Given the number of years that the Tri-State Tour has existed, the number of female competitors to have won a stop on the tour is relatively small, and includes the names of Kim Meyer-Gabia, Rhio Anne Flores, Yomaylin Feliz, Borana Andoni, and Sandie Paterino (to name just a few). Rachel Lang joined their ranks on Saturday, March 4, with an undefeated run through a field of 20 entrants, on-hand for a $1,000-added event, hosted by Shooter's Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Lang was one of two females among the event's final 12 competitors (Allison LaFleur was the other). Lang squared off against Mike Strassberg in one winners' side semifinal, as Brian Jeziorski met up with Brian Cap in the other. Lang got into the hot seat match with a 6-2 win over Strassberg. Jeziorski joined her for the first of two, following his 7-5 win over Cap. Lang claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Jeziorski and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Strassberg picked up Erick Carrasco, who'd defeated LaFleur 7-6, and Frank Sieczka 6-4 to reach him. Cap drew "The Warrior" (Carl Yusuf Khan), who'd gotten by Jan Mierzwa and Kevin Scalzitti, both double hill. It was Khan and Carrasco who advanced to the quarterfinals; Khan 7-5 over Cap, and Carrasco 7-6 over Strassberg.
Khan chalked up his third double hill win over his last four matches with a win over Carrasco in those quarterfinals. He then had his loss-side run ended by Jeziorski 7-4 in the semifinals. Lang completed her undefeated run with an 8-6 second victory over Jeziorski in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter's Billiards, 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 Sunday, March 12, will be a $1,000-added, 'double points' event, hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Omar Alli faced five opponents and played six matches during his recent undefeated run through a field of 34 entrants, on hand for the August 23 stop on the Tri-State Tour. The first three were male, the last two were female – Rhio Anne Flores and Kim Meyer-Gabia; two of the tour's toughest, having finished fourth and sixth among the tour's top 36 women in the 2013-2014 season. The $1,000-added event on Saturday was hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Following victories over Juan Guzman, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and Lidio Ramierez, Alli ran into his first lady, Flores, in a winners' side semifinal match. The other (Meyer-Gabia), in the meantime, squared off against Tony Ignomirello. Alli prevailed over Flores 7-6, and in the battle for the hot seat, faced Meyer-Gabia, who'd defeated Ignomirello 6-5. Alli sent Meyer-Gabia to a semifinal matchup against Flores, and waited in the hot seat for her to return.
Flores had moved to the loss side and for starters, drew Ed Culhane, who'd defeated Ramierez 7-5 and Chumreon Sutcharitakul 8-4 to reach her. Ignomirello picked up T.J. Aguis, who'd gotten by Christine Pross 6-4 and Bob Toomey 6-5. 'Annie' gave up only a single rack to Culhane, and moved into the quarterfinals against Aguis, who'd eliminated Ignomirello 6-3.
Two close, double hill matches followed, both of them won by the ladies. Flores downed Aguis in the quarterfinals and was defeated herself by the same score in the semifinals against Meyer-Gabia, who earned a second shot against Alli. It was a shot that wasn't fired. Alli and Meyer-Gabia opted out of a final match due to the lateness of the hour, and split the top two prizes. Alli, as the undefeated player, laid claim to the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of The Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Batron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for August 30-31, will be hosted by Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan, NY.
Matthew Harricharan, Raphael DaBreo, Owner Manny Stamatakis and Bryan Singh
Raphael Dabreo re-entered the Tri-State Tour winners' circle on the weekend of November 23-24 with an undefeated run through a field of 54, on hand for the $1,600-added, A-D handicapped 9-ball tournament, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. It was his third win on the 2013-2014 Tri-State tour, and his fourth win of the year, which included a September victory on the Predator Tour. DaBreo stopped a nine-match, loss-side winning streak by Matthew Harricharan to complete his undefeated run.
DaBreo's six-match trail to the win included two, double hill victories. He followed an opening round, 7-5 victory over Dan Faraguna, with a double hill win over Chris Karp, and a 7-4 win over Meshak Daniel, which set him up in a winners' side semifinal against Keith Adamik. Bryan Singh, in the meantime, squared off against Jamiyl Adams in the other semifinal. DaBreo and Adamik battled to double hill, before DaBreo prevailed for a hot seat matchup versus Singh, who'd downed Adams double hill, as well. DaBreo sent Singh to the semifinals 9-5 and waited in the hot seat for what turned out to be Harricharan.
Harricharan, who'd been sent to the loss side by Meshak Daniel, double hill, had chalked up four, before surviving two straight double hill battles against Tony Liang and Lidio Ramirez (who'd spoiled a rematch by defeating Meshak Daniel 7-2). This set Harricharan up to face Adamik. Adams drew Eric Hummel, who'd gotten by Kim Meyer-Gabia 7-3 and Pat Mareno 6-1.
Harricharan stopped Adamik one game shy of a third straight double hill match ,7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Adams, who'd defeated Hummel 7-4. Harricharan then chalked up a third double hill win, defeating Adams in those quarterfinals, and then, defeating Singh in the semifinals 8-4 for a shot against DaBreo.
Harricharan took an early 2-0 lead in the finals and maintained it through the sixth match. Down 2-4, DaBreo took command at that point, winning five straight to claim his third 2013-2014 Tri-State title.
Tour representatives expressed their thanks to Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, playing conditions and on-going support of the tour and its players. They also thanked sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the tour is scheduled for November 30 at Gotham Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Basdeo Shawn Sookhai, Kim Meyer-Gabia and Keith Adamik
Keith Adamik has been a consistent top 10 finisher on the Tri-State Tour for a few years now. He finished the 2011-2012 season as the # 2-ranked player in the A/A+ class, 15 points behind Daniel Dagotdot that year, but until this past Saturday (July 20), a victory on the tour had eluded him. As it played out, it looked as though it might elude him again, as Stewart Warnock shut him out in the opening round of play. Adamik came back from that defeat to win nine on the loss side, then meet and defeat hot seat occupant Basdeo Sookhai to claim his first Tri-State Tour title. The $1,500-added event, the first of the Tri-State Tour's 2013-2014 season, drew 38 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
With Adamik busy on the loss side, Sookhai and Kim Meyer-Gabia were advancing to meet in the battle for the hot seat. In one of the winners' side semifinals, Sookhai sent Lidio Ramirez to the loss side as Meyer-Gabia sent Tony Ignomirello over; both by scores of 7-4. Sookhai moved into the hot seat with a 7-3 win over Meyer-Gabia.
Adamik survived his one and only double hill fight, defeating Ramirez, as Toomey advanced to meet him in the quarterfinals with a 6-1 victory over Ignomirello. Adamik then dropped Toomey into fourth place 9-6 and spoiled Meyer-Gabia's bid to get back to the finals with an 8-6 win over her in the semifinals.
In the final match, Adamik and Sookhai got things underway by trading racks back and forth to a 3-3 tie; Adamik taking his first lead at 3-2. At the tie, however, it was over. Adamik chalked up six straight to win the match and claim his first Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham City Billiards, along with sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Steve Dunkle Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for July 28 at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
They'd dodged each other in the winners' side semifinals; Jose Liz Domeneche, moving to the loss side, while Paul Spaanstra moved on to the hot seat match. Domeneche won three in a row on the loss side and then, came back to meet and defeat Spaanstra in the finals of the $750-added, A-D handicapped event, hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ on Saturday, June 22.
Domeneche had been downed by Kyle Bubet among the winners' side final four 6-4, as Spaanstra was busy surviving a double hill match against Mike Zimny. Spaanstra got into the hot seat 7-5 over Bubet and waited on Domeneche.
Luis Jimenez, winner of the tour's June 1 stop, was the man waiting on Domeneche on the loss side. He'd gotten by Jay Choi 6-4 and Lawrence Chandler 6-5 to reach him. Zimny drew Dave Ascolese, who'd defeated Steve Kaminov and Rhys Chen, both 7-5. Domeneche and Zimny moved on to the quarterfinals; Domeneche having eliminated Jimenez 6-3, Zimny defeating Ascolese 7-3.
Domeneche took the quarterfinal match 7-5 over Zimny, which set him up for a re-match against Bubet in the semifinals. He successfully negotiated that final, loss-side step with a 6-3 victory over Bubet and moved on to the finals.
Domeneche opened the final match against Spaanstra with three straight racks. Spaanstra would get close, but never lead. He closed the gap to within one at 4-3, and 5-4, before knotting things at 5-5. They traded racks to 6-6 before Domeneche put up his second three in a row to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be its annual Invitational Event on July 6-7, hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. The top 16 contenders for Player of the Year honors, in each of the tour's six ranking divisions, will be invited to compete.
Bernie Isaacowitz, Basdeo Sookhai and Jimmy Acosta
Basdeo "Shawn" Sookhai advanced through six opponents to get into the hot seat during the May 25-26 stop on the Tri-State Tour. One of those opponents, Jimmy Acosta, came back to haunt him; challenging him in the double elimination finals and taking the first of the two sets. Sookhai came back to win the second and claim title to the $1,000-added, B-D handicapped event that drew 41 entrants to Amsterdam Billiards & Bar in lower Manhattan, NY.
They met first in the third round. Sookhai had defeated Mike Zimny and Wanlop Chantarakolkit, before sending Acosta west 7-2. Sookhai then downed Jamie Poush by the same score to move among the winners' side final four and a match against the previous week's winner, 14-year-old Thomas Rice. Bernie Isaacowitz and Edward Lum met in the other winners' side semifinal. Sookhai defeated Rice 7-3, and in the battle for the hot seat, faced Isaacowitz, who'd sent Lum over, 6-2. Sookhai survived a double hill battle against Isaacowitz to sit in the hot seat, waiting for Acosta.
Acosta, in the meantime, was in the midst of the seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him all the way back to the finals. He got by Eddie Medina and Kim Meyer-Gabia, before being challenged, double hill, by Michael Fedak. Acosta prevailed and then defeated Ron Mason 7-1, to pick up Rice. Lum drew Kirill Safronov, who'd gotten by King Victoree and Poush, both 6-2.
Acosta eliminated Rice 7-2, and was met in the quarterfinal match by Lum, who'd defeated Safronov 6-1. Acosta completed his loss-side march with an 8-6 victory in those quarterfinals, and a 7-5 win over Isaacowitz in the semifinals.
Acosta made it eight in a row with a 7-4 win in the opening set of the finals against Sookhai. Sookhai, though, rallied to shut Acosta down in the second set, allowing him only a single rack on his way to a 7-1 victory that earned him top honors.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Amsterdam Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for June 1, will be a $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event, hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Kyle Bubet, room owner Kevin Buckley, Thomas Rice and twin sister Kristin Rice
He's been going at it steadily since January. Through five stops on the Tri-State Tour and one on the Predator Tour, 14-year-old Thomas Rice has been finishing closer and closer to the top. He placed 9th on the Predator Tour in April, 7th on the Tri-State two weeks later, 5th twice (January and last weekend), 3rd once (March), 2nd once (May 4), and on Saturday, May 18, he won seven games on the loss side to meet and defeat Kyle Bubet in the finals of a Tri-State stop to capture his first event title. The $1,500-added, A-D handicapped event drew 43 entrants to Gotham Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Rice won his opening match on this stop, shutting out Kim Meyer-Gabia, and then ran into Bubet, who sent him west 6-4. As Rice embarked on his seven-match, loss-side winning streak, Bubet advanced among the winners' side final four to face Joshua Morancie. Gary O'Callaghan and Bredan Ince squared off in the other winners' side semifinal. Bubet downed Morancie 6-2, and in the hot seat match, faced O'Callaghan, who'd defeated Ince 7-4. Bubet got into the hot seat with an 8-3 victory over O'Callaghan and waited on the fateful return of Rice.
Following victories over Eddie Perez and Nicholas Chan, Rice shut out Luis Jimenez, and defeated Brendon Hollock 6-3 to pick up Morancie. Ince drew Alex Osipov, who'd gotten by Jimmy Acosta 7-1, and Koka Davladze 7-3. Rice and Osipov handed Morancie and Ince their second straight loss – Rice 6-3, Osipov double hill – and met in the quarterfinals.
Rice then ended Osipov's day with a 6-4 win and earned a forfeit victory over O'Callaghan in the semifinals. Rice came out gunning in the finals. He took the opening three racks, and after allowing Bubet a single win, chalked up four more to reach the hill. Bubet, took the next two, but Rice closed it out 8-3 to take top honors.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State stop will be a $1,000-added, A-D event, scheduled for May 25-26 at Amsterdam Billiards in New York City.
Tri-State Tour representatives couldn’t remember the last time that a female player won a stop on the tour, and were only comfortable noting that it hadn’t happened in at least 10 years. There’ve been a lot who finished second (Emily Duddy and Annie Flores, as examples), and while Jeanette Lee played on the tour back in the 90s, and might well have chalked up a victory back then, record-keeping from that time wasn’t very precise.
We do know this: Kim Meyer-Gabia, who, at present, is the number-one ranked female on the tour won her first Tri-State event ever, and though it’s recorded with an asterisk, because no final match was played, it will go down in Tri-State history as the first female victory in a long time. Meyer-Gabia went undefeated in the $1,000-added A-D handicapped event on June 16, that was hosted by Carom Cafe in Flushing, NY and drew 37 entrants.
Following victories over Ron Mason, Mashak Daniel and Tony Ignomirello, Meyer-Gabia moved among the winners’ side final four to face Pat Mareno. Stewart Warnock, in the meantime, squared off against Meyer-Gabia’s eventual finals opponent, Chris Karp. Two double hill victories sent Meyer-Gabia and Warnock to the hot seat match, where Meyer-Gabia prevailed 8-5 to sit in the hot seat.
Karp moved over and picked up Basdeo Sookhai, who’d advanced through Arturo Reyes 7-3 and Daniel Dagotdot 8-5 to reach him. Mareno drew Mason, who’d defeated Ignomirello 6-3 and Ben Castaneros 6-4. Karp got back on track with a 7-4 victory over Sookhai, but it was Mason prevailing over Mareno 7-2.
Karp won the quarterfinal match versus Mason 7-4, and then completed his three-match, loss-side journey with a 7-2 victory over Warnock in the semifinals. Karp and Meyer-Gabia consulted with each other, and given the lateness of the hour, decided not to play a final match, leaving Meyer-Gabia, undefeated in the hot seat, as the official winner.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Carom Cafe, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event, scheduled for June 23-24 at Amsterdam Billiards & Bar in New York City.
The error was mine as the author of a recent report on the Tri-State Tour; specifically, the June 16 stop on that tour, won by Kim Meyer-Gabia. In the opening paragraph of that report, I noted that “tour representatives couldn’t remember the last time that a female player won a stop on the tour and were only comfortable noting that it hadn’t happened in the last 10 years.” Tour representatives were wrong, but their name(s) will go unmentioned because the error was strictly and solely mine. I passed insufficiently researched information along as fact.
In actual fact, and only after some lengthy research into my own files, I had reason to know that Meyer-Gabia was not the first woman to win a stop on the Tri-State Tour. In those files of mine, specifically, one dated June 13, 2010, I discovered a report I wrote on a Tri-State stop that was won by Neslihan Gurel. Further, more exhaustive research led me to the fact that three women (at least) have won a stop on the Tri-State Tour, five times in the last three years (including Gurel’s 2010 win). In June and August of 2009, Borana Andoni won twice, and then chalked up a third one in January of 2010. In October of 2009, Rhio Anne Flores won a stop on the tour. I may have actually written up reports on those other four tour stops, but couldn’t locate them in my personal files.
As best as I can determine, Meyer-Gabia was the first woman in two years to win a stop on the Tri-State Tour, which would have been a significant point of information, but a failure of memory on my part, and the part of Tri-State Tour representatives led me to the conclusion that it had been “at least 10 years.”
No excuses. I made a mistake, and wish, here, to correct the error. I try, whenever possible, to create context for tour reports; points of information that clarify and/or expand on the basic information embodied in a report. If, for example, a player wins his/her first tour stop, I try to make that point. If two players have met previously in finals or happen to be battling for the top spot in tour rankings, I try to include that information. All in the name of context, embracing not just an individual report, but an expansive glimpse at a given tour and its players. None of this information is generally included in the raw data I receive about a tour stop, so I have to go look for it, either in the AZ archives, my own personal files, or God forbid, my own memory banks, which, as can be seen here, are not without their flaws.
I sincerely apologize to Neslihan Gurel, Borana Andoni and Annie Flores (and any other women I may have missed) for my failure to recognize their winning achievements on the Tri-State Tour. I will endeavor to see that it doesn’t happen again. All this said, it is somewhat encouraging to note that the AZBilliards pool community for whom I write weekly, was quick to recognize the error and point it out. It’s nice to know that you’re all paying attention.
Tri V. Chau opened his tournament bid on the Tri-State Tour on the weekend of May 19-20 with victories over two of the toughest females on the tour, followed it with a victory over the previous week’s winner, and got into the hot seat with two straight double hill wins. He concluded the campaign with a second victory over his hot seat opponent, Joe Palone, to complete an undefeated weekend, chalking up his first Tri-State Tour win. The $1,000-added B-D handicapped event drew 22 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
Chau started out on Saturday with a decisive 7-1 victory over the # 3-ranked female on the Tri-State Tour, Emily Duddy, and then survived a double hill battle against the # 1 female on the tour, Kim Meyer-Gabia. He then defeated Al Cacciola, who’d won the last tour stop, 7-4 and moved among the winners’ side final four to face Chris Karp. Palone, in the meantime, squared off against Richard Ng. In his second of three double hill wins, Chau sent Karp west, as Palone was busy surviving his own double hill match against Ng. In his last double hill win, Chau sent Palone to the semifinals and sat in the hot seat, awaiting his return.
On the loss side, Jaydev Zaveri defeated Luis Jimenez 6-4 and Carl Yusuf Khan 7-4 to pick up Karp. Ng drew Cacciola, who’d gotten by Ed Culhane 10-7 and Rick Shellhouse 6-1. Zaveri and Ng got right back on track, advancing to the quarterfinals with identical 7-3 victories over Karp and Cacciola. Following another 7-3 win, it was Ng moving on to face Palone in the semifinals.
Ng and Palone battled to double hill, before Palone prevailed for a second crack at Chau. The final matchup went back and forth, until Chau moved ahead to win by two, 7-5. He’d come close before – in January of 2010, when he finished second – but this was Chau’s first Tri-State Tour victory.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of BQE Billiards for their cooperation and hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be a $1,000-added, B-D handicapped event, scheduled for May 26-27 at Amsterdam Billiards & Bar in New York City.
