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.
Rhys Chen's trip through a field of 58 players, on hand for the Tri-State Tour's $1,000-added, A-D 9-Ball event on the weekend of June 14-15 went through host venue (Castle Billiards, East Rutherford, NJ) owner, John Trobiano twice. They met in the third round, when Trobiano sent Chen to the loss side to embark on a seven-match winning streak that would pass through Trobiano and eventually lead to a winning effort in the finals against ChristIan Smith.
Smith, who advanced to the hot seat, defeated Don Montavalo, Carl Yusuf Khan, Shin Sekine, and Jose Liz Domeneche before running into Keith Adamik in a winners' side semifinal. Dennis Kennedy, in the meantime, squared off against Tony Ignomirello. Smith downed Adamik 7-1, as Kennedy was busy sending Ignomirello west 6-5. Smith gained the hot seat 9-8 over Kennedy, and waited on Chen.
Chen opened his loss-side campaign with victories over Antonio G.evara, Vinny Ferri, Domeneche and successfully wreaked his vengeance on Trobiano 7-5, to pick up Adamik. Ignomirello drew Dave Jusis, who'd gotten by Pat Mareno 6-2 and Jan Mierzwa 7-2.
Chen moved on to the quarterfinals (five down, three to go) with a 7-5 win over Adamik. He was joined by Jusis, who ended Ignomirello's day 6-3. Chen then eliminated Jusis 7-4 and defeated Kennedy in the semifinals 8-7. In the extended-race finals, Chen took an early and what proved to be insurmountable 3-1 lead. Smith would chalk up only one more, as Chen went on to reach seven games, extending the race to nine games, and then run out the final rack for a 9-4 win.
Tour representatives thanked John Trobiano and his staff at Castle Billiards, as well as 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 June 21, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
With 2013 being the only exception, Bogie Uzdejczyk has won two events on the Tri-State Tour, three out of the last four years. His only event victory last year was on the Predator Tour. He has apparently decided to make up for lost time. On Saturday, May 10, he chalked up his third win on the 2014 Tri-State Tour, following his January win in Brooklyn and a February victory in Queens; all by going undefeated. The $1,000-added AB-CD event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, where 43 entrants came out to play.
Uzdejczyk's AB trail went through Paul Raval, Doug Youmans, and Borana "Queen B" Andoni, before drawing Vincent Ferri in a winners' side semifinal. Andrew Cleary, in the meantime, playing on the CD side of things initially, went through Bernie Vogelsang, Eddie Perez, Pat Mareno and Jessica Lynn Greibeslad, to face Jan Mierzwa in the other semifinal. Uzdejczyk defeated Ferri 7-4 and turned to face Cleary, who'd defeated Mierzwa 6-4. Uzdejczyk claimed his third Tri-State hot seat with an 8-6 win over Cleary, and waited on what turned out to be Mike Zimny.
Zimny, who was among the final eight on the winners' side, had been denied a winners' side semifinal match by Ferri. He moved to the loss side and began his five-match march to the finals. He took out Youmans 7-2 and Andoni 7-4 to draw a re-match versus Ferri. Jan Mierzwa drew Dave Jusis, who'd eliminated Ed Huth and Eddie DaCosta, both 6-2.
Zimny took the re-match over Ferri 7-5, as Mierzwa defeated Jusis 6-3. Zimny completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 win over Mierzwa in the quarterfinals and a 7-2 victory over Cleary in the semifinals.
Zimny got out to an early lead over Uzdejczyk in the finals, and was ahead by three when he reached seven games, forcing an extension to nine games. Uzdejczyk broke and ran the next rack, and then won four more to stop Zimny in his tracks and claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as 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 17, will be hosted by House of Billiards on Staten Island. The following weekend – May 24-26 – the 4th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament, with Amateur and Pro events and sponsored by the Tri-State, Predator and Mezz Tours, will be held at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY.
Coming through the C-D side of a 59-player field, Dave Jusis met and defeated A-B player Scott Simonetti twice to claim the Tri-State Tour stop title, his first, on Saturday, February 8. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Divided early, into A-B and C-D brackets, Jusis got by Gil Costello, Tony Ignomirello, Paul Wilkens, and Mike Farley, before meeting up with Mike Strassburg in the C-D final. Simonetti, in the meantime, defeated Geoff Bauer, Bob Labelestein, and Paul Raval before squaring off against Stewart Warnock in the A-B final. Jusis downed Strassburg double hill, to be met in the battle for the hot seat by Simonetti, who'd sent Warnock to the losers' bracket 7-3. Jusis sent Simonetti to the semifinals 9-7 and sat in the hot seat to await his return.
Strassburg moved over to pick up Paul Wilkens, who, after being defeated by Jusis in the third round, went on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He defeated Quinn Chen, Mike Figueroa, Eddie Perez and Mike Farley to face Strassburg. Warnock drew Bogie Uzdejczyk, who was on a six-match, loss-side streak of his own, having eliminated Chuck Giallorenzo, Roger Hanos, Mike Zimny, Geoff Bauer, Paul Raval and Max Watanabe.
Wilkens survived a double hill match against Strassburg and in the quarterfinals, faced Warnock, who'd ended Uzdejczyk's winning streak 7-1. Wilkens and Warnock locked horns in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Wilkens to meet Simonetti in the semifinals.
Simonetti, in what proved to be the final match of the evening, defeated Wilkens 9-7. He and Jusis opted out of playing a final match, allowing the undefeated Jusis to lay claim to the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards for their hospitality and continuing support of the tour, as well as 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 Sunday, February 16, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
|8976|A regular on both the Tri-State and Predator Tours in the New York Tri-State area, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu chalked up his first victory on the Tri-State Tour, going undefeated in a $500-added event that drew 25 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. He was challenged in the finals by Keith Diaz, who came back from the loss-side to win five straight for the right to challenge him.
Until Diaz posed that challenge in the finals, no opponent scored more than three racks against Delimelkonoglu. From among the winners’ side final four, he defeated George Osipovich 6-3 to face Lou Loria, who’d sent Diaz west and then defeated Al Cacciola 6-4. Punctuating his trip, Delimelkonoglu shut Loria out to gain the hot seat.
Diaz, in the meantime, had started his journey back on the loss-side. He defeated Dave Jusis, double hill, and Joel Huang 6-1 to pick up Osipovich. Cacciola drew Mike Strassberg, who’d gotten by Jin Gong 7-4 and Rick Shellhouse, double hill. Cacciola renewed his winning ways on the loss-side with a first match victory over Strassberg 7-3, but Osipovich fell to Diaz 6-4. Diaz ended Cacciola’s day with a 6-3 win in the quarterfinals and turned for a vengeance re-match against Loria in the semifinals.
Diaz’ bid for revenge was successful. Defeating Loria 6-2, he turned for a chance to spoil Delimelkonoglu’s bid for an undefeated tournament . He managed one more rack than any of Delimelkonoglu’s previous opponents, but couldn’t unseat him. Delimelkonoglu won 6-4 to complete his undefeated, first victory on the Tri-State Tour.
Tour representatives thanked the owner and staff of Castle Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
