In the finals of the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, June 2, Christian Smith stopped a five-match, loss-side streak by Rick Shellhouse to finish undefeated. The $500-added event drew 37 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

Smith was rolling along smoothly, until he got to the winners’ side semifinals, where he faced two straight double hill matches that eventually left him in the hot seat. He got by Dennis Feliciano first, as his hot seat opponent, Al Cacciola, was busy sending Antonio Navarro to the loss bracket 6-4. Smith sent Cacciola to the semifinals, and waited for what turned out to be the return of Shellhouse.

On the loss side, Shellhouse, after being sent over by Cacciola from among the final eight winners 6-4, worked his way by David Danchak 6-4 and Ted Lapadula 6-3 to reach Navarro. Feliciano picked up Scott Simonetti, who’d defeated Emily Duddy and John Trobiano, both 7-5. 

Shellhouse downed Navarro 6-5 and in the quarterfinals, faced Feliciano, who’d stopped Simonetti 8-2.

Shellhouse dropped Feliciano into fourth place 7-3, and turned for a rematch versus Cacciola in the semifinals. He won that 6-3 and with a bit of momentum on his side, moved on to an extended race-to-10 final against Smith.

Shellhouse forced the extension by winning the double hill match (for Smith) at 7-7. Smith, though, went on to win three straight to complete his undefeated day.

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponors  Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.

Tri V. Chau opened his tournament bid on the Tri-State Tour on the weekend of May 19-20 with victories over two of the toughest females on the tour, followed it with a victory over the previous week’s winner, and got into the hot seat with two straight double hill wins. He concluded the campaign with a second victory over his hot seat opponent, Joe Palone, to complete an undefeated weekend, chalking up his first Tri-State Tour win. The $1,000-added B-D handicapped event drew 22 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

Chau started out on Saturday with a decisive 7-1 victory over the # 3-ranked female on the Tri-State Tour, Emily Duddy, and then survived a double hill battle against the # 1 female on the tour, Kim Meyer-Gabia. He then defeated Al Cacciola, who’d won the last tour stop, 7-4 and moved among the winners’ side final four to face Chris Karp. Palone, in the meantime, squared off against Richard Ng. In his second of three double hill wins, Chau sent Karp west, as Palone was busy surviving his own double hill match against Ng. In his last double hill win, Chau sent Palone to the semifinals and sat in the hot seat, awaiting his return.

On the loss side, Jaydev Zaveri defeated Luis Jimenez 6-4 and Carl Yusuf Khan 7-4 to pick up Karp. Ng drew Cacciola, who’d gotten by Ed Culhane 10-7 and Rick Shellhouse 6-1. Zaveri and Ng got right back on track, advancing to the quarterfinals with identical 7-3 victories over Karp and Cacciola. Following another 7-3 win, it was Ng moving on to face Palone in the semifinals.

Ng and Palone battled to double hill, before Palone prevailed for a second crack at Chau. The final matchup went back and forth, until Chau moved ahead to win by two, 7-5. He’d come close before – in January of 2010, when he finished second – but this was Chau’s first Tri-State Tour victory. 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of BQE Billiards for their cooperation and hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be a $1,000-added, B-D handicapped event, scheduled for May 26-27 at Amsterdam Billiards & Bar in New York City.

Al Cacciola survived a double hill battle to get into the hot seat, and then, prior to the finals of the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, May 13, agreed to a split with Annie Flores.  As a result, Flores, who’d won three straight, double hill matches on the loss-side, chalked up her second straight, second place finish on the tour. The $750-added event drew 26 entrants to Port Richmond Billiards on Staten Island, NY.

Cacciola opened his bid with victories over Tony Ignomirello, and Jaydev Zaveri and moved among the winners’ side final four to meet Tom McManamon. Flores, in the meantime, faced Richard Ng. Cacciola defeated McManamon 6-3, while Richard Ng was busy winning a double hill struggle versus Flores. Ng and Cacciola locked up in another double hill match that sent Ng to a meetup with Flores in the semifinals, and left Cacciola in the hot seat.

Flores moved over to pick up Keith Adamik, who’d defeated Gary Murgia 7-4 and Carl Yusuf Khan 7-5 to reach her. Tony Ignomirello, who’d been sent west by Cacciola in the opening round, fought back through five matches, the last two of which – 6-4 over Jaydev Zaveri and 6-3 over Quin Y. Chen – set him up to face McManamon. Ignomirello chalked up his sixth, loss-side win, 6-3 over McManamon, as Flores was occupied with Adamik, and the completion of her second straight double hill match.

Flores ended Ignomirello’s streak with a double hill win in the quarterfinals, and then, reversed the results of her previous match against Ng, by tallying her third double hill win in the semifinals. Cacciola and Flores are friends, and the two chose to end the (late) night right there, splitting the winnings and leaving Cacciola as the undefeated, declared winner.

Tour representatives thanked the owners and staff at Port Richmond Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $1000-added, B-D handicapped event, scheduled for May 20 at BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

|8976|A regular on both the Tri-State and Predator Tours in the New York Tri-State area, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu chalked up his first victory on the Tri-State Tour, going undefeated in a $500-added event that drew 25 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. He was challenged in the finals by Keith Diaz, who came back from the loss-side to win five straight for the right to challenge him.

Until Diaz posed that challenge in the finals, no opponent scored more than three racks against Delimelkonoglu. From among the winners’ side final four, he defeated George Osipovich 6-3 to face Lou Loria, who’d sent Diaz west and then defeated Al Cacciola 6-4. Punctuating his trip, Delimelkonoglu shut Loria out to gain the hot seat.

Diaz, in the meantime, had started his journey back on the loss-side. He defeated Dave Jusis, double hill, and Joel Huang 6-1 to pick up Osipovich. Cacciola drew Mike Strassberg, who’d gotten by Jin Gong 7-4 and Rick Shellhouse, double hill. Cacciola renewed his winning ways on the loss-side with a first match victory over Strassberg 7-3, but Osipovich fell to Diaz 6-4. Diaz ended Cacciola’s day with a 6-3 win in the quarterfinals and turned for a vengeance re-match against Loria in the semifinals.

Diaz’ bid for revenge was successful. Defeating Loria 6-2, he turned for a chance to spoil Delimelkonoglu’s bid for an undefeated tournament . He managed one more rack than any of Delimelkonoglu’s previous opponents, but couldn’t  unseat him. Delimelkonoglu won 6-4 to complete his undefeated, first victory on the Tri-State Tour.

Tour representatives thanked the owner and staff of Castle Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.