Allen Wong, Richard Ng and Basdeo Sookhai
Calling the same pool hall home (Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ), Allen Wong and Richard Ng decided prior to the finals of the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, November 20, that they would not square off against each other to determine an event winner. Instead, they split the $970, first- and second-place prize money and celebrated their mutual success with friends. For the record, Wong, as the undefeated player, was declared the official winner, with Ng, and his 5-1 record, in second place. The $750-added, A-D handicapped event drew 34 entrants to Master Billiards in Manhattan.
Victories over Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz 6-3, Andrew Cleary 7-4 and Alex Borukhovich 6-2 put Wong among the winners' side final four, where he faced Antonio Navarro. Arturo Reyes and Basdeo Sookhai were the other two among the final four winners. Wong got into the hot seat match with a 6-4 win over Navarro and was joined by Sookhai, who'd defeated Reyes 7-3. Wong played what proved to be his last match, battling for the hot seat against Sookhai and winning the match 7-3.
Meanwhile, on the one-loss side, Ng, who'd been defeated 6-3 in the second of round of play by Navarro, embarked on a five-match winning streak that eventually propelled him into the finals. He got by Mike Harrington 6-2 and Borukhovich 6-5 to draw a re-match against Navarro. Reyes drew Andrew Kane, who'd defeated Mike Gasper 7-2 and Tim Cahill 7-4 to reach him. Reyes survived his first match on the one-loss side, prevailing 7-6 over Kane. Navarro did not, as Ng exacted his revenge with 6-2 victory that put him into the quarterfinals against Reyes.
Ng prevailed in a double hill quarterfinal that set him up to play what would prove to be his final match. His subsequent 7-5 victory over Sookhai in the semifinals ended the tour stop, as the two players from Sandcastle Billiards agreed to share the victory.
Tour representatives offered thanks to sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Viking Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Dr. Dave Billiards Instructional Products. In addition, they thanked Master Billiards owner, Ben Minn, for his years of generous support for both the players and the sport, while offering best wishes for his speedy recovery from major surgery, scheduled in the near future.
