Like the concurrently-run Empire State Open Championships (see separate story), the 6th Annual Empire State Amateur Championships saw a player (Marco Dy) come back from the semifinals to defeat the hot seat occupant (Mike Hertz). Unlike the Open event, none of the Amateur event's final 12 players were among the final 12 in 2013. Like the Open event, the $1,500-added Amateur tournament drew the exact number of entrants it had drawn in 2013 (104), to the same location, Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY.

 

Advancing to the winners' side semifinals this year were Roberto Mendoza, who faced Dy, and Chris Brooks, who met up with Hertz. Hertz and Dy moved into the hot seat match with identical 7-2 wins over Brooks and Mendoza. Hertz claimed the hot seat with a 7-4 win and waited for Dy to come back.

 

On the loss side, Brooks met up with Randy Fisher, who'd defeated John Lazo 7-3 and survived a double hill fight versus Omar Alli, to reach him. Mendoza drew Romeo Singh, who'd defeated both Dave Shlemperis and Jimmy Acosta 7-5. Brooks and Mendoza got right back to work; Brooks downing Fisher in a double hill match, while Mendoza was busy eliminating Singh 7-2.

 

Two straight double hill matches followed, with Mendoza defeating Brooks in the quarterfinals, and Dy ending Mendoza's day in the semifinals. In the finals, Dy doubled the lead by which Hertz had defeated him in the hot seat (7-4), claiming the Empire State Amateur Championship title with a decisive 9-3 win.

John Lazo went undefeated through a field of 27, including a victory over Meshak Daniel and two against Meshak's father, Adrian, to win the November 3 stop on the Tri-State Tour. It was the elder Daniels' second appearance in a 2013 Tri-State final, adding a second runner-up title to the one he'd earned in April. The $1,000-added amateur event was hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

 

Lazo and Daniels, the father, met first in the hot seat match.  Advancement through the field had brought the father and son within a single match of facing each other in the winners' bracket. Both advanced to the final four, but the father squared off against Jud Parker, while the son met up with Lazo. Lazo sent Meshak west, while Adrian dispatched Parker 6-3. Lazo, having taken care of the kid, took care of his father 7-5, and waited in the hot seat for what could have been the return of either of them.

 

The son, though, moved to the loss side and met up with Chumreon Sutcharitakul, who'd been sent over by Lazo and then, defeated Lidio Ramirez 7-4, and shut out Glenn Ramsey. Jud Parker ran into Mike Harrington, who'd gotten by Bob Toomey 6-2, and eliminated Pat Mareno 6-4. The two recent arrivals from the winners' bracket were downed by their loss-side challengers; Sutcharitakul spoiled the potential father-son matchup by defeating Meshak 7-3. Harrington gave up only a single rack to Parker and joined Sutcharitakul in the quarterfinal match.

 

Sutcharitakul stopped Harrington's bid 7-5, and having eliminated the son, he tried to replicate Lazo's winners' side final four feat, in the semifinal matchup against the father. Dad, though, wreaking a sort of familial vengeance, defeated Sutcharitakul 7-5 and got his second shot at Lazo.

 

Lazo and Daniel  traded racks to open the finals, before Daniel took two in a row. Lazo came back with a six-pack that ended it at 7-3.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, November 9, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

Back in May, on the Tri-State Tour at Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan, Eddie Lum got close to chalking up his "first ever" tournament win.  He advanced to the winners' side final four, and when sent to the loss side from there, won a match that put him into the quarterfinals. It was as far as he got.

 

On Saturday, August 10, Lum was back at Amsterdam Billiards and once again, found himself among the winners' side final four. This time, though, he advanced into the hot seat and defeated Eddie DaCosta twice to capture the event title and claim the tournament win that had eluded him in May. The $640-added, C-D handicapped event drew 35 entrants to Amsterdam Billiards.

 

Lum faced Chris Soto-Chimelis in one of the winners' side semifinals, as DaCosta squared off against Paolo Valverde in the other. Lum, who'd win his final three matches by the same 6-3 score, downed Soto-Chimelis, as DaCosta was sending Valverde west 7-5. Lum got into the hot seat over DaCosta, and waited on his return.

 

Valverde and Soto-Chimelis got right back into the swing of things on the loss side. Valverde drew John Lazo, who'd defeated Wanlop Chantarakolkit 6-2. Soto-Chimelis faced Will Hodgins, who'd eliminated Javier Colayco. Valverde got by Lazo 7-4, and in the quarterfinals, met up with Soto-Chimelis, who'd given up only a single rack in his contest against Hodgins.

 

It was Soto-Chimelis who advanced to the semifinals against DaCosta, with a 7-5 win over Valverde. DaCosta stopped Soto-Chimelis' brief, loss-side run with a 6-3 victory in the semifinals, and got a second chance against Lum. Lum, though, closed out his undefeated run with his final 6-3 victory, and chalked up his first ever tournament win.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Amsterdam Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.