Meshak Daniel stopped a five-match, loss-side winning streak by Rhys Chen without use of his cue, during the October 26 stop on the Tri-State Tour. Daniel had advanced to the hot seat in the $1,500-added, B-D handicapped event that had drawn 45 entrants to Gotham Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. Chen advanced through the loss side to challenge him in the finals, but due to the lateness of the hour, the two decided to call it a night and split the top prizes. Daniel, in the hot seat, was awarded the official event title, his first on the Tri-State Tour.

 

Daniel advanced to one of the winners' side semifinals with victories over Chumreon Sutcharitaku, Jaydev Zaveri and Samantha Adler. As Daniel squared off against Richard Anderson, Keith Diaz and Eddie Perez met in the other semifinal. Daniel sent Anderson west double hill, and in the hot seat battle, faced Diaz, who'd defeated Perez double hill. Daniel G.t into the hot seat with a second straight double hill win, this time over Perez.

 

On the loss side, having just been defeated, double hill, by Diaz, Chen defeated Ben Casteneros 7-4 and George Poltorak, double hill, to face Anderson. Akbar Karmoceddien, who'd gotten by Tornike Khaduridze 6-3 and Tony Ignomirello 6-4, drew Perez. Chen and Karmoceddien handed Anderson and Perez their second straight losses; Chen 7-4 over Anderson and Karmoceddien 6-4 over Perez.

 

Chen took the quarterfinals against Karmoceddien 8-6 to earn himself a re-match against Diaz, who'd sent him to the loss side five matches ago. Chen returned the double-hill favor, defeating Diaz and turning for a shot against Daniel in the hot seat. It was at this point that the two opted out of playing a final match, and chose to split the top two prizes.

 

Tour representatives thanked Kevin and Isabella Buckley, the owners of Gotham City Billiards, for their hospitality and continuing support of the tour, 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, November 3, at BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

Koka Davladze, last seen playing runner-up to Michael Yednak in the 3rd Annual Ginky Memorial Tournament over Labor Day weekend, went undefeated through a field of 64 entrants to claim the event title of a Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, September 14. Davladze and Chris DeCaprio opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. The $1,800-added event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

 

Davladze and DeCaprio did face each other in the hot seat battle. Davladze had gotten by Gary O'Callaghan, Andrzej Kaldan, Carl Yusuf Khan and Rajesh Vannala to move among the winners' side final four, where he defeated Juan Guzman, double hill. DeCaprio, in the meantime, was downing Kyle Bubet 7-5. Davladze took that hot seat match, his last of the evening as it turned out, 10-7.

 

Guzman moved over to pick up Khan, who'd shut out Harry Lau and just did defeat Rhio Anne Flores, double hill, to reach him. Bubet picked up Mike Harrington, who'd defeated Tornike Khaduridze 6-2 and Pat Mareno 6-4. Guzman and Bubet got back on track right away, with Guzman surviving a double hill match versus Khan and Bubet winning 7-5.

 

Two straight double hill battles followed and ended the evening's proceedings. Bubet defeated Guzman in the quarterfinals 8-7, but was then himself defeated in the double hill, semifinal match against DeCaprio, 6-5. Davladze and DeCaprio chose not to face each other in a final match, and agreed to a split in the top two prizes, allowing the undefeated Davladze to claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked Gotham City Billiard's owners, Kevin and Isabel Buckley, for their continuing support of the players, as well as the "outstanding equipment" provided for them to play on. They also thanked sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Custom Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.

 

The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for Saturday, September 21, at Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.