Snowstorm Doesn't Keep Clowery Down

By Bill Rosenberger

While a blizzard turned much of New York State into a winter wonderland, William Finnegan, tour director of the NYC Billiard Tour, was wondering if he'd even have a weekend event.  But the 18 inches of snow that fell o­n Saturday, January 22, o­nly managed to knock the event at Leisure Time Billiards in Levittown, NY, down to a o­ne- day tournament that included 26 players who braved the elements to play some 9-ball.

Many of the players were local, including Tony Rodriguez, Tom Walter, and Lenny Favata.  But Boston, MA, native Jarrod Clowery really had a long drive, considering it normally takes about a three and a half hours in nice weather.  Finnegan said that Clowery joked about playing in the event.  "He said that he didn't drive all that way to not win."

Early o­n, though, quite a few players could have been dubbed contenders, as the day was full of tough matches.  In the fourth round, Clowery fell to Guy "Slim" Carney 9-3, which sent him to the o­ne-loss side to attempt a comeback.  Meanwhile, Carney advanced o­n to the hot seat match against Rodriguez but came up o­n the wrong end of a 9-5 score. 

In the o­ne-loss side, Clowery pounded away at the competition, ousting Evan Broxmeyer, Holden Chin, and Walter to set up the rematch with Carney in the semifinals.  Both Carney and Clowery played tough, but Clowery emerged with a 9-6 win.

In the finals, it seemed that Clowery had ran out of gas, as Rodriguez jumped out to a 6-1 lead.  After a few tallies in the win column for Clowery, he stole the momentum and got the match knotted up at 10 apiece.  Then he snatched the last three games to win the tournament 13-10.

Results:

1st Jarrod Clowery $880

2nd Tony Rodriguez $440

3rd Guy Carney $280

4th Tom Walter $200

5th Lenny Favata, Holden Chin $100

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the NYC Billiard Tour.