(l to r): Chumreon Sutcharitakul & Kapriel Delimelkonoglu
By virtue of having gone undefeated, Chumreon Sutcharitakul will go into the record books as the official winner of the Sunday, May 4 stop on the Tri-State Tour. He and his opponent-that-might-have-been in the finals-that-didn't-happen, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, did not compete at the tables, at all. Delimelkonoglu won seven on the loss side to meet Sutcharitakul in the finals-that-didn't-happen, laying claim to the "most matches played" title, as well as the distinction of having, by a single letter, the longer last name (their full names tied at 21 letters). The $1,000-added event drew 47 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
With Delimelkonoglu (a B+ player) already at work on the loss side, following his loss to Amir Uddin, Sutcharitakul (an A) advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Thomas Schreiber (the #4-ranked B player on the tour). Jonathan Gravreilof, in the meantime, squared off against Ronald Bernardo in the other winners' side semifinal. Sutcharitakul sent Schreiber to the loss side 7-5, and in the hot seat match, faced Gravrielof, who'd defeated Bernardo 6-3. Sutcharitakul chalked up his last win, 9-7 over Gravrielof, and waited in the hot seat for Delimelkonoglu to complete his loss side run.
On the loss side, Schreiber ran into Delimelkonoglu, who was five matches into his seven-match, loss-side winning streak, having most recently defeated Cesar Tucios 8-5 and Pascal Dufresne 7-3 (Dufresne had spoiled any thoughts that Delimelkonoglu might have been entertaining about a rematch versus Uddin, by defeating Uddin in his previous match). Bernardo drew Bob Toomey, who'd eliminated Naoko Saiki 6-3 and Nathaniel Raimondo, double hill.
Delimelkonoglu and Schreiber locked up in a double hill fight, before Delimelkonoglu finished it, advancing to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Bernardo, who rebounded from his winners' side loss to Sutcharitakul, with a double hill win over Toomey.
By a score of 8-6, Delimelkonoglu defeated Bernardo in the quarterfinals and, in what would prove to be his last match of the event, Gavrielof in the semifinals. Sutcharitakul and Delimelkonoglu opted out of the final match, leaving the undefeated Sutcharitakul to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and 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, June 11, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
No stranger to the winners' circle on the Tri-State Tour, his last win coming last October, Richard Ng went undefeated on the weekend of January 9-10 to claim the first 2016 Tri-State title. The $1,500-added event drew 48 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Ng's trail through the winners' side of the bracket almost got stalled in the opening round of play, when Chris Karp gave him a double-hill run for his money. Ng persevered and then defeated Lidio Ramirez, Chumreon Sutcharitakul, and Tony Liang, before running into Elvis Rodriguez in a winners' side semifinal. Mike Esposito, in the meantime, squared off against Erick Carrasco.
Ng sent Rodriguez to the loss side in another double hill win. Esposito sent Carrasco over double hill, as well. Ng claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Esposito and waited on what turned out to be the return of Carrasco.
On the loss side, Carrasco picked up Jaydev Zaveri, who'd gotten by Pashk Gjini, double hill and Tony Ignomirello 6-2. Rodriguez drew Ron Gabia, who'd eliminated Chris Kelly and Tony Liang, both 7-4. Rodriguez and Carrasco got right back into the loss side of things with victories over Gabia 7-4 and Zaveri 6-4, respectively.
Carrasco took the quarterfinal match versus Rodriguez 9-2 and then really demonstrated his frustration at being sent to the loss side by Esposito, by shutting him out 6-0 in the semifinal re-match. Carrasco took an early 3-0 lead in the finals, before Ng fought back to go ahead 4-3. They traded racks to a 6-6 tie before Ng took the final two games to win the event title 8-6.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and 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 January 16, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards, in Clifton, NJ.
Tony Ignomirello, Michael Corona and Mike Esposito
Michael Corona capped his first victory on the Tri-State Tour on the weekend of August 29-30, with a second victory, one week later, on Saturday, September 5. Having tried the 'loss side' route to the winners' circle the week before, he opted for the more direct, shorter and undefeated route the second time around. The $1,000-added event drew 24 entrants to Cue Bar & Billiards in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Following victories over Lidio Ramierez and Gene Ok, Corona moved into a winners' side semifinal against Steve Kaminow. His eventual hot seat and finals opponent, Mike Esposito, in the meantime, squared off against Tony Ignomirello. Two double hill matches with Corona and Esposito emerging from the both to meet in the hot seat match. Corona got out ahead in this one and claimed the hot seat 7-3.
On the loss side, Ignomirello picked up Michael Strassberg, who'd defeated Marvin Phisitkraiyakosn 6-4 and Thomas Schreiber 7-4, to reach him. Kaminow drew Nigel Francis, who'd gotten by Phillip Pierce 7-4 and Chumreon Sutcharitakul 7-5.
Tony "Iggy" downed Strassberg 6-5, and, in the quarterfinals, faced Francis, who'd handed Kaminow his second straight loss 7-3. "Iggy" took the quarterfinal match over Francis, double hill, but was then, himself eliminated, double hill, by Esposito in the semifinals.
Esposito took the opening two racks of the finals, but Corona came right back to tie. Corona took the fifth rack, establishing a lead he'd never relinquish and would expand to four games by the end. Esposito chalked up his third and last rack to draw within one at 4-3, and Corona finished with three racks.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar & 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 Tri-State event, scheduled for Sunday, September 13, will be hosted by Steinway Cafe & Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
The eighteenth annual Tri-State Tour Invitational Tournament took place June 27 & 28, 2015, at Steinway Café and Billiards in Astoria, NY. The weekend was a huge success for the tour with 14 A & A+ Players, 30 B & B+ Players, 32 C & C+ Players and 16 D & D+ Players who earned their way in to compete in their respective classes and play for their chance to be named the Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion. Steinway Café and Billiards hosted the event for the first time and the players could not be happier about the venue. Steinway Café and Billiards owner Manny Stamatakis and the staff including Anna and George were very professional, helpful and gracious. Manny donated the room and all the table time. Their generosity and support to the players and the event were exemplary. The staff and everyone at the room assured the events success. Steinway Café and Billiards is an excellent venue for the event with professionally maintained tables, a clean a fresh atmosphere and some of the best food in NYC.
As each day began, organizers John Leyman, Todd Fleitman & Rick Shellhouse congratulated the players on reaching the top of their classes for the season and handed out awards to the top players of the year in each class. The Tri-State Tour added $4000 in cash prizes and the sponsors Ozone Billiards, Fury Cues, Kamui Tips, Sterling Gaming, Cue-Sight, Capelle’s Pool Books, Billiards Digest, Pool & Billiards, Professor-Q-Ball’s News, Blue Book Publications, Steinway Café and Billiards, Amsterdam Billiards, and Romer’s Trophies went out of their way to provide the event with excellent equipment and prizes. The sponsors as the Tri-State has always maintained are owed a debt a gratitude for their dedication to the game and the players, their efforts and generosity are what always make the event so special and such a great success and without their continued support of the sport and the players this event could not happen.
Awards were presented to the top 3 players in each class, the Most Improved Player of the Year, and Sportsman of the Year. The most improved player went to Chumreon Sutcharitakul. He has grown into an extremely good and competent player over the past year dominating events and raising from a lower B level player to a strong A level player. Each year the tour awards one player the “Sportsperson of the Year” award. It is awarded to someone the tour believes exemplifies what a player should be and how they should act and this year’s award went to Mike Strassberg. Mike is always there to lend a helping hand, has nothing but positive things to say about the other players and never complains. His great attitude is what other players should strive to emulate.
The top players of the year in the their respective classes were Chris Derewonski taking down the Open Class, Miguel Laboy winning the A+/A class, Arturo Reyes B+ player, Chumreon Sutcharitakul B player, Ramon Feliciano C+ player, Mike Strassberg returning again this yeat as the C player and Mike Davie D+/D class player of the year and returning again as the Ladies Player of the Year was Ada Lio. For a full list of winners for all the classes and events, please see the web site www.thetristatetour.com.
The action in the tournament got going around eleven on Saturday morning, June 27 with the B+ and B class players along with the D+/D players kicking off the event. The B+ class saw two players dominate the event and meet each other in the hot seat match, B+ player of the year Arturo Reyes and Alberto Estevez. Both players played very strong all day defeating their opponents handily but Arturo could not be stopped, beating Alberto 7-3 in both the hot seat match and the finals. The B Class event for the second year in a row was dominated by Yomaylin Feliz-Forman even sending the most improved player Chumreon Suctharitakul to the one loss side beating him 7-1 all while being 6 months pregnant. Dave Shlemperis who lost his second match of the day to Eddie Medina 7-5 battled back on the one loss side of the chart winning 5 matches in a row against such strong players as Meshak Daniel, Jamiyl Adams, Chumreon Suctharitakul, Eddie Medina this time 7-6 in Dave’s favor and Luis Jimenez to get to the finals. In the finals Yomaylin took an early lead but Dave battled back and went ahead and then won the set 9-7.
The D+/D class saw Jim Gutierrez and Jessica Herpel battle their way to the hot seat match where Jim played well and did everything right and won the set 7-1. Irene Kim, Jim’s significant other after losing to Jessica Herpel fought back on the one loss side to meet Jessica again in the semifinal match. But the rolls by this time of the event were favoring Jessica and she won the match 7-5. In the finals the games at first were traded back and forth with Jim getting on the hill first but the rolls kept going in Jessica’s favor and she battled on to force an extended race final and finished the set with a ball in hand and a 7/9 combo for the win.
On Sunday, play resumed at 11 AM with the A+/A players and the C+ class and C class arriving to do battle. The A+/A Class saw one player in the finals undefeated while his opponent had lost his first match of the day. This was an almost exact replay of how the event went from the year before except instead of being in the hot seat undefeated Juan Guzman had to battle back from a first round loss to get to the finals. This year Tony Liang who won on the hill 7-6 in the first round then two 7-1 matches and then another 7-6 match found himself in the finals where he went on to beat last years A class champion Juan Guzman 7-3.
In the C+ class Chris DeCaprio sent Ambi Estevez to the one loss side in the third round with a score of 6-2 and then beat Frankie Scanlon 6-3 to get into the hot seat. Ambi Estevez who fell one match short of the finals the year before would not be deterred this year and won against Dennis Kennedy, Mike Esposito and Frankie Scanlon to get to the finals. In a match that could have went either way Ambi prevailed and won the match 8-5. The C class was totally taken over by Robert Jew who bested all opponents including his buddy and the player who he came to the event with Eddie Perez in the finals. Eddie last year’s sportsman of the year played very good all day but lost to Raul Calderon in the third round and then beat Raul in the semifinals 6-4.
This left our 6 class champions to do battle for the Grand Champion title. Robert Jew continued his dominating ways and beat Ambi Estevez 6-3 to win the C+/C playoff and then Jessica Herpel in the C/D playoff 6-0. In the B+/B class playoff Dave Shlemperis executed well very well and bested Arturo Reyes in the match 7-3. But in the A/B playoffs Dave just could not get going right away and fell behind. He caught some wind and started to battle back but by that time it was just too late and Tony Liang went on to win the match 7-3. With the overall finals of the event set, the 2 most dominate players of the event matched up to do battle. And both players played well and traded games with Tony Liang pulling ahead in the middle of the match, never to look back. He won the set 9-6 to become that 2014-2015 Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion.
Chumreon Sutcharitakul, John Morrison, Owner-Operator Kevin Buckley and Tony Liang
It was just about this time last year (June 6-8) that John Morrison won the Men's Leisure division of the five-event, New York City 8-Ball Championships, the first tournament held under the auspices of Tony Robles' Silent Assassin Productions. Now, a year later, on Sunday, June 7, at a $3,500-added Tri-State 9-Ball event that drew 39 entrants to Gotham City Billiards, in Brooklyn, New York, Morrison went undefeated and chalked up his first win on the Tri-State Tour.
Following victories over Jaydev Zaveri, Mike Strassberg, Amy Yu and Ambi Estevez, Morrison moved into a winners' side semifinal versus Raul Calderon. Chumreon Sutcharitakul, in the meantime, squared off against Morrison's eventual finals opponent, Tony Liang. Morrison downed Calderon 6-4 and faced Sutcharitakul, who'd sent Liang to the loss side 7-5. Morrison claimed the hot seat, and, as it turned out, his last win of the event 8-4.
Liang moved to the loss side, where he was met by Kazuya Takagishi, who'd just completed two double hill wins over Koka Davladze and Tim Fitzsimmons. Calderon picked up Jose Palacios, who'd defeated Pat Mareno 6-4 and Ambi Estevez 6-1. Liang and Calderon got right back to work; Liang eliminating Takagishi 7-4, and Calderon ending Palacios' day 6-5.
Liang then defeated Calderon 8-4 in the quarterfinals, and followed up with a 7-4 victory that put Sutcharitakul out of business, and effectively, ended the tournament. Morrison and Liang, due to the late hour, opted out of playing a final match, leaving Morrison, undefeated, to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Kevin and Isabel Buckley and their staff at Gotham City Billiards for their continuing support of the tour, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, June 13, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Mike Strassberg has gotten close a couple of times, but until Saturday, May 16, he had yet to chalk up an event title on the Tri-State Tour. On April 26, at Brooklyn's BQE Billiards, Strassberg was runner-up to Chumreon Sutcharitakul who claimed his first Tri-State title that day. They had opted out of a final match, awarding Sutcharitakul, undefeated in the hot seat, the event title. Strassberg picked up his first Tri-State title in the same way; sitting in the hot seat, and opting out of a final match versus Miguel Laboy. The $1,000-added event drew 38 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Strassberg's path to the hot seat went through Pat Mareno, Ramon Feliciano, and Raul Calderone before facing Ambi Estevez (also looking for his first win on the Tri-State) in a winners' side semifinal. Ron Gabia and Dave Shlemperis (both with Tri-State wins in their past) squared off in the other. Strassberg sent Estevez to the loss side 6-3, as Gabia was sending Shlemperis over 7-3. Strassberg claimed the hot seat and, in effect, the event title with a 9-7 win over Gabia.
Over on the loss side, Shlemperis had the misfortune of running into Miguel LaBoy, who, following an opening-round loss to Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, was embarked on a 10-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him to the finals. He survived a double hill match against Basdeo Sookhai, and defeated Keith Diaz 8-5 to pick up Shlemperis. Estevez picked up Raul Calderon, who'd gotten by Chris DeCaprio 6-2 and Terrence Bryant 6-4.
LaBoy and Calderon advanced; LaBoy defeating Shlemperis 7-2 and Calderon eliminating Estevez 6-5. LaBoy then downed Calderon 10-8 in the quarterfinals and completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 win over Gabia in the semifinals. Strassberg and LaBoy opted out of the final match, and Strassberg, in the hot seat, claimed his first Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. After the Tri-State does its part (along with the Predator and Mezz Tours) in running the 5th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial on Memorial Day weekend (May 22-25), the next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for May 30, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Owner-Operator Kevin Buckley, Dave Shlemperis and Chumreon Sutcharitakul
Dave Shlemperis, a veteran on both the Predator and Tri-State Tours, went undefeated through a field of 46, on-hand for the May 2 stop on the Tri-State Tour. The $1,800-added event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Shlemperis' trip to the winners' circle went through Luis Jimenez, Keith Diaz, and Philip Pearce before arriving among the winners' side final four and a matchup against Kapriel Delimelkonoglu. Alex Osipov, in the meantime, squared off against Terrence Bryant. Shlemperis, #10 on the Tri-State's current list of B-ranked players shut out Delimelkonoglu (#5 on the B+ list), and in the hot seat match faced Osipov. Shlemperis defeated Osipov (#4 on the B+ list) 7-4 and waited in the hot seat for his return.
On the loss side, Bryant met up with Chumreon Sutcharitakul, who was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that included wins #4 and #5 over Philip Pearce 7-1 and Chris Kelly 7-4. Delimelkonoglu drew Kirill Safronov, who'd eliminated Amy Yu 7-3 and Jaydev Zaveri 7-6. Sutcharitakul and Safronov handed Bryant and Delimelkonoglu their second straight losses; Sutcharitakul 9-5 over Bryant and Safronov 7-2 over Delimelkonoglu.
Sutcharitakul and Safronov locked up in a double hill quarterfinals that eventually sent Sutcharitakul to a semifinal match against Osipov. Osipov ended Sutcharitakul's loss-side run 7-4 to earn himself a second shot against Shlemperis.
It was a finals match with some history behind it. Two years ago in July, on the Predator Tour, Shlemperis had been defeated by Osipov in a winners' side semifinal and came back to defeat him in the semifinals (and Trevor Heal in the finals). Shlemperis was taking no chances with this one. He opened the finals with five straight racks, before Osipov got on the board with two. Shlemperis took the eighth rack and was on the hill when Osipov came back with two more. Shlemperis closed it out in the 11th rack to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Kevin and Isabel Buckley and the Gotham City Billiards staff for their continuing support of the tour, along with sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, May 16, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Prior to Sunday, April 26, the closest that Chumreon Sutcharitakul had come to the Tri-State winners' circle (based on information at our disposal) was as runner-up at an event in November, 2012. He'd been defeated in the opening round of play and marched seven matches through the loss side to challenge hot seat occupant, Ed Medina. On Sunday, he went undefeated to claim his first Tri-State title at a $1,000-added event, hosted by BQE Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
He'd survived a double hill match against Chris DeCaprio in a winners' side semifinal, as Michael Esposito was sending eventual runner-up Mike Strassburg to the loss side 6-4. Sutcharitakul claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Esposito and waited on Strassburg.
Strassburg moved over and met up with Bob Toomey, who'd defeated Arthur Russel 6-2 and Erick Carraco 6-5 to reach him. DeCaprio drew Ramon Feliciano, who'd gotten by Duc Lam 8-6 and survived a double hill confrontation versus Edward Pacumio.
Strassburg and DeCaprio resumed their winning ways; Strassburg defeating Toomey 6-5 and DeCaprio eliminating Feliciano 7-4. In what proved to be the last match of the event, Strassburg downed DeCaprio in the quarterfinals 6-2. Esposito settled for third place by forfeiting the semifinal match to Strassburg. Sutcharitakul and Strassburg opted out of a final, splitting the top two prizes. As the undefeated hot seat occupant, Sutcharitakul claimed the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, along with 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 2, will be hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Arturo Reyes went undefeated through a small field on-hand for the Sunday, April 12 stop on the Tri-State Tour. The $400-added event was hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Reyes got by Gene Ok, and Roy Lim to move among the winners' side final four and a battle versus his eventual finals' opponent, Keith Adamik. Chris DeCaprio and Alberto Sanchez met in the other winners' side semifinal. In their first of two, Reyes defeated Adamik 7-5, while DeCaprio was downing Sanchez 7-3. Reyes claimed the hot seat 7-5 over DeCaprio.
On the loss side, Adamik and Sanchez ran into Chumreon Sutcharitakul and Mike Esposito, respectively. Sutcharitakul, who was in the midst of a three-game, loss-side winning streak, that included a double hill win over Roy Lim and a 7-5 victory over Tim Fitzsimmons, had his streak ended by Adamik in a double hill fight. Esposito chalked up five in a row on the loss side, including a 6-4 win over Bob Toomey, a 7-4 win over Ramon Feliciano, and a 7-2 win over Sanchez, which put him into the quarterfinals against Adamik.
Adamik eliminated Esposito in those quarterfinals (the first money round) 8-6, and then, dropped DeCaprio by the same score in the semifinals, earning his rematch against Reyes.
Reyes opened the final match with two racks and the two traded, until Adamik ran four in a row to go ahead 6-4. Reyes won game # 11, but lost game #12. It proved to be Adamik's final win. Reyes chalked up four in a row to win it 9-7.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, April 26, will be a Double Point event, hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.
Michael Aro won his first Tri-State stop at Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ, five years ago. In the hot seat at the end, he and Joe Fego opted out of a final match. Aro's gone on to chalk up at least one Tri-State victory in each of the past three years, winning twice at House of Billiards on Staten Island (October 2012, and May 2013) and most recently, November 2, at BQE Billiards, in Jackson Heights, NY. He met up in the finals with Alex Osipov, who won eight on the loss side to challenge him. The $1,000-added event drew 29 entrants to BQE Billiards.
Following victories over Pat Mareno, Paulo Valverde, and Larry Chandler, Aro faced Todd Trent in a winners' side semifinal. Keith Adamik and Miguel Laboy (winner of three Tri-State stops this year) squared off in the other. Adamik sent LaBoy to the loss side 7-5, and faced Aro, who'd dispatched Trent 6-5. Aro got into the hot seat 8-6 Adamik and waited for Osipov to complete his loss-side trip to the finals.
Osipov had been on the losers' side of the bracket since the opening round, when he was defeated by Chumreon Sutcharitakul 7-5. After three loss-side victories, Osipov took out Akbar Karmoeddien 7-3 and Ambi Estevez 7-2, which set him up to face LaBoy. Osipov was denied a re-match against Sutcharitakul, who had forfeited out of his match versus Estevez. Trent drew Bob Toomey, who'd gotten by Larry Chandler 6-3, and Mike Esposito 6-4.
It was Osipov and Trent who advanced to the quarterfinals; Osipov with a 7-5 win over LaBoy, and Trent 6-4 over Toomey. Osipov chalked up loss-side win # 7 with a 7-4 victory over Trent, and then survived a nail-biting double hill match against Adamik in the semifinals.
Aro established himself early in the finals against Osipov, winning the first three matches. Osipov came back to pull within one, which he'd do a total of four times; at 3-2, 4-3, 5-4, and 6-5. Aro chalked up the win in rack 12 to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as 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 November 8, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
