When players opt out of a final match to determine the outcome of a tournament, the “What if. .” question often hangs in the air. More often than not, the answer is insignificant. What if players X and Y had played the final match? Who’d have won and would that victory matter one way or another in either standings or the individual players’ record? Usually not. On Sunday, March 10, at a stop on the Tri-State Tour, Michael Inoa and Annie Flores opted out of a final match, and as a result, the occupant of the hot seat at the time (Inoa) became the event’s official winner.

 

There were are a lot of aspects to the “What if. .” question that remained when the decision to opt out of a final match came into play this time. Our records indicate that Michael Inoa has cashed in only one event, ever. He finished in the tie for 7th place at a Predator Pro Am Tour stop last year. Annie Flores has a long, and somewhat illustrious and recorded career, to include experience (and cash) at events outside of the tri-state New York area. But both of them entered the hot seat match at this event as B+ players. Their hot seat match was a straight-up race to 7 that went double hill and was won by Inoa. Flores came back from the semifinals with the opportunity for a Round Two, but they both chose not to play what would have been an extended race to 9 (had Flores reached 7 ahead of Inoa, the race would have extended to 9). This was only the second time that Flores has competed in the Tri-State’s 2018-2019 season, which has her at #16 on the tour’s list of female competitors and #28 on the tour’s overall list of B+ players. It was the first appearance on the Tri-State for Inoa.

 

So, what if . . .? Would Inoa have chalked up his first recorded win anywhere (without the ‘asterisk’ fact of no final match), or would Flores have recorded her first win since 2017, when she chalked one up on the Predator Pro Am Tour? Would the B+ guy have beaten the B+ gal a second time? Either way, it would have been an interesting match to watch and arguably, it will be one to watch for in the future. The $1,000-added event this past weekend drew 42 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

Flores got into the hot seat match after downing Russell Masciotti 7-4 in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Inoa downed Ron Bernardo 7-3 to join her. As noted, they battled back and forth to a deciding 13th game, which Inoa won.

 

On the loss side, Masciotti picked up Jimmy Acosta, who, after being defeated by Flores in a winners’ side quarterfinal, defeated Amir Rashad Uddin 7-4 and Patrick Meyers 8-4. Bernardo drew Noah Vogelman, who’d recently eliminated Paul Ewing 7-1 and Bianca Martinez 9-6.

 

Masciotti downEd Acosta 7-3, and in the quarterfinals, faced Vogelman, who’d defeated Bernardo 7-4. Masciotti took the quarterfinal 7-5 over Vogelman to earn himself a second shot against Flores in the semifinals.

 

Masciotti got a rack closer to Flores than he had in their winners’ side semifinal, but Flores downed him a second time 7-5. The decision to not play a final match was made, and left the “what if. .” question in place.

 

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, DIGICUE OB, and Hustlin USA. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for this Sunday, March 17, will be a $1,000-added A/B/C/D event, hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.  

 

Shaw goes undefeated a second time

The fixed-entrant, signature event – The Men's Grandmasters – with its full field of 16 saw Jayson Shaw successfully defend the title he'd won last year, going undefeated for a second time. Though Sean Morgan, last year's runner-up, was among the event's final eight, he ended up in the tie for 5th/6th, which left the door open for Jorge Rodriguez to battle Shaw twice; in the hot seat match and finals. Shaw defeated Nick Ekonomopoulos 8-7 to get into the hot seat match, while Rodriguez sent Mike Wong to the loss side 8-5. Shaw claimed the hot seat 8-5 and waited for Rodriguez to get back from the semifinals.

 

Those semifinals were set up when Morgan and Jeremy Sossei emerged from the 7th/8th matches over Frankie Hernandez and Hunter Lombardo. Morgan drew Ekonomopoulos, and Sossei picked up Wong. Ekonomopoulos ended Morgan's bid to be in the title match 8-4, while Sossei eliminated Wong by the same score. Sossei dropped Ekonomopoulos into fourth place 8-5, before having his bid ended by Rodriguez in the semifinals. Shaw punctuated his title defense with a commanding 8-2 victory over Rodriguez in the finals.

 

Emil and Kwak go undefeated to capture Men's/Women's Leisure titles

Andrew Emil and Carolina Kwak emerged from the 16- and 10-entrant fields of the Men's and Women's Leisure events and went undefeated to capture their respective titles. Emil shut out Jim Gutierrez to get into the hot seat match of the Men's Leisure tournament. He was joined by Mark Ogawa, who'd sent Rolando Rodriguez west 5-2. Emil claimed the hot seat 5-3 over Ogawa.

 

On the loss side, Rodriguez won three straight double hill matches for a shot at Emil in the hot seat. He got by Brad McDuffie, then Gutierrez in the quarterfinals, and finally, Ogawa in the semifinals. Emil, though, punctuated his undefeated run with a shutout over Rodriguez in the finals. 

 

Kwak got into the Women's Leisure hot seat with, first, a double hill win over Bianca Martinez in a winners' side semifinal. Latonia Taylor, in the meantime, sent May Ng to the loss side 5-2. By that same score, Kwak sent Taylor to the semifinals to claim the hot seat. On the loss side, Martinez got into the quarterfinals, following a double hill win over Erika Zan. She was met by the woman she'd sent to the loss side, Deborah Pritchett, who'd eliminated Ng 5-2. Pritchett gave Martinez her come-uppance in a double hill quarterfinal and got a shot at Kwak with a 5-3 win over Taylor in the semifinals. Kwak claimed the Women's Leisure title with a 5-2 victory over Pritchett in the finals.

 

Schreiber, Davladze, and 'The Warrior' claim Mixed Titles.

Tommy Schreiber, competing in the largest-field (32) Mixed Open event, was the only other competitor to go undefeated in the six-event championships. He got into the hot seat match, following a 6-4 victory over Ambi Estevez, and was met by Cristobal Tiru, who'd defeated Joe Wilson Torres 6-4. Schreiber claimed the hot seat 6-3 over Tiru. 

 

It was Estevez and Abel Rosario who emerged from the loss-side scuffles to meet in the quarterfinals. Rosario survived a double hill match versus Omar Chavez to face Torres, whom he then defeated 6-2. Estevez defeated John Morrison 6-3 to join him. Estevez won the quarterfinal match, double hill, over Rosario, before Tiru eliminated him 6-2 in the semifinals. Schreiber then defeated Tiru a second time to claim the title, though not before Tiru battled him to to double hill, forcing a case game.

 

Shawn "The Warrior" Sookhai and Koka Davladze came back from losses in the winners' side semifinals of the Mixed Advanced and Mixed Masters fields to win those events. Sookhai, sent west by Max Watanabe 7-5 in the Mixed Advanced tourney, came back through Noah Vogelman (7-4), Ehmunrao Toocaram (7-5) and successfully wreaked vengeance on Watanabe 7-5, before downing hot seat occupant Matthew Harricharam 9-6 to claim the Mixed Advanced title.

 

Davladze was sent to the loss side by Raphael Dabreo, 7-4, in a winners' side semifinal of the Mixed Masters event. DaBreo went on to defeat Juan Guzman 7-5 in the hot seat match. Elvis Rodriguez, who'd been sent west in the other winners' side semifinal, 7-4, by Guzman, ran into Davladze in the quarterfinals and was eliminated 7-3. Davladze finished Guzman in the semifinals 7-5 and went on to defeat DaBreo 9-7 in the Mixed Masters finals. 

 

Tour organizer Tony Robles thanked added-money contributors Manny Stamatakis (owner of Steinway Billiards), and Michael Fedak, as well as tour director John Leyman. He also thanked Stamatakis' staff for their hospitality, and sponsors Marc Griffin and the BCA Pool League, Cue Sports International, Predator Cues, GothamCityTechnologies.com, PoolOnTheNet.com, NAPL. com, Delta 13, Ozone Billiards, Irene Kin, Ron Mason, Mandy Wu, Dan Faraguna, Allison Fisher, and (his) "amazing wife, Gail."

 

Kirill Safronov, who alternates his pool time between the Tri-State and Predator tours, finally broke through on the Tri-State and chalked up a first win on the tour. The $1,000-added event, in competition with the Predator Tour and The New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open in Providence, RI on the weekend of February 28-March 1, drew a small field to BQE Billiards in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday.

 

Safronov and Lionell Swanston battled twice for the title; first, for the hot seat and later, in the finals. Safronov sent Noah Vogelman to the loss side 7-2 in one winners' side semifinal, while Swanston dispatched Steve Wade 6-4 in the other. Safronov claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Swanston and waited on his return.

 

Vogelman and Wade moved over and were eliminated immediately. Vogelman fell 7-5 to Gary Murgia, who'd previously defeated Shinichi Sekine 7-4 and Ramon Feliciano 7-2. Wade was a 6-1 victim to Bob Toomey, who'd survived a double hill fight versus Anthony Cuccheilla and downed John Morrison 6-1.

 

Toomey advanced to the first money round with an 8-6 win over Murgia in the quarterfinals. Swanston kept him right there with a 6-4 win in the semifinals to earn himself a second shot at Safronov in the hot seat.

 

Swanston came out gunning in the finals and took an immediate two-rack lead. Though Safronov would reduce that lead to one, a couple of times, Swantson eventually expanded it to three racks at 5-2. Safronov settled in at that point and chalked up five in a row to win it and claim his first Tri-State title.

 

The next Tri-State event, scheduled for March 7, will be hosted by Gotham City Billiards. Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, 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 NYC 8-Ball Championships, sponsored by CSI, and the first event of Tony Robles' Silent Assassin Productions, featured every possible type of individual victory.  Held on the weekend of June 6-8, and hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY, the $2,000-added events featured three undefeated performances, one victor from the loss side who won both sets of a double elimination final, and one hot seat occupant, who was defeated in the opening set of the finals and came back to win the second.

 

Jayson Shaw went undefeated in the Men's Grand Masters event (see complete story among Headlines), as did Chickie Romero in the most heavily attended event, the Mixed Open, with 23 entrants. July Laban, playing in the Women's Leisure event, with 16 entrants, completed the roster of undefeated titleists. It was Adam Kwon, playing in the 13-entrant Mixed Advanced event, who came back from the loss side to defeat Chumreon Sutcharitakul twice in the finals. John Morrison gave up the opening set in the finals of the 15-entrant Men's Leisure event, but came back to win the second set.

 

Romero's undefeated performance in the Mixed Open event was almost derailed in his winners' side semifinal, double hill match against Izac Horne. Horne, shooting at the 8-ball in the deciding game, sunk it, only to watch, horrified, as the cue ball caromed off a few rails and dropped into a pocket to advance Romero to the hot seat match. Nick Meyer, who'd defeated Todd Trent 6-4 in the other winners' side semifinal joined Romero in the winners' side final. Romero won it 6-1 and waited for Meyer to return, which he did. Trent and Horne battled it out in the quarterfinals, and when Trent prevailed 6-2, he got a second shot at Meyer in the semifinals. Meyer defeated him a second time, 6-4, only to have Romero defeat him a second time 6-2, to claim the title.

 

July Laban's undefeated run through the field of 16 in the Women's Leisure event was almost derailed by the six-win, loss-side run of Akiko Taniyama, who'd been defeated by Laban in the opening round. As Taniyama was at work on the loss side, Laban and Inessa Gelman met up in the hot seat match. Laban had defeated Carolina Kwak 5-3, as Gelman was sending May Ng over by the same score. Laban downed Gelman 5-2 and waited on Taniyama. It was Taniyama and Ng who met up in the quarterfinals, and it probably didn't do Laban's waiting experience in the hot seat any good, to see Taniyama advance to the semifinals with a shutout over Ng. Nor, for that matter, did Taniyama's 5-1 victory over Gelman. Laban had given up only a single rack to Taniyama in their first meeting, and while Taniyama came within a game of forcing a double hill deciding match, Laban completed her undefeated run 5-3, and claimed the Women's Leisure title.

 

Adam Kwon and Chumreon Sutcharitakul ended up playing three matches that eventually decided the 13-entrant Mixed Advanced event. The first of the three came in a winners' side semifinal, when Sutcharitakul  sent Kwon to the losers' bracket 7-5. In the hot seat match, Sutcharitakul faced Glenn Ramsey, who'd defeated Noah Vogelman in the other winners' side semifinal. Sutcharitakul defeated Ramsey in a double hill fight that proved to be his last win. Kwon moved over and took down Dennis Lake 7-2, and both Vogelman in the quarterfinals and Ramsey in the semifinals 7-5. Kwon then won the opening set of the finals 7-3, and followed with a 7-2 win in the second set that gave him the Mixed Advanced title.

 

Like Kwon and Sutcharitakul, Greg Matos and John Morrison played three times to decide the 15-entrant Men's Leisure event. Their first, following Matos' 5-3 win over Joe DeVito and Morrison's 5-2 win over Jim Gutierrez, came in the hot seat match, won by Morrison, double hill.  DeVito moved to the loss side and after defeating Robert Scarmozzino 5-3 and Gutierrez in the quarterfinals 5-2, was eliminated by Matos 5-2 in the semifinals. Matos took the opening set of the finals, double hill, but Morrison came back to win the second set 5-3 and claim the Mixed Advanced title.

 

Promising "bigger and better events in the future," Robles and his Silent Assassin Productions team, which included John Leyman as tour director and referee for the event(s), thanked Steinway Billiards' owner, Manny Stamatakis and his staff, as well as sponsors Cue Sports International, Delta-13 Racks, Predator Cues, National Amateur Pool League (PlayNAPL.com), Gotham City Technologies, NYC Grind (Jerry and Alison Fischer), AZBilliards, Upstate AL, Joey Leon, and Bob Cmbwsu.