The first time that Dinko Busanich won a (recorded) event in the New York City Tri-State area was eight years ago, when he and Frank Sieczka split the top two prizes at a stop on the Tri-State Tour back in December of 2014. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat at the time, Busanich became the official event winner. The next and last time Busanich won a recorded event was this past weekend, Saturday, July 10, when he went undefeated to win a stop on the Garden State Pool Tour. The $250-added event drew 20 entrants to Side Pocket Billiards in Howell, NJ.
Busanich faced Alex Vangelov twice in this one; hot seat and finals. Busanich was awarded a bye, before downing Rob Wetherhold, double hill and drawing Mike Johnson in a winners’ side semifinal. Vangelov, in the meantime, playing one more match to get to the same place, defeated Luigi Ramos 6-4 and Giancarlo Delgado 6-3 to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal against Kevin Rushing.
Busanich sent Johnson to the loss side 7-3, as Vangelo was busy doing likewise to Rushing 6-1. Busanich claimed the hot seat 9-5 and waited for Vangelov to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Jay Pass, who’d lost her opening round match, made it all the way to the semifinals to challenge Vangelov. She’d defeated Stephen Persaud 6-4 in the quarterfinals to get to him. Vangelov stopped Pass’s run 6-3 in those semifinals for a second chance shot at Busanich.
In the extended-race-to-11 finals, Busanich could have ended it by winning 9 racks first and at 7-7, that was still possible. Vangelov, though, took the next two racks, which extended the race to 11. Dinko came back to win two, knotting the score at 9-9. Vangelov won rack #19 to reach the hill first, but when he hung the 9-ball in the next game, Busanich took advantage and forced the 21st game of the final. Things went back and forth in that final rack, but in the end, Busanich dropped the event’s last 9-ball to claim his (first ‘no final match’) event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Side Pocket Billiards for their hospitality, as well as Billiards Engineering, Kamui, J-Flowers Custom Cues & Cases, AZBilliards and John Bender Custom Cues. The next stop on the Garden State Pool Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Sunday, July 17), will be a C/D Class 9-Ball event, hosted by Black Diamond Billiards in Union, New Jersey. And it will be a C-D Class 9-Ball event.
It was, as one Tri-State Tour rep called it, a day of Polska duma, which translates into Polish pride. League teammates and friends Frank Sieczka, Jan Mierzwa and Grzegorz Kasica were among 36 entrants, who signed on to the first 2019 stop on the tour on Sunday, January 5, and ended the day at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ as the $1,000-added, 8-ball event’s final three. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Sieczka claimed the title when he and Mierzwa opted to split the final two cash prizes.
All three advanced to a winners’ side quarterfinal, but in one of those quarterfinal matches, Sieczka and Mierzwa met for what turned out to be the one and only time. Sieczka had started his day with a shutout over Sebastian Karwas. He then downed Jaydev Zaveri, double hill and Emit Yolcu 6-2, before running into Mierzwa and sending him to the loss side 6-4. Sieczka moved on to face DeMain Patrick in one of the winners’ side semifinals. In the meantime, Kasica, who’d sent Qian Chen, Hunter Sullivan, and Michael Graf to the loss side, squared off against Allison LaFleur in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Sieczka got into the hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Patrick and was joined by Kasica, who’d shut LaFleur out. Sieczka claimed the hot seat with a 6-4 win in what turned out to be his last match.
It was Patrick who drew Mierzwa, three matches into his loss-side streak that would end with the cash split. Mierzwa had downed Joe Mazzeo 6-4 and picked up a forfeit win over Liran Rabin to reach Patrick. LaFleur picked up (relative) newcomer Brandone Alli, who’d defeated Shweta Zaveri 6-3 and Artur Trzeciak (another representative of Polish pride) 6-4.
Mierzwa and Alli advanced to the quarterfinals; Mierzwa, 6-3 over Patrick and Alli, 6-2 over LaFleur. Mierzwa took the quarterfinal match over Alli 6-4, marking the 6th time in the event’s final 14 matches that members of the ‘Polska duma’ group had won a match by that score.
The semifinal and last match of the evening between Mierzwa and Kasica made it seven 6-4 scores out of the last 14 matches, as Mierzwa left Kasica in third place. Sieczka and Mierzwa opted out of the final and the first 2019 stop of the Tri-State Tour’s 2019-2020 season went into the books with a dash of Polish duma.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Liquid Weighted Cues, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Quick Stik, Phil Capelle, Pool & Billiards, Bender Cues, Dayton Cues, and Romer Trophies. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, January 12, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
With the end of the Tri-State Tour’s 2018/2019 season a mere two weeks/events away, the end-of-season invitational picture is becoming clearer. At the conclusion of an event at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ on Saturday, June 15th, the Tri-State Tour will assess each of six different ranking categories to determine the top 16 players in each of those categories to determine who’ll be in attendance at the season-ending Invitational Tournament, scheduled for the weekend of June 29-30 at Steinway Billiards. Typically, in these last weeks before the Invitational Tournament every year, players in all six divisions look to solidify their spot among the final 16, which has a way of creating a few ‘bubble’ matches between players at or near the cutoff point. In some cases, players among a particular division’s top 16 are unable to attend the season-ending Invitational, opening the door to players in the 17-20 range of a given division.
On the weekend of June 1-2, at a $1,500-added event that drew 32 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, Basdeo “Shawn” Sookhai solidified his place among the tour’s A/A+ players by going undefeated through the field and taking home the event title. Sookhai came into the event in 8th place among the tour’s A/A+ players and barring any catastrophic circumstances, will be invited to attend the Invitational. Geovanni Hosang, who did not compete in this most recent event, is close enough in points to overtake him for the 8th slot on the A/A+ list if he competes in one or both of the remaining two events, but Sookhai is pretty much a lock to be invited.
Not so with Sookhai’s opponent in the hot seat match and efinals, one John Durr, who entered the tournament right at the #16 spot on the tour’s list of B players. Just below him in the 17th spot was Pashk Gjini, whom he met in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Durr sent Gjini to the loss side 7-5 and advanced to face Kunami Chau in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Sookhai, in the meantime, who’d gotten by Lidio Ramirez (double hill), Raphael Castillo and Amir Rashad Uddin, squared off against Liran Rabin in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Sookhai moved into the hot seat match on the heels of an 8-3 victory over Rabin. Durr joined him after downing Chau 7-3. Sookhai and Durr battled to double hill before Sookhai prevailed 7-6 to claim the hot seat.
Over on the loss side, Rabin picked up Raphael Castillo, who’d defeated Amir Rashad Uddin 7-5 and Bob Toomey 6-2. Chau drew Michael Fedak, who’d defeated Debra Pritchett 5-2 and Luis Lopez 6-2 to reach him. Lopez had previously eliminated Pashk Gjini, who finished in the four-way tie for 9th place, which might be enough to allow him to hold on to his 17th spot among the tour’s B players and possibly, if someone among the top 16 is unable to compete in the Invitational, give him the chance to compete.
Castillo and Fedak handed Rabin and Chau their second straight loss; Castillo 6-3 over Rabin and Fedak 6-1 over Chau. Castillo and Fedak fought to double hill in the quarterfinals that followed before Castillo advanced to meet Durr in the semifinals.
Durr ended Castillo’s day 7-5 in those semifinals and then, fell to Sookhai a second time, 7-5 in the finals. In the absence of any of his fellow B players, above him on the list, Durr’s runner-up finish should notch him up a step or two on that list, certainly above Frank Sieczka, who was tied in ranking points with Durr going into the event, and did not compete.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff, along with sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, DIGICUE OB, and Hustlin’ USA. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, the second-to-last in the season, is scheduled for Sunday, June 9 at Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
According to our records, the last time Bryan Jeziorski won a stop on the Tri-State Tour, he and Ricardo Mejia split the top two prizes. The 2013 event (part of the tour’s 2012-2013 season) drew 73 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ on Saturday, Feb. 2. The field had been restricted to 64 entrants, but when tour representatives saw the number of competitors still lined up to register when they reached that number, they expanded the field to accommodate them. At 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 3, they were probably questioning the wisdom of that decision. In any case, Jeziorski had sent Mejia to the loss side in the third round and Mejia had won six on the loss side to face him a second time in the finals . . . that didn’t happen.
On Saturday, April 20, Jeziorski signed on for a Tri-State Tour stop with 29 other entrants, and though, like his previous win, the event finished up early the next day (Easter Sunday morning), this time, Jeziorski played a final; against Rick Rodriguez, as it turned out, and won it to claim his second Tri-State title. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Jeziorski and Rodriguez almost met in the hot seat match. Jeziorski had gotten by Frank Sieczka 7-5, Yomaylin Feliz-Foreman (AKA Smiley) 7-5 and Ilija Trajceski 7-4 to draw Luis Jimenez in a winners’ side semifinal. Rodriguez, in the meantime, after victories over Jowen Pichardo 6-2, Clint Pires 6-2 and Mac Jankov 6-4, drew Mark Joseph in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Jeziorski advanced to the hot seat match with a 7-5 win over Jimenez. Joseph, however, sent Rodriguez to the loss side 6-3 to join Jeziorski battling for the hot seat. Jeziorski downed Joseph 7-5 and waited in the hot seat for Rodriguez to complete a three-match trip on the loss side.
Jimenez opened his loss-side campaign against Clint Pires, who’d defeated Sabrina Sherman 6-4 and Feliz-Forman 7-3 to reach him. Rodriguez picked up one of the tour’s top female competitors, Michelle Brotons, who’d eliminated Jeffrey Rosen 7-5 and Mac Jankov 6-2.
Rodriguez and Jimenez advanced to the quarterfinals; Rodriguez, surviving a double hill fight against Brotons and Jimenez, downing Spires 7-2. Rodriguez then defeated Jimenez 7-5 in those quarterfinals.
Rodriguez earned his spot in the finals with a strong 6-1 victory over Joseph in the semifinals. Jeziorski earned his first non-asterisk Tri-State title with a 7-4 win over Rodriguez in the finals.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, DIGICUE OB and Hustlin USA. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, April 28, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Normally, when a final match in any event is not played, for whatever reason, it’s the undefeated hot seat occupant who claims the official event title. Not so on Sunday, Feb. 10, when, at the end of a long night on the Tri-State Tour, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning, hot seat occupant Chris Kemp (owner of the host venue, Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ) opted out of a final match against Artur Trzeciak, who’d won seven loss-side matches to reach the finals and was willing to play that final match. Kemp, in the role of gracious host, deferred his claim to the title and the trophy went to Trzeciak. The $1,000-added 8-ball event drew 29 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards.
Trzeciak opened what would be his primarily loss-side day with a victory over Dennis Quinn, before being narrowly defeated by tour regular Bob Toomey 5-4. From there, it was off to the loss side races and his seven-match trip back to the finals.
Kemp worked his way through Joe Mazzeo, Fernando Galeas and John Durr to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Tri Chau. Michelle Brotons, in the meantime, on her way to only her second 3rd place finish on the tour (she was runner-up in the Women’s Leisure Division of the 2017 NYC 8-Ball Championships) got by Kevin Serodio and John DeVito (both double hill) to arrive at her own winners’ side semifinal matchup against Jake Kislowski.
Kemp got into the hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Chau. Brotons joined him after sending Kislowski to the loss side 5-2. Kemp claimed the hot seat 6-4 and presumably resumed duties as the room owner, while waiting for Trzeciak to complete his loss-side run.
On the loss side, Trzeciak got by Kimberly Kowzu, Dennis Quinn (a second time) and John DeVito before avenging his loss against Toomey 5-3. This set him up to face Kislowski, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Chau drew Grzegorz Kasica, who’d recently defeated Frank Sieczka 5-3 and shut out Kevin Serodio to reach him.
Kasica and Trzeciak, good friends, advanced to meet each other in the quarterfinals. Kasica downed Chau 6-4, as Trzeciak was busy defeating Kislowski 5-1. Trzeciak eliminated Kasica in those quarterfinals 5-3.
Brotons, already assured of duplicating her best finish on the tour, to date, was looking for more in the semifinals, but fell short 5-2. Kemp and Trzeciak opted out of the final match, with Trzeciak claiming the title and trophy.
Tour representatives thanked Kemp and his Shooters Family 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 this weekend (Sunday, February 17) will be an A/B/C/D event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Christian Jay Orque, a newcomer to the Tri-State Tour, was introduced to what he had in store for himself in his first two matches at a $1,000-added stop, which drew 28 entrants to Shooter’s Billiards in Wayne, NJ on Sunday, November 18. Orque faced two Tri-State Tour veterans, Nate Raimondo and Jaydev Zaveri, and introduced wondering what they’ll have in store for themselves as Orque continues to compete on the tour. Orque defeated them both, double hill, to start his day, and though he’d get sent to the loss side out of the hot seat match, he’d return to meet and defeat another newcomer, Amir Elgantiry in the finals to claim his first Tri-State title.
After downing Raimondo and Zaveri, Orque advanced to defeat Wazeer Abasi 7-2 to draw Kevin Scalzitti in one of the two winners’ side semifinals. Elgantiry, in the meantime, starting with two somewhat less dramatic wins over Sabrina Sherman and Marc Lamberti, defeated Jake Kislowski 6-3 to draw Mac Jankov in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Orque and Elgantiry came head to head in the hot seat match, after Orque had sent Scalzitti loss-side packing 7-5 and Elgantiry had sent Jankov over 6-3. It was Elgantiry who got to claim his first Tri-State Tour hot seat with a 7-4 win over Orque.
Shlemperis got by Scalzitti 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Jankov, who’d ended Rodriguez’ day 6-3. In what would prove to be his final match, Jankov eliminated Shlemperis in those quarterfinals 8-4.
Jankov was forced to forfeit his semifinal match against Orque, which set Orque and Elgantiry up for a final in which they were both well rested. Orque came out ‘guns a’ blazin,’ as they say, gave up only three racks and claimed his first Tri-State title 9-3 over Elgantiry. He may have also, rather inadvertently, picked up a pool nickname, when initial reports coming out of the tour, auto-corrected his last name to ‘Orquestra.’
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Billiards, 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 this Thanksgiving Day weekend (Sunday, Nov. 25), will be a $1,000-added, double points event, hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Frank Sieczka came to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ on Sunday, September 23, looking to chalk up his second victory of the 2018-2019 Tri-State Tour season. His good friend and travel partner, Artur Trzeciak, came in search of his first recorded event victory ever. Sieczka made it to the hot seat. Trzeciak won five on the loss side to meet him in the finals. They opted out of the final match, leaving the undefeated Sieczka as the official winner, and Trzeciak with his first runner-up finish. The $1,000-added, 8-ball event drew 40 entrants.
Trzeciak won his first two matches before running into Joshua Joseph in a winners’ side quarterfinal. A 4-2 victory by Joseph sent Trzeciak to the loss side and advanced Joseph to a winners’ side semifinal against Bernie Vogelsang. Sieczka, in the meantime, worked his way through four opponents (Joe Mazzeo, Sean Emmitt, Paul Madonia and Victor Silva) to arrive at the other winners’ side semifinal against Joshua Joseph’s father, Mark Joseph.
Sieczka sent the elder Joseph to the loss side 5-2, as Vogelsang sent the son west 6-4. Sieczka played what proved to be his last match, downing Vogelsang 6-4 to claim the hot seat, and essentially, win the event title.
On the loss side, the elder Joseph (Mark) ran into Greg Partlow, who’d benefited from a forfeit by Allison LaFleur and eliminated Victor Silva, double hill. The son, Joshua, got a re-match against the ‘finals bound’ Trzeciak, who, following his defeat by Joshua, had eliminated Chris Rudy, double hill, and Joe Romeo 5-1. Father and son got to leave at the same time; Dad downed by Partlow, double hill, while son was shutout in his re-match versus Trzeciak.
Trzeciak battled to double hill in the quarterfinals against Partlow before dropping the final 8-ball and advancing to his last match of the night, against Vogelsang in the semifinals. He won that match 6-4, agreed to the split with Sieczka, and presumably, with cash in both their pockets, they left together.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards, along with 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, Sept. 30, will be a Double Points event, hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
Joe Romeo has appeared in four recorded payout lists on the Tri-State Tour; two in the 2017-2018 season and two in the still-young 2018-2019 season. He was runner-up to Frank Sieczka this past June, and a couple of weeks ago (Aug. 25-26), finished 9th at a stop at the Amsterdam Billiard Club. In March of this year (2017-2018 season), he recorded his first victory on the Tri-State Tour, and in the waning weeks of the 2017-2018 season, he finished 4th at a Cue Bar stop in Bayside. He is currently the #1-ranked D+ player on the tour and added to his resume on Sunday, Sept. 9 with an undefeated run to claim his second Tri-State title. The $1,000-added event drew 34 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Romeo was awarded an opening round bye before facing the tour’s #2-ranked D+ competitor, Jake Kislowski, whom he downed 4-2. He followed that with a victory over Shweta Zaveri 5-2 to draw Thomas Schreiber in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Nathaniel Raimondo, in the meantime, faced Gene Ok in the other winners’ side semifinal. Ok had just sent Romeo’s eventual opponent in the finals (Matthew Harricharan) to the loss side.
Raimondo defeated Ok 6-4, and in the hot seat match, faced Romeo who’d dispatched Schreiber to the west bracket 7-2. Romeo shut Raimondo out to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Harricharan opened his five-match, loss-side run with victories over Vincent Crescimmo 6-3 and Mike Strassberg 7-4 and was scheduled for a re-match against Ok. It never happened. Ok forfeited the match, which sent Harricharan leapfrogging into the quarterfinals. Schreiber picked up Matt Klein, who’d chalked up two straight double hill wins, over Jerry Almodovar and Caitlyn Harkins, to reach him. Schreiber downed Klein 6-1 to join Harricharan in the quarterfinals.
Harricharan advanced with to the finals with identical 6-4 wins over Schreiber in the quarterfinals and Raimondo in the semifinals. Romeo completed his undefeated run with a 9-5 victory over Harricharan in the finals.
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, scheduled for Sunday, September 16, will be an A/B/C/D 9-ball event, hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Four years ago, Frank Sieczka chalked up his first victory on the Tri-State Tour. The following year, he added two more tour victories. And then, as far as the winners’ circle went. . .crickets. He was runner-up in two events last year, and in March of this year, he placed fifth in an event won by Joe Romeo. On Saturday, July 21, Sieczka worked his way back into a Tri-State victory, going undefeated, though challenged at the end by Romeo, who’d been sent to the loss side in the opening round and won eight in a row to get into the finals. The $1,000-added 8-Ball event drew 28 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
With Romeo toiling away on the loss side, Sieczka advanced to meet Greg Partlow in a winners’ side semifinal. Joseph Bossert faced Jake Kislowski in the other winners’ side semifinal. Sieczka downed Partlow 5-2 and in the hot seat match, faced Bossert, who’d sent Kislowski west in a double hill battle. Sieczka then defeated Bossert 5-3 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting the return of Romeo. . .
. . . who was busy. With three down, he picked up a forfeit win over Shane Soto and defeated Mac Jankov 5-2 to pick up Kislowski. Partlow drew Roberto Hung Ho, who’d eliminated Christian Long 6-1 and Qian Chen 6-3 to reach him.
Hung Ho defeated Partlow 6-3, while Romeo was sending Kislowski to the (figurative) showers 5-1. Romeo and Hung Ho locked up in a double hill, quarterfinal fight, eventually won by Romeo, who proceeded to deny Bossert a second chance at Sieczka by defeating him 6-4 in the semifinals.
Sieczka and Romeo had not met in the event this past March, when Romeo advanced to the hot seat and Sieczka advanced through the loss side only as far as the 5th/6th slot. Showing no signs of hot seat ‘rust,’ Sieczka took the final 6-2 to claim his first Tri-State title in three years.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, 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 28, will be hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Two relatively new Tri-State Tour competitors battled twice to claim the event title during a tour stop on Sunday, April 8. Jowen Pichardo won both of his encounters with Jason Decker, going undefeated to claim his first Tri-State title. He had previously placed 5th in two Tri-State events, two years apart (2105 & 2017). Decker’s runner-up finish put him in our AZBilliards database for the first time. The $1,000-added, 8-ball tournament drew 21 entrants to Shooter’s Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
The two advanced through the field to meet for the first time in the hot seat match. Pichardo had downed Jim Gutierrez 5-3 in one winners’ side semifinal, while Decker had defeated Mac Jankov, double hill, in the other one. Pichardo claimed his first hot seat with a 5-3 win over Decker.
On the loss side, Jankov picked up Matt D’Errico, who’d gotten by Paul Madonia and Qian Chen, both 6-3. Guttierez drew Michelle Brotons, who entered this event as the tour’s #2-ranked female, and eliminated Marc Lamberti 5-1 and Frank Sieczka 6-4 to reach Gutierrez.
Brotons and Jankov advanced to the quarterfinals; Brotons 4-2 over Gutierrez and Jankov 7-4 over D’Errico. Jankov and Brotons battled to double hill in the quarterfinals, before Jankov finished it. Decker then ended Jankov’s short, loss-side trip 5-2 in the semifinals.
Pichardo and Decker were, of course, both looking for their first Tri-State title in the finals that followed. With a 5-3 win, Pichardo was the one who earned it.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Billiards, 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, April 22 (one week after the Super Billiards Expo, April 12-15), will be hosted by Clifton Billiards, in Clifton, NJ.
