Anthony Dahab, Scott Bannon and Bogie Uzdejczyk
It had been three years and nine days (December 13, 2009) since Scott Bannon had stepped into the winners' circle on a Tri-State Tour stop. On December 22, he went undefeated through a field of 28, on hand for the $750-added, A-D handicapped event, hosted by House of Billiards on Staten Island.
Bannon's path to the event title went through Anthony Dahab twice; first in the hot seat, and later, in the finals. Bannon got by Jerry Troy, Ed Medina, and Justin Muller to move among the winners' side final four and a match against Gary Murgia. Dahab, in the meantime, faced Dennis Kennedy. Bannon got into the hot seat match with a 7-5 win, and was joined by Dahab, who'd given up only a single rack in his 6-1 victory over Kennedy. Bannon and Dahab battled to double hill before Bannon prevailed to sit in the hot seat (three years ago, he'd won five on the loss side to meet and defeat the player who'd sent him there, Rob Barbara, in the finals).
Murgia moved over to pick up Bogie Uzdejczyk, who'd survived two straight double hill matches, against Ron Gabia, and Keith Adamik. Kennedy drew Robert Veit, who'd gotten by Thomas Rice 6-5, and Luis Jimenez 6-4. Murgia and Kennedy both lost their second straight match, double hill, to Uzdejczyk and Veit, who moved on to the quarterfinals.
Uzdejczyk took it one step further, defeating Veit 7-2 in those quarterfinals. Dahab, though, ended Uzdejczyk's bid for an appearance in the finals, with an 8-2 semifinal victory that sent him back for a second shot against Bannon.
Dahab got right to work, opening up a 4-0 lead in the finals. Bannon fought right back with four of his own to knot things. The two then settled in to a back and forth struggle, with Dahab taking the lead each time; first at 5-4, then 6-5, then 7-6. Bannon took his first lead since he'd been ahead 4-3, with a win in the 15th rack, and followed that with a win in the 16th, which completed his undefeated run.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at House of Billiards on Staten Island, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event, scheduled for Sunday, December 30 at the Cue Bar in Bayside, NY.
