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.

Luis Jimenez just made 2019 his best earnings year at the tables to date, according to our records. His previous best was in 2013 when he won two stops on the Tri-State Tour and cashed in seven more. The following year, he won only once at a Tri-State stop at Gotham City Billiards. He finished in the money on four Predator Pro Am stops that year and only one other on the Tri-State Tour. Some lean years at the table followed, including 2018, when he finished in the Tri-State Tour money only once. This year, he’s already cashed in 11 stops on the Tri-State Tour and three on the Predator Pro Am Tour, which have included three runner-up finishes on the Tri-State in March, July and last week (Sunday, Sept. 22). On Sunday, September 29, at a $1,000-added Tri-State 10-ball event that drew 25 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ, Jimenez broke through and went undefeated to chalk up his first 2019 Tri-State victory. The first-place prize of $475 put Jimenez $25 over what he earned in all of 2013. And he’s still got three months to go.

 

Jimenez faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals of this one. Following victories over Kevin Kemp, Jaydev Zaveri (double hill) and Ashley Burrows, Jimenez would face Paul Madonia in one of the winners’ side semifinals. In the meantime, his eventual opponent in the finals, Greg Matos, would square off against Mike Strassberg in the other one. Jimenez shut Madonia out, as Strassberg was sending Matos to the loss side 5-3. As he’d done last weekend, Jimenez claimed the hot seat, here downing Strassberg 6-2.

 

On the loss side, Madonia drew Joe Mazzeo, who’d defeated Jeff Martinez 6-4 and last week’s winner, Pascal Dufresne 6-2 to reach him. Matos picked up Dax Druminski, who’d recently eliminated Vinny Mistry 5-2 and Mac Jankov, double hill.

 

Matos earned himself a re-match against Strassberg with a 6-2 victory over Madonia in the quarterfinals. He followed that with a successful reverse-of-earlier score rematch 5-3 over Strassberg in the semifinals. 

 

No doubt with thoughts of the previous week’s tournament still very much alive, Jimenez once again prepared to chalk up his first 2019 Tri-State victory. Matos didn’t make it easy. They battled to double hill before Jimenez dropped the last 10-ball to claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, Paul Dayton Cues, Bludworth Ball Cleaner, Joe Romer Trophies and Quick Slick. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, October 6, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

It was the same matchup that had occurred at the 2017 Empire State Championships on Long Island two years ago. At that tournament two years ago (February), Tony Kuo and Duc Lam met twice – hot seat and finals – to determine the event’s amateur champion. Kuo got into the hot seat, but Lam came back from the semifinals to win it. On Saturday, August 17, at a $1,000-added Tri-State Tour stop that drew 36 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, Kuo and Lam battled it out for the hot seat again and again, Kuo prevailed. This time, though, Lam didn’t get a second chance. Although Lam did win the semifinal match for the right to challenge Kuo in the final, the late hour led to a mutual agreement to split the top two cash prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Kuo claimed the official event title.

Victories over Joe Wilson Torres (double hill), Juan Melendez and Shweta Zaveri set Kuo up for a winners’ side semifinal against Raymond Lee. Lam, in the meantime, squared off against Bianca Martinez. Lam and Martinez locked up in a double hill fight that eventually did send Lam to the hot seat match. Kuo joined him after 7-4 victory over Lee. In what proved to be the decisive match of the tournament, Kuo and Lam fought to double hill, as well, with Kuo prevailing in his last match of the evening.

Martinez arrived on the loss side of the bracket and ran into Dax Druminski, who’d been sent to the loss bracket by Lam in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then, defeated Max Watanabe, double hill and Luis Lopez 6-2. Lee picked up Luis Jimenez, who’d eliminated Shweta Zaveri 8-4 and Rick Rodriguez 7-4 to reach him.

Druminski chalked up his third straight loss-side win 6-1 over Martinez. Jimenez recorded his third straight on the loss side, as well, downing Lee 7-3.

Druminski took the quarterfinal match 7-5 over Jimenez to earn his rematch against Lam in the semifinals. Lam, though, closed out the event proceedings with a 9-4 win over Druminski, before agreeing to the split with Kuo in the hot seat.

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, Bludworth Ball Cleaner, Quick Slik, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and Paul Dayton Cues. The Tri-State Tour will return to Steinway Billiards this weekend (August 24-25) for a two-day, B/C/D event.

Neil Walmsley, to the best of our ‘records’ knowledge, has cashed three times on the Tri-State Tour in the past nine years. He has won two of those three events. He was runner-up to Raj Vannala at an event in January, 2009. Four years later, he stopped an eight-match, loss-side bid by Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz to capture his first Tri-State title. On Sunday, September 16, Walmsley was defeated in a winners’ side semifinal match against Seam Emmitt, who was looking for his first Tri-State title, and came back to defeat him in the finals to claim his second title. The $1000-added event drew 26 entrants to Clifton Billiards (site of Walmsley’s previous win) in Clifton, NJ.

 

Following victories over Ilija Trajeski, Joe Mazzeo and David Schaffer, Walmsley advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Emmitt. Ralph Ramos, Jr., in the meantime, who’d defeated Joshua Joseph, and his own father, Ralph Ramos, Sr., squared off against Dax Druminski in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Emmitt handed Walmsley what could easily been a confidence-shattering defeat 7-1 and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Ramos, Jr., who sent Druminski west 7-4. Emmitt defeatEd Ramos, Jr. 8-5 and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Walmsley.

 

On the loss side, Walmsley opened his loss-side campaign against Tri Chau, who’d defeated Schaffer 7-3 and survived a double hill match against Joseph, to reach him. Druminski picked up Ramos, Sr., who followed his son’s victory over him with victories of his own over Bob Toomey and Mac Jankov, both 6-2.

 

Walmsley downed Chau 7-2, as Ramos, Sr. was busy eliminating Druminski 6-2. At this point, two intriguing possibilities existed for the finals, two matches away. There was either going to be a father/son semifinal, or Walmsley was going to have to defeat father and then son to get to Emmitt in the hot seat.

 

It was the second of those two which played out. Walmsely downed Dad 8-5 and then, defeated Junior in a double hill match, which gave him a second shot at Emmitt. Reversing the fortunes of their winners’ side final match, Walmsley claimed his second Tri-State title with a 9-3 win.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Cappelle, Blue Book Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 23 will be an 8-Ball event, hosted by Shooters Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.

Back in April, at a Tri-State stop hosted by Rockaway Billiards, Dax Druminski made it all the way to the hot seat match, before being sent to the semifinals by the eventual winner, Paul Spaanstra.  Druminski would not make it back for a second shot against Spaanstra. On Sunday, August 6, Druminski made it to a Tri-State hot seat match for the second time, and this time, he won it, sending Jaydev Zaveri to the semifinals, and eventually, defeating him a second time in the finals to claim his first Tri-State title. The $1,000-added event drew 31 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

 

Following victories over Teddy Lapadula, Juan Melendez, and Tony Ignomirello, Druminski moved into a winners' side semifinal against Bob Toomey. Zaveri, in the meantime, having gotten by Tri Chau, Roger Hanos, and Max Watanabe, squared off against Eddie Medina in the other winners' side semifinal. Druminski sent Toomey to the loss side 6-4 to face Zaveri, who'd defeatEd Medina 7-5. Druminski claimed his first Tri-State hot seat 7-5 over Zaveri and waited for him to get back from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Medina picked up Hanos, who'd eliminated Luis Jimenez 7-4 and just did survive a double hill match against Watanabe. Toomey drew Tony "Iggy," who'd chalked up two straight double hill matches against Erick Carrasco and Frank Sieczka.

 

Medina downed Hanos 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. Toomey joined him after eliminating "Iggy" 6-3. Medina downed Toomey 7-5, but was himself eliminated 7-4 by Zaveri in the semifinals.

 

Zaveri would end up on the hill first in his finals re-match against Druminski, but left him an opening that allowed him to tie it up. In the final and deciding rack, Druminski held position, and completed his first Tri-State win with a five-ball run that gave him the event title.

 

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, Billiards Digest, Joe Romer Trophies, John Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, August 12, will be a $1,000-added 8-ball event, hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.

 

You'd think, having defeated someone in the opening round of a tournament, that the chances of seeing that player a second time, especially in the finals, would be minimal; too many possibilities, both in terms of the number of matches played on the loss side of a double elimination bracket, and the vagaries of individual matches played during that run. But it happens.

 

Just ask Kevin Scalzitti, who on Sunday, May 7, at a $640-added event that drew 29 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY, was one match away from an undefeated run on the Tri-State Tour, only to have the opponent he'd defeated 7-2 in the opening round – David Leggat – return from a seven-match, loss-side run and not only defeat him, but shut him out in the finals.

 

It was not the tournament's only oddity. It was an A/B, C/D tournament, which means (meant) that the two sets of rankings are (were) separated at the beginning into different brackets, and only combined into a single event bracket towards the end. But there were 21 players ranked in the lower C/D bracket, while there were only eight in the upper A/B bracket. In effect, with their own separate bracket, the C/D players had to play three rounds to advance to the same spot in which the eight A/B players began. Two wins put two A/B players into a winners' side semifinal. It took four wins to put two C/D players into a winners' side semifinal.

 

Advancing to those winners' side semifinals were Scalzitti, who faced Amir Uddin, and Ron Bernardo, who squared off against Dax Druminski. Scalzitti got by Uddin, double hill, and in the hot seat match, met Bernardo, who'd sent Druminski to the loss side 6-4. Scalzitti claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Bernardo, without a clue that he'd just won his last game of the tournament.

 

On the loss side, Leggat was working his way back. With two under his belt already, he downed Chumreon Sukaritachul 7-3 and Thomas Schreiber, double hill, to draw Uddin. Druminski picked up Dementhriss Hudson, who'd defeated Pashk Gjini 6-1 and Zouraiz Ellahi 6-4.

 

Leggat and Hudson advanced to the quarterfinals; Leggat 7-5 over Uddin, and Hudson 6-3 over Druminski. Leggat took the quarterfinal match 7-3 over Hudson, and then completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 win over Bernardo in the semifinals. 

 

The Leggat/Scalzitti re-match was an extended race to 9 in the finals. Leggat needed to reach seven wins first, to extend the match to nine games. He did so without giving up a rack and added two more to claim his first Tri-State title in only two attempts.

 

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 stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, May 13, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. A week later, the Tri-State will be at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ before joining the Predator and Mezz Tours in presenting the 7th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial, scheduled for May 27-29 at Steinway Billiards. Event coordinators are reminding players that the "Ginky" Memorial is a pre-paid event (which fills up fast in both the Amateur and Pro events). Contact a representative from any of the tours for information on signing up before the May 21 deadline.

Last November, after a series of five runner-up finishes on the Tri-State Tour over a span of five years, Paul Spaanstra chalked up his first win on the tour. On Sunday, April 30, at the same location as his previous win, five months earlier, Spaanstra went undefeated to claim his second Tri-State title. The $1,000-added event drew 28 entrants to Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.

 

Spaanstra had to get by Paul Wilkens twice to win this one. They met first in a winners' side semifinal that Spaanstra won 7-3, advancing to the hot seat match. He was met by Dax Druminski, who'd defeated Tony Ignomirello in a double hill fight. Spaanstra claimed the hot seat (which he had not done back in November) with a 9-6 win over Druminski.

 

On the loss side, Wilkens began his trip back to the finals against Jerry Ritzer, who'd defeated Kevin Scalzitti 7-5 and Alex Gutierrez 7-3 to reach him. Ignomirello picked up Bob Toomey, who'd eliminated Frank Pesce and Allison LaFleur, both 6-4. 

 

Wilkens and Ignomirello advanced to the quarterfinals; Ignomirello, backing up his double hill loss against Druminski with a double hill win over Toomey and Wilkens eliminating Ritzer 7-2.

Wilkens downed Ignomirello 7-4, and then, in the semifinals, earned his second shot against Spaanstra with an 8-6 win over Druminski. Spaanstra completed his undefeated run with a 7-4 victory over Wilkens in the finals.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rockaway 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 7, will be hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.

Dax Druminski proved to be the headliner on the February 13 stop on the Tri-State Tour, going undefeated to take his first Tri-State title.  In a somewhat equally compelling back story, Shivam Gupta and Steve Kaminow faced each other twice; once in the winners' side quarterfinals and again in the semifinals. Both matches went double hill, each yielding a different result. The $1,000-added, A/D handicapped event drew 25 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

Druminski's path went through Bob Toomey, Nyam Roy, and Erick Carrasco before coming up against Jaydev Zaveri in a winners' side semifinal. Kaminow, in the meantime, having just survived a first, double hill match versus Gupta, faced Kapriel Delimelkonoglu. Druminski downed Zaveri, double hill, and in the hot seat match, faced Kaminow, who'd sent Delimelkonoglu to the loss side 7-4. Druminski sent Kaminow to the semifinals 8-2 to claim the hot seat.

 

Gupta opened his five-match, loss-side winning streak with a 7-3 win over Thomas Schreiber and followed it with a 7-4 win over Juan Guzman, which set Gupta up to face Delimelkonoglu. Zaveri drew Carrasco, who'd shut out Bob Toomey and eliminated Dany Recinos 6-2. Gupta advanced to the quarterfinals 7-5 over Delimelkonoglu. Zaveri joined him after a 6-2 win over Carrasco.

 

Gupta ended Zaveri's run 7-4 in the quarterfinals and turned to face Kaminow for a second time. Again, the two battled to double hill, but Gupta prevailed for a shot at Druminski in the hot seat.

 

Druminksi opened strong, chalking up three, and then, after Gupta had won a rack, two more, for a commanding 5-1 lead. Gupta, though, came back with four straight to knot the match at 5-5. They would prove to be his last, however. Druminski completed his undefeated run with three in a row to win his first Tri-State title.

 

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, to be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ, is scheduled for Sunday, February 21.