The last time (on record) that Mike Panzarella was in the winners' circle of an event was in 2010, when he shared the top two Tri-State Tour cash prizes with Rich Saco. He'd come from the loss side for the right to meet Saco, but when the semifinals were over (Panzarella over Joe Varvaro), it was 2 a.m., and they opted out. On the weekend of October 11-12, at a $1,000-added, Predator Tour amateur event, which drew 78 entrants to Steinway Billiards, in Astoria (Queens), NY, Panzarella came from the loss side again, but this time, he faced an opponent (Koka Davladze) and defeated him to claim the event title.
They met twice. The first time, in a winners' side semifinal, as Bob Toomey squared off against Kyle Bubet. Davladze took the first of two against Panzarella 7-5, while Toomey was busy shutting Bubet out. Davladze won his last match 10-9, claiming the hot seat over Toomey.
On the loss side, Panzarella's first opponent was Raphael Dabreo, who'd defeated Keith Adamik 7-3 and Alex Osipov 8-7 to reach him. Bubet, in the meantime, had to contend with Kaz Takagishi, who'd eliminated Bob Schlott 7-4 and Dennis Lake 7-5.
Panzarella gave up only a single rack against DaBreo, advancing to the quarterfinals to face Takagishi, who'd downed Bubet 7-3. Panzarella then eliminated Takagishi and then, Toomey in the semifinals by identical 10-8 scores. Panzarella took full advantage of his second chance against Davladze, defeating him 9-7 in the finals to claim the event title.
Dennis Kenedy, Akbar Karmoeddien and Marco Costello
Two weeks ago, Dennis Kennedy had to forego a finals re-match against Scott Bannon and missed an opportunity to chalk up a second Tri-State win. On Saturday, December 21, Kennedy was sitting in the hot seat, looking, once again, to chalk up a Tri-State win. This time, Akbar Karmoeddien, whom he'd sent to the loss side, came back and made him a runner-up for the second time this month. The $750-added event drew 24 entrants to House of Billiards in Staten Island, NY.
They met for the first time among the winners' side final four, with Kennedy advancing to the hot seat match 6-5. Joining Kennedy in that hot seat match was Marco Costello, who'd sent Matthew Harricharan west 7-4. Kennedy chalked up his final win of the day and got into the hot seat 9-5 over Costello.
Karmoeddien, in the meantime, opened up his three-match march back to the finals against Steve Persaud, who'd defeated Joe Varvaro 6-5 and Paulo Valverde 6-4. Harricharan picked up Omar Alli, winner of the December 14 stop on the tour, who'd defeated Keith Adamik 7-5 and Basdeo Sookhai 7-3.
Karmoeddien advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3 win over Persaud, as Alli made it clear he was looking for a second straight win on the tour with a shutout over Harricharan. Karmoeddien ended that bid with a 7-3 win in the quarterfinals and earned his second shot at Kennedy with a shutout over Costello in the semifinals.
Karmoeddien and Kennedy fought back and forth, trading racks to a 3-3 tie; Kennedy with the initiative, and Karmoeddien coming back to tie each time. Karmoeddien then won two straight to go ahead 5-3, before Kennedy came right back with two of his own to knot the score at 5-5. Karmoeddien ended it right there, winning three straight to complete his first win on the Tri-State Tour.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at House of Billiards, 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, scheduled for December 29, will be hosted by The Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
