Chumreon Sutcharitakul, Ed Medina, Arturo Reyes
Ed Medina held off a strong, loss-side challenge in the person of Chumreon Sutcharitakul to go undefeated on the November 25 Tri-State Tour Stop. The $1,500-added, A-D handicapped event had drawn 29 entrants to Carom Cafe Billiards in Flushing, NY.
As Medina was working his way into the winners' side final four, and eventually, the hot seat, his finals opponent, Sutcharitakul, was busy on a seven-match, loss-side streak that began at the conclusion of the opening round. Medina faced Michael Harrington in one of the winners' side semifinals, as Arturo Reyes and Guy Iannuzzi squared off in the other. Medina sent Harrington west 7-1, and in the hot seat match, faced Reyes, who'd survived a double hill battle versus Iannuzzi. Medina sent Reyes to the semifinals 7-2, and waited in the hot seat for Sutcharitakul.
With two down and five to go on the loss side, Sutcharitakul defeated Mike Strassberg and Wonlop Chantarakoikit, both 6-4 to meet up with Harrington. Iannuzzi picked up Geoff Bauer, who'd gotten by Paul Spaanstra 7-5 and Gary Murgia 7-4. It was Iannuzzi and Sutcharitakul squaring off in the quarterfinals, once Iannuzzi had eliminated Bauer 7-6 and Sutcharitakul had done likewise to Harrington 6-4.
Sutcharitakul then dropped Iannuzzi into fourth place 7-2, and denied Reyes a second chance at Medina with a 7-4 victory in the semifinals. Medina won four of the first five matches in the finals, before Sutcharitakul mounted a challenge that would pull him within one, at 5-4. Medina, though, took the next two to win it and secure the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Carom Cafe Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State Tour stop will be a $1,500-added, A-D event, scheduled for Saturday, December 1, at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
