Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ hosted it’s first of two NBL 8-Ball Championships amateur qualifiers for the 2022 season yesterday. Another full field of the maximum allowed 32 local and not so local amateurs came out to earn one of the 16 amateur slots in the April 14th Main Event to compete alongside 16 American-based professionals.
Players from NJ, NY, PA, & RI rounded out the field with skillsets ranging from an average B class player up to open speed shortstops. Several upsets occurred as B players beat A class players and even the shortstops got stopped short of victory. The NBL qualifier format of shorter races with alternate breaks serves as an equalizer offering more opportunities for the underdogs to prevail. The $150 entry true double-elimination event is limited to just 32 amateurs where the top 25% win their entries back plus Calcutta or added money prizes. The winner advances on to the main event with a nice sized prize purse paying out the top 1/3 of the field where professionals enter for $1,000.00 each as in traditional pro events of the glory days to weed out stragglers.
Last December’s 10-Ball Event consisted of just 8 amateurs and 8 professionals with a $25,000.00 prize purse. The 2022 NBL 8-Ball Championships this coming April 14th – 16th will be twice the size with a 32 player field comprised of 50% amateur qualifier winners from around the nation and 50% professionals residing in the United States. An additional bonus and incentive in this coming event is the national amateur prize purse being awarded to the top performing amateur outside the top 1/3 main payouts.
Levie Lampaan of Bayonne, NJ won 1 of the 2 qualifiers last year for the inaugural 2021 NBL 10-Ball event but came up short early on in the event as he fell victim to Frankie Hernandez who wound up taking 3rd place in the event and then Jeremy Sossei who played a perfect set with a 1000 TPA shutting Lampaan out of the set and the competition completely. Lampaan was working full-time then and admittedly unprepared for that competition. That may have been the spark that lit the fire for his determination to win this qualifier for another chance to shine on the big stage. “I’ll be ready this time around!” says Levie Lampaan. “I’m not working as much as I was at that time and have more time to dedicate on the table.”
The determination was evident this time around after Lampaan squeaked out his first win, hill-hill in the first round race to 4 over Timmy Clark. Lampaan then grinded his way into the finals by capturing the hot seat with another tough hill-hill win over fellow Pinoy countryman and local NJ legend, AL Lapena. Yes, he’s still around but not the same player he once was in his younger years. The two Filipinos battled it out for the hot seat in a nail biter alternate break race to 6. Lapena then made quick work of worthy competitor Daniel Feliciano 4-0 in their match on the 1-loss side of the charts for another chance at Lampaan. In the 1st set of the finals Lapena got his revenge on Lampaan with a final score of 6-4 forcing a second set for the 1st place finish, top cash prize and a spot at the main event. The valiant effort, was to no avail as Lampaan capitalized on every mistake made by an older and fatigued Lapena and captured the victory with a final score of 4-2 in the second and final, final set. Look for him online this coming April and enjoy all the great top amateur battles in our video archives on NBLUSA.com on our “WATCH” page.
Working on the loss side of the bracket, Leo Birdman used two straight double hill wins in his final two loss-side matches to earn a spot in the finals of a Tri-State Tour stop on Sunday, Oct. 21. He chalked up a third straight double hill win against the opponent who’d sent him to the loss side, Thomas Schreiber, to claim the title. The $1,000-added event drew 29 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Following victories over Joe Romeo, Daniel Feliciano and Stewart Warnock, Sr., Birdman moved into a winners’ side semifinal match against Schreiber. Eugene Ok, in the meantime, squared off against Nathaniel Raimondo in the other winners’ side semifinal. Schreiber sent Birdman to the loss side 7-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Ok, who’d sent Raimondo west 7-5. Schreiber survived a double hill hot seat match against Ok, and waited for Birdman to get back from his three-match, loss-side winning streak.
Birdman began his trek back to the finals with a re-match against Romeo, who’d defeated Warnock, Sr. 7-3 and won a double hill match over Ricky Motilal 7-6 to reach him. Raimondo faced Mike Garetta, who’d recently eliminated Shane Torres 7-5 and Max Watanabe 7-4.
Birdman and Raimondo went back to work and advanced to the quarterfinals; Birdman with a second win over Romeo 6-2 and Raimondo 7-2 over Garetta. In the first of his three straight double hill wins, Birdman sent Raimondo home 7-6.
His next double hill victim was Ok in the semifinals 8-7, which earned him his re-match against Schreiber in the finals. Birdman completed his title run with a cliffhanger, third double hill win 9-8 over Schreiber.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Cappelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 28, will be hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Duc Lam, who won the 2017 Empire State Amateur 10-Ball Championships and finished the 2017-2018 Tri-State season as its #4-ranked A+/A player opened the Tri-State’s 2018-2019 season with an undefeated run that saw him face separate opponents in the hot seat match (Philip Pearce) and finals (Mike Mele). The $1,000-added event, held on Sunday, July 15, drew 48 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Lam’s path to the winners’ circle ran through Lidio Ramierez, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and Ron Gabia to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Patrick Myers. Pearce, in the meantime, faced off against Ryan Dayrit in the other winners’ side semifinal. Two double hill matches sent Lam and Pearce to the hot seat match; Lam, 9-8 over Myers and Pearce, 7-6 over Dayrit. A third double hill match, battling for the hot seat, sent Pearce to the semifinals, as Lam waited on the return of Mele.
On the loss side, two competitors were working on a collision course that would put them against each other in the quarterfinals. Max Watanabe, sent to the loss side by Ron Gabia in their opening round (both had been awarded opening round byes) was working on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that had included a double hill, re-match win over Gabia and an 8-6 win over Jason Goberdhan. Watanabe then drew Meyers, coming over from the winners’ side semifinals. Dayrit picked up Mele, who’d been sent to the loss side by Pearce in the third round, and was on a six-match, loss-side streak that would take him all the way to the finals. Mele had most recently eliminated Eddie Medina and Daniel Feliciano, both 7-5.
Watanabe fought a double hill battle against Meyers, which eventually advanced him to the quarterfinals. He was met by Mele, who’d defeated Dayrit 7-2. Watanabe’s loss-side streak came to an end in those quarterfinals, with Mele’s second straight 7-2 win.
Mele leap-frogged over his semifinal re-match against Pearce (by forfeit), and went straight into the finals. Mele put up a double hill fight, but Lam ended it to claim the first title of the Tri-State Tour’s 2018-2019 season.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, 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 Saturday, July 21, will be a $1000-added, 8-ball event, to be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Craig Rempfer was looking for his first major win. Suzzie Wong was looking to maintain and possibly improve her status as the #3-ranked female on the Tri-State Tour; Wong is also the #5-ranked player on the tour’s list of D/D+ players. They both got what they wanted on Sunday, February 25, when Rempfer won and Wong was runner-up at the $1,000-added Tri-State event that drew 32 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
They met twice in this event. Following victories over Daniel Decker, Michelle Brotons (#2 on the female player list), and Jonathan Martinez, Rempfer moved into a winners’ side semifinal against Alex Podulke. Wong, in the meantime, faced Luis Lopez in the other winners’ side semifinal. They both moved into the hot seat match with double hill wins over Podulke and Lopez. Rempfer grabbed the hot seat with a double hill win over Wong and waited on her return.
Lopez moved to the loss side and picked up Erick Carrasco, who’d chalked up two straight double hill wins over Carlos Cerrano and Juan Melendez to reach him. Podulke drew Mike Mele, who’d eliminated Patrick Meyers 6-3 and Daniel Feliciano, double hill. Nine of the event’s final 14 matches required a single deciding game.
Lopez chalked up the eighth one against Carrasco and moved into the quarterfinals. Mele joined him with a 6-4 win over Podulke. Lopez earned his re-match against Wong with a 7-5 win over Mele, but had his short, loss-side trip cut short by her in the last double hill, semifinal match.
It was, as far as our records could determine, Rempfer’s first appearance in the hot seat and subsequent final of a major event. Rempfer maintained his poise against Wong, completing his undefeated run with a 6-3 win that gave him his first regional tour win.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway for their hospitality, 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 Saturday, March 3, will be hosted by Shooters Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
For the second week in a row, the two finalists scheduled to face each other in a last match on the Tri-State Tour opted out of what would have been a very late-night match and split the top two prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat at the time, Dimos Markopoulos claimed the official event title of the $1,000-added event, held on Saturday, February 3, which drew 47 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. As had happened the week before, the loss-side opponent in what would have been the final match (in this case, Abel Rosario) had come from relatively deep on the loss side for the right to challenge Markopoulos in the finals; last week, Matt Klein won seven on the loss side for the right to face Llija Trajceski in finals that never happened.
Unlike the previous week, the two finalists in this one (Markopoulos and Rosario) had met before; in a winners’ side quarterfinal, won 7-4 by Markopoulos, who advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Carlos Serrano. Max Jankov (responsible for sending last week’s runner-up, Klein, to the loss side) faced Max Watanabe in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Markopoulos and Serrano battled to double hill before Markopoulos finished it to advance to the hot seat match. Watanabe downed Janko 9-7 to join him. Markopoulos defeated Watanabe 7-3 in the hot seat match that proved to be his last.
On the loss side, Rosario opened his five-match trip back to the finals with two straight double hill wins, over Vinny Crescimanno and Shweta Zaveri, and drew Serrano. Jankov picked up Alex Osipov, who’d defeated Victor Dabu, double hill and Daniel Feliciano 11-7 to reach him.
Osipov and Rosario advanced to the quarterfinals; Osipov with a double hill win over Jankov and Rosario 8-3 over Serrano. In the seventh double hill match of eight among the event’s final 12 competitors, Rosario defeated Osipov in those quarterfinals.
In the final double hill match among the event’s final 12, Rosario downed Watanabe in the semifinals. Rosario and Markopoulos opted out of the final match, with Markopoulos entering the record books as the event’s official winner.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, 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 Sunday, February 18, will be a double-points, 10-ball event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
The last time Mark Alicea cashed in a Tri-State Tour stop was his debut on the tour, seven years ago. He was runner-up to George Osipovitch in that debut. Now, seven years (and five months) later, Alicea has chalked up what according to our records indicates, is his first tour victory. Mark is the brother of the late John Alicea, known as a protégé of George “Ginky” Sansouci and winner of numerous stops on both the Tri-State and Predator Tours, before passing away in November of 2012. Brother Mark went undefeated at a $1,000-added event, held on Saturday, November 26. The event drew 35 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Alicea advanced to the hot seat match after a 5-3 win over Mac Jankov in a winners’ side semifinal. He was joined by Pashk Gjini, who’d sent Frank Sieczka to the loss side 5-4. Alicea claimed the hot seat 5-2 over Gjini, and waited on the return of Sieczka.
On the loss side, Sieczka opened his three-match march back to the finals against Jowen Picardo, who’d defeated Daniel Feliciano 5-2 and Michelle Brotons 6-3 to reach him. Jankov drew Mike Mele, who was on a seven-match, loss-side run that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He’d shut out Gil McGrath and survived a double hill fight against Matt Klein to face Jankov.
Mele advanced one more step with a 5-2 win over Jankov, and was joined in the quarterfinals by Sieczka, who’d eliminated Picardo 5-1. Sieczka brought an unceremonious end to Mele’s loss-side run with a shutout over him in the quarterfinals.
Sieczka and Gjini fought to double hill in the semifinals that followed, with Sieczka dropping the last ball and advancing for a shot against Alicea, waiting for him in the hot seat. Alicea completed his undefeated, first-tour-win run with a 5-2 victory over Sieczka in the finals.
Tri-State representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards for their hospitality, 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 Sunday, December 10, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
For reasons that probably elude even him, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu has had a bit of a hard time winning events on the Tri-State Tour. Since 2010, he's cashed in 38 events between the Tri-State and Predator Tours (19 on the Tri-State, 23 on the Predator, including appearances at the Ginky Memorial, which is administered by both tours). He last won an event on a strictly Tri-State Tour stop in 2011 and won the 2014 Ginky Memorial's Amateur event, which technically counts as a win on both tours. On Sunday, August 27, at an A/B/C/D, $1,000-added event, which drew 43 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, Delimelkonoglu came back from a hot seat loss to Ray Lee, and downed him in the finals to capture his first exclusively Tri-State title in six years.
Following wins over Jud Parker, and Jaydev Zaveri, Delimelkonoglu moved into a winners' side semifinal match against Duc Lam. Lee, in the meantime, faced Daniel Feliciano in the other winners' side semifinal. Delimelkonoglu sent Lam to the loss side, double hill, as Lee was busy sending Feliciano over 6-2. Lee claimed the hot seat 7-4 and waited on Delimelkonoglu's return.
On the loss side, Lam picked up Alex Osipov, who'd defeated Zaveri 7-4 and Parker 8-5 to reach him. Feliciano drew Matt Klein, who'd eliminated Tony Ignomirello 6-2 and Bob Toomey 6-4. Osipov and Feliciano advanced to the quarterfinals; Osipov 7-1 over Lam, and Feliciano 6-3 over Klein.
Osipov and Feliciano locked up in a double hill quarterfinal that eventually sent Osipov to the semifinals against Delimelkonoglu. A second double hill fight followed, this time with Osipov falling to Delimelkonoglu 7-6. The finals between Delimelkonoglu and Lee see-sawed back and forth until Delimelkonoglu pulled out in front to win it 9-6, capturing his first exclusively Tri-State title in six years.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, 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 September 10, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
