Gary Murgia, Andrzej Kaldan and Kim Meyer-Gabia
Not since they started keeping snowfall records in 1869, had the city of New York seen as much snow in October as it saw on Saturday, October 29. Three inches were reported in New York's Central Park, a matter of miles away from Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn. Undaunted by the weather, 36 entrants showed up at Gotham City Billiards to take part in the $1,250-added, B-D handicapped stop on the Tri-State Tour, which, in consideration of the weather conditions, ended prematurely. Andrzej (pronounced Andrew) Kaldan, who had made his way to the hot seat undefeated, and Kim Meyer-Gabia, who'd worked her way back through four matches on the loss-side to meet him in the finals, agreed to call it a night.
Following victories over Ben Castaneros, Alex Borukhovich, and Hector Ruiz, Kaldan faced Alex Osipov among the winners' side final four. Kaldan sent Osipov west 7-6, as Gary Murgia was busy doing likewise to Meyer-Gabia 7-4. Kaldan played his last game of the night, defeating Murgia 9-3 in the battle for the hot seat.
Meyer-Gabia moved over to take on Ed Culhane, who'd defeated Mel McCullen 9-4 and Hector Ruiz 7-3 to reach him. Osipov picked up Arturo Reyes, who'd gotten by Harry Lau 7-4, and Keith Diaz 7-3. Meyer-Gabia dominated the match versus Culhane 7-1, advancing to the quarterfinals against Osipov, who'd downed Reyes 7-5. A 6-4 win in those quarterfinals gave Meyer-Gabia a second chance against Murgia in the semifinals.
She made the best of it, defeating Murgia 7-5 in what proved to be the final match of the evening. Shortly thereafter, she and Kaldan agreed to end the proceedings, leaving the undefeated Kaldan with his first victory on the Tri-State tour, and Meyer-Gabia, with the single loss, in second place.
In addition to sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics, tour representatives thanked Kevin and Isabel Buckley, owners of Gotham City Billiards, for the superb playing conditions, including recently re-covered tables, and additional funding of the purse.
