McMillan stops Feliz, goes undefeated on Tri-State

Matt McMillan went undefeated through a field of 36 entrants on hand for the Tri-State Tour stop on the weekend of Aug. 6-7, but not before facing down fellow C+ player Yomaylin Feliz, who won five on the one-loss side to challenge him in the finals. The $1000-added, B-D handicapped event was hosted by Amsterdam Billiards & Bar on the lower East Side of Manhattan.

McMillan was among the winners' side final four when he faced the man who'd just dispatched Feliz to the one-loss side, Luis Jimenez. As they squared off, Trevor Heal and Raj Vanalla went at it to determine the other hot seat opponent. McMillan downed Jimenez 6-3, as Heal sent Vanalla west 7-3. McMillan moved into the hot seat with a 7-3 win over Heal and waited for Feliz.

Meanwhile, from the west bracket, Feliz began her five-match trip back to the finals, defeating Paul Everton 7-5, and Charles Darwin Vergara (16-year-old son of Tri-State veteran Mhet Vergara) 6-4. This set her up to face Vanalla, and, as it turned out, denied her a chance for a rematch versus Jimenez. Jimenez had drawn Stuart Mickle, who'd defeated Bernard Isaacowitz 7-3 and Raphael DaBreo in a double hill match.

Feliz downed Vanalla 7-3 to get into the quarterfinals, and was joined by Mickle, who'd defeated Jimenez 7-2. She got by Mickle 7-4 in those quarterfinals, and the C+  player faced her fourth B+ opponent on the one-loss side, Heal, in the semifinals.

She got by him 7-3 and had earned her shot at the event title. McMillan, though, was not to be denied and concluded his undefeated weekend with a 6-3 win.

Thanks were extended to the ownership and staff at Amsterdam Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Murnak Cases, and Dr. Dave Billiards Instructional Products.