Arturo Reyes and Pashk Gjini
Having won two stops on the Predator Tour in 2016 (in March and October), Arturo Reyes must have figured it was time to get back on track with the Tri-State Tour, which he had not won since April of last year. He signed on to the Sunday, Nov. 13, $1,000-added stop on the Tri-State, which drew 46 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queen), NY and went undefeated through the field.
In what was his fourth appearance on the Tri-State's 2016/2017 tour, Reyes entered the tournament ranked #15 on the tour's Player of the Year standings in the A/A+ ranking class. He opened his winning campaign against the #3-ranked player in that A/A+ class of competitors, Victor Dabu and after defeating him 7-5, moved on to defeat Amir Rashad Uddin, and Alex Escalante, which set him up for a winners' side semifinal match against Ramon Feliciano (#10/B class). Tony Ignomirello, in the meantime, the tour's #1-ranked player in the C/C+ class, faced Akiko Taniyama.
Reyes sent Feliciano to the loss side, double hill, and in the hot seat match, faced Ignomirello, who'd defeated Taniyama 6-2. Reyes claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Ignomirello. and waited for the return of what turned out to be Pashk Gjini.
On the loss side, Gjini was working his way back from a loss in a winners' side quarterfinal to a showdown against Reyes in the finals. He got by Ron Chau 7-1, and Yue "Amy" Yu 6-4 to pick up Taniyama. Feliciano drew Duc Lam, who'd eliminated Alex Escalante 8-5 and Amelio Romero 8-6. Feliciano ended Lam's day 8-4, as Gjini handed Taniyama his second straight loss 7-3.
Gjini took the quarterfinal match against Feliciano 8-6, and then downed Ignomirello in the semifinals 7-5. That illusive, but hard to deny element of momentum served Gjini well in the opening racks of the final match, as he jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Reyes, though, responded with seven straight for a 7-5 lead. They traded racks to 8-6, before Reyes reached the hill, ahead by three. Gjini chalked up rack #16, but Reyes ended it on rack #17 at 10-7 to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, November 20, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards, in Rockaway, NJ.
