One of the trickier concepts of most regional tour ranking systems is the balance between actual accomplishments and participation. Winning the most event titles does not necessarily guarantee that you’ll be ranked as the tour’s top player in any given division. While your victories might put you ahead in cash, if a fellow competitor has appeared in three times as many events as you, he/she could well be ahead of you in tour ranking points, because he/she was collecting points, sometimes for less notable finishes, when you weren’t competing.
Case in point: Matt Klein, who, two weeks ago, entered a tournament as the Tri-State Tour’s #4-ranked B player. He won that tournament, his second of the tour’s 2018-2019 season, and this past weekend (Sunday, April 28), he added a third Tri-State title with an undefeated run at a $1,000-added event that drew 49 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Going into this past weekend’s tournament, Klein had not moved up in the B-player rankings, because while the three players ahead of him on the list didn’t compete, they’d participated in more tournaments, overall, and retained their lead in the B rankings. That might change this week, as Klein’s 14th appearance on the 2018-2019 Tri-State season likely edged him closer to or possibly above Tri Chau in third place. Nathaniel Raimondo and B leader, Mike Mele are somewhat out of reach (points-wise) to allow Klein to take the top spot, this week. But stay tuned, as the Tri-State season edges toward its mid-summer conclusion. With three wins to his credit, he could finish the season as its top ranked B player.
Klein faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals of this most recent event. He sent Tony Kuo to the loss side 7-3 in one winners’ side semifinal, as Bryan Jeziorski (the tour’s #4-ranked B+ player and winner of the previous week’s Tri-State event) downed Pashk Gjini (#27 on the B list) 7-2 in the other one. Klein claimed the hot seat with a 7-3 win over Jeziorski.
It was Gjini who would face Klein in the finals and he began his loss-side trip back to that match, against Jose Estevez, who’d defeated Nick Limbertos 7-4 and shut out Ryan Dayrit to reach him. Kuo picked up John Durr, who’d most recently eliminated “Smiley” Feliz 7-4 and Bianca Martinez 8-3.
Gjini moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-4 victory over Estevez and was joined by Durr, who’d defeated Kuo 7-1. Gjini then defeated Durr in those quarterfinals 7-1 to draw a rematch against Jeziorski in the semifinals.
A somewhat predictable double hill match ensued, with odds in favor of the higher-ranked player, Jeziorski. Gjini, though, prevailed to earn his slot in the finals. There, Klein put an end to his loss-side run 7-1 to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff, 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 this weekend (Sunday, May 5) 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.
It’s hard to know how the final game in any double hill match is going to affect a player. Some buckle under the pressure, while others rise to the adrenaline-fueled challenge and win. Some, at different times, do one or the other. Thomas Schreiber’s five-year history with the Tri-State Tour suggests that he thrives on double hill matches. It’s difficult to peruse the totality of his recorded history on the tour and determine just how many double hill matches he’s played, but we do know, as one example, that the second time he cashed on the Tri-State Tour, back in December of 2014, Schreiber lost a double hill match in the battle for the hot seat, won a double hill match in the semifinals and though he’d open the finals with four straight, he lost that match, double hill, to finish as runner-up. In a win during the 2017-2018 season, Schreiber got knocked to the loss side in a double hill loss, played two double hill matches to get back to the finals and then defeated hot seat occupant Pashk Gjini double hill to win. Four months later, still in the 2017-2018 season in January of 2018, Schreiber got into the hot seat with a double hill win, and then earned the event title with a double hill win in the finals against Lidio Ramirez.
On Sunday, March 24, Schreiber had a double-hill-free trip through to the hot seat, but in the end, after Mike Mele completed a six-match, loss-side winning streak to face him in the finals, Schreiber got into yet another double hill match that he won to claim the event title. Mele entered the tournament as the Tri-State’s top ‘B’ competitor in its Player of the Year standings, with 22 appearances to his credit since last summer. Schreiber’s a ‘B’ player, as well; seventh on the list, with nine appearances since last summer. The $1,000-added 8-ball event drew 38 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY. Schreiber, a two-time winner of the annual NYC 8-Ball Championships (2015/2016), had a bit of an edge in the chosen game category.
Schreiber’s trip to the hot seat saw him win 36 of the 47 games he played, downing Harry Singh, Michelle Brotons, Luis Lopez, and John Durr, before facing David Leggat in a winners’ side semifinal. Mike Strassberg and Amanda Andries, in the meantime, met in the other one. Mele, at the time, was already at work on the loss side.
Schreiber shut Leggat out to get into the hot seat match. Strassberg survived a double hill match against Andries to join him. Schreiber gave up only a single rack to Strassberg and waited in the hot seat for his eventual double hill matchup against Mele in the finals.
It was Andries who picked up Mele on the loss side, three matches into his loss-side winning streak, which had included recent wins over Joe Romeo 6-2 and Tri V. Chau 6-4. Leggat drew John Durr, who, following his defeat at the hands of Schreiber, had won two straight double hill matches against Jerry Almodovar and Fernando Anderson to face Leggat.
Mele downed Andries 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced Leggat, who’d defeated Durr 6-4. Mele and Leggat locked up in a double hill fight, won by Mele, which, in effect, sent him directly to the finals. He leapfrogged over the semifinals when his opponent, Mike Strassberg, had to forfeit that match.
Entering the finals, Mele was looking for his first win on the tour. His closest finish on the tour, to date, came in the season opener of the current 2018-2019 season, last July, when he won six on the loss side to finish as runner-up to Duc Lam. At the tail end of yet another six-match, loss-side winning streak Mele came up against Schreiber and almost predictably found himself in a double hill match for the event title. Schreiber secured it to claim his first Tri-State title since January, 2018, midway through the 2017-2018 season.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, 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 the week after the upcoming Super Billiards Expo (Sunday, April 7) will be hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
As it came down to the end, you had a player competing in his first Tri-State Tour event, against a player looking for his first win on the tour, who ultimately defeated a hot seat occupant, whose first and last win on the tour happened five years ago. The last man standing in that trio of competitors was Marc Lamberti, looking and acquiring that first Tri-State Tour win. He earned it by coming from the loss side to meet and defeat hot seat occupant Luis Jimenez, who was looking for that first win since 2014. The man in the middle, so to speak – Daniel Alaimo – was the newcomer, and though he got by Lamberti once, he couldn’t do it a second time. The $1,000-added, 10-Ball event drew 37 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ on Sunday, March 17.
After an opening round victory that almost put an immediate stop to Lamberti’s winners’ side ambitions – a double hill win over Veronica Perez – Lamberti moved on to another double hill challenge that he survived, over Jowen Pichardo. Michelle Brotons came within a game of being Lamberti’s third straight double hill challenge of the day, but Lamberti got out in front by two at the end and won it 5-3 to face Alaimo for the first time in a winners’ side semifinal. Alaimo arrived at that match following victories over Charlie Beam 5-3, John DeVito 5-2 and Allison LaFleur 5-3. Jimenez, in the meantime, had gotten by Mike Mele 6-4, Jonathan McConnell, double hill, and Llija Trajceski 6-4 to face the tour’s #1-ranked B+ player, Jaydev Zaveri in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Alaimo sent Lamberti off to the loss side 5-2 and in the hot seat match, faced Jimenez, who’d defeated Zaveri 6-3. Jimenez downed Alaimo in the hot seat match and waited on what turned out to be the return of Lamberti.
Lamberti opened his loss-side trip against Jowen Pichardo, whom he’d defeated earlier in the day. Pichardo had recently eliminated two women in a row, Brotons 5-2 and LaFleur, who put up a double hill fight before Pichardo finished it. Zaveri faced Desi DeRado, who’d defeated Kevin Scalzitti 6-4 and Mike Mele 7-4.
Lamberti leap-frogged into the quarterfinals when Pichardo forfeited out of their match. Lamberti was joined by Zaveri who’d knocked DeRado out of the running 6-4. Lamberti took the quarterfinal match 7-4 over Zaveri to get a second shot against Alaimo in the semifinals.
Lamberti took advantage of his second chance. He downed Alaimo 6-3 and turned to see if he could lock up his first Tri-State win by knocking Jimenez out of his hot seat perch. He did, defeating Jimenez 8-4 in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, an 8-ball tournament, scheduled for Sunday, March 24, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
You have to watch the ones that come from deep on the loss side. Once they’ve chalked up five or more on that side of the bracket, they’re usually pretty immune to the nerves that likely plagued them when their loss-side journey began. And by the time they get to the vicinity of the quarterfinals, they’ve been playing non-stop for hours and are likely to be in-stroke for whatever lies ahead. Playing in the last 2018 stop on the Tri-State Tour, it was Jimmy Acosta in the hot seat and Mike Mele, preparing for the semifinals who were doing the watching. It was Rick Motilal that they were watching.
In the end, though, Motilal’s eight-match, loss-side streak was ended by Mike Mele in the semifinals. Mele’s bid for the title was, in turn, stopped in the finals by Acosta, who went undefeated to claim the tour’s final 2018 event title. The $1,000-added event drew 58 entrants on Sunday, Dec. 16 to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Acosta and Mele met first in the hot seat match. Acosta’s trip went through Christian Orque, Shawn Sookhai, Ed Medina and Dave Leggat to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Marc Joseph. Mele, in the meantime, following a double hill win against Raymond Lee in a winners’ side quarterfinal, met up with Dejan Kocev.
Acosta sent Joseph to the loss side 8-4. Mele joined him in the hot seat match after sending Kocev over 7-5. Acosta took the first of their two 7-4 to claim the hot seat, and then, probably, watch Motilal’s advance.
It was Joseph who ran into Motilal on the loss side. Motilal, who’d been sent to the loss-side in the event’s second round by Juan Melendez, had most recently chalked up loss-side wins #5 & #6, downing Ray Feliciano and David Leggat, both 7-4. Kocev drew Nathaniel Raimondo, who’d eliminated Raymond Lee 7-3 and John Stiles 7-2 to reach him.
Motilal got into the quarterfinal match with a 7-4 win over Joseph. Raimondo and Kocev battled to double hill before Kocev advanced to join Motilal in the quarterfinals.
In what proved to be his last win, Motilal sent Kocev home 7-4. The semifinal match that followed was (as described by tour representatives) a “cliffhanger” that went double hill, before Mele finished it for a second shot at Acosta in the hot seat.
The final itself was a bit anti-climactic. Acosta repeated his hot seat match performance, downing Mele 7-4 a second time to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, which will be the first of 2019, is scheduled for Sunday, January 6, 2019 at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
By the time Lee Sung, a D+ player on the Tri-State Tour, reached the hot seat match during the Nov. 3 stop on the tour, he’d already reached as close to an event victory as he ever had before. When he got into the hot seat, the sense of accomplishment had to be riding high in his sense of what was to come. What came was Tri-State veteran Eddie Medina, who lost his opening match and came back through eight matches on the loss side to meet Sung in the finals. Sung reached the hill first in the match which would have ended with his seven game wins. But Medina persevered (more on this later), reached seven games first and eventually, defeated Sung to claim the event title. The $1,000-added event drew 27 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Sung and Zaveri both fought double hill battles, 6-5, to get into the hot seat match. Sung’s confidence notched up another step with the 8-5 win over Zaveri that left him in the hot seat.
On the loss side, it was Wilkens who picked up eventual winner Eddie Medina, in the midst of his eight-match march back to the finals. Medina had chalked up wins #4 and #5 against Marc Lamberti 6-3 and Mike Mele 6-1. LaPadula drew Sean Emmitt, who’d eliminated Suzzie Wong and Mark Joseph, both 6-4.
Medina ended Wilkens’ day 6-1 and, in the quarterfinals, faced Emmitt, who’d defeated LaPadula 6-3. Medina moved on to down Emmitt 6-3 in those quarterfinals and completed his loss-side run with a double hill win over Jaydev Zaveri in the semifinals.
As noted at the outset, Sung took the lead in the extended-race-to-9 finals and was staring down his cue at the 10-ball that would end the match with his seven wins. The 10-ball dropped, but so did the cue ball, turning the table over to Medina. Medina went on to win the match, eventually reach seven game-wins first and finish his long and tiring day by winning two more to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 11, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Though saddled with an increasingly popular asterisk, indicating that a tour stop win has been earned without benefit of a deciding final match, Luis Lopez’ victory on the Sunday, October 7 stop on the Tri-State Tour counted where it counted most; in his pocket. According to information at our disposal, the $705 he earned as official winner of the stop made 2018 his best earnings year to date. Another Luis (Carrasco) was Lopez’ hot seat and would-have-been finals opponent. The $1,000-added event drew 39 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Following victories over Andre Shramanko 6-3 and Mike Strassberg 6-2, Lopez chalked up two straight shutouts, over Michael Fedak and, in a winners’ side semifinal, Latonia Taylor. Carrasco, in the meantime, downed Dave Shlemperis 7-2 in the other winners’ side semifinal to join Lopez in the hot seat match. Lopez defeated Carrasco 7-1 to claim the hot seat, and, as it turned out, the event title.
On the loss side, eight competitors were at work, looking to earn their share of the $820 left to divide up among six other competitors. Dave Shlemperis, sent to the loss side by Ramilo Tanglao and in the midst of a loss-side winning streak that would take him to the semifinals, picked up one of them; Nick Limbertos, who’d defeated Tanglao 7-3 to get into the first money round, and Ambi Estevez 7-4 to reach Shlemperis. Taylor drew Mike Mele, who’d defeated Abel Barriento, double hill and Shweta Zaveri (the tour’s top female competitor) 9-4.
Shlemperis and Taylor got right back to work and advanced to the quarterfinals; Shlemperis 7-5 over Limbertos and Taylor 7-4 over Mele. Shlemperis eliminated Taylor in those quarterfinals 8-5 and then had his modest four-match loss-side streak ended with a double hill win by Carrasco in the semifinals.
The two Luis’, Lopez and Carrasco, opted out of a final and, as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat (and having defeated Carrasco once already), Lopez claimed the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Cappelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 21, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
There are any number of pivot points in a pool game, match or tournament, at any skill level. Identification of such a pivot point may differ between competitor and spectator, but in either case, a good shot in an individual game, a critical game victory, match result, or even just a good roll can signify a turning point that propels a player forward to the winners’ circle. Victor Silva’s pivot point during the August 25-26 stop on the Tri-State Tour may have occurred during his fifth loss-side, and seventh overall match, against the Tri-State Tour’s 2017-2018 Most Improved Player of the Year, Matthew Klein. Klein had defeated Silva in a double hill, second round match. Silva came back to defeat him in the matches that determined the two-way tie for fifth place, and then advanced through to meet and defeat hot seat occupant, Teddy Lubis, in a tightly contested, double hill final that earned Silva his first recorded Tri-State win (and his first entry into the AZBilliards database). The $1,000-added event drew 46 entrants to Amsterdam Billiard Club in Manhattan.
With Silva at work on the loss side, Klein advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Lubis, as Kiril Safranov and Amy Yu squared off in the other one. Lubis and Safranov moved on to the hot seat match after identical 7-5 wins over Klein and Yu. Lubis claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Safranov and waited for Silva to complete his loss-side trip.
Klein moved west and ran right into a rematch against Silva, who’d chalked up loss-side wins #3 and #4 against Charles Brancato and Thomas Schreiber, both 7-4. Yu picked up Eric Hummel, who’d eliminated Mike Mele 7-5 and Jason Daniel Decker 6-4 to reach her.
Silva downed Klein 7-4 and pivoted towards the final. Yu joined him in the quarterfinals after a 6-4 victory over Hummel.
The (Sunday) night, though, was young and while he’d cleared his re-match hurdle, there were two more to clear before he’d even get a shot at claiming his first event title. He was challenged, double hill, in both of them, but he defeated Yu in the quarterfinals, and Safranov in the semifinals to get that shot.
In the extended race-to-7 format, Silva had to reach 7 ahead of Lubis to extend the match to nine games, and it almost didn’t happen. Lubis reached the ‘7’ hill first but found himself out of position to close it out. Silva did, though, and it was now a race to 9. Silva won the next game, as well, to reach the ‘9’ hill first. Silva had a shot at the 9-ball to close it out, but he missed, which led to a back and forth chase to sink that 9-ball, which eventually, Lubis did. He also won the next game, forcing Silva into his third straight double hill battle.
Lubis dropped two balls breaking the final rack, and had what looked to be a clean, open path to a runout. But he feathered a side-pocket shot a little too much, and not only did the target ball fail to drop, but the rolling cue ball failed to touch a rail. With ball in hand, Silva ran out to claim his first Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Amsterdam Billiard Club, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, Human Kinetics, QuicSlick and Bender Cues. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 9, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
(l to r): Nathaniel Raimondo & Stewart Warnock, Sr.
Before Sunday, August 19, Nathaniel Raimondo had cashed in only two Tri-State Tour events; one last June (7th) in the 2016-2017 season, and one this past June (5th) in the closing weeks of the 2017-2018 season. On Sunday, he pocketed more than three times what he’d made in both of those events by winning his first stop on the Tri-State Tour. He came from the loss side, winning three, to do it, downing Stewart Warnock, Sr. in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 43 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Four of Raimondo’s nine matches were against two opponents. He opened his bid for his first Tri-State win with a victory over Greg Matos, and would face him a second time on the loss side. Once past Matos, he defeated Luis LaPuente, Mike Mele and Phil Pearce before coming up against Warnock, Sr. for the first time in a winners’ side semifinal. Adam Miller, in the meantime, squared off against Rhio Annie Flores in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Warnock sent Raimondo to the loss side 9-7 and in the hot seat match, faced Miller, who’d defeated Flores 8-6. Warnock claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Miller and waited on Raimondo’s return.
On the loss side, Raimondo drew his second match against Matos, who’d defeated Pearce 7-2 and Chris Rudy 7-3 to reach him. Flores picked up Amir Rashad Uddin, who’d eliminated Jaydev Zaveri 7-4 and Ryan Dayrit, double hill.
Raimondo won his second match against Matos 7-4, and in the quarterfinals faced Uddin, who’d defeated Flores 7-5. Raimondo then eliminated Uddin 7-4.
Raimondo faced and defeated Miller in the semifinals 7-5 to earn himself a second shot at Warnock in the hot seat. In an extended race to 11, Raimondo chalked up his first Tri-State win with an 11-8 victory over Warnock.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for the weekend of August 25-26, will be hosted by Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan.
Fernando Galeas made his first appearance on the Tri-State Tour’s 2018-2019 season count. As a B player, he is now the first player behind Mike Mele and Frank Siezcka, each of whom has two appearances in the early going of the current season. Galeas chalked up his first Tri-State victory by coming from the loss side and downing hot seat occupant Kevin Scalzitti. The $1,000-added event, held on Saturday, July 28, drew 25 entrants to Shooter’s Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Galeas was awarded an opening round by in the 32-player bracket and won his opening match against Jay Choi, before running into Suzzie Wong in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Wong sent him to the loss side in a double hill fight and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Mark Halvorsen. Kevin Scalzitti, in the meantime, got by Rick Rodriguez, Paul Madonia and Matt D’Errico to draw Mac Jankov in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Scalzitti defeated Jankov 8-4 and in the hot seat match, faced Halvorsen, who’d squeaked by Wong 6-5. Scalzitti sent Halvorsen to the semifinals 9-5 and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Galeas.
Galeas opened his loss-side trip with a double hill win over Kevin Serodio and then eliminated Jake Kislowski 8-5 to draw a re-match against Wong. Jankov picked up Madonia, who’d defeated D’Errico 7-1 and Allison LaFleur 7-5.
Galeas advanced to the quarterfinals with a successful 6-4 re-match victory over Wong, and was joined by Madonia, who’d sent Jankov to the figurative showers 7-5. Galeas then eliminated Madonia by the same 7-5 score.
A double hill fight for a spot in the finals ensued. Galeas edged out in front at the end to take on Scalzitti in the finals, where the familiar intangible of momentum led Galeas to a 9-3 win that secured his first Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, August 5, Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
