Back in the proverbial day, it was possible to step into a pool room and get your equally-proverbial clock cleaned by a perfect stranger. Then came the Internet, cell phones and AZBilliards, somewhat in that order and it became increasingly difficult to sneak up on somebody. Sean Santoro, a C- rated player playing in only his second Predator Tri-State Tour event last weekend (June 12-13) at The Spot in Nanuet, won his first match, lost his second (double hill to Latanya Taylor) and proceeded to win nine matches on the loss side for entry into the finals against Keith Adamik, with a history that goes back at least 10 years on both the Predator Tri-State and former Predator Pro Am Tour. Santoro double-dipped Adamik, offered proof of the ‘any given Sunday’ rule in pool tournaments and claimed his first Predator Tri-State title. The $1,250-added event drew 55 entrants to The Spot.
With his eventual finals opponent at work on the loss side, Adamik advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Adrian Daniel. With her husband, Jaydev, at work on the loss side, Shweta Zaveri advanced to a winners’ side semifinal versus Tae Chang.
Adamik got into the hot seat match 8-4 over Daniel. Zaveri and Chang locked up in a double hill fight that did eventually send Zaveri into the hot seat match versus Adamik. Adamik claimed the hot seat 10-7 and waited for Santoro to finish his loss-side run.
On the loss side, where a husband/wife match loomed as possible in the semifinals, Tae Chang ran into the streaking-to-the-finals Santoro, six matches into his loss-side streak and having recently eliminated Nishant Narang 6-4 and Ashima Butler 7-5. Daniel drew the ‘husband’ in the potential semifinal scenario, Jaydev, who’d just concluded two straight double hill wins, over Stewart Warnock and Aurelio Romero.
It was Zaveri and Santoro advancing to the quarterfinals; Zaveri 7-5 over Daniel and Santoro 6-4 over Chang. Santoro then spoiled the husband/wife match party, downing Jaydev 8-3 in the quarterfinals and Shweta 6-5 in the semifinals.
His nine-match, loss-side trek completed, Santoro kept dropping the balls as he moved into the true double elimination final. He took the opening set 9-5 and though Adamik put up a double hill fight in the second set, Santoro won it to claim his first event title and we assume, a raise in his handicap rating.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at The Spot for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, Sterling Billiards, Kamui, Quick Stik, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Joe Romer Trophies, Phil Cappelle Publications and Pool and Billiards. The next stop on the Predator Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, June 26, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Matt Klein is the Tri-State Tour’s fourth highest-ranked player on its 56-entrant “B” player list, behind Mike Mele, Nathaniel Raimondo and Tri Chau. He’s risen to that level on the basis of 11 appearances on the 2018-2019 tour, which began last summer. Mele has appeared 23 times, while Raimondo and Chau have made 14 appearances each. Klein has already exceeded his previous best earnings year (2018) and it’s only April. In February, after winning a stop on the Tri-State Tour, he chalked up a runner-up finish at the Empire State 9-Ball Championships. Klein added his second victory on the Tri-State in the current season, coming back from a hot seat loss to fellow B player, Russell Masciotti to down him in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 30 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY on Sunday, April 14.
Klein ran a rogue’s gallery gauntlet of top-notch Tri-State talent to claim the title, beginning with Mike Strassberg (the tour’s current #2 C player) 7-5, Thomas Schreiber (one spot below Klein on the B list) 7-2, and Jason Goberdhan (#7 on the C+ list, and winner of the April 6-7 stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour) 7-3, before running into Bob Toomey (#1 on the C+ list) in a winners’ side semifinal. Masciotti, in the meantime (#26 in the B class), squared off against Keith Adamik.
Klein defeated Toomey 7-5 and in the hot seat match, faced Masciotti, who’d sent Adamik to the loss side 7-4. Masciotti won the ‘battle of the Bs’ hot seat match 7-3 and waited on Klein’s return.
On the loss side, Adamik picked up Luis Jimenez, who’d eliminated Nathaniel Raimondo 7-2 and Tri Chau 7-3, which could, dependent on how the numbers play out, elevate Klein above Raimondo and Chau on the B player list. Toomey drew a re-match against Shane Torres, whom he’d defeated in an earlier round, and who was on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals against Klein. He’d most recently defeated Stewart Warnock, Sr. 7-3 and Goberdhan 6-3.
Adamik and Jimenez battled to double hill before Adamik advanced to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Torres, who’d successfully wreaked vengeance on Toomey 6-4. Torres then downed Adamik 8-6 in those quarterfinals, before having his loss-side streak ended 7-5 by Klein in the semifinals.
In an extended-race-to-9 final, Klein reached the ‘7’ threshold first to extend the race to 9 games. He advanced two more to down Masciotti 9-5 and claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, DIGICUE OB and Hustlin USA. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, April 20, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Though Miguel Laboy is on track to duplicate his 2014 earnings at the pool table, when he won four stops on the Tri-State Tour, it has taken him until Sunday, July 26 to win his first 2015 Tri-State stop. Sitting atop the tour's A+-A class, 140 points behind Keith Adamik, Laboy came from the loss side on Sunday to win the $1,000-added event that drew 34 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Following wins over Ramon Feliciano, Tony Liang, and Fernando Paulino, Laboy moved into a winners' side semifinal match against Amir Rashed Uddin. Ambi Estevez, in the meantime, squared off against Bob Toomey. In a tightly-fought battle that went to double hill, Uddin defeated Laboy. Estevez downed Toomey 6-4 to join Uddin in the hot seat match; claimed by Uddin in his second straight double hill win.
Laboy moved over and picked up Jimmy Acosta, who'd defeated Fernando Paulino, double hill, and Lidio Ramirez 7-4, to reach him. Toomey drew Xavier Romero, who'd shut out Adrian Daniel, and eliminated Sam Hoffman 6-4. Laboy and Toomey advanced to the quarterfinals; Laboy 7-3 over Acosta, and Toomey 6-4 over Romero.
Laboy eliminated Toomey 10-8 in the quarterfinals, and then, spoiled Estevez' bid for a rematch against Uddin, with a double hill win in the semifinals that gave him the second shot at Uddin. The finals didn't begin well for Laboy.
Uddin opened up with three straight racks. Laboy responded with two, to pull within one. Uddin came back with two of his own to re-establish a three-point lead, at which point, the tide turned. Laboy ran four racks to go ahead by one. Uddin responded with a rack to knot things at 6-6, but it was his last. Laboy took three straight to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality and continuing support of the tour, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, August 1, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Arturo Reyes went undefeated through a small field on-hand for the Sunday, April 12 stop on the Tri-State Tour. The $400-added event was hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Reyes got by Gene Ok, and Roy Lim to move among the winners' side final four and a battle versus his eventual finals' opponent, Keith Adamik. Chris DeCaprio and Alberto Sanchez met in the other winners' side semifinal. In their first of two, Reyes defeated Adamik 7-5, while DeCaprio was downing Sanchez 7-3. Reyes claimed the hot seat 7-5 over DeCaprio.
On the loss side, Adamik and Sanchez ran into Chumreon Sutcharitakul and Mike Esposito, respectively. Sutcharitakul, who was in the midst of a three-game, loss-side winning streak, that included a double hill win over Roy Lim and a 7-5 victory over Tim Fitzsimmons, had his streak ended by Adamik in a double hill fight. Esposito chalked up five in a row on the loss side, including a 6-4 win over Bob Toomey, a 7-4 win over Ramon Feliciano, and a 7-2 win over Sanchez, which put him into the quarterfinals against Adamik.
Adamik eliminated Esposito in those quarterfinals (the first money round) 8-6, and then, dropped DeCaprio by the same score in the semifinals, earning his rematch against Reyes.
Reyes opened the final match with two racks and the two traded, until Adamik ran four in a row to go ahead 6-4. Reyes won game # 11, but lost game #12. It proved to be Adamik's final win. Reyes chalked up four in a row to win it 9-7.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, 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. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, April 26, will be a Double Point event, hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.
Dinko Busanich and Frank Sieczka let the single match they played during the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, December 6, stand as the end result. Reports coming out of Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, where the $1,000-added event that drew 53 entrants was held, suggest that the possible final would have competed with Sunday's sunrise. Busanich, having defeated Sieczka in the hot seat match, took the first place title. He and Sieczka split the top two prizes.
Busanich defeated Brian Cap, double hill to get into the hot seat match. Sieczka, in the meantime, downed Dennis Kennedy 6-3. Busanich and Sieczka then locked up in a double hill battle that proved to be the winning match.
On the loss side, Cap picked up Jan Mierzwa, who'd defeated Stewart Warnock 7-4 and Keith Adamik 7-1. Kennedy drew Lenore Chen, who'd eliminated Jaydev Zaveri 6-5 and Mike Strassburg 6-2. Cap finished Mierzwa 7-4, as Chen downed Kennedy 6-3.
Cap took the quarterfinal match 7-4 over Chen, but fell to Sieczka 7-5 in the semifinals. Busanich and Sieczka opted out of the final match, leaving Busanich to claim the event title, while the two split the first and second place prizes.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
Yomaylin ‘Smiley’ Feliz, playing in the Amateur event of the November 29-30 stop on the Predator Tour, came back from a loss to Naldo Troncoso among the winners’ side final eight to meet and defeat him in the finals. The $500-added Amateur event drew 72 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
A concurrently-run, $500-added Open/Pro event drew 20. Spanky Kava went undefeated in this one, knocking off, in order at the end, Jayson Shaw, Zion Zvi and Frankie Hernandez.
With Feliz out of the way in the amateur tourney, Troncoso moved on to face George Poltorak, as Kapriel Delimelkonoglu squared off against ChristIan Smith in the two winners’ side semifinals. Troncoso defeated Poltorak 7-4, and in the battle for the hot seat met Delimelkonoglu, who’d sent Smith to the loss side 7-5. Troncoso won his last match, defeating Delimelkonoglu 7-3 and waited in the hot seat for vengeance to come at him from the loss side.
Feliz wasted no time getting back on track, opening her five-match, loss-side trek to the finals with a shutout over Judd Parker. She then downed Dennis Lake 7-3 and drew Poltorak. There to meet Smith was Koka Davladze, who’d defeated room owner Manny Stamatakis 7-5 and survived a double hill match against Keith Adamik.
The two battles to determine the amateur event’s quarterfinalists were just that; battles. Feliz survived, double hill, over Poltorak, while Davladze just did avoid a double hill deciding game by downing Smith 7-5.
Feliz moved on and avoided a double hill deciding game in the quarterfinals by defeating Davladze 8-6. She had a smoother run in the semifinal match against Delimelkonoglu, downing him 7-2 for a second shot against Troncoso. She completed her run with a 9-5 victory over Troncoso to claim her first Predator title.
In the Open/Pro event, Spanky Kava took the undefeated route, facing separate opponents in the hot seat and finals. He and Zion Zvi prevented a marquee hot seat match by defeating Jayson Shaw 7-4 and Earl Strickland 7-3, respectively. Kava then defeated Zvi 7-4 and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Frankie Hernandez.
On the loss side, Hernandez got by Lee Kang 7-5, gave up only a single rack to Rob Omen and faced Shaw. Strickland picked up Kevin Guimond, who’d defeated Jamiyl Adams 7-2, and survived a double hill fight against Mhet Vergara. Hernandez and Strickland eliminated Shaw and Guimond, both 7-3 and met in the quarterfinals.
Hernandez ended Strickland’s day 7-4, and then, double hill, defeated Zvi for a shot at Kava in the hot seat. To no avail, as Kava completed his undefeated run with a 7-5 win over Hernandez to claim the Open/Pro title.
Michael Aro won his first Tri-State stop at Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ, five years ago. In the hot seat at the end, he and Joe Fego opted out of a final match. Aro's gone on to chalk up at least one Tri-State victory in each of the past three years, winning twice at House of Billiards on Staten Island (October 2012, and May 2013) and most recently, November 2, at BQE Billiards, in Jackson Heights, NY. He met up in the finals with Alex Osipov, who won eight on the loss side to challenge him. The $1,000-added event drew 29 entrants to BQE Billiards.
Following victories over Pat Mareno, Paulo Valverde, and Larry Chandler, Aro faced Todd Trent in a winners' side semifinal. Keith Adamik and Miguel Laboy (winner of three Tri-State stops this year) squared off in the other. Adamik sent LaBoy to the loss side 7-5, and faced Aro, who'd dispatched Trent 6-5. Aro got into the hot seat 8-6 Adamik and waited for Osipov to complete his loss-side trip to the finals.
Osipov had been on the losers' side of the bracket since the opening round, when he was defeated by Chumreon Sutcharitakul 7-5. After three loss-side victories, Osipov took out Akbar Karmoeddien 7-3 and Ambi Estevez 7-2, which set him up to face LaBoy. Osipov was denied a re-match against Sutcharitakul, who had forfeited out of his match versus Estevez. Trent drew Bob Toomey, who'd gotten by Larry Chandler 6-3, and Mike Esposito 6-4.
It was Osipov and Trent who advanced to the quarterfinals; Osipov with a 7-5 win over LaBoy, and Trent 6-4 over Toomey. Osipov chalked up loss-side win # 7 with a 7-4 victory over Trent, and then survived a nail-biting double hill match against Adamik in the semifinals.
Aro established himself early in the finals against Osipov, winning the first three matches. Osipov came back to pull within one, which he'd do a total of four times; at 3-2, 4-3, 5-4, and 6-5. Aro chalked up the win in rack 12 to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, 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 November 8, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Two of Koka Davladze's last three wins on the Tri-State Tour have come as the result of making it to the hot seat match and deciding, with a finals opponent, not to play a last match. A little over a year ago (September, 2013 in Brooklyn), he split the top prize with Chris DeCaprio. In March, this year, he went undefeated again; this time, playing and winning a final match against Keith Diaz. On Sunday, October 27, Davladze found himself in the hot seat again, and this time, opted out of a final match against Keith Adamik. The $1,000-added event drew 45 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens.
Davladze opened his six-opponent, undefeated run with victories over Carl Yusuf Khan, Ed Culhane, Chumreon Sutcharitakul and a 7-4 win over Adamik. This set him up for a winners' side semifinal against Miguel Laboy. Jaydev Zaveri, in the meantime, met up with Eric Hummel. Davladze sent LaBoy (7-5) to a loss-side meet-up with Adamik. Zaveri sent Hummel over 7-4. Davladze chalked up his sixth and final win against Zaveri 9-8.
On the loss side, Adamik, having moved past Stewart Warnock 7-6 and Sutcharitakul 7-5, met and defeated LaBoy 7-2. In the quarterfinals, he faced Ramon Feliciano, who'd gotten by Tony Ignomirello 6-2 and Pat Mareno 6-4, before eliminating Hummel 7-4.
Adamik defeated Feliciano 8-4, and then, in what proved to be his final match, downed Zaveri in the semifinals 8-6. Davladze and Adamik, who opted out of a final match, are among the tour's top five "A/A+" players. Going into the event, Adamik (A) was in second place behind Miguel LaBoy (A+) whom he'd defeated in the 5/6 matches), with Davladze (A+) in fifth place, behind Eric Grasman (A+) and Jose Mendez (A).
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, 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, at BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY is scheduled for November 2.
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.
For the past three years, Bogie Uzdejczyk has won at least one stop on the Tri-State or Predator Tours. He won two Tri-State stops in 2011, two more in 2012, and picked up a Predator win in 2013. One week after winning the first Tri-State Tour stop of 2014, he finished fifth in an Open/Pro Predator event behind Tony Robles, Mike Dechaine, Zion Zvi and Frankie Hernandez. On Saturday, October 4, he claimed his fourth, undefeated Tri-State title of 2014. The $750-added event drew 23 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Uzdejczyk had to get by Chris Peralta twice to claim this most recent Tri-State title. Following wins against Duane Toney, Keith Adamik, and Hank Nguyen, Uzdejczyk faced Peralta for the first time in a winners' side semifinal, defeating him 7-4, as Robert Jew was busy defeating Teddy Lapadula 6-1. Uzdejczyk claimed the hot seat with a 9-6 win over Jew and waited on Peralta.
Peralta moved over and started his trek back to the finals against Nelson Tran, who'd defeated Dave Ascolese 7-1 and Harry Guevarez 7-4. LaPadula picked up Larry Chandler, who'd gotten by Ada Lio 7-3 and Roger Duronio 6-4. Peralta eliminated Tran 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced LaPadula, who'd finished Chandler's day 6-5.
Peralta, looking for his first Tri-State win, defeated LaPadula 7-5, and earned his first shot in a Tri-State final with a 7-3 win over Jew in the semifinals. He took the opening two racks in the finals, and after giving up one, re-established the two-rack lead at 3-1. Uzdejczyk took the next two to tie it up at 3-3, before Peralta regained the lead for the last time at 4-3. Over the next six, they traded racks, with Uzdejczyk maintaining the single-rack initiative. At 6-6, he did so for the last time, claiming the event title, as Peralta recorded his best finish on the Tri-State tour.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for October 11, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
