As far as we can tell, Patrick Meyers has been competing on tri-state New York pool tables for about eight years now. It may be more than that, but showing up on our database requires that a player cash in an event before he or she is entered. The first time Meyers did that, according to our records, was back in 2010, when he cashed (tied for 5th place) at a stop on what was then known as the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour at the 1st Annual Reverend Clarence Keaton Memorial Tournament; Amateur Division. He went on to place 9th twice in the 2012 Predator Pro Am season, and then, the following year, 25th in the Amateur division of the 3rd Annual Ginky Memorial (from a field of 128). He finished 9th again, twice, in 2014 and 2015, moved up to a 7th place finish on the Predator Pro Am Tour in 2017, and then, last year, had himself a breakthrough performance on the Tri-State Tour, when he finished as the runner-up in a tournament, officially won by Joe Romeo (they split the top two prizes).
On Sunday, January 27, Meyers chalked up his first event victory, an undefeated run during a C-D event on the Tri-State Tour. He got by a total of six opponents and faced different opponents in the hot seat (Jason Goberdhan) and finals (Greg Matos). The $1,000-added event drew 26 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Meyers got by Brian Schell, Ralph Ramos, Sr., and Terry Mohabir to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Ralph Ramos, Sr.’s son (Junior). Jason Goberdhan, in the meantime, squared off against Brenda Martinez. Meyers squeaked by Ramos, Jr. 7-6, and in the hot seat match, faced Goberdhan, who’d sent Martinez off to the loss side 8-6. Meyers chalked up a second straight, double hill win with a 6-5 victory over Goberdhan, and sat in the hot seat, waiting on the return of Greg Matos, who’d lost a double hill match to Martinez in a winners’ side quarterfinal and was embarked on a five-match, loss-side streak that would earn him a shot at Meyers in the finals.
On the loss side, Ramos, Jr. picked up Clint Pires, who’d defeated Nishant Narang 6-3 and Mohabir 6-2 to reach him. Martinez drew Matos, who’d opened his loss-side campaign with a double hill win over Stewart Warnock, Sr. and then eliminated a potential father/son match by downing Ramos, Sr. 6-1.
Ramos, Jr. eliminated Pires 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Matos, who’d chalked up his second loss-side, double hill win over Martinez. Matos sent Ramos, Jr. home 6-2 in those quarterfinals, and then, by the same score, sent Goberdhan ‘to the showers’ in the semifinals.
Since the winners’ side quarterfinals, Meyers and Matos had survived two double hill matches, on opposite sides of the bracket. It was fitting, somehow, that their final match would be a third double hill battle for both of them. Meyers won it (6-5) to claim his first 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, and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 2, will be an A-B-C-D event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Neil Walmsley, to the best of our ‘records’ knowledge, has cashed three times on the Tri-State Tour in the past nine years. He has won two of those three events. He was runner-up to Raj Vannala at an event in January, 2009. Four years later, he stopped an eight-match, loss-side bid by Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz to capture his first Tri-State title. On Sunday, September 16, Walmsley was defeated in a winners’ side semifinal match against Seam Emmitt, who was looking for his first Tri-State title, and came back to defeat him in the finals to claim his second title. The $1000-added event drew 26 entrants to Clifton Billiards (site of Walmsley’s previous win) in Clifton, NJ.
Following victories over Ilija Trajeski, Joe Mazzeo and David Schaffer, Walmsley advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Emmitt. Ralph Ramos, Jr., in the meantime, who’d defeated Joshua Joseph, and his own father, Ralph Ramos, Sr., squared off against Dax Druminski in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Emmitt handed Walmsley what could easily been a confidence-shattering defeat 7-1 and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Ramos, Jr., who sent Druminski west 7-4. Emmitt defeatEd Ramos, Jr. 8-5 and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Walmsley.
On the loss side, Walmsley opened his loss-side campaign against Tri Chau, who’d defeated Schaffer 7-3 and survived a double hill match against Joseph, to reach him. Druminski picked up Ramos, Sr., who followed his son’s victory over him with victories of his own over Bob Toomey and Mac Jankov, both 6-2.
Walmsley downed Chau 7-2, as Ramos, Sr. was busy eliminating Druminski 6-2. At this point, two intriguing possibilities existed for the finals, two matches away. There was either going to be a father/son semifinal, or Walmsley was going to have to defeat father and then son to get to Emmitt in the hot seat.
It was the second of those two which played out. Walmsely downed Dad 8-5 and then, defeated Junior in a double hill match, which gave him a second shot at Emmitt. Reversing the fortunes of their winners’ side final match, Walmsley claimed his second Tri-State title with a 9-3 win.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Cappelle, Blue Book Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 23 will be an 8-Ball event, hosted by Shooters Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
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.
They played against each other once, and let the result stand. Mike Panzarella and Victor Dabu split the top two prizes offered on the Sunday, December 27 stop on the Tri-State Tour. As the winner of their only meeting, Panzarella claimed title to the $1,000-added event that drew 39 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
They met for the first and only time in a winners' side quarterfinal, which sent Dabu to the loss side and Panzarella to a winners' side semifinal match against Lidio Ramirez. Ralph Ramos, Sr., in the meantime, squared off against Ambi Estevez in the other winners' side semifinal. Panzarella sent Ramirez to the loss side 7-3, and in the hot seat match, facEd Ramos, who'd defeated Estevez 6-4. Panzarella took the hot seat, double hill, and for all intents and purposes, could have gone home at the already-past-midnight hour.
On the loss side, Dabu downed Luis Jimenez 7-5 and Kevin Shin (event winner, a week earlier), double hill, to pick up Ramirez. Estevez drew Jowen Picardo, who'd eliminated Raul Calderon 7-4 and Tony Ignomirello 6-4.
Dabu dropped Estevez into fourth place 8-5, and then, earned a second shot against Panzarella, with a 9-4 win over Ramos in the semifinals. The re-match was declined, and with Panzarella being the undefeated player, he claimed the title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, 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, the first of 2016, is a projected $1,500-added event scheduled for January 9-10. The double-point event will be hosted, once again, by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
