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. 

Miguel Laboy won his first Tri-State Tour stop in January. He's won three more since; one in August, another in September, and most recently, on Saturday, November 22 at a $1,000-added event that drew 64 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), New York. Twice, at House of Billiards on Staten Island, he had to defeat the room's owner, Dennis Kennedy to claim the title. In the middle of those two occasions, in August, he and his co-finalist, Lidio Ramirez, opted out of a final match, leaving Laboy undefeated and the official event winner.

 

In claiming his fourth Tri-State title, Laboy had to get by Paul Spaanstra twice. Following victories over Enoch Hooper, Juan Guzman (forfeit), Thomas Rice and Koka Davladze, Laboy met Spaanstra for the first time in a winners' side semifinal. Dave Fitzpatrick and Kevin Huynh met in the other. Laboy prevailed 8-5 over Spaanstra and in the hot seat match, met Fitzpatrick, who'd defeated Hunyh 6-2. Laboy claimed his fourth Tri-State hot seat 10-7 over Fitzpatrick and waited on the return of Spaanstra.

 

Spaanstra started his trip back to the finals against Davladze, who. after being sent over Laboy, had defeated Greg Ackerman 8-5, and Kyle Bubet 8-4. Huynh drew Steve Wade, who'd gotten by Albert Appleton and Thomas Schreiber, both 6-4. Spaanstra eliminated Davladze 8-4, and in the quarterfinals, met Wade, who'd defeated Huynh 6-3.

 

Spaanstra and Wade locked up in a double hill, quarterfinal fight that eventually advanced Spaanstra to the semifinals against Fitzpatrick. A 7-3 win there, and Spaanstra got his second crack at Laboy.

 

Spaanstra got off on the right foot, winning three straight. Laboy, though, answered promptly with three of his own. Spaanstra responded with four in a row to take his largest lead at 7-3. Laboy checked in with another three to narrow Spaanstra's lead to one at 7-6. Though Spaanstra won rack #14, it proved to be his last, as Laboy finished with four in a row to claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, 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 November 29, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

Raphael Dabreo picked up a victory on the Predator Tour back in January, and added a victory on the Tri-State Tour on Saturday, May 3, picking up where he'd left off in 2013, a year in which he won four stops on the Tri-State and one on the Predator Tour. In the finals of the recent $1,500-added Tri-State event that drew 36 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, DaBreo had to stop a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Koka Davladze, who'd been playing on the losers' side since the opening round of play. They opted out of a final match, leaving DaBreo as the official, undefeated winner of the event.

 

DaBreo's tournament trail included wins over Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Nelson Marte, Rajesh Vannala, and Jamiyl Adams, before arriving among the winners' side final four and a match against Matthew Harricharan. Steve Wade, in the meantime, met up with Sam Hoffman in the other winners' side semifinal. DaBreo got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Harricharan, as Wade was busy shutting out Hoffman. In what would prove to be his final win of the night, DaBreo downed Wade 7-0. 

 

Over on the loss side, Davladze was mowing 'em down; defeating, in loss-side win # 3, the opponent who'd sent him over, Basdeo Sookhai 7-2, and then, Vinny Ferri 8-5, to pick up Harricharan. Hoffman, in the meantime, drew Keith Diaz, who'd gotten by Jud Parker 7-6 and Ben Castaneros 7-4. Davladze and Hoffman advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 7-4 wins over Harricharan and Diaz.

 

Davladze took the quarterfinal match 10-6 and then had his final match of the night, defeating Wade in the semifinals 10-8. Another late-night decision was reached by DaBreo and Davladze, not to play a final match, they split the top two money prizes, and DaBreo went home with the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham City 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, scheduled for  May 10, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. 

He won his first Tri-State Tour stop four days before Christmas, coming from the loss side to take down Dennis Kennedy. On Saturday, February 1, Akbar Karmoeddien came from the loss side again (this time, playing only one match) to take down Paulo Valverde in the finals of the $1,250-added event that drew 42 entrants Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

 

Following wins over Michael Xie, Andrew Cleary, Pat Mareno and a double hill win over Allison Honeymar, Karmoeddien faced Keith Diaz in a winners' side semifinal. Valverde, in the meantime, squared off against Ambi Estevez. Karmoeddien advanced to the hot seat match 6-3 over Diaz, as Valverde survived a double hill battle versus Estevez. In their first of two, Valverde prevailed over Karmoeddien 6-3 to sit in the hot seat.

 

Diaz moved to the loss side and picked up Chris DeCaprio, who was in the midst of a four-match winning streak that would take him to the semifinals. DeCaprio had survived two straight double hill matches, against Mikes Harrington and Garetta, to pick up Diaz. Estevez drew James Rodriguez, who'd shut out Allison Honeymar and defeated Steve Wade 7-3.

 

Diaz and Estevez picked up their second straight losses; Diaz falling to DeCaprio 6-4 and Estevez being eliminated by Rodriguez 8-2. DeCaprio won the quarterfinal match against Rodriguez, 8-4 to complete his loss side run. Karmoeddien defeated DeCaprio, double hill to earn a second shot against Valverde in the hot seat.

 

Karmoeddien and Valverde would play 13 games in the finals, and until they'd completed nine of them, neither had more than a single game lead. Valverde took the initiative on each of the ties (beginning with 0-0), until they were knotted at four games apiece, at which point Karmoeddien took his first lead of the match. He followed it with a second win to go up 6-4, and Valverde came back to win rack # 11. Karmoeddien took two in a row to complete his second Tri-State win.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Gotham City 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 scheduled for Saturday, February 8, at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

Qi Liu defeated Andrew Cleary twice, once in the battle for the hot seat and again in the finals, to take top honors in the Predator Tour’s A-B handicapped event on the weekend of June 2-3. The $500-added event drew 52 entrants to Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY.

In the winners’ side semifinals, Liu sent Raj Vannala west 7-6, as Cleary was busy defeating John Greslik 7-5. Liu took the hot seat match 10-8 and waited for Cleary to come back.

On the loss-side, Vannala met up with Giovanni Hosang, who’d defeated Shawn Sookhai and Lionel Rivera, both 7-5, to reach him. Greslik drew Charles Young, who’d gotten by Tony Ignomirello, double hill, and Steve Wade 7-3. Young made Greslik’s loss-side trip short with a 7-3 victory, as Vannala downed Hosang 7-5. In the quarterfinals that followed, Young ended Vannala’s weekend 8-6.

Cleary, though, finished Young’s loss-side streak with a 7-4 victory that gave him a second crack at Liu. Cleary battled in the single set finals, but Liu prevailed 10-9 to capture the event title.

On Saturday, February 4, Vincent Morris worked his way undefeated through a field of 41 entrants, including Mel McCullen twice, to win his first victory on the Tri-State Tour. The $1,000-added, C/D handicapped 9-Ball event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

Morris’ seven-match path to the victory saw him win just over twice as many games as he lost (43-21). Wins over Thaddeus Moses, Vincent Loretta, Rick Shellhouse and Andrew Cleary put him among the winners’ side final four, where he faced McCullen for the first time. Joining them for the winners’ side semifinal were Dennis Kennedy and David Danchak. Morris sent McCullen west 6-3 and in the battle for the hot seat, faced Kennedy, who’d defeated Danchak double hill. Morris then sent Kennedy to the semifinals with a 6-3 victory and awaited McCullen’s return.

Both McCullen and Danchak moved to the loss side and faced opponents who’d won two straight double hill matches to reach them. McCullen drew Mishak Daniel, who’d squeaked by Mike Harrington and Tyronnie Harlee. Danchak picked up Randy Mackin, who’d downed both Andrew Cleary and Steve Wade 6-5. McCullen eliminated Daniel 7-3 and was joined in the quarterfinals by Mackin, who’d defeated Danchak 6-3.

McCullen got by Mackin 7-4, and then, for a second crack at Morris, defeated Kennedy in the semifinals 6-3. Morris, though, was not to be denied, and repeated his earlier victory with another 6-3 win over McCullen that secured his first Tri-State victory.

Tour representatives thanked Gotham City Billiard owners Kevin and Isabelle Buckley, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.  The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for February 14, will be a $500-added, A/D handicapped event, hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

Dan Cintron won his second straight event on the Tri-State Tour with an undefeated day on Sunday, December 18. It was also the second time in a row that the final match proved to be the battle for the hot seat, as Cintron and Carl Yusuf Khan (like Cintron and Rick Shellhouse, a week earlier) opted out of a final match. The $1,000-added, A/D handicapped, 9-ball event drew 34 entrants to the Cue Bar in Bayside, NY.

Cintron and Khan met first (and last) among the winners’ side final four. An 8-6 win for Cintron sent Khan to the loss-side, from where he’d return to challenge in the finals. Cintron squared off in the hot seat match against Steve Wade, who’d defeated Keith Diaz 6-4. Cintron played his last match and got into the hot seat with a 10-8 victory over Wade.

Khan moved over and picked up Gary Murgia, who’d defeated Raul Reyes 7-5 and survived a double hill battle against Keith Adamik (an earlier Khan victim). Diaz drew Rene Villalobos, who’d gotten by Thomas Shuler, double hill, and Vincent Morris 6-2. Khan defeated Murgia 7-3, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Villalobos, who’d eliminated Diaz 6-4.

Villalobos put up a quarterfinal fight that went double hill, but Khan prevailed to face Wade in the semifinals. In what proved to be the final match of the evening, Khan dropped Wade into third place 7-3, at which point, he and Cintron chose to split the top prizes.

Tour representatives thanked Sammy, Nikko and Richard of the Cue Bar for their congeniality, as well as sponsors  Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be in 2012, at a $2,000-added, A/D handicapped event, offering Double Points to be held at Gotham Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, January 7-8.