Kevin Coyle came back from a winners' side semifinal defeat to take down hot seat occupant Serrafin Serrano and claim his first Tri-State Tour victory. The March 15, $1,000-added event drew 14 entrants to Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Coyle ran into Juan Bombino in the winners' side semifinal, as Serrano was taking on Steve Kaminow. Coyle moved over on the heels of a 6-4 Bombino win, while Serrano was sending Kaminow west 7-1. Serrano claimed the hot seat over Bombino 8-3, chalking up what would prove to be his final win of the day.
Coyle went to work on the loss side, immediately, chalking up a 6-4 win over Mike Strassburg, who'd previously gotten by Bob Dorfman and Martin Carducci, both 6-4. Kaminow got back to work, too, with a 7-3 win over Gary Murgia, who'd eliminated Freddy Garcia 7-3 and survived a double hill match versus Paul Madonia.
Coyle took the quarterfinal match over Kaminow 7-4 and then allowed Bombino only two racks in his 6-2 semifinal victory. Coyle completed his first trip to the Tri-State Tour winners' circle with a 9-6 win over Serrano in the finals.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Rockaway Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
Kirill Safronov, who alternates his pool time between the Tri-State and Predator tours, finally broke through on the Tri-State and chalked up a first win on the tour. The $1,000-added event, in competition with the Predator Tour and The New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open in Providence, RI on the weekend of February 28-March 1, drew a small field to BQE Billiards in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday.
Safronov and Lionell Swanston battled twice for the title; first, for the hot seat and later, in the finals. Safronov sent Noah Vogelman to the loss side 7-2 in one winners' side semifinal, while Swanston dispatched Steve Wade 6-4 in the other. Safronov claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Swanston and waited on his return.
Vogelman and Wade moved over and were eliminated immediately. Vogelman fell 7-5 to Gary Murgia, who'd previously defeated Shinichi Sekine 7-4 and Ramon Feliciano 7-2. Wade was a 6-1 victim to Bob Toomey, who'd survived a double hill fight versus Anthony Cuccheilla and downed John Morrison 6-1.
Toomey advanced to the first money round with an 8-6 win over Murgia in the quarterfinals. Swanston kept him right there with a 6-4 win in the semifinals to earn himself a second shot at Safronov in the hot seat.
Swanston came out gunning in the finals and took an immediate two-rack lead. Though Safronov would reduce that lead to one, a couple of times, Swantson eventually expanded it to three racks at 5-2. Safronov settled in at that point and chalked up five in a row to win it and claim his first Tri-State title.
The next Tri-State event, scheduled for March 7, will be hosted by Gotham City Billiards. Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel.
Steve Kaminow got by Kevin Coyle twice, once by mutual decision, to capture his first Tri-State Tour title. The Saturday, February 7 stop on the tour was a 1,000-added event that drew 25 entrants to Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Kaminow drew Jan Mierzwa in a winners' side semifinal as Coyle and Dave Fitzpatrick squared off in the other. Kaminow sent Mierzwa to the losers' bracket 7-5 and in the hot seat match, faced Coyle, who'd sent Fitzpatrick over 6-3. Kaminow took possession of his first Tri-State hot seat with a 7-5 win and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Mierzwa drew Gary Murgia, who'd defeated Eric Hill 7-4 and Michael Hertz 7-3 to reach him. Fitzpatrick picked up Bob Toomey, who'd gotten by Frankie Scanlon 6-4 and Chris Calabrese 6-5. It was Mierzwa and Fitzpatrick who met up in the quarterfinals, once Mierzwa had eliminated Murgia 7-4 and Fitzpatrick had defeated Toomey 6-3.
Mierzwa defeated Fitzpatrick 7-5, before having his short, loss-side streak ended by Coyle in the semifinals 7-4. At this juncture, Kaminow and Coyle opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. As the undefeated hot seat occupant, Kaminow claimed the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Rockaway Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
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.
He's been chalking up undefeated wins at a pace of one per month since August; three on the Tri-State Tour (August, October and November) and one on the Predator Pro-Am Tour in September. He chalked up his fifth with a Tri-State victory on Saturday, December 28, once again, going undefeated; this time through a field of 43, on-hand for the $1,000-added event, hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
DaBreo advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Dave Shlemperis with earlier wins over Gary Murgia, Shivam Gupta, and Eric Tang (who would come within a single 9-ball, hanging in a corner pocket, of facing him a second time). Jamiyl Adams faced Bryan Toolsee in the other winners' side semifinal. DaBreo downed Shlemperis 8-5 and in the hot seat match, faced Adams, who'd sent Toolsee packing 6-2. DaBreo moved into familiar territory with a 9-5 win over Adams, and waited in the hot seat for his fifth different opponent in the five finals he'd been a part of since August.
On the loss side, Eric Tang started his comeback with a 7-1 win over Thomas Hagan, and then just did survive a double hill battle versus Miguel Laboy. This set him up to face Shlemperis. Toolsee drew Ramon Feliciano, who'd defeated Tony Ignomirello and Akbar Karmoeddien, who'd won the previous week's Tri-State stop, both 6-3.
Tang and Feliciano handed Shlemperis and Toolsee their second straight defeat; Tang, 7-5 over Shlemperis and Feliciano 6-3 over Toolsee. Tang then dropped Feliciano 7-4 in the quarterfinals, and was a single step away from facing DaBreo a second time. That single step was Jamiyl Adams. With the victory in sight, knotted at double hill, Tang hung the 9-ball in a corner pocket, allowing Adams to drop it and be the one to face DaBreo a second time.
Adams took advantage of that 'old school' intangible, momentum, to take a 4-0 lead in the finals, but DaBreo came right back with four of his own to tie it. They traded racks to 5-5, before DaBreo took two in a row. Adams took rack #13 to pull within one, but DaBreo finished it with another two to claim his fourth (and last) 2013 Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked their hosts at the Cue Bar in Bayside, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State Tour stop, scheduled for January 4-5, will be hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Shivam Gupta got as close to the Tri-State Tour winners' circle as he'd ever gotten two weeks ago, when he finished in the tie for fifth place in Clifton, NJ. On Saturday, November 30, he broke through to go undefeated in a $1,500-added event that drew 37 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. Gupta was awarded the title by default, when he and his finals opponent, Chris Derewonski, whom he'd met first in the hot seat match, opted out of a final confrontation.
Following wins over Vagif Alexberov, Akbar Kamueddien and Bryan Singh, Gupta moved among the winners' side final four for a match versus Eric Hummel. Derewonski, in the meantime, squared off against Luis Jimenez. Gupta downed Hummell 7-5, as Derewonski sent Jimenez to the loss side 8-4. Gupta won what would prove to be his only match against Derewonski 8-3, and sat in the hot seat, awaiting the decision that would cancel the re-match.
Jimenez moved over and met up with Gary Murgia, who'd gotten by Lidio Ramirez 7-5 and survived a double hill match against Arturo Reyes. Hummell drew Bryan Singh, who'd been defeated by Gupta in a winners' side final eight contest, and then defeated Ben Castaneros 6-2 and Pat Mareno 6-3.
Jimenez shut Murgia out, advancing to the quarterfinals against Singh, who'd defeated Hummell, double hill. Singh completed a four-match, loss-side winning streak with a 7-5 win over Jimenez and then, was dropped by Derewonski 10-5 in the semifinals. It was at this point, that due to the lateness of the hour, Gupta and Derewonski chose not to play the final match, ceding the event title to the undefeated Gupta.
Tour representatives thanked Gotham City Billiards' owners, Kevin and Isabel Buckley, for their continued hospitality, 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 is scheduled for December 7 at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
The sixteenth annual Tri-State Tour Invitational Tournament took place July 6 & 7, 2013, at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. The weekend was a huge success for the tour with 16 A & A+ Players, 32 B & B+ Players, 32 C & C+ Players and 16 D & D+ Players who earned their way in to compete in their respective classes and play for their chance to be named the Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion. Castle Billiards hosted the event for the fourth year. Castle Billiards owners John & Minnie Trobiano were again very professional, helpful and gracious. They donated their room and all the table time. Their generosity and support to the players and the event never dwindles and is always done with the players in mind. They are people who are genuinely into the game and the players; enough positive and complimentary things cannot be said about John, Minnie, and their staff.
As each day began, organizers John Leyman, Todd Fleitman & Rick Shellhouse congratulated the players on reaching the top of their classes for the season and handed out awards to the top players of the year in each class. The Tri-State Tour added $4000 in cash prizes and the sponsors QPOD, Dunkel Custom Cues, KH Custom Cues, Ozone Billiards, Fury Cues, Kamui Tips, Sterling Gaming, Capelle’s Pool Books, Billiards Digest, Pool & Billiards, Inside Pool, Professor-Q-Ball’s News, Blue Book Publications, Castle Billiards, Amsterdam Billiards, NYCGrind and Romer’s Trophies went out of their way to provide the event with some great equipment and prizes. The sponsors are owed a debt a gratitude for their dedication to the game and the players, their efforts and generosity are what made the event so special and such a great success and without their continued support of the sport and the players this event could not happen.
Awards were presented to the top 3 players in each class, to the Most Improved Player of the Year, and Sportsman of the Year. The the most improved player went to Thomas Rice whose game gets stronger each day with the help of lessons from such legendary players as Earl Stickland. Thomas is only 15 and is improving every day, one day soon he will be playing with the best in the world. Each year the tour awards one player the “Sportsperson of the Year” award. It is awarded to someone the tour believes exemplifies what a player should be and how they should act and this year’s award went to Dave Shlemperis. This year the Tri-State Tour announced that they would be starting a virtual Hall of Fame that will become part of their website. The new Hall of Fame page is still under construction and plans are in effect to debut it this fall. At the Invitational two players were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Dawn Hopkins who started it all back in the late 80’s as the “All About Pool Tour” and Daniel Cintron for his accomplishments on the tour, dedication and help to the tour throughout the years. Plans are also in effect to induct two more players who during the history of the tour their names and accomplishments became synonymous with the tour and they will be revealed in the near future.
The top players of the year in the their respective classes were Koka Davladze winning the A+/A class, Gary Murgia B+ player, Dave Shlemperis B player, Thomas Rice C player and Mike Davie returning to once again be crowned D+/D class player of the year. The Ladies Player of the Year was Yomaylin Feliz. In one of our most heated battles for player of the year Eddie Perez came in first only slightly edging out runner up and 2 time C class winner Tony Ignomirello by 10 points for the C+ player of the year. For a full list of winners for all the classes and events, please see the web site www.thetristatetour.com.
The action in the tournament got going around eleven on Saturday morning, July 6 with the B+ and B class players along with the D+/D players kicking off the event. The B+ class saw two players dominate the event and meet each other in the hot seat match, room owner John Trobiano and Ricardo Mejia. Ricardo played strong and won the match on the hill. John moved to the one loss side where he played Steve Kaminow. John even though working 21 hours the day before preparing the room for the event could not be denied and won the match 7-0 and went on to the finals for a rematch with Ricardo. In the finals, the two combatants again played very well but John came out on top at 9-6. The B Class event paralleled the B+ class with Chris Peralta sending Mike Zimny to the one loss side after winning the hot seat match 7-1. Mike then beat Paul Spaanstra 7-5 and moved on to the finals. Playing a much different match this time against Chris, Mike won the match 7-4.
The D+/D class saw the 2 players who finished first and third in the points race the class for the year, fight their way to the hot seat match. Mike Davie and Ada Lio played a hard fought match but Mike came out on top 5-2. Ada then battled back by beating Amy Yu Yue on the one loss side to return to her second D+/D finals. But Mike could not be stopped and he beat Ada 5-2 again sending Ada home in second place for the second year in a row. Although Mike has been playing on the tour for a decade and has multiple Player of the year awards to his credit, he has never won a Tri-State tour tournament and so with this win Mike crowns his year on the tour with a major accomplishment.
On Sunday, play started again at 11 AM with the A+/A players and the C+ class and C class arriving to do battle. As the day progressed each event was dominated by one player, Raphael Dabreo in the A’s, Rene Villalobos in the C+’s and Umit Yolcu in the C’s. And all three would win their respective classes. In the A+/A class Raphael beat Geoffrey Bauer 7-5 sending Geoffrey to the one loss side and a match with home room favorite Scott Simonetti. But breaking strong and playing very strong Geoffrey came out on top against Scott at 7-5 and returned to the finals against Raphael. In one of the best matches of the entire event both players played exceptionally well with the lead going back and forth. Taking the match to hill/hill both players had opportunities in the final game but an unfortunate scratch late in the game by Geoffrey left Raphael with an out and the win. In the C+ class Rene dominated all the way thru winning the hot seat match against Keith Diaz 6-4. After losing to Rene in his second match of the day Robert Veit fought back on the one loss side to get to the finals only to lose again to Rene but this time at the score of 6-2. In the C class the scenario from the C+ class just about mirrored what was happening in the C Class. Umit Yolcu went undefeated beating Dave Danchak in the hot seat match 6-3 and then Ray Marisette in the finals 6-3. Ray just like Robert had lost his second match of the day and fought back to get to the finals.
This left our 6 class champions to do battle for the Grand Champion title. Rene Villalobos beat Umit Yolco 6-4 to win the C+/C playoff. Rene then went on to beat Mike Davie in the C/D class playoff winning on the hill 7-6. John Trobiano after working the kitchen and room all day beat Mike Zimny on the hill in the B+/B class playoff and then went on to Raphael DaBreo 7-4 in the A/B class playoff. This left the event with two players still standing; Rene Villalobos and John Trobiano. John feeling very relaxed event though working very hard over the weekend played extremely confidently and precise and won the final match of the event 7-4. This is John’s second win as Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion. His first win was back in 2010.
They'd dodged each other in the winners' side semifinals; Jose Liz Domeneche, moving to the loss side, while Paul Spaanstra moved on to the hot seat match. Domeneche won three in a row on the loss side and then, came back to meet and defeat Spaanstra in the finals of the $750-added, A-D handicapped event, hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ on Saturday, June 22.
Domeneche had been downed by Kyle Bubet among the winners' side final four 6-4, as Spaanstra was busy surviving a double hill match against Mike Zimny. Spaanstra got into the hot seat 7-5 over Bubet and waited on Domeneche.
Luis Jimenez, winner of the tour's June 1 stop, was the man waiting on Domeneche on the loss side. He'd gotten by Jay Choi 6-4 and Lawrence Chandler 6-5 to reach him. Zimny drew Dave Ascolese, who'd defeated Steve Kaminov and Rhys Chen, both 7-5. Domeneche and Zimny moved on to the quarterfinals; Domeneche having eliminated Jimenez 6-3, Zimny defeating Ascolese 7-3.
Domeneche took the quarterfinal match 7-5 over Zimny, which set him up for a re-match against Bubet in the semifinals. He successfully negotiated that final, loss-side step with a 6-3 victory over Bubet and moved on to the finals.
Domeneche opened the final match against Spaanstra with three straight racks. Spaanstra would get close, but never lead. He closed the gap to within one at 4-3, and 5-4, before knotting things at 5-5. They traded racks to 6-6 before Domeneche put up his second three in a row to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be its annual Invitational Event on July 6-7, hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. The top 16 contenders for Player of the Year honors, in each of the tour's six ranking divisions, will be invited to compete.
Juan Guzman chalked up his fourth Tri-State area victory in as many months with an undefeated run on the Tri-State Tour on the weekend of June 8-9. He was undefeated on Tri-State events in March and April, and in May, on the Predator Tour, won nine on the loss side to meet and defeat hot seat occupant, Darwin Vergara. This most recent event, a $2,750-added, A-D handicapped tournament, hosted by Gotham Billiards in Brooklyn, drew the largest field of all of them (62). Though it hasn't happened yet, this third Tri-State victory is likely to advance him out of his current B++ class, and have him competing as an A player, real soon.
Following victories over Marco Costello, Rajesh Vannala, Jimmy Acosta, and a double hill win over the Tri-State Tour's current top-ranked B player, Gary Murgia, Guzman moved among the winners' side final four to face Geoffrey Bauer. Raymond Lee and Dennis Kennedy squared off in the other winners' side semifinal. Guzman defeated Bauer 7-5, and in the hot seat match, faced Lee, who'd dispatched Kennedy to the loss side 6-3. For the third time since March, Guzman was in the Tri-State hot seat, awaiting a finals opponent.
Bauer moved west to pick up Steve Wright, who'd handed Murgia his second straight loss 7-1 and gone on to survive a double hill match against Meshak Daniel. Kennedy faced Ambi Estevez, who'd defeated Bredon Hollack 6-5 and Luis Jimenez 6-3. Two double hill battles ensued, with Bauer and Estevez winning them and moving on to face each other in the quarterfinals.
Bauer downed Estevez 9-6, leaving only the semifinals against Lee between him and a re-match versus Guzman. Lee spoiled that reunion with an 8-4 win in those semifinals to earn his own re-match.
Lee took a quick, three-rack lead in the finals, only to have Guzman come right back to tie things up. From there it was back and forth, one rack at a time, to a 6-6 tie, at which point, Guzman took final command, and completed the 8-6 win that gave him his third Tri-State victory.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State stop, an A-D handicapped, $1,000-added event is scheduled for June 15 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria.
The clock worked against players on the Tri-State Tour again on Saturday, August 25, when a field of 40 signed on for the $750-added, A-D handicapped event at Port Richmond Billiards Club on Staten Island, NY. Robert Veit chalked up his first victory on the tour, and his last victory in the event, by getting into the hot seat. Later, he opted to split the top two prizes with Tony Ignomirello, who had already split the second and third place prize with Gary Murgia, when the semifinals didn’t happen, either.
Following victories over James Stern, Mike Davie, Luis Jimenez and Antonio Navarro, Veit advanced among the winners’ side final four and met up with Ben Castaneros, who’d just sent Ignomirello to the loss side. Murgia, in the meantime, squared off against Geoff Bauer. Murgia and Veit got into the hot seat battle, once Murgia had sent Bauer west 7-3, and Veit dispatched Castaneros 6-2. In what proved to be the last match for both of them, Veit sent Murgia to the semifinals 7-6.
Ignomirello got back to work on the loss side with a 6-3 victory over Keith Diaz, and followed that up with a 7-3 win over Thomas Rice, which set him up for a re-match against Castaneros. Bauer drew Bryan Jeziorski, who’d defeated Keith Adamik and Abdullah Howard, both 7-3, to reach him. Jeziorski advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-3 win over Bauer, and was met by Ignomirello, who wreaked his vengeance on Castaneros 7-2.
The last match of the night saw Ignomirello survive a double hill battle versus Jeziorski. Ignomirello and Murgia then opted out of the semifinals, and shortly thereafter, Ignomirello and Veit exercised the same option in regards to the finals. Prizes were split, and as the hot seat occupant, Veit took possession of the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Port Richmond Billiard Club, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. Next up for the Tri-State Tour is their annual collaboration with the Mezz Pro-Am and Predator Tours, for the second annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial Tournament, set for September 1-3 at Amsterdam Billiards in New York City. The next regularly scheduled stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $500-added, A-D handicapped event, scheduled for September 8, at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
