It had been, according to our records, almost exactly five years since Chris Schmidt had taken home any cash by competing on the Tri-State Tour. In October of 2014, he finished, in successive weeks, 5th and 4th at two stops on the tour. Schmidt returned to the ‘fold,’ so to speak, on Sunday, October 20 to chalk up his first Tri-State victory. Schmidt went undefeated through a field of 22, on hand for the $1,000-added event that was hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Schmidt had to get by Luis Jimenez twice to claim this event title. Following victories over Tri Chau 7-1 and Paul Wilkens 7-2 Schmidt drew Jimenez for the first time in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Adrian Daniels, in the meantime, squared off against Rick Rodriguez in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Schmidt advanced to the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Jimenez. Daniels joined him after a 6-3 win over Rodriguez. Schmidt and Daniels battled to double hill before Schmidt prevailed to claim what appears to be his first recorded claim to a tournament’s hot seat.
On the loss side, Jimenez opened his three-match march back to the finals against Desi DeRado, who’d defeated Paul Wilkens 7-5 and Zach Ivie, double hill, to reach him. Rodriguez drew Shweta Zaveri, who’d recently eliminated Bob Toomey 7-5 and CJ Chey 7-1.
Jimenez and Rodriguez got right back to work, winning. Jimenez downed DeRado 7-3, as Rodriguez just did survive a double hill fight against Zaveri.
Jimenez earned his way to a slot in the finals with two straight double hill wins, over Rodriguez in the quarterfinals and Daniels in the semifinals. Schmidt, though, edged out in front in the final match that followed, defeating Jimenez 7-5 and claiming his first event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui, Phil Capelle, Bloodworth Ball Cleaner, Billiard Engineering, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and Pool & Billiards. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, October 27, will be a Double Points, 10-ball event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Ashley Burrows would go undefeated into the hot seat at the Tri-State Tour’s last event of the 2018/2019 season. Joshua Joseph would win six on the loss side of the bracket and earn the right to meet her in a final match. The two opted out of that final match, leaving Burrows, the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, as the official winner and Joseph, in his highest finish on the tour, as runner-up. The $1,000-added event drew 48 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Joseph, appearing in his eighth event of the 2018/2019 season, solidified his position among the D+ class of competitors. He finished the season in third place, guaranteeing him an invite to the year-ending Invitational Tournament. Though her (*) victory advanced Burrows among her fellow B class players, she was 400 points away from the 16-player cutoff point for an invite to the year-ending Invitational Tournament. That tournament, scheduled for the weekend of June 29-30, will feature the top 16 players from each of six divisions and crown a champion for each of them, as well as a Tri-State Tour Grand Champion, who, at the end of the 2017/2018 season, was Erick Carrasco.
Burrow’s path to the hot seat went through Joe Palone, survived a double hill battle against Paul Madonia, and sent Levie Lampaan and Paul Wilkens to the loss side, to draw Manny Gomez in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Bianca Martinez, in the meantime, well-positioned at #8 to earn an invite to the D+ event of the Invitational faced Rick Rodriguez in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Burrows and Martinez became the first women, in an ill-defined long time, to square off in the hot seat match of a Tri-State tournament. Burrows had sent Gomez to the loss side 7-5, as Martinez was busy sending Rodriguez west 7-1. Burrows claimed the hot seat over Martinez 8-6 in what would prove to be her last match.
On the loss side, Gomez and Rodriguez ran right into their second straight loss. Gomez drew Jason Goberdhan, who’d defeated Bob Toomey, double hill and Paul Wilkens 7-1 to meet and defeat Gomez 6-3. Rodriguez picked up Joshua Joseph, who was three matches into his six-match, loss-side winning streak and had most recently defeated the competitor who’d sent him to the loss side Marco Daniele 5-3 and shut out Ada Lio. He downed Rodriguez 7-4 to join Goberdhan in the quarterfinals.
Joseph defeated Goberdhan 7-3 in those quarterfinals and then, double hill, defeatEd Martinez in the semifinals. Joseph and Burrows agreed on the split and ended the regular 2018/2019 Tri-State Tour season.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton 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 scheduled Tri-State Tour event will be its annual Tri-State Invitational, scheduled for the weekend of June 29-30 and hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
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.
Jerry Almodovar has cashed, according to our records, four times at a combination of Tri-State and Predator Pro Am Tour stops over the past three years; his highest finish coming in the Predator tour’s Tour Championships last December, at which he finished fourth. Almodovar broke through on Sunday, Oct. 28, with an undefeated run on the Tri-State Tour, downing Paul Wilkens in the battle for the hot seat and splitting the top two prizes with Kevin Serodio, following a decision not to play a final match. The $1,000-added event drew 25 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Following victories over Bernie Vogelsang, Mike Strassberg and Tim Demarest, Almodovar moved into a winner’s side semifinal against Serodio. Wilkens, in the meantime, having defeated Neil Walmsley, Jaydev Zaveri and Rick Rodriguez, squared off against Eddie Medina. Almodovar won the only match he played against Serodio 6-3 and was joined in the hot seat match by Wilkens, who’d sent Medina west in a double hill battle. Almodovar claimed the hot seat and, in effect, the event title 7-3 over Wilkens.
On the loss side, Serodio picked up Michelle Brotons, fourth on the Tri-State’s list of top-ranked females and 7th on its list of C players, who was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. She’d downed Shweta Zaveri 7-5 and Tim Demarest 7-4 to reach Serodio. Medina drew David Schaeffer, who’d just eliminated Luis Jimenez 7-3 and Walmsley 7-5.
Medina advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Schaeffer and was met by Serodio, who’d defeated Brotons, double hill. Serodio went on to defeat Medina 7-4 in those quarterfinals.
In what proved to be the last match of the night, Serodio earned a shot against Almodovar in the hot seat with a 7-5 win over Wilkens in the semifinals. Having played once in a winners’ side semifinal that sent Almodovar to the hot seat match, Almodovar and Serodio opted out of a second match and split the top two prizes.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family 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, Nov. 4, will be a Double Points 10-Ball event, Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Paul Spaanstra, Bob Guerra (owner Rockaway Billiards) and Paul Wilkens
Last November, after a series of five runner-up finishes on the Tri-State Tour over a span of five years, Paul Spaanstra chalked up his first win on the tour. On Sunday, April 30, at the same location as his previous win, five months earlier, Spaanstra went undefeated to claim his second Tri-State title. The $1,000-added event drew 28 entrants to Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Spaanstra had to get by Paul Wilkens twice to win this one. They met first in a winners' side semifinal that Spaanstra won 7-3, advancing to the hot seat match. He was met by Dax Druminski, who'd defeated Tony Ignomirello in a double hill fight. Spaanstra claimed the hot seat (which he had not done back in November) with a 9-6 win over Druminski.
On the loss side, Wilkens began his trip back to the finals against Jerry Ritzer, who'd defeated Kevin Scalzitti 7-5 and Alex Gutierrez 7-3 to reach him. Ignomirello picked up Bob Toomey, who'd eliminated Frank Pesce and Allison LaFleur, both 6-4.
Wilkens and Ignomirello advanced to the quarterfinals; Ignomirello, backing up his double hill loss against Druminski with a double hill win over Toomey and Wilkens eliminating Ritzer 7-2.
Wilkens downed Ignomirello 7-4, and then, in the semifinals, earned his second shot against Spaanstra with an 8-6 win over Druminski. Spaanstra completed his undefeated run with a 7-4 victory over Wilkens in the finals.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rockaway 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, May 7, will be hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.
Paul Wilkins, Emit Yolcu, Brooke Meyer and Raphael Dabreo
Over a two-year span (2013/2014), Raphael Dabreo chalked up a total of seven event wins on the Predator and Tri-State Tours; two on the former, five on the latter. He was winning, at one point, an average of one event per month, which earned him a bit of national notoriety as the subject of a Billiards' Digest Tour Spotting profile. In 2015, that productivity dropped off a bit. Though he would be the runner-up in both the Empire State 10-Ball Championships and the Mixed Masters division of the NYC 8-Ball Championships in 2015, it was the first time in six years that he had failed to chalk up an event victory on either of the two New York-based Amateur tours.
On the weekend of January 30-31, he broke that streak, going undefeated on a Predator Tour stop, chalking up two gritty wins over Paul Wilkens to complete the run. The $1,000-added event drew 97 amateur competitors to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
They met first in the hot seat match. DaBreo and Wilkens defeated Brooke Meyer and Emit Yolcu, respectively, by identical 7-3 scores in the winners' side semifinals. The hot seat match came within a game of double hill, but when it was over, DaBreo was in the hot seat.
On the loss side, a gauntlet of regular Predator competitors had already been eliminated, including Manny Stamatakis (owner of Steinway Billiards), Rhys Chen (and his wife, Lenore), Alex Osipov, and Rhio Anne Flores, to name just a few. Meyer came over and picked up Miguel Laboy, who'd been responsible for eliminating Stamatakis 7-4, and Rhys Chen 7-3. Yulco drew Jose Kuilan, who'd defeated Lenore Chen and Dan Faraguna, both 7-5.
Yulco downed Kuilan 7-4, as Meyer locked up in a double hill fight versus LaBoy, eventually advancing Meyer to the quarterfinals against Yulco. Meyer found himself in a second straight double hill battle in those quarterfinals, from which, again, he came out on top.
Meyer wasn't as fortunate in his third straight double hill contest; this time, versus Wilkens in the semifinals. Wilkens prevailed for a second shot at DaBreo. The finals proved to be the event's fourth straight double hill match, commencing with Meyer's victory over LaBoy and concluding with DaBreo's eventual double hill win over Wilkens in the finals.
The top four prizes in this event featured an $800 bonus, contributed by the players themselves ($20 per player, offered as an option), and spread out over the top four spots. Thus, $350 was added to the first place prize, $225 to second, $150 for third and $75 for fourth.
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, National Amateur Pool League, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 racks, Gotham City Technologies, PoolOnTheNet.com, The DeVito Team, Billiards Press, AZ Billiards, Billiards Digest, and Pool & Billiard Magazine. He also thanked William Finnegan, Mandy Wu, and Irene Kim for their assistance with the tournament, as well as his wife, Gail Robles.
On the weekend of November 28-29, warming up for the Predator Tour's season finale, a $7,000-added event, scheduled for December 12-13 at Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY, Earl Strickland and Steve Dempsey went undefeated through their respective Open/Pro and Amateur fields. The $500-added Open/Pro event drew 10 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, NY. The Amateur event drew 58 to the same location.
Strickland's path to the winners' circle went through Lee Kang twice; once in the hot seat match and again, in the finals. Strickland had sent Zion Zvi (the tour's top-ranked Pro class player) to the loss side 7-5, as Kang sent Sean Morgan over 7-4. Strickland gave up a single rack in the battle for the hot seat, and waited on Kang's return.
On the loss side, Zvi drew Ron Mason, who'd picked up a loss-side bye and defeated Ryan Boursse 7-4. Morgan drew the tour's top-ranked Open class player, Jorge Rodriguez, who'd defeated tour director Tony Robles 7-1 and Mike Wong 7-5. Zvi downed Mason 7-2, as Rodriguez was eliminating Morgan 7-4.
Rodriguez took the quarterfinal match 7-5 over Zvi, and was then eliminated 7-4 by Kang. In their second of two, Strickland claimed the Open/Pro title over Kang 7-4.
In the Amateur event, Steve Dempsey faced separate opponents in the hot seat match and finals; Ramilo Tanglao in the former, Juan Guzman (whom he'd sent to the loss side) in the latter. Dempsey sent Raphael DaBreo to the loss side 7-2 in a winners' side semifinal, as Tanglao sent Paul Wilkens over, double hill. Dempsey claimed the hot seat 9-6 and waited on Guzman's return.
On the loss side, Guzman got by Tony Liang and Shawn Sookhai, both 7-5, to pick up DaBreo. Wilkens drew Mike Figueroa, who'd eliminated Lukas Srancasso-Verner 7-5 and Erick Carrasco 7-4. Guzman downed DaBreo 7-2, and in the quarterfinals, faced Wilkens, who'd defeated Figueroa 7-5.
Guzman won two straight double hill matches for a shot at Dempsey in the hot seat. he got by Wilkens in the quarterfinals, and Tanglao in the semifinals. Dempsey, though, shut Guzman down in the finals, allowing him only a single rack to claim the event title.
Rhys Chen, Tony Robles and Open event winner Jayson Shaw
Jamaica's Rhys Chen went undefeated, and became the fifth different player in five years to claim the Amateur title at the George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament. The $2,000-added, 5th Annual Ginky Memorial Tournament's Amateur event, held Memorial Day weekend, drew a record 176 entrants. Added to the 64 entrants on-hand for the Open/Pro event (won by Jayson Shaw, separate story), this year's Ginky Memorial became the first event to accomplish a goal of Predator Tour Director Tony Robles, set when he launched his tour in 2008; to host a tournament that drew more than 200 entrants. Organized by a cooperative collaboration of the Predator Tour, the Tri-State Tour and the Mezz Tour, the Ginky Memorial was hosted, once again, by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Among the reasons that the Amateur event at the Ginky Memorial has yet to crown a repeat champion is the fact that a victory will often move the winner into the Open/Pro category. Michael Yednak, who won the Amateur event in 2013, as an example, competed in the Open/Pro event this year. Meanwhile, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, 2014's winner, was once again, competing in the Amateur event. Both finished out of the money at this year's event. Given the field size and the general level of competition, it's a tough event to win twice (Mike Dechaine has done it on the Open/Pro side).
In the early stages of the event, there were two brackets, divided by tour rankings – an A++, A+, A, and B+ bracket, and a B through D bracket. The brackets merged toward the end, with the two finalists in the B-D bracket (Joe Torres and Mike Farley) facing each other in the overall event's winners' side semifinal. Facing each other as the last two left standing in the A++ – B+ bracket were Chen and Tim Fitzsimmons. Chen downed Fitzsimmons 7-4, and in the hot seat match, faced Farley, who'd sent Torres to the loss side 7-2. Chen claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Farley, and waited on what turned out to be the return of Paul Wilkens.
Wilkens was in the midst of a loss-side run that went through Glenn Ramsey, double hill, and Lukas Francasso, almost-double hill (7-5), before coming up against the recently-arrived-from the winners'-side Torres. Fitzsimmons drew Carlos Luna, who'd just survived two straight double hill matches, against Dave Shlemperis and Matthew Harricharan. Wilkens and Luna handEd Torres and Fitzsimmons their second straight loss; Wilkens 7-4 over Torres, Luna 7-5 over Fitzsimmons.
Wilkens took the quarterfinal match versus Luna, and the semifinal match against Farley by the same 7-5 score, earning him a shot against Chen in the hot seat. Chen, though, stopped Wilkens' loss-side run with a 7-4 victory to claim the 5th Ginky Memorial title.
Coming through the C-D side of a 59-player field, Dave Jusis met and defeated A-B player Scott Simonetti twice to claim the Tri-State Tour stop title, his first, on Saturday, February 8. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Divided early, into A-B and C-D brackets, Jusis got by Gil Costello, Tony Ignomirello, Paul Wilkens, and Mike Farley, before meeting up with Mike Strassburg in the C-D final. Simonetti, in the meantime, defeated Geoff Bauer, Bob Labelestein, and Paul Raval before squaring off against Stewart Warnock in the A-B final. Jusis downed Strassburg double hill, to be met in the battle for the hot seat by Simonetti, who'd sent Warnock to the losers' bracket 7-3. Jusis sent Simonetti to the semifinals 9-7 and sat in the hot seat to await his return.
Strassburg moved over to pick up Paul Wilkens, who, after being defeated by Jusis in the third round, went on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He defeated Quinn Chen, Mike Figueroa, Eddie Perez and Mike Farley to face Strassburg. Warnock drew Bogie Uzdejczyk, who was on a six-match, loss-side streak of his own, having eliminated Chuck Giallorenzo, Roger Hanos, Mike Zimny, Geoff Bauer, Paul Raval and Max Watanabe.
Wilkens survived a double hill match against Strassburg and in the quarterfinals, faced Warnock, who'd ended Uzdejczyk's winning streak 7-1. Wilkens and Warnock locked horns in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Wilkens to meet Simonetti in the semifinals.
Simonetti, in what proved to be the final match of the evening, defeated Wilkens 9-7. He and Jusis opted out of playing a final match, allowing the undefeated Jusis to lay claim to the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards for their hospitality and continuing support of the tour, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, February 16, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
Ricardo Mejia got as close as runner-up last February on the Tri-State Tour. On Saturday, January 11, he shed the bridesmaid role by going undefeated through a field of 37 players, on-hand for the $1,000-added stop on the tour, hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Originally divided up between A/B and C/D players, the ranks would come together at the approach of the finals. Working in the A/B bracket, Mejia would get by Mike Zimny, Shin Sekin, Alex Gutierrez, and in the A/B final, defeat Raj Vanalla in a double hill match that would put him in the event hot seat. Paul Wilkens, in the meantime, was advancing through the C/D bracket, defeating Jan Mierza, Richard Anderson, Frank Sieczka and finally, Scott Abramowitz 6-3, which would move him into the hot seat match against Mejia. Mejia would gain the hot seat, double hill, and wait on what would turn out to be the return of Chuck Giallorenzo.
On the loss side, Vanalla would have the misfortune of running into Giallorenzo, who'd gotten by Max Watanabe 7-3 and Mike Zimny 7-4. Abramowitz would have the equal misfortune of meeting up with a streaking Jaydev Zaveri, who'd defeated Mike Figueroa 6-4 and Bernie Vogelsang 6-5 to reach him.
Giallorenzo ended Vanalla's run 7-4, as Zaveri ended Abramowitz' run 6-4. Giallorenzo then survived a double hill quarterfinal over Zaveri, and spoiled Wilkens' bid for a rematch against Mejia with a 7-4 win in the semifinals.
Giallorenzo, with momentum on his side, took the opening two games of the finals, before Mejia responded with an early 9-ball combination in the next two games, and broke and ran to a 3-2 lead he'd never give up. Giallorenzo chalked up only one more rack as Mejia went on to complete his undefeated run 7-3.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $750-added, A-D handicapped event, scheduled for Sunday, January 19 at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
