Koka Davladze, last seen playing runner-up to Michael Yednak in the 3rd Annual Ginky Memorial Tournament over Labor Day weekend, went undefeated through a field of 64 entrants to claim the event title of a Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, September 14. Davladze and Chris DeCaprio opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. The $1,800-added event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Davladze and DeCaprio did face each other in the hot seat battle. Davladze had gotten by Gary O'Callaghan, Andrzej Kaldan, Carl Yusuf Khan and Rajesh Vannala to move among the winners' side final four, where he defeated Juan Guzman, double hill. DeCaprio, in the meantime, was downing Kyle Bubet 7-5. Davladze took that hot seat match, his last of the evening as it turned out, 10-7.
Guzman moved over to pick up Khan, who'd shut out Harry Lau and just did defeat Rhio Anne Flores, double hill, to reach him. Bubet picked up Mike Harrington, who'd defeated Tornike Khaduridze 6-2 and Pat Mareno 6-4. Guzman and Bubet got back on track right away, with Guzman surviving a double hill match versus Khan and Bubet winning 7-5.
Two straight double hill battles followed and ended the evening's proceedings. Bubet defeated Guzman in the quarterfinals 8-7, but was then himself defeated in the double hill, semifinal match against DeCaprio, 6-5. Davladze and DeCaprio chose not to face each other in a final match, and agreed to a split in the top two prizes, allowing the undefeated Davladze to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Gotham City Billiard's owners, Kevin and Isabel Buckley, for their continuing support of the players, as well as the "outstanding equipment" provided for them to play on. They also thanked sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Custom Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for Saturday, September 21, at Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Since February, Daniel Dagotdot had won four of the eight tournaments in which he’d been entered, alternating those victories between the Tri-State and Predator Tours. In the other four tournaments, which included two stops on the Mezz Pro Am Tour, he never finished lower than fifth place. On Saturday, November 19, he chalked up number five of nine with an undefeated run on the Tri-State Tour, which had stopped at the Port Richmond Billiard Club on Staten Island. The $750-added event, which had drawn 35 entrants, came to an early end when, at approximately 2 a.m. on Monday morning, the final three competitors opted to split the top prizes.
By dinner time on Sunday (approximately 6 p.m.), Dagotdot had worked his way through three rounds of play to move among the winners’ side final four, defeating Harry Lau, Keith Adamik and Tri-State veteran Dan Cintron. Facing him among the final four winners was Richard Ng. Quin Y. Chen, in the meantime, squared off against Alex Osipov. Dagotdot moved into the hot seat match with an 8-6 victory over Ng and was joined by Chen who shut out Osipov. Dagotdot gained the hot seat with a 10-6 victory over Chen that proved to be his final match.
Osipov moved to the loss-side and picked up Eddie Perez, whom he’d sent to the loss-side earlier in the tournament. Perez earned a re-match after victories over Pat Mareno, double hill, and Hector Ruiz, 6-2. Ng’s first opponent on the loss side was Gary Murgia, who’d advanced past Keith Adamik 7-4 and Billy Cheng 7-3. Ng survived a double hill battle against Murgia and was joined in the quarterfinals by Perez, who had successfully wreaked his vengeance on Osipov, also double hill.
Perez dropped Ng into fourth place 7-4 and for all intents and purposes, the tournament came to an end. The semifinal matchup between Perez and Chen (teammates on a Staten Island BCA League team) was, by mutual agreement, reduced to a single game, which was won by Chen, who advanced into the finals against Dagotdot. That match never happened, as, again by mutual agreement, Dagotdot and Chen agreed to split the first and second place winnings (by an undisclosed ratio), leaving Dagotdot as the official, undefeated winner.
Tour representatives thanked Gary Murgia, who was described as the “catalyst” for returning the Tri-State Tour to Staten Island’s Port Richmond Billiard Club. Thanks to the turnout for this most recent event, the venue has already decided to host further events on the tour. Also thanked were Mike, Moe and Karen from the Port Richmond Billiard Club for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics for their sponsorship.
Not since they started keeping snowfall records in 1869, had the city of New York seen as much snow in October as it saw on Saturday, October 29. Three inches were reported in New York’s Central Park, a matter of miles away from Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn. Undaunted by the weather, 36 entrants showed up at Gotham City Billiards to take part in the $1,250-added, B-D handicapped stop on the Tri-State Tour, which, in consideration of the weather conditions, ended prematurely. Andrzej (pronounced Andrew) Kaldan, who had made his way to the hot seat undefeated, and Kim Meyer-Gabia, who’d worked her way back through four matches on the loss-side to meet him in the finals, agreed to call it a night.
Following victories over Ben Castaneros, Alex Borukhovich, and Hector Ruiz, Kaldan faced Alex Osipov among the winners’ side final four. Kaldan sent Osipov west 7-6, as Gary Murgia was busy doing likewise to Meyer-Gabia 7-4. Kaldan played his last game of the night, defeating Murgia 9-3 in the battle for the hot seat.
Meyer-Gabia moved over to take on Ed Culhane, who’d defeated Mel McCullen 9-4 and Hector Ruiz 7-3 to reach him. Osipov picked up Arturo Reyes, who’d gotten by Harry Lau 7-4, and Keith Diaz 7-3. Meyer-Gabia dominated the match versus Culhane 7-1, advancing to the quarterfinals against Osipov, who’d downed Reyes 7-5. A 6-4 win in those quarterfinals gave Meyer-Gabia a second chance against Murgia in the semifinals.
She made the best of it, defeating Murgia 7-5 in what proved to be the final match of the evening. Shortly thereafter, she and Kaldan agreed to end the proceedings, leaving the undefeated Kaldan with his first victory on the Tri-State tour, and Meyer-Gabia, with the single loss, in second place.
In addition to sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics, tour representatives thanked Kevin and Isabel Buckley, owners of Gotham City Billiards, for the superb playing conditions, including recently re-covered tables, and additional funding of the purse.
