Amsterdam Billiards in downtown Manhattan hosted a double Tri-State Tour event on Memorial Day weekend, dividing a 31-player field into separate ‘B' and ‘C' handicapped tournaments, each with $500-added. Trevor Heal, playing in the ‘B' tournament, and Sal Marcelo, playing in the ‘C' tournament, both needed a second set in the finals to take home the first place prize.
In the 13-entrant ‘B' tournament, Heal moved into the hot seat match on the heels of a hill-hill victory over Tomar Grassiany, as Jacob Schwartz sent Arturo Reyes west 7-5. Heal gained the hot seat with a 7-5 win over Schwartz and awaited his return.
On the one-loss side, Mark Mallari and Teddy Lubis were laying in wait for Grassiany and Reyes. Reyes dropped Mallari into the tie for fifth place 7-2, while Lubis was doing likewise to Grassiany 7-5. Reyes used a second straight 7-2 win in the quarterfinals against Lubis to get into the semifinals versus Schwartz.
Determined to get a second chance at Heal, Schwartz downed Reyes 7-3 and brought some momentum with him into the opening set of the finals. He allowed Heal only a single rack on his way to a 7-1 win, forcing a second set. The two battled back and forth to double hill in that second set, before Heal prevailed.
In the concurrent, 18-entrant ‘C' tournament, Sal Marcelo had a similar dual battle versus Chris Karp, which ended up in a two-set final. Marcelo first met Karp among the winners' side final four, sending him to the one-loss side with a 6-2 win, as Sam Li was sending George Ossipovich over 6-4. Karp and Ossipovich faced Bernard Isaacowitz and Alex Berszinn, respectively, with Karp advancing to the quarterfinals against Berszinn.
Karp followed his first win on the one-loss side – a 6-4 win over Isaacowitz - , with a streak of three games in which he outscored his opponents 18-4. He defeated Berszinn 6-1 in the quarterfinals, downed Li in the semifinals 6-2 and opened the first set of the finals against Marcelo with a 6-1 win that forced the second set. Marcelo turned the tables, though, coming back to win the second set by the same 6-1 score and taking home the first place prize.
Heal and Marcelo come back to win Tri-State double event
May 24, 2009