Brian Marshall wound his way through a field of Tri-State veterans to chalk up his first Tri-State win on Sunday, August 10. Marshall faced Ed Medina twice to complete his run; once in a winners' side semifinal and again in the finals. The $750-added event was hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

 

Marshall's path through the field began with a win over Vinny Ferri, and was followed by victories over Ed Crespo and Vincent Morris, which set him up for his first encounter against Ed Medina. Tony Ignomirello, in the meantime, faced Mike Strassberg, who would go on to win $750 in the event's Break and Run contest. Marshall and Medina chalked up their first of two double hill matches against each other. Marshall prevailed and moved into the hot seat match against Ignomirello, who'd defeated Strassberg 6-3. Marshall sent Ignomirello to the semifinals 7-5 and waited on Medina.

 

Medina moved to the loss side and ran into young Thomas Rice, who'd defeated Emily Duddy 7-4, and just did get by Vincent Sauro 7-6. Strassberg met up with Allison Honeymar, who had gotten by Mike Erickson 6-3 and given up only a single rack to Dave Fitzpatrick.

 

Medina began his campaign for a rematch against Marshall with a 7-5 win over Rice, as Strassberg ended Honeymar's day 6-3. Medina won the quarterfinal match over Strassberg 7-4 and then locked up in double hill struggle with Ignomirello in the semifinals, for the right to challenge Marshall in the hot seat.

 

Medina got his chance and made good, early use of the opportunity, opening up a 3-0 lead over Marshall in the finals. Marshall, though, fought right back and with some racks traded, the two were tied at 4-4. They were also tied at 5-5 and 6-6, before Marshall sealed the deal to claim his first win on the Tri-State Tour.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Batron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for August 16, will be hosted by Gotham City Billiards.

Rhys Chen's trip through a field of 58 players, on hand for the Tri-State Tour's $1,000-added, A-D 9-Ball event on the weekend of June 14-15 went through host venue (Castle Billiards, East Rutherford, NJ) owner, John Trobiano twice. They met in the third round, when Trobiano sent Chen to the loss side to embark on a seven-match winning streak that would pass through Trobiano and eventually lead to a winning effort in the finals against ChristIan Smith. 

 

Smith, who advanced to the hot seat, defeated Don Montavalo, Carl Yusuf Khan, Shin Sekine, and Jose Liz Domeneche before running into Keith Adamik in a winners' side semifinal. Dennis Kennedy, in the meantime, squared off against Tony Ignomirello. Smith downed Adamik 7-1, as Kennedy was busy sending Ignomirello west 6-5. Smith gained the hot seat 9-8 over Kennedy, and waited on Chen.

 

Chen opened his loss-side campaign with victories over Antonio G.evara, Vinny Ferri, Domeneche and successfully wreaked his vengeance on Trobiano 7-5, to pick up Adamik. Ignomirello drew Dave Jusis, who'd gotten by Pat Mareno 6-2 and Jan Mierzwa 7-2.

 

Chen moved on to the quarterfinals (five down, three to go) with a 7-5 win over Adamik. He was joined by Jusis, who ended Ignomirello's day 6-3. Chen then eliminated Jusis 7-4 and defeated Kennedy in the semifinals 8-7. In the extended-race finals, Chen took an early and what proved to be insurmountable 3-1 lead. Smith would chalk up only one more, as Chen went on to reach seven games, extending the race to nine games, and then run out the final rack for a 9-4 win.

 

Tour representatives thanked John Trobiano and his staff at Castle Billiards, as well as 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 June 21, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

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. 

Stewart Warnock came out of the gate fast on Sunday, April 27, chalking up a shutout in his first match, and following through with an undefeated run through five other opponents to capture the event title on a Tri-State Tour stop. The $1,000-added event drew 52 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

 

Ari Hirshfeld was on the receiving end of Warnock's opening-round shutout, before Bogie Uzdejczyk, Robert Pamilar, and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu went down, moving Warnock into a winners' side semifinal against Vinny Ferri. Jaydev Zaveri, in the meantime, who'd end up facing Warnock twice, faced Kevin Ippolitto. Warnock defeated Ferri 8-5, and met up with Zaveri, who'd downed Ippolitto 7-6. Warnock took the first of two against Zaveri 9-7 and waited in the hot seat for the second.

 

On the loss side, Lidio Ramirez was putting together an eight-match winning streak that had started when he fell in the opening round to Mike Pruitt. Halfway through the run, he defeated Wilfredo Albay 7-6, and Basdeo Sookhai 7-5, which set him up to face Ferri. Ippolitto, in the meantime, met up with David Gumbs, who'd defeated Yurgos Hatziefthimiou 7-4 and Shane Torres 7-5, to reach him.

 

Ramirez got by Ferri 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Ippolitto, who'd eliminated Gumbs 7-2. Ramirez completed his loss-side run with a 10-7 win over Ippolitto, and then ran into Zaveri, who stopped him 8-5 for a second chance against Warnock.

 

Like Warnock in the tournament, Zaveri came out of the starting gate in the finals, fast. He opened up a 4-0 lead, before Warnock responded. He responded, though, with a vengeance, chalking up nine straight to take the match and the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE 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 May 3 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

They met twice; once, in a winners' side semifinal and again, in the finals of the $1,000-added February 16 stop on the Tri-State Tour. Vinny Ferri had the last word, winning three on the loss side to meet and defeat Jerry Ritzer in the finals of the event that drew 26 entrants to Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.

 

As Ferri and Ritzer were battling it out in one winners' side semifinal, Eric Hill and Greg Ackerman met in the other. Ritzer sent Ferri over 6-4, as Ackerman was busy surviving a double hill fight against Hill. Ritzer then moved into the hot seat with a 7-4 victory over Ackerman and waited for Ferri to come back.

 

Ferri opened his three-match march back to the finals against Tony Ignomirello, who'd just defeated Ada Lio 7-2 and Allison Honeymar 7-5. Hill picked up Paul Spaanstra, who'd eliminated Tri Chau 7-3 and Roger Hanos, double hill. Hill engaged Spaanstra in his second straight, double hill match and came out on top, advancing to the quarterfinals against Ferri, who'd downed Ignomirello 6-3. 

 

Ferri won two 7-4 matches in a row, defeating Hill in the quarterfinals and Ackerman in the semifinals, for a second shot at Ritzer in the hot seat. Ritzer, making his first appearance on the Tri-State Tour since 1997, took the opening rack of the extended-race-to-9 finals. Ferri took the next two, before Ritzer knotted things at two apiece. Ferri came back with three in a row, the last of which was won when Ritzer left the 9-ball hanging in a pocket. Ferri maintained the lead, reaching the extension at 7 racks, and winning two more to win 9-4 and claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownerships and staff at Rockaway Billiards, as well as 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 February 22, will be hosted by The Cue Bar in Bayside, NY.