Four years ago, during a stop on Tony Robles’ Predator Pro Am Tour at Amsterdam Billiards, New York’s John Francisco, in the midst of what is still his best recorded earnings year (2108), was sent to the loss side in a winners’ side quarterfinal and came back to face and defeat in the finals, the man who’d sent him there, Ehmunrao Toocaram. It was Francisco’s first recorded win and this past weekend (May 21-22), he chalked up his second, this time on the Predator Tri-State Tour. He once again took a loss-side route to the winners’ circle, although it was a considerably shorter route than the one he’d taken in 2018. The $1,000-added event drew 33 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Francisco made it to the hot seat match in this event, his first (that we know about) since 2017, when he was denied the hot seat and eliminated in the finals of a stop on the Tri-State Tour. He duplicated all but the last step of that end-game maneuver this time out. He got by Kevin Shin and Abel Rosario to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal versus Jason Goberdhan. In the meantime, his eventual hot seat and final opponent, Carlos Duque navigated his way through Brian Schell (double hill), Amanda Andries and Tom Crane to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup with Mike Pruitt.
Francisco moved into the hot seat on the heels of a 7-4 victory over Goberdhan and was joined by Duque, who survived his second double hill match, against Pruitt. Duque took a commanding lead in the hot seat match and held on to it, sending Francisco to the semifinals 8-3.
Daniel gave up only a single rack to Goberdhan and advanced to the quarterfinals. Pruitt and Castillo battled to double hill before Pruitt advanced to join Daniel. In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Daniel advanced to the semifinals after shutting Pruitt out. Francisco came within two racks of doing the same to Daniel in the semifinals, earning himself a second shot at Duque with a 7-2 win.
In the extended-race final, Francisco reached his ‘magic number,’ extending the race to 8. In the end, it proved to be a double hill battle for the title, with Francisco winning it 8-7.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as title sponsor Predator, Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, Paul Dayton Cues, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Joe Romer Trophies and Quick Slick. The next stop on the Predator Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Memorial Day weekend (May 28-30), will be the $2,000-added, 10th Annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
As an indoor sport, pool play is not generally affected by the weather. Getting to and back from the venues, however, is another story altogether. On Saturday, January 18, snow and sleet visited the Tri-State New York area, to include Wayne, NJ, about 25 miles northwest of midtown Manhattan, where 23 intrepid competitors gathered to shoot some 10-ball on the Tri-State Tour. Jaydev Zaveri went undefeated to the hot seat and would, in the finals, have faced Dave Shlemperis, whom he’d sent to the loss side in the event’s second round. But with dangerous driving conditions getting worse by the minute, Zaveri and Shlemperis agreed to a split. As the undefeated hot seat occupant, Zaveri claimed the event title. The $1,000-added event drew its 23 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne
Zaveri opened his stormy campaign against Luis Jimenez and after defeating him, double hill (5-4), he faced Shlemperis and sent him over 6-2. He would then defeat A+ player Atif Khan in a winners’ side quarterfinal to face Joe Mazzeo in a winners’ side semifinal. Juan Melendez, in the meantime, squared off against Hunter Sullivan in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Zaveri downed Mazzeo 6-3 and in the hot seat, faced Melendez, who’d defeated Sullivan 5-2. Zaveri, in what proved to be his last match, claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Melendez.
On the loss side, Shlemperis was working on his six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him all the way back for a rematch against Zaveri, which, of course, didn’t happen. Shlemperis got by Chris Schmidt 6-3, Kevin Scalzitti, double hill (6-5) and Paul Madonia 6-2 to draw Mazzeo, coming over from his winners’ side semifinal loss to Zaveri. Sullivan picked up a rematch versus Bob Toomey, whom he’d defeated in the second round (Toomey’s 1st round; he’d been awarded a bye). Toomey’s four-match, loss-side winning streak included recent wins over Brian Schell, double hill (5-4) and then, he spoiled the possibility of a husband/wife final by defeating Jaydev Zaveri’s wife, Shweta, also double hill (6-5).
Shlemperis defeated Mazzeo 6-3, as Sullivan eliminated Toomey 5-2. Shlemperis then took the quarterfinal match versus Sullivan 7-4.
In the final match of the evening, Shlemperis downed Juan Melendez 7-5. He and Zaveri agreed to the split – Zaveri, the official winner and Shlemperis, runner-up – and those who were left headed for the exits and a difficult ride home.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Liquid Weighted Cues, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Quick Stik, Phil Capelle, Pool & Billiards, Bender Cues, Dayton Cues, and Romer Trophies. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, January 26, will be a $1,000-added, Double Point event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
The Tri-State Tour stop on Sunday, November 24 was restricted to C and D players on the tour and 22 of them showed up to compete; 18, split evenly between C players (including four of the tour’s top five women) and C+ players, to go along with three D+ players and a single D. Six of the tour’s top seven C+ players competed (missing was #6, Mac Jankov), and three of them ended up in the two winners’ side semifinals. Jason Goberdhan, #7 on that list of the tour’s top C+ players went undefeated through the field, downing the #2 C+ player, Bob Toomey twice; hot seat and finals. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
The battle between the #1 and #2 C+ players – Mike Strassberg and Bob Toomey – took place in the second round and yielded a somewhat predictable double hill fight, won by Toomey. He advanced to send Tom McManamon (C) to the loss side 6-4 and draw Brian Schell (#6 C) in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Goberdhan, in the meantime, after an opening round bye, sent Bianca Martinez (#4 C) and Teddy Lapadula (#4 C+) to the loss side and picked up Adrian Daniel (#3 C+) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Goberdhan and Toomey advanced to the hot seat match with identical 6-4 victories over Daniel and Schell, respectively. Goberdhan then sent Toomey to the semifinals 6-2 and waited in the hot seat for his return.
Over on the loss side, Schell and Daniel picked up C+ Players Rick Rodriguez (#5) and Dax Druminski (#15). Rodriguez, sent to the loss side by Daniel in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had subsequently eliminated C+ player #1, Strassberg, double hill and shut out C+ player #4, Lapadula, to get Schell. Druminski had eliminated Michelle Brotons (the tour’s #1 female and #1 C player) 7-4 and Marc Antonetti 6-4 to draw Daniel.
Druminski and Rodriguez handed Daniel and Schell their second straight loss and advanced to the quarterfinals; Druminski 6-3 over Daniel and Rodriguez, double hill over Schell. Rodriguez then defeated Druminski 6-3 in those quarterfinals.
Toomey put a stop to Rodriguez’ ambitions for further advancement with a shutout over him in the semifinals. In the end, the tour’s #7 C+ player (Goberdhan) downed the tour’s #2 C+ player (Toomey) 6-4. Goberdhan went home undefeated with the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui, Phil Capelle, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Billiard Engineering, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and Pool & Billiards. The next Tri-State event, scheduled for Sunday, December 1, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Marco Daniele’s first win anywhere, and on the Tri-State Tour specifically, comes with a common asterisk, awarded when an individual claims an event title without benefit of a final match, opting, instead, to split the top two (sometimes, three) prizes with his/her opponent in the finals. It’s been Daniele’s first year in the AZ database and he’s cashed in three separate events. He finished 9th on a Tri-State stop back in June, 17th a month later on the Predator Pro Am Tour and just last month, finished 3rd in the NYC 8-Ball Championships (Mixed Open division). He capped that with an official win, earned by going undefeated to the hot seat and, with Teddy Lapadula, opting out of a final match. The $1,000-added, 10-ball event drew 25 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Daniele’s path to the winners’ circle went through Bianca Martinez, Sung Lee and Anthony Nasta to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against the opponent with whom he would ultimately split the top two cash prizes, Teddy Lapadula. Shivam Gupta, in the meantime, after an opening round bye, downed Tri Chau and Luis Jimenez to draw Paul Madonia in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Daniele defeated Lapadula 5-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Gupta, who’d sent Madonia to the loss side 6-4. What proved to be Daniele’s last match of the day was a double hill battle for the hot seat, which he eventually won 8-7.
Madonia advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over Shlemperis and was joined by Lapadula, who’d defeated Schell 5-2. Lapadula then downed Madonia 6-3 and advanced to his last match, facing Gupta in the semifinals.
Lapadula finished the night with a 7-5 victory over Gupta, before entering the negotiations with Daniele that would lead to the split of the top two cash prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Daniele claimed his first event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui, Phil Capelle, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Billiard Engineering, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and Pool & Billiards. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, November 10, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Tony Robles, Thorsten Hohmann and Tournament Director John Leyman (Erwin Dionisio)
Soto, Rosario, Sugiyama, Musser and Karwas win other division 8-ball titles
Three days after winning the 7th Steinway Classic in a thrilling, double hill final match against Fedor Gorst (Oct. 17), Thorsten Hohmann, at the same location, won the Grand Master Division of the NYC 8-Ball Championships (Oct. 20) with a slightly less dramatic 6-1 finals victory over Ruslan Chinakhov. The Grand Master division of the annual event, which drew 22 entrants to Steinway, was one of six division 8-ball tournaments held on the weekend of October 19-20. In all, under the sponsorship of Michael Fedak, the NYC Singles 8-Ball Championships added $15,000, divided among the six divisions, which drew 151 unique entrants.
It was Jose Soto who won in the 16-entrant Mixed Master’s Division, Abel Rosario in the 32-entrant Mixed Advanced Division, Akiko Sugiyama in the 32-entrant Women’s Leisure Division, and Maxwell Musser in the 32-entrant Men’s Leisure Division. The largest field, 48 entrants, was the Mixed Open Division, won by Sebastian Karwas.
Hohmann’s path to the winners’ circle in the Grand Masters event went through Chinakhov twice. He opened with a double hill win over Joey Korsiak and then, sent Chinakhov to the loss side 6-4. Hohmann then defeated Del Sim 6-4, to draw Damianos Giallourakis in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Nick Ekonomopoulos in the meantime, after being awarded an opening round bye, downed the Steinway Classic’s runner-up, Fedor Gorst 6-2 and Jalal Yousef 6-4 to draw Jimmy Rivera in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Hohmann defeated Giallourakis 6-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Ekonomopoulos, who’d sent Rivera west 6-1. Hohmann claimed the hot seat 6-3 and waited on the return of Chinakhov.
On the loss side, Chinakhov was working on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would give him a second chance against Hohmann. He got by Raphael Dabreo 6-2, Ryan Hsu 6-4, Tony Robles 6-2 and survived a double fight versus Burgos to draw Giallourakis, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Rivera picked up Roland Garcia, who after being defeated by Giallourakis ended Gorst’s run 6-1 and by the same score, Del Sim’s.
Chinakhov and Giallourakis battled to double hill before Chinakhov advanced to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Garcia, who’d eliminated Rivera 6-2. Chinakhov took the quarterfinal match 6-2.
He completed his loss-side run with a double hill win over Ekonomopoulos in the semifinals. Hohmann, though, shut Chinakhov down early in the finals and completed his undefeated run with a 6-1 victory over Chinakhov.
Soto is the only competitor to come from the loss side to win Mixed Masters Division
Five of the six divisions of the NYC Singles 8-Ball Championships featured winners who went undefeated through their respective fields. Jose Soto, in the smallest field (16), competing in the Mixed Masters division, was the only competitor to win a division by coming from the loss side to defeat the hot seat occupant. And he did so, by losing in his first round and winning six loss-side matches to down Cesar Turcios in the finals.
Soto lost 5-1 to Tim Edmonds in the opening round of play. Edmonds was subsequently defeated by Brooke Meyers, who advanced to face Turcios in the hot seat match. Turcios claimed the hot seat in a double hill win over Meyers. On the loss side, three of the six matches Soto played, forced him to play a single deciding game to advance; matches against Eddie Kunz, Matthew Harricharan and his quarterfinal match against Miguel Laboy. Soto downed Meyers 6-3 in the semifinals and then, claimed the title with an 8-4 win over Turcios.
The largest field of 48, in the Mixed Open division, was won by Sebastian Karwas, who went undefeated. It took Karwas as many matches on the winners’ side of the Mixed Open bracket to claim the title, as it took Soto on both sides of the Mixed Masters bracket to win his. Karwas got by Jim Gutierrez, Keith Stefanowitz, Omar Chavez, Alex Kent and Marco Daniele to face Paul Lyons in the hot seat match. He claimed the hot seat 6-1 over Lyons, who moved to the loss side and downed Daniele in the semifinals 5-3. Karwas took their second match 6-4 to claim the title.
Rosario and Schreiber battle it out for Mixed Advanced title
Two of the New York area’s better competitors in their respective ranking divisions battled twice to claim the 32-entrant Mixed Advanced title. Abel Rosario and Thomas Schreiber hold top positions in the standings of both the Tri-State and Predator Pro Am Tours. Rosario is #10 on the Tri-State’s A+/A standings list and the #3 B+ player on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Schreiber is #5 on the Tri-State’s list of B players and # 2 on the Predator Pro Am Tour’s list of B players.
After four victories each, they met first in the hot seat match. Rosario claimed the hot seat 6-3. Schreiber moved to the loss side and downed Matthew Rezendes 5-1. He and Rosario fought to an appropriate double hill game 11 before Rosario finished it to claim the title.
In the 32-entrant Women’s Leisure division, Akiko Sugiyama won five straight to claim that title. She faced Melissa Schleifer twice and gave up only a single rack over the two matches; that one, coming in Sugiyama’s victory in the hot seat match. Schleifer shut Debra Pritchett out in the semifinals, but punctuating her undefeated run through the field, Sugiyama shut Schleifer out in the finals.
Completing the six-tournament event, it was Maxwell Musser, who went undefeated through the 32-entrant Men’s Leisure field. Musser faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals, defeating Brian Schell to claim the hot seat, and after Henry Chan had downed Schell double hill in the semifinals, Musser shut him out to take the title.
As always, event director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as Dr. Michael Fedak for his continuing financial support for this event (Fedak finished in the tie for 13th place in the Mixed Open tournament). Robles also noted sponsorship support from Predator Cues, and Blatt Billiards. According to Robles, the 2020 NYC 8-Ball Championships are going to be even better. It’s being planned as a three-day event on Columbus Day weekend and Dr. Fedak will be adding $20,000.
“This event wouldn’t be possible without the support of Michael and Marilyn Fedak,” said Robles.
Having won his first stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour last month, Pascal Dufresne decided to back it up with his first win on the Tri-State Tour in Sunday, April 7. Though it will go into the books as an undefeated win, it comes with the asterisk of no final match, as Dufresne and Shivam Gupta opted to split the top two prizes. The $1,000-added, 10-ball event drew 31 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Though he’s cashed in only two events in 2019, both on the Predator Pro Am Tour, Dufresne has already exceeded his best earnings year, to date (2018). Gupta, as well, recorded his best earnings year, to date, in 2018, and has a way to go to reach that figure in 2019. Gupta, though, was making his eighth appearance on the 2018-2019 Tri-State Tour, while for Dufresne, it was only his second.
Following a challenging start in which he survived a double hill battle versus Jerry Almodovar, Dufresne moved on to defeat Paul Wilkins and then, in their first, and what proved to be only meeting, Dufresne sent Gupta to the loss side 6-3. This set him up to face Kevin Scalzitti in one of the winners’ side semifinals. On his way to one of his highest finishes on the tour, Rick Rodriguez, who’d defeated Mac Jankov, Brian Schell (double hill) and Bob Toomey, faced Clint Pires in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Dufresne and Rodriguez gave up only a single rack between them, as Dufresne shut Scalzitti out, and Rodriguez allowed Pires only a single rack to advance them both to the hot seat match. Dufresne, playing what would prove to be his last match, sent Rodriguez to the semifinals 6-2 and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, Gupta opened his trip back to the finals with a 6-2 victory over Tri Chau and followed it with a 6-2 win over his road partner, Jaydev Zaveri (Zaveri and Gupta are currently #1 and #2 among the tour’s B+ competitors). This set Gupta up to face Scalzitti, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Pires drew Bob Toomey, who’d started in the same loss-side position as Gupta and survived two double hill matches against Amanda Andries and Brian Schell to draw Pires.
Gupta and Scalzitti locked up in a double hill battle that eventually sent Gupta to the quarterfinals (6-5). Toomey joined him, after eliminating Pires 5-1.
Gupta and Toomey, each, at this point, with three, loss-side wins, were both looking to advance to the semifinals. Gupta made it, downing Toomey 6-2 to face Rodriguez. Gupta and Rodriguez were both looking for a second shot against Dufresne in the hot seat and fought to double hill for that right. Once again, Gupta made it (6-5).
Dufresne and Gupta opted out of a final match. As the hot seat occupant, Dufresne claimed the event title, undefeated.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, DIGICUE OB and Hustlin USA. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Sunday, April 14) will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
As far as we can tell, Patrick Meyers has been competing on tri-state New York pool tables for about eight years now. It may be more than that, but showing up on our database requires that a player cash in an event before he or she is entered. The first time Meyers did that, according to our records, was back in 2010, when he cashed (tied for 5th place) at a stop on what was then known as the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour at the 1st Annual Reverend Clarence Keaton Memorial Tournament; Amateur Division. He went on to place 9th twice in the 2012 Predator Pro Am season, and then, the following year, 25th in the Amateur division of the 3rd Annual Ginky Memorial (from a field of 128). He finished 9th again, twice, in 2014 and 2015, moved up to a 7th place finish on the Predator Pro Am Tour in 2017, and then, last year, had himself a breakthrough performance on the Tri-State Tour, when he finished as the runner-up in a tournament, officially won by Joe Romeo (they split the top two prizes).
On Sunday, January 27, Meyers chalked up his first event victory, an undefeated run during a C-D event on the Tri-State Tour. He got by a total of six opponents and faced different opponents in the hot seat (Jason Goberdhan) and finals (Greg Matos). The $1,000-added event drew 26 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Meyers got by Brian Schell, Ralph Ramos, Sr., and Terry Mohabir to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Ralph Ramos, Sr.’s son (Junior). Jason Goberdhan, in the meantime, squared off against Brenda Martinez. Meyers squeaked by Ramos, Jr. 7-6, and in the hot seat match, faced Goberdhan, who’d sent Martinez off to the loss side 8-6. Meyers chalked up a second straight, double hill win with a 6-5 victory over Goberdhan, and sat in the hot seat, waiting on the return of Greg Matos, who’d lost a double hill match to Martinez in a winners’ side quarterfinal and was embarked on a five-match, loss-side streak that would earn him a shot at Meyers in the finals.
On the loss side, Ramos, Jr. picked up Clint Pires, who’d defeated Nishant Narang 6-3 and Mohabir 6-2 to reach him. Martinez drew Matos, who’d opened his loss-side campaign with a double hill win over Stewart Warnock, Sr. and then eliminated a potential father/son match by downing Ramos, Sr. 6-1.
Ramos, Jr. eliminated Pires 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Matos, who’d chalked up his second loss-side, double hill win over Martinez. Matos sent Ramos, Jr. home 6-2 in those quarterfinals, and then, by the same score, sent Goberdhan ‘to the showers’ in the semifinals.
Since the winners’ side quarterfinals, Meyers and Matos had survived two double hill matches, on opposite sides of the bracket. It was fitting, somehow, that their final match would be a third double hill battle for both of them. Meyers won it (6-5) to claim his first event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 2, will be an A-B-C-D event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Eklent Kaci, Lee Van Cortezza, Mike Dechaine and Jorge Rodriguez
The finals of the 8th Annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial Pro Tournament, held over Memorial Day weekend, proved to be a preview of an event, scheduled for tomorrow evening (Thursday, May 31) at the same location, Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. At the upcoming event, Albanian phenomenon, Eklent “Klenti” Kaci and Filipino Lee Vann Corteza will square off for a $20,000, race-to-30 10-ball match, which will be available as a pay-per-view event, beginning at 6:30 p.m. (EDT). Over the Memorial Day weekend, in the Pro event held under the combined auspices of the Predator Pro Am, Tri-State and Mezz Tours, Kaci and Vann Corteza had to work through a field of 38 entrants before meeting up in the finals. Kaci defeated Vann Corteza in those finals, completing an undefeated run that earned him the 8th Annual Ginky Memorial Pro title. A concurrently-run Amateur event drew 144 entrants (separate story, to be posted later).
It proved to be more than tomorrow night’s race-to-30 for both Kaci and Vann Corteza. Kaci ended up winning 56 of the games he played over six matches. Corteza, thanks to Mike Dechaine, had to play two more matches (an extra 33 games), and ended up winning more total games (65). Corteza ended up winning 65 of his 115 games (56%), as Kaci chalked up the event title by winning 56 of his 82 games (68%).
Kaci opened his bid for the title with a 9-2 win over Brian Schell, and then, almost had his undefeated run derailed by Tony Robles, whose actual participation in the event was (and always has been at this annual memorial event), secondary to his overall organization and oversight of everything about this tournament. This did not prevent “The Silent Assassin” from throwing Kaci a bit of a scare by virtue of a double hill fight that did eventually send Robles west and Kaci further east in the bracket.
Kaci’s next match proved to be significantly easier (if they’re ever easier), because Kaci didn’t give Jimmy Conn a single rack, which set him (Kaci) up in a winners’ side semifinal match against Joey Korsiak.
Vann Corteza, in the meantime, who’d worked his way through Ehmunrao Toocaram (9-1), Alex Kazakis (9-5) and had to fight Jorge Rodriguez to double hill before advancing, found himself facing not-so-retired “Fireball,” Mike Dechaine in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Kaci moved into the hot seat match with a 9-2 win over Korsiak, and faced Dechaine, who’d just consigned Vann Corteza to a few extra matches on the loss side with a 9-5 win. Dechaine gave Kaci his second double hill challenge, but Kaci prevailed to sit in the hot seat and wait for what turned out to be Vann Corteza’s return.
On the loss side, Korsiak picked up Rodriguez, who, following his defeat at the hands of Vann Corteza, had eliminated Robles and Alan Rolon. Vann Corteza drew a second match-up against Kazakis, who’d defeated Jimmy Conn and Frankie Hernandez.
Vann Corteza downed Kazakis a second time, 9-6, and in the quarterfinals, faced Rodriguez, who’d eliminated Korsiak 9-7. Vann Corteza then ended Rodriguez’ run 9-5 in those quarterfinals, and turned for a second shot against Dechaine in the semifinals. Vann Corteza left Dechaine in third place with a 9-5 win and the final ‘preview’ match of the upcoming challenge event was on.
If Kaci holds on to the percentage for tomorrow night’s 20K challenge match, he should win that match 30-14, because he claimed the 8th Annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial Tournament over Vann Corteza by a score of 11-6.
Tour representatives of the Predator Pro Am, Tri-State and Mezz Tours thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality. They also thanked Upstate Al and his staff for the live stream of selected matches of both the Amateur and Pro events throughout the weekend.
Thomas Schreiber, looking for his first win on the Tri-State Tour since February of 2016, came from the loss side to win the Sunday, September 10 stop on the 2017/2018 tour. The two wins, 18 months apart, were chalked up at the same location – Cue Bar Lounge & Billiards in Bayside (Queens), NY. The $1,000-added, AB/CD event drew 43 entrants.
Three winners’ side matches brought Schreiber to a winners’ side semifinal against Lidio Ramirez, while Pashk Gjini faced Brian Schell in the other one. Gjini cruised to the hot seat match with a shutout over Schell, while Schreiber and Ramirez battled to double hill, eventually sending Ramirez to face Gjini. Gjini took something of a second cruise into the hot seat 10-2 over Ramirez, and waited on the return of Schreiber.
Schreiber and Jimenez locked up in a double hill fight for advancement to the quarterfinals. Schreiber won and faced Schell, who’d knocked off Lichtenberger 6-2. Schreiber then defeated Schell 7-5 to draw a re-match against Ramirez in the semifinals.
In their second double hill fight, it was Schreiber who advanced to the finals against Gjini. Schreiber and Gjini fought back and forth to a 6-6 tie before Schreiber pulled out in front to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, Joe Romer Trophies and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, September 17, will be hosted by Shooter’s Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
The number has continued to come up; twice in January, once each in March and April. Until Saturday, May 7, Chris Kelly had cashed in three stops on the Predator Tour this year, and once, on the Tri-State Tour. He finished in the tie for 9th place in all four. Having presumably grown tired of hearing "Number Nine! Number Nine! Number Nine! and Number Nine!" Chris Kelly signed on for the $1,000-added, May 7 event on the Tri-State Tour that drew 37 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, and went undefeated to chalk up his first Tri-State title.
Kelly had to get by Pascal Dufresne twice to complete his undefeated run. He'd gotten by Duc Lam, Elvis Rodriguez, and Tony Liang to draw Stewart Warnock in a winners' side semifinal. Dufresne, in the meantime, faced Mike Figueroa. Kelly sent Warnock to the loss side 8-3, as Dufresne was busy shutting out Figueroa to send him to the west bracket. Kelly took the first of two versus Dufresne 7-4 and waited in the hot seat for the second.
On the loss side, Tony Liang, fresh off his loss to Kelly, embarked on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He survived a double hill bout versus Lam and eliminated Rhio Anne Flores 7-3 to draw Warnock. Figueroa picked up Adrian Daniel, who'd downed Akiko Taniyama 6-3 and Brian Schell 7-5 to reach him.
Liang advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Warnock, and was met by Daniel, who'd eliminated Figueroa 6-2. In what would prove to be his final loss-side win, Liang defeated Daniel 9-7.
Liang put up a strong, double hill fight in the semifinals that followed, but Dufresne prevailed for a second shot at Kelly. Dufresne took the opening rack of the finals, before he and Kelly traded racks to a 3-3 tie. Kelly, at that point, chalked up three straight racks to reach the hill, and though Dufresne would win rack #10, Kelly closed out his first Tri-State win with a deciding victory in rack #11.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, May 15, will be hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.
