Chris Karp went undefeated through a field of 32 entrants on hand for the $1000-added, B-D handicapped Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, April 30. He finished the event, hosted by Eastside Billiards, on 86th St. in Manhattan, with a 6-0 record, holding off a one-loss side challenge from Keith Adamik, who went 5-0 on the one-loss side to meet him in the finals.
Karp's day started well with a 7-0 shutout over Peter Mitchell, and a 7-2 victory over last week's (official) Tri-State winner, Billy Cheng. A 7-5 win over Basdeo Sookhai put Karp among the winners' side final four to face Keith Diaz. Also among the final four winners were Bogie Uzdejczyk and Arturo Reyes, who'd just sent Adamik west 7-5. It was Karp and Uzdejczyk battling for the hot seat, following identical 7-5 victories over Diaz and Reyes. Karp prevailed versus Uzdejczyk and sat in the hot seat, waiting for Adamik.
In a battle of 'Keiths,' Diaz moved over to meet Adamik, who, after being sent over by Reyes, defeated Teddy Lubis 7-2, and Kim Meyer-Gabia 7-3. Reyes drew Paul Spaanstra, who'd defeated Andrew Kane 7-2, and Sookhai 7-4. A commanding 7-1 victory for Reyes over Spaanstra, and a 7-4 win by Adamik over Diaz, set up a rematch between Reyes and Adamik in the quarterfinals. The two duplicated the 7-5 score of their first match, but not the result. Adamik prevailed to take on Uzdejczyk in the semifinals.
In what would prove to be his final victory of the day, Adamik downed Uzdejczyk 7-3 and turned to face the undefeated Karp. In spite of the wait, Karp more or less picked up where he'd left off. Up to the finals, he'd allowed his opponents an average of a little over three racks per match. He gave up only two in the finals to complete his undefeated day and first victory on the Tri-State Tour.
Tour representatives thanked Jerry Shipman for his generous support of the Tri-State Tour, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Dr. Dave Billiards Instructional Products.
