Dave Shlemperis and Jaydev Zaveri battled once to claim title to the $1,000-added, April 29 event on the Tri-State Tour. That battle, for the hot seat, was won by Shlemperis, and though Zaveri would make a successful comeback from the semifinals, the two opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. The event, which drew 46 entrants, was hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Following victories over Duc Lam, Abel Rosario, Basdeo Sookhai and Kirill Safronov, Shlemperis advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against John Francisco. Zaveri, in the meantime, met up with Juan Melendez. Shlemperis punched his ticket to the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Francisco and was joined by Zaveri, who’d defeated Melendez 8-6. In what proved to be the ‘championship match,’ Shlemperis defeated Zaveri 7-2.
On the loss side, Mike Mele was working on a six-game, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals, and began when, following an opening round bye, he was sent to that side of the bracket by Francisco. Wins #2 and #3, against Adam Miller (6-1) and Mio Celaj, double hill, set Mele up for a re-match against Francisco. Melendez drew Ray Feliciano, who’d gotten by Christian Longo, double hill, and Jeffrey Rosen 9-4, to reach him.
Mele came out on the winning side of his second straight double hill match, exacting his revenge on Francisco. Feliciano joined him in the quarterfinal match with an 8-4 win over Melendez.
Tired, apparently, of double-hill drama, Mele shut Feliciano out in that quarterfinal match, onlya to be drawn into his third double hill match; this time, against Zaveri, in the semifinals that proved to be the event’s final match. Zaveri prevailed and then, in consort with Shlemperis, opted out of a final and split the top two prizes.
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, a $1,000-added, double points event, scheduled for Sunday, May 6, will be hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
It was Shivam Gupta’s second victory on the Tri-State Tour, although both of them have gone into the record books with an asterisk, labeled “No final match played.” In November of 2013, Gupta went undefeated through a field of 37, but he played his last match, against Chris Derewonski, battling for the hot seat. When Derewonski returned from the semifinals, they opted out of a final match, leaving the undefeated Gupta as the event’s official winner. On Sunday, February 18, at a $1,000-added, 10-ball event on the Tri-State Tour, which drew 54 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY, Gupta came back from a loss to Vinnie Crescimanno in the hot seat match and by mutual agreement, they split the top two prizes. Though Gupta was willing to play the final match, issues related to employment led to Crescimanno’s decision to opt out of that match. Also by mutual agreement, they split the cash, with Gupta receiving the larger share (and related tour ranking points) as the official winner.
Following victories over Duc Lam, Jose Estevez, Brian Cap and Mio Celaj, Gupta moved into a winners’ side semifinal match against John Francisco. Crescimanno, in the meantime, squared off against Ralph Ramos, Jr. Gupta advanced to the hot seat match 6-4 over Francisco, while Crescimanno was surviving a double hill match against Ramos. Crescimanno claimed the hot seat 6-2.
Callaghan wreaked re-match vengeance on Francisco 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals, as Ramos, Sr. downed Ramos, Jr. 5-3 to join him. Callaghan then allowed father and son to go home at more or less the same time with a 5-2 win over Ramos, Sr. in the quarterfinals.
Gupta played what proved to be the final match of the event, the semifinals, defeating Callaghan 6-3. The mutual agreement to split the top prizes, and award Gupta the official event title was reached, and it was over.
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, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, February 25, will be a C/D 9-Ball event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Juan Guzman, Gary Bozigian, Bob Toomey & Rhio Anne Flores
With two wins on the Tri-State Tour in 2016 and a runner-up finish (to Tony Liang) in the 6th Annual Ginky Memorial, Juan Guzman has added a win on the Predator Tour. On the weekend of September 24-25, Guzman came from the loss side to win a $1,000-added Predator Tour Amateur stop that drew 66 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Depending on which tour's rankings are referenced, it turned out to be a final match between the #2-ranked A+/A class player (Guzman) versus the #1-ranked C class player (Bob Toomey) on the Tri-State Tour, or the #6-ranked A+ class player against the #8-ranked C class player on the Predator Tour. In both, with their respective handicaps in play, they're evenly matched, as the double hill final made clear.
With Guzman already at work on the loss side, Toomey advanced to a winners' side semifinal versus Eugene Ok. Rhio Anne Flores, in the meantime, squared off against Lidio Ramirez. Toomey got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Ok, and was met by Flores, who'd defeated Ramirez 7-5. Toomey claimed the hot seat 8-7 over Flores and waited on Guzman's return.
Over on the loss side, it was Ramirez drawing Guzman, who'd defeated Miguel Laboy, double hill (LaBoy is #1 to Guzman's #2 position on the Tri-State Tour) and Mio Celaj 7-4. Ok picked up Gary Bozigian, who'd gotten by Troy Deocharran 7-2 and Thomas Schreiber 7-1.
Bozigian and Guzman handed Ok and Ramirez their second straight loss; Bozigian 7-2 over Ok, and Guzman 7-4 over Ramirez. Guzman took the quarterfinal match that followed 9-6 over Bozigian, and defeated Flores 7-5 in the semifinals.
With Guzman racing to 10 and Toomey racing to 5 in the finals, they battled to double hill. Guzman finished it at the 10-4 mark to claim the event title.
The tour stop included two Second Chance tournaments (technically, a second and third chance tournament). Both finals went double hill. The Second Chance event drew 13 and was won by George Poltorak, who defeated Thomas Schreiber, double hill in the final. The Third Chance event, which drew only seven entrants, was won by Eric Carrasco, who downed Mio Celaj, double hill to claim that mini-title.
