Simonetti takes two from Eglesias to go undefeated on Tri-State stop

Scott Simonetti  encountered a familiar face in the Tri-State tour hot seat match on Saturday, May 16. Simonetti and Tony Eglesias had met there before in early April, but unlike that last meeting, Eglesias moved to the semifinals and came back this time. Simonetti, though, duplicated his undefeated performance and took home the first place prize; his second on the tour this year.  The $1,000-added, B-D handicapped event drew 45 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

Simonetti sent Ed Culhane west 7-4 from among the winners' side final four, as Eglesias sent Paul Raval over by the same score. In the hot seat match that followed, Eglesias put up more of a fight than the last time the two had met, when Simonetti had prevailed 7-2. The result was the same, though. Simonetti gained the hot seat 7-5.

Sandie Paterino and room owner John Trobiano were waiting for Raval and Culhane on the one-loss side; Paterino having downed George Osipovitch 6-1 and Scott Bannon 7-2. Trobiano's path led through Raj Vannala 7-3 and Ken Debroskie 7-6.  Raval moved on to the quarterfinals with an 8-4 win over Paterino, as Trobiano made Culhane's visit to the west bracket brief with a 7-5 win.  Trobiano made short, 7-2 work of Raval in those quarterfinals to face Eglesias. In what was described as the “best match of the day,” Trobiano and Eglesias battled one game at a time to double hill, before Eglesias broke and ran for a second crack at Simonetti.

Still in stroke, in spite of a long wait, Simonetti  got down to business right away. He completed his undefeated day with a commanding 7-2 win that sealed his second 2009-2010 tour victory in a month and a half; his third, overall.  Prior to this stop, Simonetti was in second place behind Gary Murgia in the tour's B+ Player of the Year Standings.