Arturo Reyes completed an undefeated weekend with a finals victory over Alan Chan in the Tri-State Tour stop on the weekend of January 9-10. The $1,500-added, A-D handicapped event drew 38 entrants to Master Billiards in Sunnyside, Queens, NY.
After victories over Ed Culhane, Scott Bannon and Stewart Warnock, Reyes moved among the winners's side final four to face Justin Muller. Chan, in the meantime, squared off against Ra Hanna. Reyes moved into the hot seat match with a 7-3 victory over Muller, as Hanna moved Chan west with a 6-5 win. Reyes sent Hanna over after him with a 7-2 win that left him in the hot seat.
In the west bracket, Troy Deocharan advanced past Alex Borukhovich 6-4 and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu 6-5 to meet Chan. It was Rikki Ragoonanan, after victories over Mark Mallari 7-5 and Brian Hunter 7-3, who was waiting for Muller. Ragoonanan dropped Muller into the tie for fifth place and moved into the quarterfinals against Chan, who had just defeated Deocharan 6-5. Chan was picking up speed and after defeating Ragoonanan 8-4, chalked up a decisive 6-1 win over Hanna in the semifinals.
Chan and Reyes fought back and forth through the opening four games of what proved to be the final match. Chan moved out in front at 3-2, and then took advantage of a combination on the 9 that put him up by two games. Reyes returned the favor with a 9-ball combination of his own on the next rack that started a four-game run to a two-game lead at 6-4. Chan rallied to win the 11th rack, but Reyes closed it out immediately afterwards.
Major sponsors for the event were Ben Minn, owner of Master Billiards and Ozone Billiards, as well as Sterling Gaming, which continues to support the Tri-State tour and the sport itself at all times.
