Wellington Reyes won three straight double hill matches to finish an undefeated, March 24-25 weekend on the A-D handicapped Predator Tour. In a concurrently run Open/Pro event on Sunday, Mika Immonen stopped a loss-side challenge from Tour Director Tony Robles to also go undefeated. The $500-added handicapped event drew 52 entrants, while the $500-added Open/Pro event drew 14 to Carom Cafe and Billiards in Flushing, NY.
The first of Reyes’ final double hill wins came among the winners’ side final four, when he sent Lidio Rasta to the loss-side 7-6. Andrew Cleary, in the meantime, defeated Wilfredo Albay 7-4 to join Reyes in the battle for the hot seat. Reyes chalked up his second straight double hill win with a 10-9 victory over Cleary that left him in the hot seat.
Albay and Rasta moved to the loss side and lost no time getting back into the swing of things. Albay shutout Hector Ruiz, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Rasta, who’d eliminated Tony Liang 7-4. Rasta then squeaked by Albay double hill and defeated Cleary in the semifinals 9-7. Reyes, though, ended Rasta’s three-match, loss-side bid with his third double hill victory in the finals to complete his undefeated weekend.
The Iceman’s journey through the short field on-hand for the Open/Pro event went through Robb Saez among the winners’ side final four. Saez moved west on the heels of a 7-5 Mika victory, as Jeremy Sossei was busy sending Zion Zvi over, 7-4. Immonen and Sossei battled to double hill before The Iceman sunk the 9-ball that left him in the hot seat.
Over on the loss-side, Tony Robles, who’d been sent over by Zvi, was at work on a five-match streak that would set him up against Immonen in the finals. He got by Brian Russell 7-1 and Frankie Hernandez 7-3 to pick up Saez. Zvi drew Jorge Rodriguez, who’d defeated Jennifer Baretta 7-2 and Greg McAndrews double hill. Robles gave up only a single rack against Saez, and a Zvi/Robles re-match was avoided when Rodriguez eliminated Zvi 7-5.
Robles downed Rodriguez in the quarterfinals 7-3, and then survived a double hill semifinal match against Sossei for a chance against The Iceman. Immonen allowed Robles only a single game in the match that completed his undefeated day.
Tour director Robles thanked the owners and staff of Carom Cafe and Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League, Delta-13 racks, Poison Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, and NYCGrind.
Back in September, Ed Hugh worked his way through a field of 40 entrants to go undefeated and win his first Tri-State Tour event. Just shy of three months later, on Sunday, November 27, he chalked up his second victory on the tour, this time, having to come from the loss-side to challenge and defeat hot seat occupant, Hector Ruiz. The $1,000-added event drew 23 entrants to Cue Nine Billiards in Levittown, NY.
After working his way through the event’s two opening rounds with victories over Mark Parel and Charles Eames, both 7-3, Hugh ran into Beau Baer among the winners’ side final four. Baer sent him west 7-4 and moved into the hot seat match against Hector Ruiz, who’d just defeated Tony Ignomirello 6-2. Ruiz gained the hot seat with an 8-7 victory, and waited for what turned out to be Hugh’s return.
Hugh moved over to take on, first, Mark Perel, who’d defeated Charles Aemes 7-6 and Gary Murgia 7-4. Ignomirello picked up Eddie Perez, who’d gotten by BCA league teammate Quin Y. Chen (co-winner with Daniel Dagotdot of the previous week’s tour stop on Staten Island) 6-4 and Keith Diaz 6-3. It was Hugh and Perez squaring off in the quarterfinals; Hugh, having defeated Perel 7-4, and Perez, defeating Ignomirello 6-4.
Hugh earned his ‘revenge’ match against Baer with an 8-5 victory over Perez in the quarterfinals, and exacted that revenge with a 7-5 victory over Baer in the semifinals. In spite of the fact that Ruiz got out to an early 3-0 lead in the extended, single set final, Hugh continued what tour representatives described as a combination of “a strong break, outstanding kicking and fearless play,” to win 10 of the next 11 games and complete his second victory on the Tri-State Tour.
The next Tri-State event is a $1,250-added B/D handicapped event to be held this weekend, December 3, at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Cue Nine Billiards for their hospitality during this most recent event, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
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.
