It was a repeat of a matchup held in January at the House of Billiards on Staten Island. At that event, Miguel Laboy downed the owner of the room, Dennis Kennedy, twice, to claim his first Tri-State title. On Saturday, September 27, Laboy did it again, defeating Kennedy twice to capture his third Tri-State title (he'd won his second in August). The $1,000-added event on the last weekend in September drew 27 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
As he'd done back in January, Laboy defeated Kennedy in both the hot seat match and finals. In the most recent event, Laboy had defeated Chumreon Sutcharitakul, Ben Castaneros, and Dave Ascolese before running into Luis Jimenez in a winners' side semifinal. Kennedy, in the meantime, faced Jennifer Pedutem. Laboy sent Jimenez to the losers' brackets 7-4, while Kennedy shut Pedutem out to join him in the hot seat match. Laboy defeated Kennedy 8-4 this time (it was 6-4 back in January), and once again, waited on Kennedy's return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Pedutem picked up Larry Chandler, who'd defeated Michael Aro 6-3 and John McArthur 6-5. Jimenez drew Ron Gabia, who'd advanced past Arturo Reyes and Jimenez, both 7-5. Gabia moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-6 win over Jimenez, and faced Pedutem, who'd eliminated Chandler 8-6. Gabia got a shot against Kennedy with an 11-9 win over Pedutem.
Kennedy, though, most likely looking to reverse his fortunes from his January defeat by Laboy, downed Gabia 8-3 and earned his shot. He took early advantage of the chance he'd earned by getting out to a 3-0 lead in the finals.
Laboy responded quickly, tying the score at 3-3, but Kennedy came right back to regain the three-rack lead and extend it to four racks at 7-3. Laboy responded with three to pull within one, before Kennedy chalked up his eighth, thereby extending the race to 10 games. Laboy won his seventh, then his eighth to tie it, and his 9th to reach the hill. Kennedy won rack 18 to force a deciding rack, won by Laboy to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, along with sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for October 4, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Owner/Operator Kevin Buckley, Raphael DaBreo, Koka Davladze and Steve Wade
Raphael Dabreo picked up a victory on the Predator Tour back in January, and added a victory on the Tri-State Tour on Saturday, May 3, picking up where he'd left off in 2013, a year in which he won four stops on the Tri-State and one on the Predator Tour. In the finals of the recent $1,500-added Tri-State event that drew 36 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, DaBreo had to stop a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Koka Davladze, who'd been playing on the losers' side since the opening round of play. They opted out of a final match, leaving DaBreo as the official, undefeated winner of the event.
DaBreo's tournament trail included wins over Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Nelson Marte, Rajesh Vannala, and Jamiyl Adams, before arriving among the winners' side final four and a match against Matthew Harricharan. Steve Wade, in the meantime, met up with Sam Hoffman in the other winners' side semifinal. DaBreo got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Harricharan, as Wade was busy shutting out Hoffman. In what would prove to be his final win of the night, DaBreo downed Wade 7-0.
Over on the loss side, Davladze was mowing 'em down; defeating, in loss-side win # 3, the opponent who'd sent him over, Basdeo Sookhai 7-2, and then, Vinny Ferri 8-5, to pick up Harricharan. Hoffman, in the meantime, drew Keith Diaz, who'd gotten by Jud Parker 7-6 and Ben Castaneros 7-4. Davladze and Hoffman advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 7-4 wins over Harricharan and Diaz.
Davladze took the quarterfinal match 10-6 and then had his final match of the night, defeating Wade in the semifinals 10-8. Another late-night decision was reached by DaBreo and Davladze, not to play a final match, they split the top two money prizes, and DaBreo went home with the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at 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, scheduled for May 10, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Though he'd won stops on the tour in both 2011 and 2012, two in each year, the Tri-State Tour winners' circle had eluded Bogie Uzdejczyk in 2013. He had won a stop on the Predator Pro-Am Tour back in October. Uzdejczyk opened the 2014 proceedings on the Tri-State Tour with an undefeated run, during a two-day tour stop on the weekend of January 5-6. The $2,200-added event drew 64 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Uzdejczyk had to get by Ben Castaneros twice to complete the event victory. Castaneros' last victory on the Tri-State Tour was back in January, 2012 and on this weekend, he found himself in a winners' side final four battle against Mike Harrington, while Uzdejczyk faced Basdeo Sookhai. Uzdejczyk and Castaneros met first, once Uzdejczyk defeated Sookhai 7-3 and Castaneros had sent Harrington to the loss side 6-1. In their first of two, Uzdejczyk prevailed 8-5 to sit in the hot seat.
Meanwhile, on the loss side, Arturo Reyes, who'd been sent over by Uzdejczyk in a winners' side final eight battle, was working his way back. He survived a double hill battle against Chuck Giallorenzo and defeated Shivam Gupta 7-4, to pick up Sookhai. Harrington drew Kevin Chong, who'd gotten by Chris DeCaprio 7-2 and Keith Diaz 7-5, to reach him.
Reyes dropped Sookhai into the tie for fifth place 7-4, as Harrington was busy surviving a double hill struggle versus Chong. Reyes then eliminated Harrington 7-3 in the quarterfinals and faced Castaneros in the semifinals; one match away from a re-match against Uzdejczyk.
Castaneros denied Reyes that opportunity, stopping his four-match, loss-side winning streak 7-3 and turning for his own second shot against Uzdejczyk. Castaneros opened the final match with three straight. Uzdejczyk chalked up a single rack before Castaneros won the fifth rack. It proved to be his last, as Uzdejczyk went on a seven-rack run to secure the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Kevin and Isabel Buckley, owners 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 Tri-State Tour stop, at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, is scheduled for January 11.
Shivam Gupta got as close to the Tri-State Tour winners' circle as he'd ever gotten two weeks ago, when he finished in the tie for fifth place in Clifton, NJ. On Saturday, November 30, he broke through to go undefeated in a $1,500-added event that drew 37 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. Gupta was awarded the title by default, when he and his finals opponent, Chris Derewonski, whom he'd met first in the hot seat match, opted out of a final confrontation.
Following wins over Vagif Alexberov, Akbar Kamueddien and Bryan Singh, Gupta moved among the winners' side final four for a match versus Eric Hummel. Derewonski, in the meantime, squared off against Luis Jimenez. Gupta downed Hummell 7-5, as Derewonski sent Jimenez to the loss side 8-4. Gupta won what would prove to be his only match against Derewonski 8-3, and sat in the hot seat, awaiting the decision that would cancel the re-match.
Jimenez moved over and met up with Gary Murgia, who'd gotten by Lidio Ramirez 7-5 and survived a double hill match against Arturo Reyes. Hummell drew Bryan Singh, who'd been defeated by Gupta in a winners' side final eight contest, and then defeated Ben Castaneros 6-2 and Pat Mareno 6-3.
Jimenez shut Murgia out, advancing to the quarterfinals against Singh, who'd defeated Hummell, double hill. Singh completed a four-match, loss-side winning streak with a 7-5 win over Jimenez and then, was dropped by Derewonski 10-5 in the semifinals. It was at this point, that due to the lateness of the hour, Gupta and Derewonski chose not to play the final match, ceding the event title to the undefeated Gupta.
Tour representatives thanked Gotham City Billiards' owners, Kevin and Isabel Buckley, for their continued hospitality, 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 December 7 at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
The clock worked against players on the Tri-State Tour again on Saturday, August 25, when a field of 40 signed on for the $750-added, A-D handicapped event at Port Richmond Billiards Club on Staten Island, NY. Robert Veit chalked up his first victory on the tour, and his last victory in the event, by getting into the hot seat. Later, he opted to split the top two prizes with Tony Ignomirello, who had already split the second and third place prize with Gary Murgia, when the semifinals didn’t happen, either.
Following victories over James Stern, Mike Davie, Luis Jimenez and Antonio Navarro, Veit advanced among the winners’ side final four and met up with Ben Castaneros, who’d just sent Ignomirello to the loss side. Murgia, in the meantime, squared off against Geoff Bauer. Murgia and Veit got into the hot seat battle, once Murgia had sent Bauer west 7-3, and Veit dispatched Castaneros 6-2. In what proved to be the last match for both of them, Veit sent Murgia to the semifinals 7-6.
Ignomirello got back to work on the loss side with a 6-3 victory over Keith Diaz, and followed that up with a 7-3 win over Thomas Rice, which set him up for a re-match against Castaneros. Bauer drew Bryan Jeziorski, who’d defeated Keith Adamik and Abdullah Howard, both 7-3, to reach him. Jeziorski advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-3 win over Bauer, and was met by Ignomirello, who wreaked his vengeance on Castaneros 7-2.
The last match of the night saw Ignomirello survive a double hill battle versus Jeziorski. Ignomirello and Murgia then opted out of the semifinals, and shortly thereafter, Ignomirello and Veit exercised the same option in regards to the finals. Prizes were split, and as the hot seat occupant, Veit took possession of the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Port Richmond Billiard Club, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. Next up for the Tri-State Tour is their annual collaboration with the Mezz Pro-Am and Predator Tours, for the second annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial Tournament, set for September 1-3 at Amsterdam Billiards in New York City. The next regularly scheduled stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $500-added, A-D handicapped event, scheduled for September 8, at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Though he and Borana Andoni ended up splitting the first and second place prizes of the August 18 stop on the Tri-State Tour, Vincent Morris, from his position in the hot seat, was able to lay claim to his first Tri-State event title. The $1,500-added, A-D handicapped 9-ball event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards, in Brooklyn, NY.
With victories over Raymond Lee, Ben Castaneros and Luis Jimenez, Morris moved among the winnners’ side final four to face Mike Harrington. Andoni, in the meantime, squared off against Koka Davladze. Morris got into the hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Harrington, and in the hot seat match, faced Andoni, who’d sent Davladze west 6-3. In what would prove to be their only meeting, Morris gained the hot seat with a 7-3 win over Andoni.
Harrington moved to the loss bracket to meet up with Mel McMullen, who’d handed Jimenez his second defeat 7-2 and then survived a double hill match versus Keith Diaz. Davladze met up with Gary O’Callaghan, who’d eliminated Ed Culhane 7-2 and Ron Gabia 7-3. Davladze moved into the quarterfinals with a double hill win over O’Callaghan and was met by Harrington, who’d defeated McMullen 7-3.
It was Harrington, with an 8-5 win over Davladze, who got to face Andoni in the semifinals. She ended his day with a double hill win, at which point, she and Morris opted to split the top two prizes, and declare Morris the official winner.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership (Kevin and Isabell Buckley) and staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
Given the fact that as of this past weekend, two women have chalked up back to back wins, it’ll be a long time before anyone reports on a lengthy gap between female victories on the Tri-State Tour. In the 2011-2012 season finale, held on the weekend of June 23-24, Yomaylin Feliz, a C+ player, battled Alex Osipov, a B player, twice; once in the battle for the hot seat, and again, in the opening set of a true double elimination final. Feliz took the first match, and Osipov took the second. They opted to split the prize and not play a second set in the finals. By mutual agreement, Feliz was declared the winner. The $1,000-added A-D handicapped event drew 49 entrants to Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan.
From among the winners’ side final four, in a straight-up, C-race to 6, Feliz sent Dave Weinstein to the loss side, double hill. Osipov, in the meantime, sent Keith Adamik (an A player) west 7-3. Feliz prevailed in her first of two against Osipov 7-4, and waited in the hot seat for his return.
Weinstein moved over and picked up Ben Castaneros, who’d shut out Luis Jimenez, and defeated Matt McMillen 6-3 to reach him. Adamik, battling for end-of-season bragging rights in his A class from his # 2 position in the rankings, drew Daniel Dagotdot, who entered the tournament at # 1 in the same A-class ratings, and had gotten by Raphael DaBreo 7-5 and Emily Duddy 7-3.
Adamik prevailed over Dagotdot 7-4, and in the quarterfinals squared off against Castaneros, who’d downed Weinstein 6-3.
Adamik moved into the semifinals with an 8-5 victory over Castaneros, but fell short in his re-match against Osipov. Osipov’s 7-6 win in those semifinals kept Adamik just shy of passing Dagotdot for the # 1 ranking among the tour’s A/A+ players. Osipov took the opening set of the true double elimination final against Feliz, at which point, the two mutually agreed to split the prize, and declare Feliz, as occupant of the hot seat, the winner.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Amsterdam Billiards, 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 the tour’s annual invitational meet, restricted to the top-players in each of six ranked divisions. Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ will host the event, scheduled for the weekend of July 14-15.
Tri-State Tour representatives couldn’t remember the last time that a female player won a stop on the tour, and were only comfortable noting that it hadn’t happened in at least 10 years. There’ve been a lot who finished second (Emily Duddy and Annie Flores, as examples), and while Jeanette Lee played on the tour back in the 90s, and might well have chalked up a victory back then, record-keeping from that time wasn’t very precise.
We do know this: Kim Meyer-Gabia, who, at present, is the number-one ranked female on the tour won her first Tri-State event ever, and though it’s recorded with an asterisk, because no final match was played, it will go down in Tri-State history as the first female victory in a long time. Meyer-Gabia went undefeated in the $1,000-added A-D handicapped event on June 16, that was hosted by Carom Cafe in Flushing, NY and drew 37 entrants.
Following victories over Ron Mason, Mashak Daniel and Tony Ignomirello, Meyer-Gabia moved among the winners’ side final four to face Pat Mareno. Stewart Warnock, in the meantime, squared off against Meyer-Gabia’s eventual finals opponent, Chris Karp. Two double hill victories sent Meyer-Gabia and Warnock to the hot seat match, where Meyer-Gabia prevailed 8-5 to sit in the hot seat.
Karp moved over and picked up Basdeo Sookhai, who’d advanced through Arturo Reyes 7-3 and Daniel Dagotdot 8-5 to reach him. Mareno drew Mason, who’d defeated Ignomirello 6-3 and Ben Castaneros 6-4. Karp got back on track with a 7-4 victory over Sookhai, but it was Mason prevailing over Mareno 7-2.
Karp won the quarterfinal match versus Mason 7-4, and then completed his three-match, loss-side journey with a 7-2 victory over Warnock in the semifinals. Karp and Meyer-Gabia consulted with each other, and given the lateness of the hour, decided not to play a final match, leaving Meyer-Gabia, undefeated in the hot seat, as the official winner.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Carom Cafe, 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 $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event, scheduled for June 23-24 at Amsterdam Billiards & Bar in New York City.
They battled first for the hot seat, and again, in the finals. Both times, Joe Palone came out on top to complete an undefeated day on the Tri-State Tour. Double tour ranking points were offered to the 41 participants who signed on to the $750-added, A-D handicapped event on Saturday, January 28, which was hosted by Port Richmond Billiards in Staten Island, NY.
Following victories over Rajesh Vannala, Joe Landi and two straight double hill wins over Joe Landi and Paul Spaanstra, Palone moved among the winners’ side final four to take on Rhio Anne (Annie) Flores. Mackin, in the meantime, squared off against Tony Ignomirello. Palone sent Flores west 7-2, as Mackin was busy defeating Ignomirello 6-3. The first of their two battles, for the hot seat, proved to be the most competitive, as they fought back and forth to double hill before Palone prevailed.
Flores moved to the loss side and picked up Vannala, who’d defeated Spaanstra 7-4 and prevailed in a double hill match against Gary Murgia to reach her. Ignomirello drew Rick Shellhouse, who’d gotten by Mike Davie 6-4 and Ben Castaneros 6-3. Vannala then ended Flores’ day with a 7-4 win, and moved into the quarterfinals against Shellhouse, who’d given up only a single rack in his match against Ignomirello.
It was Shellhouse advancing to the semifinals against Mackin, with an 8-6 win over Vannala. Mackin, though, ended Shellhouse’s loss-side run with a 6-2 win in those semifinals to earn a second chance against Palone. Though Mackin opened the finals with a single victory, Palone put a stop to any ideas of another double hill battle, and won seven of the next nine, to complete his undefeated day.
Tour representatives thanked Gary Murgia for his efforts in ensuring a great environment for the tournament, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State event, a $1,000-added, C/D event at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, is scheduled for Saturday, February 4.
Recently elevated to Open/Pro status on the Tri-State Tour, Dan Cintron was ineligible to participate in the $2,000-added, A-D handicapped, Double Points Tri-State event on the weekend of January 7-8. In the absence of tour representatives, who were dealing with a family crisis,
Cintron did, however, step in and run the tournament, and watched (occasionally itching to be a part of it), as Ben Castaneros came back from a defeat among the winners’ side final four to double dip hot seat occupant Raymond Lee. The event drew 61 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
In their first of three, among the winners’ side final four, Lee sent Castaneros west 6-1, as Bryan Jeziorski was busy sending Alex Osipov over 7-5. Lee then prevailed 7-4, and waited in the hot seat for the return of Castaneros.
First up for Castaneros on the loss side was Mike Strassberg, who’d benefited from a forfeit by Luis Jimenez, and defeated Andrzej Kaldan 6-2. Osipov picked up Ron Gabia, who’d gotten by Arturo Reyes 7-3 and Ed Culhane 7-5. Castaneros defeated Strassberg 7-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals against Osipov, who’d downed Gabia 7-2. A 6-4 victory for Castaneros in those quarterfinals, was followed by a 7-4 semifinal victory over Jeziorski.
Castaneros gave up only three racks in the two-set finals against Lee. He gave up two in the opening set, and one in the second, to capture the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the staff and management of Gotham City Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
