Scott Simonetti and George Osipovich
Competition for Player of the Year in the six handicapped divisions of the Tri-State Tour (and others) is dependent on a combination of skill (reflected in victories) and participation (reflected in the number of events in which a given player has competed). Special events on the tour will provide added points toward standings, but at any given point in time, all of the top players in each of the six Tri-State leader boards have participated in a majority of the tour's stops.
Positioning on any leader board, in other words, is not necessarily an accurate indicator of a given player's skills, as demonstrated by George Osipovich (a C+ player) and his most recent undefeated day - Saturday, April 7 - on the Tri-State Tour. He went into the competition at # 11 on the C+ leader board (on the basis of five events), and defeated Scott Simonetti (# 6 in the A+ division) twice to capture the event title. The $500-added, A-D handicapped event drew 60 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Osipovich moved among the winners' side final four to meet a C-class opponent, Michael Rodriguez, as two A+/A players, Scott Simonetti and Keith Adamik, battled it out in the other winners' side semifinal. Osipovich sent Rodriguez packing to the loss side 6-3, while Simonetti prevailed 7-5 over Adamik. A strong 9-4 victory over Simonetti put Osipovich in the hot seat, where he waited for Simonetti to come back.
Rodriguez moved west to meet up with Ed DaCosta, who'd defeated Kim Meyer-Gabia (currently ranked as the top female player on the tour) 6-1, and Andrew Cleary 6-3. Adamik drew Bogie Uzdejczyk, who'd gotten by Sarah Rousey 7-5 and Juan Guzman 7-4. It was Uzdejczck and Rodriguez who moved into the quarterfinals, once Uzdejczyk had defeated Adamik 7-4, and Rodriguez had eliminated DaCosta 6-5.
Rodriguez prevailed in the quarterfinals, 8-4 over Uzdejczyk, and was one match away from a second chance against Osipovich. So, though, was Simonetti, and the two battled to double hill in the semifinals before Simonetti finished it to get the chance. Waiting in the hot seat, though, Osipovich was still on his game and completed his undefeated day with a 9-7 victory that secured the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
