Ed Crespo works at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ and on two separate occasions in 2014, he'd made it to the finals of a Tri-State Tour stop at his workplace. Scott Abramowitz came from the loss side to knock him out of the hot seat in January, while in March, he and Teddy Lapadula, who was in the hot seat, opted out of playing a final match. On November 29, Crespo came from the loss side to meet and defeat Paul Spaanstra in the finals of a $1,000-added event that drew 35 entrants to Clifton Billiards.
Crespo opened his day with a 7-4 victory over Paul Murphy, but was then moved to the loss bracket (7-5) by Shivam Gupta, with whom he would clash later. Spaanstra, who'd come from the loss side a week earlier, only to be defeated in the finals by Miguel Laboy, was busy chalking up five winners' side victories, including a double hill win over Gupta to get into the hot seat match. He faced Roberto Castilla, who'd defeated Jaydev Zaveri 6-4. Spaanstra and Castillo battled to double hill before Spaanstra prevailed to await the return of Crespo.
On the loss side, Crespo worked his way through four matches, including a 7-4 win over Arturo Reyes and 7-3 win over Stewart Warnock for a second chance against Gupta. Zaveri drew Dennis Quinn, who'd gotten by Roger Duronio 6-5 and Allison Honeymar 6-4. Crespo successfully wreaked his vengeance against Gupta 7-5 and in the quarterfinals, met Quinn, who'd eliminated Zaveri 6-3.
Crespo ended Quinn's day 7-5. He then battled to double hill before prevailing in his semifinal match versus Castillo.
Crespo and Spaanstra opened the event finals by trading racks to a 2-2 tie, with Spaanstra taking the single-rack lead each time. In rack #5, Crespo took the initiative, and won four in a row. Spaanstra fought back to win a single game, before Crespo completed his first successful Tri-State bid of the year with three in a row.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for December 6, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Ed Medina worked through a short field of 19 entrants, going undefeated on the June 8 stop on the Tri-State Tour. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Rockaway Billiards, in Rockaway, NJ.
Medina opened his campaign by just surviving a double hill match against Steve Kaminow. He wouldn't face a similar challenge until the finals. Medina went on to defeat ChristIan Smith and Jerry Ritzer, which set him up for a winners' side semifinal against William Meima. Mike Strassburg, in the meantime, faced Scott Abramowitz. Medina cruised to the hot seat match 7-2 over Meima, as Strassburg and Abramowitz battled to double hill. Strassburg prevailed and was promptly sent to the semifinals by Medina 7-3.
Meima and Abramowitz moved to the loss side, where they ran into Jerry Ritzer and Mike Guevara, respectively. Ritzer had gotten by Duane Toney and Christian Smith, both 7-2, to face Meima. Guevara had defeatEd Martin Carducci 6-3 and squeaked by Grant Weldon 7-6. Ritzer handed Meima his second straight loss 7-2, as Guevara was doing likewise to Abramowitz 6-2.
Guevara and Ritzer locked up in a double hill quarterfinal, eventually won by Guevara. Strassburg ended Guevara's loss-side run with a 6-2 win in the semifinals and turned to take a second shot at Medina, sitting in the hot seat. Whatever the outcome, it would be Strassburg's best finish in two years.
In what proved to be the longest match of the day, Medina and Strassburg fought back and forth to claim the event title. Safety play slowed the proceedings down in the early going, and at the end of six games, it was knotted at 3-3. Strassburg surged ahead by two games, and they traded racks to 6-4. Strassburg made an early combination on the 9-ball to reach seven games, forcing an extension of the match to nine games.
Medina then won three in a row, including back-to-back 3-fouls, to first, tie the match at 7-7 and then, running the next rack, reach the hill at 8-7. Medina got a look at the 9-ball in the game that would have won it for him, but it rattled in the hole, allowing Strassburg to force a 17th and deciding game. In keeping with the general direction of the match, the deciding game turned into a safety battle. Strassburg opted for a safety on the 8-ball, but left Medina enough of a shot to make it and finish his undefeated run.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rockaway Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
Mike Zimny went undefeated through a field of 62 entrants, on hand for the 4th Annual Paul Fanelli Memorial Tournament on the weekend of April 5-6. For the second year in a row, the event was held to benefit Lots of Love 4 Lindsay, a fund created initially to raise money for a heart transplant for a two-year-old named Lindsay Loeb and now, a little short of a year after that transplant was performed successfully, continues to help the Loeb family with medical expenses. The event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, and though independent, ranking points for participating players were assigned to the Tri-State Tour. The event was live streamed via AZBTv.
Zimny advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Caroline Pao, as Scott Abramowitz squared off against Mike Strassberg. Zimny defeated Pao 7-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Abramowitz. who'd sent Strassberg to the losers' bracket 6-3. Zimny moved into the hot seat with a 7-4 win over Abramowitz and waited for what turned out to be the return of Pao.
Pao moved over and picked up Bogie Uzdejczyk, who'd defeated Vinnie Ferri 7-4 and Giovanni Husang 7-2 to reach her. Strassberg drew Gil Costello, who'd advanced past Ray Marisette 6-3 and survived a double hill match versus Jay Chiu. Pao returned to her winning ways with a 7-3 win over Uzdejczyk, while Strassberg's tournament came to an end at the hands of Costello 6-5.
Pao then defeated Costello 8-4 in the quarterfinals and then spoiled Abramowitz' bid for a re-match against Zimny with a 7-3 win in the semifinals. The re-match was hers. Zimny, though, completed his undefeated run with a 7-5 victory over Pao in the extended-race finals to claim the event title.
Scott Abramowitz had to deal with Rick Shellhouse twice, once on the winners' side of the bracket and later, in the semifinals, just for the chance to appear in his first Tri-State final. He took full advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself, winning three on the loss side and defeating Ed Crespo in the finals to win his first Tri-State Tour stop on Sunday, January 19. The $750-added event drew 25 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Following victories over Thomas Schuler, Ada Lio and a shutout versus John Greslik, Abramowitz moved among the winners' side final four, where he met up with Shellhouse for the first time. Crespo, in the meantime, squared off against Jamiyl Adams in the other winners' side semifinal. Shellhouse sent Abramowitz to the loss side 6-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Crespo, who'd defeated Adams 7-6. Crespo got into the hot seat 8-7 over Shellhouse.
Abramowitz began his loss-side trip to the finals against Mike Strassberg, who'd defeated Jan Mierzwa and Greslik, both 6-3. Adams met up with Vincent Morris, who'd gotten by Paul Everton 7-4 and Louis Petronico 7-3. It was Abramowitz and Morris advancing to the quarterfinals; Abramowitz, 6-3 over Strassberg and Morris, 7-5 over Adams.
Abramowitz survived a double hill match against Morris to earn himself a re-match against Shellhouse in the semifinals. He exacted his revenge, defeating Shellhouse 6-2, and turned to face Crespo in the hot seat. Abramowitz took a quick 3-0 lead, and after allowing Crespo a single game, won three more to make it 6-1. Crespo chalked up two in a row, before Abramowitz came back with one, to make it 7-3. Crespo took rack # 11, before Abramowitz chalked up two in a row to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton 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, to be hosted by House of Billiards on Staten Island, NY, is scheduled for Saturday, January 26.
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.
