Having won two stops on the Predator Tour in 2016 (in March and October), Arturo Reyes must have figured it was time to get back on track with the Tri-State Tour, which he had not won since April of last year. He signed on to the Sunday, Nov. 13, $1,000-added stop on the Tri-State, which drew 46 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queen), NY and went undefeated through the field.

 

 

In what was his fourth appearance on the Tri-State's 2016/2017 tour, Reyes entered the tournament ranked #15 on the tour's Player of the Year standings in the A/A+ ranking class. He opened his winning campaign against the #3-ranked player in that A/A+ class of competitors, Victor Dabu and after defeating him 7-5, moved on to defeat Amir Rashad Uddin, and Alex Escalante, which set him up for a winners' side semifinal match against Ramon Feliciano (#10/B class). Tony Ignomirello, in the meantime, the tour's #1-ranked player in the C/C+ class, faced Akiko Taniyama.

 

 

Reyes sent Feliciano to the loss side, double hill, and in the hot seat match, faced Ignomirello, who'd defeated Taniyama 6-2. Reyes claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Ignomirello. and waited for the return of what turned out to be Pashk Gjini.

 

 

On the loss side, Gjini was working his way back from a loss in a winners' side quarterfinal to a showdown against Reyes in the finals. He got by Ron Chau 7-1, and Yue "Amy" Yu 6-4 to pick up Taniyama. Feliciano drew Duc Lam, who'd eliminated Alex Escalante 8-5 and Amelio Romero 8-6. Feliciano ended Lam's day 8-4, as Gjini handed Taniyama his second straight loss 7-3.

 

 

Gjini took the quarterfinal match against Feliciano 8-6, and then downed Ignomirello in the semifinals 7-5. That illusive, but hard to deny element of momentum served Gjini well in the opening racks of the final match, as he jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Reyes, though, responded with seven straight for a 7-5 lead. They traded racks to 8-6, before Reyes reached the hill, ahead by three. Gjini chalked up rack #16, but Reyes ended it on rack #17 at 10-7 to claim the event title.

 

 

Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his 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, scheduled for Sunday, November 20, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards, in Rockaway, NJ.

The nineteenth annual Tri-State Tour Invitational Tournament took place June 25 & 26, 2016, at Steinway Café and Billiards in Astoria, NY. The weekend was a huge success for the tour with 16 A & A+ Players, 25 B & B+ Players, 31 C & C+ Players and 15 D & D+ Players who earned their way in to compete in their respective classes and play for their chance to be named the Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion. Steinway Café and Billiards hosted the event for the second year and once again provided a great atmosphere and playing environment for the players. Steinway Café and Billiards owner Manny Stamatakis and the staff including Anna and George were very professional, helpful and gracious. Manny donated the room and all the table time. Their generosity and support to the players and the event as always were exemplary. The staff and everyone at the room assured the events success. Steinway Café and Billiards is an excellent venue for any event, it has professionally maintained tables, a clean fresh atmosphere and some of the very best food in NYC.  

 

As each day began, organizers John Leyman, Todd Fleitman, Rick Shellhouse & Daniel Cintron congratulated the players on reaching the top of their classes for the season and handed out awards to the top players of the year in each class. The Tri-State Tour added $4000 in cash prizes and the sponsors John Bender Custom Cues, Ozone Billiards, Kamui Tips, Sterling Gaming, Capelle’s Pool Books, The 90/90 Aiming System, Pool & Billiards, Professor-Q-Ball’s News, Blue Book Publications, Steinway Café and Billiards, Amsterdam Billiards, and Romer’s Trophies went out of their way to provide the event with excellent equipment and prizes. The sponsors as the Tri-State has always maintained are owed a debt a gratitude for their dedication to the game and the players, their efforts and generosity are what always make the event so special and such a great success and without their continued support of the sport and the players this event could not happen. 

 

Awards were presented to the top 3 players in each class, the Most Improved Player of the Year, and Sportsman of the Year. The most improved player went to Erick Carrasco. He has grown from a beginner player to a good and competent player over the past year. He started on the tour as a D+ player barely able to string a couple good shots together to a player who is much stronger and is now rated C+ and has a good command of the game. His recent 4th place finish in a field of 191 players at the George “Ginky” San Souci Memorial is a tribute to how much Erick’s game has improved. Each year the tour awards one player the “Sportsperson of the Year” award. It is awarded to someone the tour believes exemplifies what a player should be and how they should act and this year’s award went to Jim Gutierrez. Jim never faltered in his efforts to always be a sportsman at the table even when he was in a battle to win D Class player of the year. Even if it meant losing a match and watching the player he was battling for first place with go further in the event and earn more points. His great attitude and his efforts to always make everything right and fair in a match is what other players should strive to emulate. 

 

The top players of the year in their respective classes were Miguel Laboy winning the A+/A class for the second year in a row, Steve Kaminow B+ player, Kevin Scalzitti B player, Tony Ignomirello returning to the top again this year as the C+ player, Bob Toomey as the C player and Jim Gutierrez D+/D class player of the year. This year saw some new ladies rise to the top of the leader board with the Ladies Player of the Year being Akiko Taniyama. For a full list of winners for all the classes and events, please see the web site www.thetristatetour.com. 

 

The action in the tournament got going around eleven on Saturday morning, June 25 with the B+ and B class players along with the D+/D players kicking off the event.  The B+ class was won by some very strong play from Shivam Gupta who bested all players on the no loss side to reach the finals undefeated. Alberto Estevez after a 3rd round loss to Kapriel Delimelkonoglu moved to the one loss side. He then beat his next 2 opponents to meet Kapriel in the semi-finals with a chance to return to the B+ finals for the second year in a row. This time Alberto won with a score of 7-4. In the finals Shivam played nearly flawlessly and sent Alberto home again with a second place finish. In the B-Class Ramon Feliciano went thru the field in his usual strong and deliberate manner and bested all comers. He won against Pascal Dufresne in the hot seat match 7-6 and then beat him again in the finals only allowing Pascal to get to 4 this time.

 

The D+/D class saw Chris Kaiser and Alberto Sanchez battle their way to the hot seat match where Chris played well and did everything right and won the set 6-2. Alberto after being sent to the one loss side met up with Samantha Adler who had lost her first match of the day and battled all the way back winning 5 back to back matches to get to the semi-finals. But after the grueling grind of the one loss side Samantha just ran out of steam and Alberto took advantage of some luck and some mistakes and won the match 6-2. The finals saw Chris take an early lead but Alberto battled back to tie the score at 4-4 and then Chris took control and played well to finish off the match with an 8-4 win.

 

On Sunday, play resumed at 11 AM with the A+/A players and the C+ class and C class arriving to do battle. Stewart Warnock played with a purpose all day in the A+/A Class and his drive and determination saw him arrive in the finals undefeated. His opponent Ron Gabia had lost his 3rd round match of the day to move to the one loss side and proceeded to handily dispatch his opponents to arrive in the finals. And just like the day had already went for the 2 players Stewart went out in front early and looked to dominate but Ron would not be held back. As he had done all day he battled back and surged ahead to win the match 9-6.

 

In the C+ class Jaydev Zaveri sent Harry Guevarez to the one loss side in the hot seat match with a score of 6-3. Harry then battled back for a rematch with Jaydev beating Michael Aro 6-2. Jaydev who played well all day

not allowing any opponent more than 4 wins in any match struggled only slightly and allowed Harry to get to the hill. But in the end Jaydev took advantage of some good rolls and won the match 6-5.

 

The C Class saw one player in the finals undefeated while their opponent had lost his first match of the day. Amy Yu played very strong all day besting her opponents 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and 6-4 to get to the finals undefeated. Bob Toomey the C Class player of the year lost his first match 6-4 to Ron Chau and moved to the one loss side and battled to the semifinals match with 5 wins and thus had a chance to redeem himself against Ron Chau. Which Bob did winning on the hill 6-5. But being C Class player of the year and the C Class event winner was just out of reach as Amy Yu once again played very well and won the match 6-3.

 

This left our 6 class champions to do battle for the Grand Champion title. Jaydev Zaveri continued his dominating ways and beat Amy Yu 6-3 to win the C+/C playoff and then Chris Kaiser in the C/D playoff on the hill 7-6. At times it looked like Chris was going to win but Jaydev hung in there took advantage of some good rolls and came out on top. In the B+/B class playoff Ramon Feliciano executed very well and bested Shivam Gupta in the match 7-5. Ramon Feliciano continued his deliberate and winning game play and forged on to the grand finals beating Ron Gabia 7-4 in the A/B playoffs. But in the grand finals Ramon just could not get going right away and fell behind. He caught some wind and started to battle back but by that time it was just too late and Jaydev as he had all day took advantage of the mistakes and the rolls and won the match 7-3 to become that 2015-2016 Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion.

It came within a match of being a repeat performance. On Memorial Day weekend, Juan Guzman took the hot seat at the 6th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial tournament, only to have his ambitions of becoming that event's 6th champion upset by Tony Liang, who came from deep on the loss side to challenge and eventually defeat him. A week later (June 4-5), Guzman was in the hot seat again, this time at a $2,000-added event on the Tri-State Tour, that had drawn 41 entrants to the same location – Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. And once again, Guzman found himself watching Tony Liang work his way through the loss side. This time, however, Liang's aspirations for a re-match against Guzman were thwarted in a semifinal match against Mike Figueroa. Guzman went on to complete his undefeated run with a second victory over Figueroa in the finals to claim the title.

 

Following victories over Chris Kelly, Ramon Feliciano, and Lidio Ramirez, all of whom chalked up five racks against him, Guzman ran into Liang. With memories of the Ginky Memorial no doubt lurking in his mind, Guzman sent Liang to the loss side 7-5 and drew Alex Osipov in a winners' side semifinal. Figueroa, in the meantime, picked up Danny Recinos. 

 

Guzman chalked up his fifth straight 7-5 win, against Osipov, while Figueroa was sending Recinos to the loss side, double hill. Guzman moved into the hot seat for a second week in a row, defeating Figueroa 9-7 and then, waited on what he had to be thinking was Liang, but proved to be Figueroa.

 

Liang began his march toward a potential second matchup in the finals against Guzman with a 7-3 win over Duc Lam, and survived a double hill match versus Amir Rashad Uddin, to draw Osipov. Recinos picked up Andrea Shiffman, who'd eliminated Nevev Lipovac 6-2 and Ada Lio 6-4, to reach him.

 

Liang downed Osipov 7-4, and was joined in the quarterfinals by Recinos, who'd defeated Shiffman 6-3. Liang defeated Recinos 10-7 to pull within a single match of earning a spot in the finals. Figueroa put up a spirited, double hill fight that he eventually won to earn his re-match against Guzman.

 

It did not look good at the outset, as Figueroa opened the finals with four straight racks. Guzman, though, caught a gear of his own and responded with four to tie it. They traded racks to a 5-5 tie, before Guzman began to pull away. He chalked up three straight to reach the hill first. Figueroa added a final rack to make it 8-6, and Guzman chalked up the15th game to win the match and claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway 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, June 12, will be hosted by The Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

Though Miguel Laboy is on track to duplicate his 2014 earnings at the pool table, when he won four stops on the Tri-State Tour, it has taken him until Sunday, July 26 to win his first 2015 Tri-State stop. Sitting atop the tour's A+-A class, 140 points behind Keith Adamik, Laboy came from the loss side on Sunday to win the $1,000-added event that drew 34 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

Following wins over Ramon Feliciano, Tony Liang, and Fernando Paulino, Laboy moved into a winners' side semifinal match against Amir Rashed Uddin. Ambi Estevez, in the meantime, squared off against Bob Toomey. In a tightly-fought battle that went to double hill, Uddin defeated Laboy. Estevez downed Toomey 6-4 to join Uddin in the hot seat match; claimed by Uddin in his second straight double hill win.

 

Laboy moved over and picked up Jimmy Acosta, who'd defeated Fernando Paulino, double hill, and Lidio Ramirez 7-4, to reach him. Toomey drew Xavier Romero, who'd shut out Adrian Daniel, and eliminated Sam Hoffman 6-4. Laboy and Toomey advanced to the quarterfinals; Laboy 7-3 over Acosta, and Toomey 6-4 over Romero.

 

Laboy eliminated Toomey 10-8 in the quarterfinals, and then, spoiled Estevez' bid for a rematch against Uddin, with a double hill win in the semifinals that gave him the second shot at Uddin. The finals didn't begin well for Laboy.

 

Uddin opened up with three straight racks. Laboy responded with two, to pull within one. Uddin came back with two of his own to re-establish a three-point lead, at which point, the tide turned. Laboy ran four racks to go ahead by one. Uddin responded with a rack to knot things at 6-6, but it was his last. Laboy took three straight to claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality and continuing support of the tour, 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 Saturday, August 1, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ. 

The eighteenth annual Tri-State Tour Invitational Tournament took place June 27 & 28, 2015, at Steinway Café and  Billiards in Astoria, NY. The weekend was a huge success for the tour with 14 A & A+ Players, 30 B & B+ Players, 32 C & C+ Players and 16 D & D+ Players who earned their way in to compete in their respective classes and play for their chance to be named the Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion. Steinway Café and Billiards hosted the event for the first time and the players could not be happier about the venue. Steinway Café and Billiards owner Manny Stamatakis and the staff including Anna and George were very professional, helpful and gracious. Manny donated the room and all the table time. Their generosity and support to the players and the event were exemplary. The staff and everyone at the room assured the events success. Steinway Café and Billiards is an excellent venue for the event with professionally maintained tables, a clean a fresh atmosphere and some of the best food in NYC.  

 

As each day began, organizers John Leyman, Todd Fleitman & Rick Shellhouse congratulated the players on reaching the top of their classes for the season and handed out awards to the top players of the year in each class. The Tri-State Tour added $4000 in cash prizes and the sponsors Ozone Billiards, Fury Cues, Kamui Tips, Sterling Gaming, Cue-Sight, Capelle’s Pool Books, Billiards Digest, Pool & Billiards, Professor-Q-Ball’s News, Blue Book Publications, Steinway Café and Billiards, Amsterdam Billiards, and Romer’s Trophies went out of their way to provide the event with excellent equipment and prizes. The sponsors as the Tri-State has always maintained are owed a debt a gratitude for their dedication to the game and the players, their efforts and generosity are what always make the event so special and such a great success and without their continued support of the sport and the players this event could not happen. 

 

Awards were presented to the top 3 players in each class, the Most Improved Player of the Year, and Sportsman of the Year. The most improved player went to Chumreon Sutcharitakul. He has grown into an extremely good and competent player over the past year dominating events and raising from a lower B level player to a strong A level player. Each year the tour awards one player the “Sportsperson of the Year” award. It is awarded to someone the tour believes exemplifies what a player should be and how they should act and this year’s award went to Mike Strassberg. Mike is always there to lend a helping hand, has nothing but positive things to say about the other players and never complains. His great attitude is what other players should strive to emulate. 

 

The top players of the year in the their respective classes were Chris Derewonski taking down the Open Class, Miguel Laboy winning the A+/A class, Arturo Reyes B+ player, Chumreon Sutcharitakul B player, Ramon Feliciano C+ player, Mike Strassberg returning again this yeat as the C player and Mike Davie D+/D class player of the year and returning again as the Ladies Player of the Year was Ada Lio. For a full list of winners for all the classes and events, please see the web site www.thetristatetour.com. 

 

The action in the tournament got going around eleven on Saturday morning, June 27 with the B+ and B class players along with the D+/D players kicking off the event.  The B+ class saw two players dominate the event and meet each other in the hot seat match, B+ player of the year Arturo Reyes and Alberto Estevez. Both players played very strong all day defeating their opponents handily but Arturo could not be stopped, beating Alberto 7-3 in both the hot seat match and the finals. The B Class event for the second year in a row was dominated by Yomaylin Feliz-Forman even sending the most improved player Chumreon Suctharitakul to the one loss side beating him 7-1 all while being 6 months pregnant. Dave Shlemperis who lost his second match of the day to Eddie Medina 7-5 battled back on the one loss side of the chart winning 5 matches in a row against such strong players as Meshak Daniel, Jamiyl Adams, Chumreon Suctharitakul, Eddie Medina this time 7-6 in Dave’s favor and Luis Jimenez to get to the finals. In the finals Yomaylin took an early lead but Dave battled back and went ahead and then won the set 9-7.

 

The D+/D class saw Jim Gutierrez and Jessica Herpel battle their way to the hot seat match where Jim played well and did everything right and won the set 7-1. Irene Kim, Jim’s significant other after losing to Jessica Herpel fought back on the one loss side to meet Jessica again in the semifinal match. But the rolls by this time of the event were favoring Jessica and she won the match 7-5. In the finals the games at first were traded back and forth with Jim getting on the hill first but the rolls kept going in Jessica’s favor and she battled on to force an extended race final and finished the set with a ball in hand and a 7/9 combo for the win.

 

On Sunday, play resumed at 11 AM with the A+/A players and the C+ class and C class arriving to do battle. The A+/A Class saw one player in the finals undefeated while his opponent had lost his first match of the day. This was an almost exact replay of how the event went from the year before except instead of being in the hot seat undefeated Juan Guzman had to battle back from a first round loss to get to the finals. This year Tony Liang who won on the hill 7-6 in the first round then two 7-1 matches and then another 7-6 match found himself in the finals where he went on to beat last years A class champion Juan Guzman 7-3.

 

In the C+ class Chris DeCaprio sent Ambi Estevez to the one loss side in the third round with a score of 6-2 and then beat Frankie Scanlon 6-3 to get into the hot seat. Ambi Estevez who fell one match short of the finals the year before would not be deterred this year and won against Dennis Kennedy, Mike Esposito and Frankie Scanlon to get to the finals. In a match that could have went either way Ambi prevailed and won the match 8-5. The C class was totally taken over by Robert Jew who bested all opponents including his buddy and the player who he came to the event with Eddie Perez in the finals. Eddie last year’s sportsman of the year played very good all day but lost to Raul Calderon in the third round and then beat Raul in the semifinals 6-4.

 

This left our 6 class champions to do battle for the Grand Champion title. Robert Jew continued his dominating ways and beat Ambi Estevez 6-3 to win the C+/C playoff and then Jessica Herpel in the C/D playoff 6-0. In the B+/B class playoff Dave Shlemperis executed well very well and bested Arturo Reyes in the match 7-3. But in the A/B playoffs Dave just could not get going right away and fell behind. He caught some wind and started to battle back but by that time it was just too late and Tony Liang went on to win the match 7-3. With the overall finals of the event set, the 2 most dominate players of the event matched up to do battle. And both players played well and traded games with Tony Liang pulling ahead in the middle of the match, never to look back. He won the set 9-6 to become that 2014-2015 Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion.

Mike Strassberg has gotten close a couple of times, but until Saturday, May 16, he had yet to chalk up an event title on the Tri-State Tour. On April 26, at Brooklyn's BQE Billiards, Strassberg was runner-up to Chumreon Sutcharitakul who claimed his first Tri-State title that day. They had opted out of a final match, awarding Sutcharitakul, undefeated in the hot seat, the event title. Strassberg picked up his first Tri-State title in the same way; sitting in the hot seat, and opting out of a final match versus Miguel Laboy. The $1,000-added event drew 38 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

Strassberg's path to the hot seat went through Pat Mareno, Ramon Feliciano, and Raul Calderone before facing Ambi Estevez (also looking for his first win on the Tri-State) in a winners' side semifinal. Ron Gabia and Dave Shlemperis (both with Tri-State wins in their past) squared off in the other. Strassberg sent Estevez to the loss side 6-3, as Gabia was sending Shlemperis over 7-3. Strassberg claimed the hot seat and, in effect, the event title with a 9-7 win over  Gabia.

 

Over on the loss side, Shlemperis had the misfortune of running into Miguel LaBoy, who, following an opening-round loss to Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, was embarked on a 10-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him to the finals. He survived a double hill match against Basdeo Sookhai, and defeated Keith Diaz 8-5 to pick up Shlemperis. Estevez picked up Raul Calderon, who'd gotten by Chris DeCaprio 6-2 and Terrence Bryant 6-4. 

 

LaBoy and Calderon advanced; LaBoy defeating Shlemperis 7-2 and Calderon eliminating Estevez 6-5. LaBoy then downed Calderon 10-8 in the quarterfinals and completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 win over Gabia in the semifinals. Strassberg and LaBoy opted out of the final match, and Strassberg, in the hot seat, claimed his first Tri-State title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway 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. After the Tri-State does its part (along with the Predator and Mezz Tours) in running the 5th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial on Memorial Day weekend (May 22-25), the next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for May 30, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.

 

Prior to Sunday, April 26, the closest that Chumreon Sutcharitakul had come to the Tri-State winners' circle (based on information at our disposal) was as runner-up at an event in November, 2012. He'd been defeated in the opening round of play and marched seven matches through the loss side to challenge hot seat occupant, Ed Medina. On Sunday, he went undefeated to claim his first Tri-State title at a $1,000-added event, hosted by BQE Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

 

He'd survived a double hill match against Chris DeCaprio in a winners' side semifinal, as Michael Esposito was sending eventual runner-up Mike Strassburg to the loss side 6-4. Sutcharitakul claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Esposito and waited on Strassburg.

 

Strassburg moved over and met up with Bob Toomey, who'd defeated Arthur Russel 6-2 and Erick Carraco 6-5 to reach him. DeCaprio drew Ramon Feliciano, who'd gotten by Duc Lam 8-6 and survived a double hill confrontation versus Edward Pacumio.

 

Strassburg and DeCaprio resumed their winning ways; Strassburg defeating Toomey 6-5 and DeCaprio eliminating Feliciano 7-4. In what proved to be the last match of the event, Strassburg downed DeCaprio in the quarterfinals 6-2. Esposito settled for third place by forfeiting the semifinal match to Strassburg. Sutcharitakul and Strassburg opted out of a final, splitting the top two prizes. As the undefeated hot seat occupant, Sutcharitakul claimed the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, along with 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 Saturday, May 2, will be hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. 

Arturo Reyes went undefeated through a small field on-hand for the Sunday, April 12 stop on the Tri-State Tour. The $400-added event was hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

Reyes got by Gene Ok, and Roy Lim to move among the winners' side final four and a battle versus his eventual finals' opponent, Keith Adamik. Chris DeCaprio and Alberto Sanchez met in the other winners' side semifinal. In their first of two, Reyes defeated Adamik 7-5, while DeCaprio was downing Sanchez 7-3. Reyes claimed the hot seat 7-5 over DeCaprio.

 

On the loss side, Adamik and Sanchez ran into Chumreon Sutcharitakul and Mike Esposito, respectively. Sutcharitakul, who was in the midst of a three-game, loss-side winning streak, that included a double hill win over Roy Lim and a 7-5 victory over Tim Fitzsimmons, had his streak ended by Adamik in a double hill fight. Esposito chalked up five in a row on the loss side, including a 6-4 win over Bob Toomey, a 7-4 win over Ramon Feliciano, and a 7-2 win over Sanchez, which put him into the quarterfinals against Adamik.

 

Adamik eliminated Esposito in those quarterfinals (the first money round) 8-6, and then, dropped DeCaprio by the same score in the semifinals, earning his rematch against Reyes.

 

Reyes opened the final match with two racks and the two traded, until Adamik ran four in a row to go ahead 6-4. Reyes won game # 11, but lost game #12. It proved to be Adamik's final win. Reyes chalked up four in a row to win it 9-7.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar, 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 next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, April 26, will be a Double Point event, hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.

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. 

Vincent Morris returned to the Tri-State Tour winners' circle on Sunday, February 15, with an undefeated run through a field of 23. Having won two stops on the tour, four years ago (February and March, 2012), it was his first win since. The $750-added event was hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

 

Following a double hill win in the opening round over Kevin Scalzitti, Morris went on to defeat Jamiyl Adams 7-5 and then meet Bryan Jeziorski in a winners' side semifinal. Frankie Scanlon, in the meantime, squared off against Ada Lio. Morris downed Jeziorski 7-4, as Scanlon was sending Lio to the losers' bracket 7-5. Morris took the hot seat with a 7-5 win over Scanlon and waited on what turned out to be the return of Ramon Feliciano.

 

Feliciano had been moved to the loss side by Lio 7-5 in the opening round of play. He won five straight, including 6-4 wins over Tony Ignomirello and Mike Strassberg to face Lio a second time. Jeziorski drew Jamiyl Adams, who'd survived a double hill fight against Luis Jimenez and defeated ChristIan Smith 7-4 to reach him. Feliciano successfully wreaked his vengeance on Lio 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, met Jeziorski, who'd defeated Adams, double hill.

 

In those quarterfinals, the first money round, Feliciano survived a double hill matchup against Jeziorski to face Scanlon in the semifinals. He defeated Scanlon 6-3 and got a shot at Morris, in the hot seat waiting for him.

 

It was a back and forth, double hill final. After trading racks in the opening two games, Morris moved ahead by two. Feliciano chalked up two to tie. Two more for Morris were followed by two more for Feliciano and the match was knotted at five. Feliciano reached the hill first, winning the 11th rack, but Morris tied it up for the third time and won the deciding game to claim the title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton 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 next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for February 22, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.