Jerry Troy, Michael Aro and Jonathan Woo
Jonathan Woo split two critical double hill matches to put himself in a position to win the November 17 stop on the Tri-State Tour. The first of those two sent him to the semifinals. The second was the semifinal match itself, which gave him the chance he needed to face and eventually defeat hot seat occupant, Michael Aro. The $750-added, A-D handicapped event drew 36 entrants to the House of Billiards on Staten Island, NY.
In all, Woo battled in three double hill matches. His first, against John Stiles in the third round of play, followed victories over Gary Murgia and Arturo Reyes, in which he had not given up more than three racks. Woo survived the double hill match against Stiles to face Jerry Troy among the winners' side final four. Aro, in the meantime, faced George Poltorak (the man who battled Daniel Dagotdot to double hill in the finals of the Ginky Memorial amateur tournament over Labor Day weekend). Woo sent Troy west, where'd they eventually meet again in the semifinals, as Aro sent Poltorak over 6-5. Aro took the first of those two 'critical double hill matches' and sat in the hot seat, waiting for Woo to come back.
Troy moved over to pick up Bryan Jeziorski, who'd handed Stiles his second straight double hill loss, and Bogie Uzdejczyk 7-5. Poltorak picked up Robert Veit, who'd defeated Emit Yocul (who finished second in the last, Nov. 11 stop on the tour) 6-3 and Joe Varvaro 6-2. Veit completely shut Poltorak out, as Troy struggled and eventually won a double hill match that ended Jeziorski's bid.
The quarterfinal match between Troy and Veit was the second of what would eventually be three straight double hill matches for Troy. He won the second against Veit and faced a re-match against Woo in the semifinals. Woo prevailed and got his second crack at Aro in the hot seat.
Aro took an early 3-0 lead, and chalked up a fourth rack, after Woo had won twice. Woo took the next two to knot things at 4-4. They traded racks to a 6-6 tie, but Woo took three straight at the end to secure the event title.
Tri-State representatives thanked House of Billiards' owner, Dennis Kennedy and his staff for excellent playing conditions and their generous support of the players. They also thanked sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, a $1,500-added, A-D, Double-Point event, is scheduled for Sunday, November 25, at Carom Cafe Billiards in Flushing, NY.
