The words ‘up and coming' don't seem to quite cover it. Borana Andoni has been on the New York City billiards scene for a while now, although by her own admission, she's only been at the game for about four years. She's appeared on the cover of a number of major billiard publications, has played on the JPNEWT Tour, Tony Robles' Predator Tour and recently (November) paired up with Mika Immonen as the Team Europe entrant in the Philippines for the World Doubles Classic, where the two finished in fourth place.
On Saturday, January 30, Andoni showed up in Brooklyn for a stop on the Tri-State Tour, her first of 2010, after winning twice in 2009. She joined a field of 28 entrants for the $750-added, B-D handicapped event, hosted by Gotham City Billiards. She ran the table, besting a succession of six male players, including Justin Muller twice.
After victories over Christopher Maxwell, Mike Garetta, and Billy Chang, Andoni faced Mel McCullen among the winners' side final four. She moved into the hot seat match with an 8-4 win over McCullen, and faced Muller for the first time. Muller had just sent Allen Wong west 7-6. Andoni gained the hot seat with a 7-5 win over Muller and waited for him to come back from the semifinals.
Wong and McCullen moved west to take on Trevor Heal and John Stiles. Heal had moved past Billy Cheng 7-2 and Andrew Kane 7-5 to pick up Wong. Stiles, on a march to the semifinals, defeated Jonathan Laino 9-7 and Chris Karp 7-3 for the right to meet McCullen. Stiles moved, first, into the quarterfinals with an 8-4 win over McCullen, as Wong advanced to join him with a 7-2 win over Heal.
Stiles downed Wong 7-3, but fell victim to a determined Muller in the semifinals, who defeated him 7-4 for a second chance at Andoni.
Andoni took an early, commanding 5-0 lead in the opening set of the true double elimination final, but watched as Muller battled back to win the next four. They traded racks to 6-5, before Muller tied it up at 6-6. They would trade racks through to double hill, before Andoni prevailed, capturing her first Tri-State stop of the new year.
Event representatives thanked Fury Cues, Ozone Billiards, and Milliken SuperPro professional cue sports cloth for sponsorship related to the event.
