McFadyen and Bova split top prizes at Stroker’s 9-Ball Open in Palm Harbor, FL
It’s ‘been a minute’ since 17-year-old Tampa native Konnor Mcfadyen first entered the AZBilliards database with four cash finishes, three on the Sunshine State ProAm Tour and another at the Stroker’s Masters Championship, all in 2022. A little bit closer in time, he became the APA’s 2024 Junior Pool Champion beating out 257 other contenders […]
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Kyle Bova and Konnor Mcfadyen
It’s ‘been a minute’ since 17-year-old Tampa native Konnor Mcfadyen first entered the AZBilliards database with four cash finishes, three on the Sunshine State ProAm Tour and another at the Stroker’s Masters Championship, all in 2022. A little bit closer in time, he became the APA’s 2024 Junior Pool Champion beating out 257 other contenders for the title last July. This past weekend (May 24-25), at the $300-added, Stroker’s 9-Ball Open that drew 36 entrants to Stroker’s in Palm Harbor, FL, Mcfadyen broke through to claim his first ‘official’ event title.
The opponent that he defeated in a winners’ side semifinal of the event and with whom he would eventually split the top two prizes, Kyle Bova, recorded his first cash payout with us when Mcfadyen was five years old. All four of his finishes that year were recorded on the Western New York Pool Tour. He won three of them and finished 2nd in the fourth one. When Tommy Kennedy, who finished 4th, added his name to our database, Mcfadyen was 15 years away from being born. Mcfadyen defeated him, as well.
By the time Mcfadyen got to the ‘one-two’ punches that sent Kennedy and Bova to the loss side, he’d given up only two racks in 16 games; none at all against Justin McNulty and two to Rolando Aravena. In the winners’ side quarterfinal that followed, he downed Kennedy 7-5 (“He was playing like he was possessed,” Kennedy would comment later). Mcfadyen drew Bova in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Randy Hernandez, in the meantime, also on his way to the hot seat match boarded, a bit of a competitive roller coaster ride to get there. He survived an opening-round, double-hill challenge from Julio Cesar, shut out Don Kreischer, edged out in front to defeat Onur Berber 7-5 and drew Nelson Abdiel in the other winnners’ side semifinal.
Two 7-4 wins put Mcfadyen and Hernandez into the battle for the hot seat. Mcfadyen claimed the seat 7-5 over Hernandez.
Bova dropped into the loss side and picked up Kaylee McIntosh, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Abdiel 7-4, and then, shut out Aravena and eliminated Casey Grove 6-4. Abdiel drew Kennedy, who’d followed his loss to Mcfadyen with wins over David Ricci 6-1 and Lee Heuwagen 6-3.
Bova advanced to the quarterfinals 6-3 over McIntosh, while Kennedy was at work downing Abdiel 6-2. The two wily and known-to-each-other Florida pool vets went at it, keeping things close for a while, before Bova, rounding the ‘stretch’ and heading for home, got out in front by a couple of ‘lengths’ (racks) to win 6-4.
In what would prove to be the final match on Sunday, Bova repeated the ‘home stretch’ surge that had served him well in the quarterfinals. He defeated Hernandez 6-4, as well, ahead of negotiations for a split of the top two prizes with Mcfadyen.
