The last time Brett Stottlemyer won On the Hill Production’s MD State Bar Table 9-Ball Championships in 2020, he came from the loss-side, faced a teenager, Dylan Spohr, in the semifinals and went on to double dip Oklahoma’s Joe Tomkowski in the finals. Two years later, this past weekend (April 9-10), Stottlemyer and now, an officially adult (21) Spohr faced each other three times; once in a winner’s side semifinal and twice in a double elimination final. Stottlemyer sent Spohr to the loss side in the first, Spohr took the second and Stottlemyer claimed the 2022 MD State Bar Table 9-Ball title with a victory in the third. The $2,500-added event drew 75 entrants to Brews & Cues on the Boulevard in Glen Burnie, MD.
After being awarded an opening round bye, Stottlemyer’s path went through Todd Michael,before he faced and defeated the ‘favorite’ in the race, Shaun Wilkie in a double hill fight. He followed with wins over Deomark Alpajera and Glen Loveland to draw Spohr in their winners’ side semifinal matchup.
Meanwhile, Rick Miller, looking for his first recorded win since he came back from a loss, battling for the hot seat, to meet and defeat Andrew Cleary in the finals at a stop on the former Predator Pro Am Tour four years ago, worked his way through four opponents, two of which (Ricardo Diaz and Russ Redhead) gave him a double hill run for his money, two others who came within a game of double hill (Rick Molineiro and Scott Haas; 7-5) and Norman Wagner, his first opponent, who chalked up four against him. Miller faced Bobby Pacheco in the other winners’ side semifinal.
In their first of three, Stottlemyer downed Spohr 7-4 and by the same score, Miller sent Pacheco to the loss side. Stottlemyer claimed the hot seat over Miller 7-3 and waited on Spohr’s return.
On the loss side, Spohr picked up Jimmy Rivera, who, after losing to Pacheco 7-4 in a winners’ side quarterfinal had eliminated Paul Oh 7-4 and Scott Haas 7-3. Pacheco drew Wilkie, who’d followed his double-hill loss to Stottlemyer with six straight on the loss side, including recent wins over Moe Mozannar 7-1 and Molineiro 7-2.
Wilkie and Pacheco locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Wilkie to the quarterfinals, as Spohr downed Rivera 7-4 to join him. Wilkie’s loss-side run came to end at seven matches in those quarterfinals, with Spohr advancing 7-2 to meet and defeat Miller in the semifinals 7-4.
Momentum went to work for Spohr in the opening set of the finals. Coming off his three loss-side wins, Spohr rolled into that opening set and gave up only three racks. The second set was a much tighter race until the very end. Tied at 3-3, Stottlemyer won two straight before Spohr came back to take the 9th rack, giving him a chance to break and tie it up again at 5-5.
Things went pretty smoothly in that 10th rack, with Stottlemyer up 5-4, and with four balls left, it looked like Spohr would, indeed, be tying things up. He lined up to shoot the 6-ball into a corner pocket; a pretty straight-forward shot, running it straight up, about three inches off the rail, with enough of an angle to give him good position on the 7-ball. As the 6-ball moved in the right direction, it looked pretty good. Until it didn’t. It caught an edge of the pocket and rattled in the doorway before deciding to stay outside.
Spohr collapsed forward on the table. He knew he hadn’t just missed a shot. With Brett Stottlemyer stepping to the table, Spohr was fairly certain that he’d just missed his chance at winning the title. He was right. It wasn’t precisely over at that point. Stottlemyer did finish the 10th rack to move out in front 6-4 and Spohr got to break and did win the 11th rack to pull back within one at 6-5. But on the hill, Stottlemyer broke, dropping three balls, and then, ran out to claim the title.
On the Hill Productions’ Bolyard and Rick Scarlato, Jr. thanked the ownership and staff at Brews & Cues on the Boulevard, as well as sponsors AlleyKat Cue Sports, AZBilliards.com, Aramith Balls, Bull Carbon, Simonis Cloth, TAP Chesapeake Bay Region, Safe Harbor Retirement Planners, Whyte Carbon Fiber Cue Shafts, OB Cues and MB Cues.
On the Hill Productions will be back at Brews & Cues on the Boulevard at the end of the month, when they bring event #4 in the Bar Box Bonanza Series, a FargoRate 8-Ball tournament (April 30-May 1).
Raymond Linares recorded his best earnings year at the tables in 2021. His second-best occurred 10 years ago, one year before he won the American College Unions International Collegiate Men’s Championship in 2013. He’s started 2022 by chalking up his first tour victory this past weekend (Feb. 5-6) on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour’s season opener. Opposing him in both the hot seat and finals was Donnie Mills, who also had a good 2021 at the tables, although not even close to his best earnings year, which happened in the same year (2009) that Linares first started showing up on payout lists of Florida tournaments like the Seminole Tour. They’re familiar combatants on the Florida felt (to others and each other) and graced spectators at their most recent battles for a regional tour title with a good show. The $2,300-added event drew 63 entrants to Stroker’s Billiards in Palm Harbor, FL.
Linares opened his bid for the title by giving up only seven racks to his first four opponents;Ronnie Mercer (1), Manuel Montas (0), Rich Schau (4) and Michael McGuire (2). He advanced to a winners’ side semifinal versus Konner McFayden. Mills, in the meantime, gave up just a single rack to three of his first four opponents; one each to James Green, Nathan Rose and Marcus Murillo. In the second round, though, Mike Delawder had given him the proverbial ‘run for his money,’ chalking up six racks against him and forcing a deciding game that did eventually advance Mills to a winners’ side semifinal against Jerry Arvelaez.
Linares advanced to the hot seat match 7-3 over McFayden and was joined by Mills, who sent Arvelaez to the loss side 7-4. Mills claimed the hot seat with a surprising (to a few) 7-3 win over Linares and waited for him to come back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, McFayden picked up Rich Schau, who’d followed his third-round loss to Linares with three loss-side wins that had recently eliminated Marcus Murillo 7-2 and Robert Batson 7-1. Arvelaez drew a rematch versus Trenton White, whom he’d sent to the loss side in the third round 7-4 and who’d just chalked up loss-side wins #3 and #4 against Bobby Garza and Han Berber, both 7-3, to earn the rematch.
Schau downed McFayen 7-1, as White was wreaking his vengeance on Arvelaez with his sixth in a row, 7-2. Schau stopped White’s loss-side streak at that sixth win, defeating him 7-5 in the quarterfinals. Schau and Linares battled to double hill in the semifinals before Linares prevailed for a second shot at Mills.
In the finals that followed, Linares jumped out to an early 5-1 lead, which, after watching Mills chalk up the rack that made it 5-2, prompted stream commentator and event competitor, Bobby Garza to note that Mills seems to have a preference to starting out slow.
“I think (Mills) likes to start out from behind,” Garza said. “He finds his stroke midway, catches up and then destroys his opponent.”
Just after the midway mark of the two-hour match, Mills chalked up his first two-in-a-row and seemed to be making Garza’s point, as he pulled within two at 6-4. Mills made it three-in-a-row to draw within one at 6-5, they traded racks to 7-6 and then began a wild rack #14 that featured Mills’ attempt at a 5-9 combination, resting near a corner pocket. The 9-ball didn’t drop, but the 5-ball went three rails and did. Shortly afterwards, Mills shot at the 7-ball and watched it rattle in the hole. He then watched Linares step to the table and take aim at the same 7-ball and a clear opportunity to finish the rack and reach the hill first. The 7-ball didn’t drop, but the cue ball took a ‘cross country’ trip to the opposite end of the table and did. Mills didn’t miss the three balls left and it was tied at 7-7.
Mills took his first lead in the match, winning rack #15, but Linares roared back to chalk up rack #16 with a 5-9 combination. Linares had the break and took full advantage of the opportunity. He dropped three balls on the break and ran the table to claim his first 2022 title on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour.
In the event that featured three junior competitors, seven ladies, and six USAPL players that attended at a reduced entry fee, the top junior finisher, Trenton White and the top lady finisher, Jeannie Seaver, took home $50 each.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked Jose and Lyshia Westbrook-Del Rio and their Stroker’s Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Kamui Brand, Stitch It To Me Embroidery, AZBilliards, Safety Harbor Resort and Spa, Central Florida USA Pool League, Jamison Daniels, and Eastern Billiards. Janene thanked Bobby for providing the Lights Out Streaming, sponsored by Jacksonville Roofing USA and Andrew Cleary for his graphics. The next stop on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of March 5-6, will be the $1,500-added Open 9-Ball Bar Box Classic, hosted by Cue-Phoria Billiards and Café in Winter Park, FL.
Dimitrov goes undefeated in Amateur (600 and under) 9-Ball tourney
All things being equal, it seems likely that Anthony Meglino did not regret the absence of Jeffrey De Luna at the most recent stop on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour this past weekend (April 24-25). Meglino was on-hand for the Open/Pro portion of that tour stop (#4), looking for his first win on the 2021 tour. He’d been frustrated competing in stops #2 & #3 by De Luna, who defeated him in the finals, both times. De Luna was busy this past weekend, finishing in the tie for 7th place at the 5th Annual Barry Behrman Memorial Tournament in Virginia Beach. In the vacuum he left behind, Meglino stepped in, and though he’d lose the battle for the hot seat to Arizona’s Bobby Emmons, he’d return from the semifinals to down him in a double hill fight and claim the title. The $450-added event drew 64 entrants to Rack’s Billiards & Sports Bar in Sanford, FL.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza apparently decided that they didn’t have enough to do on the weekend, so they set up a $410-added Amateur event for Fargo rates 600 and below to their normal, single-tournament agenda. The Amateur event drew 64 entrants, as well. Kristian Dimitrov went undefeated in the Amateur event, downing Ronald Machado twice to claim the title.
Meglino’s path to the hot seat went through a bye, Sean Knowles, Randall McLuckie and Lee Heuwagen to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Ricardo Joel Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Emmons got by Marco Bielostozky, Kerry Beland, Jerry Arvelaez and Justin Gilsinan to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match versus Bobby Garza.
Emmons got into the hot seat match 7-5 over Garza, while Meglino was busy sending Rodriguez to the loss side 7-3. Emmons made short work of Meglino, downing him 7-2 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Garza picked up Tommy Kennedy, who’d lost his opening match to McLuckie and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side streak that would end in the semifinals. He downed Garza 7-3 to move into the quarterfinals. Rodriguez picked up Gilsinan, who defeated him 7-1 to join Kennedy.
Kennedy advanced one more step, defeating Gilsinan 7-4 in those quarterfinals. Meglino, though, anxious for a second shot at Emmons in the hot seat, ended TK’s loss-side run 7-4 in the semifinals.
They’ll tell you as often as you’ll listen, that distractions in a pool game are ruinous; that you focus on the table and the situation at hand and that nothing about matches you’ve lost in the distant past or games you lost 10 minutes ago, should matter a damn. But it’s likely that Meglino had a lot on his mind when he went into the finals against Emmons. Two losses in the finals of back-to-back tournaments and losing in the hot seat match doesn’t just fade into the background, no matter how meticulously you try to put thoughts about them aside. Meglino and Emmons battled to double hill before Meglino dropped the final 10-ball to claim his first 2021 title on the tour.
Andrew Cleary, Kristian Dimitrov and Ronald Machado
Dimitrov gets by Cleary and Machado to go undefeated in the Amateur 9-ball event
Prior to this past weekend, Kristian Dimitrov’s only two (recorded) cash finishes in pool tournaments came on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour in 2020 and the 2018 Florida State Open 10-Ball Championships. He finished 9th in both. He broke through to chalk up an undefeated run through a field of 64, battling Ronald Machado twice and separate opponents in the hot seat match (Andrew Cleary) and finals (Machado).
Dimitrov’s path to the winners’ circle threw up a couple of challenging obstacles. After opening with victories over Vershred Lasthrasho and Jordan Belleville, Dimitrov ran into two straight double hill challenges against Oscar Mora and Joel Vetrono. He survived them both to face Machado and defeat him for the first time 7-5 in a winners’ side semifinal match.
Andrew Cleary, in the meantime, who is apparently playing ‘under the radar’ to avoid the endless headhunting by representatives of the USA Mosconi Cup team, apparently anxious to have him commit to the team as soon as possible (See YouTube video of a year ago). In this event, Cleary clearly attempted to come across as a vulnerable competitor by allowing himself, like Dimitrov, to be caught up in two double hill matches, though in Cleary’s case, unlike Dimitrov, he cleverly broke them up, so as not to arouse suspicion that he was capable of winning two double hill matches in a row. He had no qualms about shutting out his first opponent, Kerry Beland, but slowed things down with his first double hill win, over Brian Sudney. He got by Shane Unger and Dominick Dunn, both 7-3, before getting cleverly caught up in his second double hill match, versus Gary Gilsinan in a winners’ side semifinal. He prevailed to face Dimitrov in the hot seat match and then let the man claim his first hot seat by only scoring a single rack against him.
On the loss side, Machado met and defeated Manuel Montas 7-3. Gilsinan survived a double hill fight against Tim Moss to join Machado in the quarterfinals. Machado won that quarterfinal match 7-3 and then faced an exhausted Andrew Cleary, who allowed himself to win two of the nine racks that they played against each other, so that Machado could get a second shot at Dimitrov in the hot seat. Dimitrov claimed his first event title with a 9-6 victory in his second match versus Machado.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked the ownership and staff at Rack’s Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator, Kamui, Stitch It To Me Embroidery, Diamond Products and Central Florida USA Pool League. They also thanked Leah Nusbaum and Rob McLaren for their assistance in running the dual event, and all the players who travel and follow the tour from stop to stop. The next stop to stop at (#5), scheduled for May 1-2, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by Stroker’s Bar & Grill in Palm Harbor, FL.
(l to r): Andrew Cleary, Rick Miller & Matthias Gutzmann
When the Predator Pro Am Tour held its annual tour championships back in early December, the $10,500-added event drew 89 invited entrants. The winner, Rhys Chen, pocketed $7,000 for his undefeated run through the field. Though correlation does not always signify causation, it would appear that the $7,000 top prize in that event has led to increased interest in sufficient participation in Predator Pro Am Tour events this year to qualify for (be invited to) the 2018 Tour Championships. The Predator Pro Am Tour opened its 2018 season with a record 115 entrants at a $1,000-added event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Though Andrew Cleary battled Rick Miller and claimed the hot seat in this event, Miller returned from the semifinals to defeat Cleary and win the Predator Pro Am season opener.
Second and Third Chance events drew 16 and 14 entrants, respectively. Jason Carandang won the Second Chance event, downing George Poltorak in the finals. Victor Nau chalked up the win in the Third Chance event, defeating Jessica Lynn in that one.
In the main event, Miller advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Tom Wan, as Cleary squared off against Matthias Gutzmann in the other one. Cleary got into the hot seat match with a 7-2 win over Gutzmann, and was joined by Miller, who’d sent Wan west 7-5. Cleary claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Miller and waited on his return from the semifinals.
Singh advanced to the quarterfinals 8-6 over Wan, and was joined by Gutzmann, who’d ended Zamora’s weekend 7-6. Gutzmann advanced another step, downing Singh in those quarterfinals 7-5. Miller ended Gutzmann’s three-match, loss-side trip with an 8-5 win in the semifinals.
In the extended-race-to-9 finals, Cleary was tasked with chalking up seven racks before Miller, at which point, the match and tournament would have ended with Cleary as its undefeated winner. Miller, though, reached the seven-match mark first, and added two more – to Cleary’s 3, total – to claim the event title.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff for their continuing hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PoolontheNet.com, Capelle Publishing, NAPL, TheDeVitoTeam.com, and his own Predator Pro Am staff, including his wife, Gail Robles, Irene Kim, Mandy Wu, William Finnegan, and Rob Omen. This year's Predator Pro Am Tour will feature 11 stops that will include both Amateur and Pro events. The first of these, scheduled for February 10-11, will combine a $750-added event for Amateurs and a $250-added event for Pros, both to be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Rhys Chen, Brendan Traynor, Xavier Romero and Jerry Almodovar
Rhys Chen and Xavier Romero battled twice in their effort to claim the 2017 Predator Pro Am Championship title. Held on the weekend of December 2-3, the $10,500-added Championship drew 89 entrants to the invitational event, hosted by Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY. Chen won both battles to claim the event title.
Two, $250-added Second Chance events for the lower and upper brackets (higher and lower-ranked players) were added to the proceedings, as well as a Third Chance event. All three entailed a double hill final. Jimmy Acosta took the 10-entrant, upper bracket Second Chance over Gene Hunt, while Danny Recinos downed Erik Carrasco to take the lower bracket prize. Acosta also won the Third Chance event, defeating Stephen Motilal in the finals.
In the main event, Chen (an A player) advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Annie Flores (B+ winner of the tour’s season finale last week), while Romero (B) faced Andrew Cleary, who was one of two C+ players among the event’s final 12. Chen downed Flores 7-2, while Romero sent Cleary to the loss side 7-3 (scores take handicap differentials into account). Chen claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Romero and waited for him to get back from what would prove to be a tricky semifinal against Brendan Traynor (A++).
Traynor was on the loss side, in the midst of a six-match run that began when Duc Lam had defeated him in the third round. He got by Eddie Kunz 8-5 and Mike Panzarella 7-4 (wins #2 and #3) to draw Flores. Cleary picked up Jay Almodovar, who’d gotten by Jose Kuilan 7-3 and Abel Rosario, double hill, to reach him.
Traynor and Almodovar advanced to the quarterfinals; Almodovar 7-3 over Cleary, and Traynor in a double hill win over Flores. Traynor advanced one more step with a 10-7 win over Almodovar, and then locked up in a semifinal, double hill fight against Romero, which eventually ended his loss-side streak.
Romero stepped right into a second, double hill match in the finals against Chen, which opened with Romero taking an early lead. Chen rallied and chalked up the racks he needed to complete his undefeated run and claim the 2017 Predator Pro Am Tour Championship title.
In addition to the crowning of its Tour Champion, tour director Tony Robles announced Player of the Year awards in nine separate divisions, from A++ to D/D+ and a Female class. Amy Yu claimed the Female class award (with Suzzie Wong as runner-up), while Annie Flores took home the B+ Player of the Year Award. At the top of the rankings, Mike Salerno took home the A++ title, with Rob Pole as runner-up. Elvis Rodriguez won the A title, with Lidio Ramirez in second place. Max Watanabe was the A winner ahead of Brooke Meyer, while Dave Shlemperis was runner-up to Flores in the B+ division. Abel Rosario was the tour’s B-class Player of the Year, ahead of Eugene Ok. Ambi Estevez took home the C+ class award, with Tony Ignomirello as runner-up. Dave Callaghan won the C-class award, ahead of Matthias Gutzmann, while Juan Melendez claimed the D/D+ award in front of Carmine Andujar.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Raxx Billiards for hosting the final event of the Predator Pro Am Tour’s 2017 season. He extended best holiday wishes to all of the players, room owners, and tour fans, as well as all tour sponsors; Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Capelle Billiards Press, AZBilliards, Billiards Digest and Pool & Billiard Magazine.
The 2018 Predator Pro Am Tour season will open with two events at Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. The first is scheduled for the weekend of January 6-7, while the second will be held on the weekend of January 27-28. A Double Points event at Cue Bar (Feb. 10-11) will be followed by the Empire State Championships, scheduled for the weekend of February 24-25, back at Raxx Billiards.
AzBilliards had released the July issue of the Billards Buzz online publication.
Read the latest news from the World Pool Series, Mosconi Cup, WPBA and more. Also, don't forget our great columnists as Melinda Bailey interviews Andrew Cleary, Jerry Briesath offers some advice on controlling your monster break, Anthony Beeler helps with stress and The Sports Doc writes about staying positive and productive.
Enoch Hooper began his Labor Day weekend as a "C+" rated player. Before the weekend was over, though, he'd picked up his first victory on the Tri-State Tour with an undefeated run, and been elevated to a "B" status. The $920-added B-C-D event on August 30-31 that brought this about drew 44 entrants to Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan.
Hooper's rise to a "B" player actually occurred during the event, as he continued to chalk 'em up on the winners' side of the bracket. He entered the winners' side semifinal as a "C+" but went into the hot seat match as a "B." Hooper had downed Colin Kelly (a "B") 7-3 and in the hot seat faced Bob Toomey, who'd defeated Andrew Cleary 6-3. The new "B" defeated the "C" (Toomey) 7-5 and sat in the hot seat on the brink of his first Tri-State victory.
Kelly moved to the loss side and had the misfortune of running into Alex Osipov, who'd been defeated in the event's opening round and was on a seven-match streak to the quarterfinals. He'd just defeated John Morrison 7-5 to draw Kelly. Cleary drew Jamiyl Adams, who'd just finished with Wanlop Chantarakolkit by the same score.
Osipov and Cleary advanced to the quarterfinals; Osipov 7-3 over Kelly and Cleary 7-5 over Adams. Osipov's run was ended 7-4 by Cleary, who advanced to the semifinals against Toomey. Clearly spoiled Toomey's chance at a second shot against Hooper with a double win in the semifinals.
Cleary took an early lead in those finals, getting out in front by 4-1. Hooper came back to win on the hill 7-6.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Amsterdam Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Batron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for September 6, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
The Action Report is proud to announce the newest TAR project is now available: The TAR Instructional Series: Perfect Practice with Darren Appleton presented by Predator Cues. This instructional video features World Champion Darren Appleton presenting his point of view on how and what to practice to improve your game. It features eleven different drills as well as some great information on the mental game of playing like a champion. Andrew Cleary shot and edited the project with the great production quality his work his known for in the industry.
Predator Cues sponsored this project and TAR is proud to be associated with one of the premier companies in the pool world. Everyone at TAR thanks them for their support.
TAR would like to thank Darren, Andrew and Predator Cues for making this project happen. We believe it will provide a great insight into how a champion trains to perform at the highest level. The video is ninety minutes in length with multiple camera angles and is now available on the TAR Video On Demand service for $20. You can watch the video on any computer or mobile device and download it to keep. It is available at: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/17108 as well the TAR home page at http://theactionreport.com/
With 2013 being the only exception, Bogie Uzdejczyk has won two events on the Tri-State Tour, three out of the last four years. His only event victory last year was on the Predator Tour. He has apparently decided to make up for lost time. On Saturday, May 10, he chalked up his third win on the 2014 Tri-State Tour, following his January win in Brooklyn and a February victory in Queens; all by going undefeated. The $1,000-added AB-CD event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, where 43 entrants came out to play.
Uzdejczyk's AB trail went through Paul Raval, Doug Youmans, and Borana "Queen B" Andoni, before drawing Vincent Ferri in a winners' side semifinal. Andrew Cleary, in the meantime, playing on the CD side of things initially, went through Bernie Vogelsang, Eddie Perez, Pat Mareno and Jessica Lynn Greibeslad, to face Jan Mierzwa in the other semifinal. Uzdejczyk defeated Ferri 7-4 and turned to face Cleary, who'd defeated Mierzwa 6-4. Uzdejczyk claimed his third Tri-State hot seat with an 8-6 win over Cleary, and waited on what turned out to be Mike Zimny.
Zimny, who was among the final eight on the winners' side, had been denied a winners' side semifinal match by Ferri. He moved to the loss side and began his five-match march to the finals. He took out Youmans 7-2 and Andoni 7-4 to draw a re-match versus Ferri. Jan Mierzwa drew Dave Jusis, who'd eliminated Ed Huth and Eddie DaCosta, both 6-2.
Zimny took the re-match over Ferri 7-5, as Mierzwa defeated Jusis 6-3. Zimny completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 win over Mierzwa in the quarterfinals and a 7-2 victory over Cleary in the semifinals.
Zimny got out to an early lead over Uzdejczyk in the finals, and was ahead by three when he reached seven games, forcing an extension to nine games. Uzdejczyk broke and ran the next rack, and then won four more to stop Zimny in his tracks and claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, May 17, will be hosted by House of Billiards on Staten Island. The following weekend – May 24-26 – the 4th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament, with Amateur and Pro events and sponsored by the Tri-State, Predator and Mezz Tours, will be held at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY.
Paulo Valverde, Akbar Karmoeddien and Chris DeCaprio
He won his first Tri-State Tour stop four days before Christmas, coming from the loss side to take down Dennis Kennedy. On Saturday, February 1, Akbar Karmoeddien came from the loss side again (this time, playing only one match) to take down Paulo Valverde in the finals of the $1,250-added event that drew 42 entrants Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Following wins over Michael Xie, Andrew Cleary, Pat Mareno and a double hill win over Allison Honeymar, Karmoeddien faced Keith Diaz in a winners' side semifinal. Valverde, in the meantime, squared off against Ambi Estevez. Karmoeddien advanced to the hot seat match 6-3 over Diaz, as Valverde survived a double hill battle versus Estevez. In their first of two, Valverde prevailed over Karmoeddien 6-3 to sit in the hot seat.
Diaz moved to the loss side and picked up Chris DeCaprio, who was in the midst of a four-match winning streak that would take him to the semifinals. DeCaprio had survived two straight double hill matches, against Mikes Harrington and Garetta, to pick up Diaz. Estevez drew James Rodriguez, who'd shut out Allison Honeymar and defeated Steve Wade 7-3.
Diaz and Estevez picked up their second straight losses; Diaz falling to DeCaprio 6-4 and Estevez being eliminated by Rodriguez 8-2. DeCaprio won the quarterfinal match against Rodriguez, 8-4 to complete his loss side run. Karmoeddien defeated DeCaprio, double hill to earn a second shot against Valverde in the hot seat.
Karmoeddien and Valverde would play 13 games in the finals, and until they'd completed nine of them, neither had more than a single game lead. Valverde took the initiative on each of the ties (beginning with 0-0), until they were knotted at four games apiece, at which point Karmoeddien took his first lead of the match. He followed it with a second win to go up 6-4, and Valverde came back to win rack # 11. Karmoeddien took two in a row to complete his second Tri-State win.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for Saturday, February 8, at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
