Dave Lupo, Lyn Wechsler $80
9th Gary Fiehl, Bruce Carroll, Paul Merluzzi Sr., Damon Sobdres $40

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