Hunter Lombardo, Jayson Shaw, Mike Wong & Gotham City Billiards Room Owner Kevin Buckley
Jayson Shaw picked up his third 2016 title on the weekend of March 19-20. Following his wins at the Derby City 10-Ball Challenge and the New England Pool and Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open, he went undefeated in the Open/Pro event on the Predator Tour. In the Amateur event on the same weekend, Steve Astashian came from the loss side to defeat Nayan Roy and pick up his first win on the Predator Tour. The amateur event drew 84 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. The Open/Pro event drew 13.
Shaw's undefeated path to the winners' circle in the Open/Pro event went through Mike Wong twice. Fresh off a double hill win over Hunter Lombardo in a winners' side semifinal, Shaw faced Wong, who'd sent Frankie Hernandez to the loss side 7-5. Shaw shut Wong out and waited in the hot seat for Round Two.
On the loss side, Hernandez picked up Gotham City House Pro Jorge Rodriguez, who'd gotten by Brandon Hernandez 7-1 and Mike Dechaine 7-3. Lombardo drew Tony Robles, who'd defeated Koka Davladze 7-5 and Brooke Meyer 7-1. Two 7-4 wins over Robles and Hernandez put Lombardo and Rodriguez in the quarterfinals, won by Lombardo 7-1.
Two straight double hill battles followed, with Wong downing Lombardo in the semifinals, and Shaw, completing his undefeated run and claiming the title in the finals.
Astashian's path to victory in the Amateur event went through Nayan Roy twice. He'd sent Riyadh Benghalem to the loss side 7-3 in a winners' side semifinal to face Roy in the hot seat match. Roy had sent Dan Faraguna west 7-5. Roy claimed the hot seat in a double hill win over Astashian and waited for him to get back.
On the loss side, Faraguna picked up Javier Romero, who'd picked up a forfeit win over Carmine Andujar and defeated Edwin Gutkin 7-3. Benghalem got Willie Santiago, who'd downed "Devil" Dave Ascolese 7-4 and Arturo Reyes, double hill. Faraguna and Benghalem advanced to the quarterfinals; Faraguna, 7-4 over Romero and Benghalem, double hill over Santiago.
Benghalem chalked up a second straight double hill win with a victory over Faraguna in those quarterfinals, and was then eliminated by Astashian 7-2 in the semifinals. The second meeting between Astashian and Roy, in the finals, was another double hill battle, but this one went to Astashian to complete his first Predator Tour win.
It was, according to our records here at AZBilliards, a month shy of a year ago, that Eddie Crespo won his first Tri-State Tour stop at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ. On Halloween night, at the same location, Crespo chalked up his second, going undefeated to capture the $1,000-added event title that drew 17 entrants.
Victories over Dave Ascolese, and John Wu set Crespo up for a winners' side semifinal match against Harry Guevarez, as Bob Toomey faced Frankie Scanlon. Crespo and Toomey survived double hill matches to face each other in the hot seat match, won, in a third hot seat match, by Crespo.
Guevarez moved over to face Luis Jimenez, who'd defeated Tony Ignomirello 7-4 and Ralph Ramos, Sr. 7-3. Scanlon drew Andrew Butler, who'd eliminated Ascolese 7-1 and Ralph Ramos, Jr. 8-4.
Guevarez came out on the winning end of his second straight double hill match, defeating Jimenez. Butler, in the meantime, defeated Scanlon 6-3. Butler took the quarterfinal match versus Guevarez 7-4, but then had his loss-side run stopped by Toomey, double hill, in the semifinals.
With a handicap, Toomey started the re-match finals ahead by three, a lead that Crespo quickly eliminated with four racks. Toomey responded with one of his own to tie the match at 4-4. Crespo responded with three, Toomey won a second game, and Crespo closed it out at 8-5 to claim 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 Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next Tri-State Tour event, scheduled for November 8, will be hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.
After precisely one year without an event victory on the Tri-State Tour, Frank Sieczka returned and chalked up what amounted to his second straight victory on the tour. In October, 2014, Sieczka chalked up his first victory on the Tri-State Tour, and a month later, on November 8, he won his second. He might have won a third had he and Dinko Busanich not chosen to opt out of a final match in a December event, allowing Busanich, in the hot seat, to take the title. On Sunday, November 8, 2015, Sieczka went undefeated at a $1,000-added event that drew 20 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.
Following victories over Esteban Morrell, Jr. and Adrian Daniel, Sieczka met up with Ron Chau in a winners' side semifinal. Xavier Ramos, in the meantime, faced Lidio Ramierez. Sieczka defeated Chau 6-2, and in the hot seat match, squared off against Ramos, who'd shut Ramierez out. Sieczka claimed the hot seat with a 7-4 win over Ramos.
On the loss side, Chau ran into Adrian Daniel, who, after his loss to Sieczka, had defeated Bob Toomey 6-1, and Erick Carrasco 7-5. Ramierez faced Luis Jimenez, who'd picked up a forfeit victory over Dave Ascolese and eliminated Jud Parker 7-5. Chau picked up his second straight loss, 6-3 against Daniel, while Ramierez got back to work with a 7-5 victory over Jimenez.
Ramierez took the quarterfinal match against Daniel that followed 8-6, and then defeatEd Ramos, double hill in the semifinals. Sieczka opened the final match against Ramierez with five straight racks, though Ramierez fought back to pull within one at 6-5. Sieczka took two of the next three to win it 8-6 and claim his second straight, and third overall, Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE 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, November 15, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Rhys Chen, the Amateur division winner of last May's 5th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament, chalked up a second 2015 victory on the Tri-State Tour. On Saturday, August 1, he came from the loss side to win the $1,000-added Tri-State 9-Ball tournament that drew 24 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Chen drew Jerry Ritzer on the loss side, recent winner over Steve Kaminow 7-4 and Alberto Estevez 7-5. Ignomirello picked up Diane Policastro, who'd gotten by Jim Gutierrez 7-3 and Bob Toomey 6-2. Chen and Policastro moved on to the quarterfinals; Chen 7-5 over Ritzer, Policastro eliminating Ignomirello 6-2.
Chen ended Policastro's run 9-7 in the quarterfinals, and survived a double hill rematch against Ng in the semifinals. It was Figueroa, though, who took the early momentum in the finals, chalking up three straight at the start. Chen responded with six straight. Not to be outdone, Figueroa came back with three in a row to knot the match at 6. They traded racks before Chen chalked up two to reach the hill first. Figueroa made it to 9-8, but Chen finished it.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton 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, August 9, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Teddy LaPadula, Dionysios Pastras and Dennis Kennedy
Dionysius Pastras, a new name on the Tri-State Tour, worked his way through a 'minefield' of veteran tour players, including Teddy Lapadula twice, to capture his first Tri-State (or any other) title. He went undefeated through a field of 19, on-hand for the $750-added event, hosted by Clifton Billiards, in Clifton, NJ.
Pastras' effort was almost derailed early, when he faced Brett Fenstermacher in the opening round. He survived a double hill battle in that opening round, and went on to defeat Ed Crespo, and Dave Ascolese, putting him into a winners' side semifinal against Gary Murgia. LaPadula, in the meantime, squared off against Dennis Kennedy. LaPadula defeated Kennedy, double hill, while Pastras got by Murgia 7-4. Pastras moved into his first hot seat with a 7-4 win over LaPadula.
On the loss side, Murgia drew Brian Cap, who'd benefited from a forfeit (by Ascolese) and defeated Ed Crespo, double hill. Kennedy got Allison Honeymar, who'd been awarded a loss-side bye and then defeated Frankie Scanlon 6-3. Murgia defeated Cap 7-2, as Kennedy got by Honeymar 6-5.
Kennedy took the quarterfinal match 7-3 over Murgia, but ran into something of a buzz saw. LaPadula shut him out in the subsequent semifinals (he'd been responsible for sending Kennedy to the loss side), and got his second crack at the 'new kid on the block,' Pastras.
LaPadula established his credentials with two straight racks at the outset of the finals. He and Pastras then traded racks to a 3-1, LaPadula lead, before Pastras evened things up with two racks of his own. It went back forth to a 5-5 tie, before Pastras pulled away with another two in a row to win it 7-5 and claim his first Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, 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 Saturday, January 31 at the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Arturo Reyes, Dave Ascolese, Scott Simonetti, Owner Kevin Buckley and Thomas Rice
Thomas Rice, 15, must have been wondering whether by granting an interview to a reporter from Billiards Digest last October, whether he'd put a curse on his own fledgling pool career. He'd gone into the interview with wins on both the Tri-State Tour (May) and Predator Tour (September), and though he continued to be 'in the money,' regularly, on both tours, once his Tour Spotting profile appeared in the pages of Billiards Digest last November, the event victories stopped.
Until the weekend of November 15-16, when he went undefeated to win the 1st Annual Gotham City Classic in his home room, Gotham City Billiards. Held under the auspices of the Tri-State Tour, the Open/B Class event, which drew 64 entrants, was organized by room owners Kevin and Isabel Buckley, who added $6,000 to the purse, contributed green fees, and purchased four, 35" solid trophies for the event's top four finishers.
Tour representatives described the Buckley's efforts as "one of the most generous contributions to a tournament" that they had ever witnessed.
"It exemplifies their support for the tour's amateurs," they said. "This is not like league organizations that make money off of players. It cost them to do all this. They contributed the entire room to the event and went first class for everybody."
Following victories over Stewart Warnock, Omar Alli, Miguel Laboy and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Rice met up with Keith Diaz in a winners' side semifinal. Dave Ascolese faced Arturo Reyes in the other. Rice's eventual finals opponent, Scott Simonetti, had been sent to the loss side by Ascolese, and was already at work on the five-match, loss-side streak that would put him up against Rice.
Rice got into the hot seat match when Diaz forfeited. Ascolese sent Reyes to the loss side 7-3. Rice downed Ascolese 7-5 and waited in the hot seat for Simonetti to complete his loss-side run.
Simonetti, in the meantime, got by LaBoy 7-4 and Shivam Gupta in a double hill match, to draw Diaz. Reyes picked up Omar Alli, who'd defeated Greg Ackerman 7-5 and Delimelkonoglu 7-2. Simonetti and Reyes advanced; Simonetti by Diaz forfeit and Reyes with a 7-3 win over Alli. Simonetti then defeated Reyes 7-5 in the quarterfinals, and moved right into the finals against Rice, when illness caused Ascolese to forfeit the semifinals.
Rice took a quick 4-0 lead in the finals. Simonetti got on the board with a game, and they traded racks to 5-3. Rice completed his undefeated run 8-3, and chalked up his first Tri-State victory in over a year.
Tour representatives were effusive in their praise and thanks to Isabel and Kevin Buckley for their continuing hospitality and support of the tour and its players. They also thanked Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel for their sponsorship. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for November 22, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, NY.
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.
For the past three years, Bogie Uzdejczyk has won at least one stop on the Tri-State or Predator Tours. He won two Tri-State stops in 2011, two more in 2012, and picked up a Predator win in 2013. One week after winning the first Tri-State Tour stop of 2014, he finished fifth in an Open/Pro Predator event behind Tony Robles, Mike Dechaine, Zion Zvi and Frankie Hernandez. On Saturday, October 4, he claimed his fourth, undefeated Tri-State title of 2014. The $750-added event drew 23 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Uzdejczyk had to get by Chris Peralta twice to claim this most recent Tri-State title. Following wins against Duane Toney, Keith Adamik, and Hank Nguyen, Uzdejczyk faced Peralta for the first time in a winners' side semifinal, defeating him 7-4, as Robert Jew was busy defeating Teddy Lapadula 6-1. Uzdejczyk claimed the hot seat with a 9-6 win over Jew and waited on Peralta.
Peralta moved over and started his trek back to the finals against Nelson Tran, who'd defeated Dave Ascolese 7-1 and Harry Guevarez 7-4. LaPadula picked up Larry Chandler, who'd gotten by Ada Lio 7-3 and Roger Duronio 6-4. Peralta eliminated Tran 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced LaPadula, who'd finished Chandler's day 6-5.
Peralta, looking for his first Tri-State win, defeated LaPadula 7-5, and earned his first shot in a Tri-State final with a 7-3 win over Jew in the semifinals. He took the opening two racks in the finals, and after giving up one, re-established the two-rack lead at 3-1. Uzdejczyk took the next two to tie it up at 3-3, before Peralta regained the lead for the last time at 4-3. Over the next six, they traded racks, with Uzdejczyk maintaining the single-rack initiative. At 6-6, he did so for the last time, claiming the event title, as Peralta recorded his best finish on the Tri-State tour.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for October 11, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Tri-State Tour representatives callEd Scott Simonetti's undefeated run through a field of 32 on Saturday, July 12, "the story of the day," noting that his play "reminded viewers of the Simonetti of old;" a reference, one assumes, to a year like 2010, which saw Simonetti win three stops on the Tri-State and one stop on the Predator Tour (to go along with 'money' finishes in nine other stops on both). The $1,000-added debut event of the Tri-State's 2013-2014 season on July 12 was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Following victories over Tri Chau, Dave Ascolese, and Dave Jusis, Simonetti moved into a winners' side semifinal match against Jose Liz Domeneche. Dennis Kennedy, in the meantime, squared off against Ramon Feliciano. Simonetti moved into the hot seat match with an 8-5 win over Domeneche and faced Kennedy, who'd defeated Feliciano 6-5. Kennedy fought tooth and nail to secure a double hill win that left him in the hot seat, awaiting the return of what turned out to be Focused Apparel's Brian Russel.
Russel, who'd been sent to the loss side by Borana "Queen Bee" Andoni, embarked on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him all the way back to the finals. He got by Chau, Jan Mierzwa, Dave Jusis and Shin Sekine (who'd taken out Andoni for him), to draw Domeneche. Feliciano picked up Frank Sieczka, who'd shut out Robert Jew, and given up only a single rack to Dave Fitzpatrick.
Russel marched on, giving up only a single rack to Domeneche as Feliciano was allowing only a single rack to Sieczka. Russel defeated Feliciano 7-5 in the quarterfinal match that followed, and got a shot at Simonetti in the hot seat with a 7-4 win over Kennedy in the semifinals. Simonetti and Russel opted out of a final match, choosing to split the top prizes, leaving the undefeated Simonetti as the event's official title holder.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle 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, to be hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside, NY, is scheduled for July 19.
The Predator Pro-Am Tour, Tri-State Tour and Mezz Tour have joined forces once again to bring you the biggest annual tournament in the NYC area and we are very proud to announce that the Ginky Memorial Amateur event has sold out and has a full field of 128 players for a fourth consecutive year! Last year we broke a record with a total of 193 players for both events combined!
The tournament is full and the draw has been done. The amateur tournament starts at 10AM this Saturday. We did have two forfeits last year so please be on time. If you are not at your assigned table by 10:15, we will forfeit your match. If you see you don't have a 10AM match, we highly recommend you still be there by 10:15 in case there's a forfeit in the 1st round.
Dress code required: Dress slacks, shoes and collared/dress shirt. (No jeans or sneakers) If you arrive in clothes that don't meet the dress code rules, you will have to change or your match will be forfeited.
We still have some spots available for the Pro event which starts on Sunday, May 25th at 12pm sharp! Please feel free to contact Tony Robles at TonyRoblesNYC@gmail.com if you’re interested in playing in the Open/Pro event.
Al & Joey Leon as well as Dave Ascolese of AZBTV will be streaming the live action all weekend long from Steinway Billiards with NYC Grind Co-Producing the event once again.
A very special thanks to all of our sponsors for this amazing event! Predator Cues, Poison Cues, The National Amateur Pool League (NAPL), Steinway Billiards, Delta-13 Racks, Ozone Billiards, AZ Billiards, NYC Grind, PoolOnTheNet.com, Gotham City Technologies, Billiards Press and Billiards Digest. We couldn’t do it without your support.
For more information about the George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial please visit Predator Pro/Am Tour.com
Thanks so much for your support of the tour and I look forward to seeing everyone at STEINWAY this weekend!
