Koka Davladze, last seen playing runner-up to Michael Yednak in the 3rd Annual Ginky Memorial Tournament over Labor Day weekend, went undefeated through a field of 64 entrants to claim the event title of a Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, September 14. Davladze and Chris DeCaprio opted out of a final match and split the top two prizes. The $1,800-added event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
Davladze and DeCaprio did face each other in the hot seat battle. Davladze had gotten by Gary O'Callaghan, Andrzej Kaldan, Carl Yusuf Khan and Rajesh Vannala to move among the winners' side final four, where he defeated Juan Guzman, double hill. DeCaprio, in the meantime, was downing Kyle Bubet 7-5. Davladze took that hot seat match, his last of the evening as it turned out, 10-7.
Guzman moved over to pick up Khan, who'd shut out Harry Lau and just did defeat Rhio Anne Flores, double hill, to reach him. Bubet picked up Mike Harrington, who'd defeated Tornike Khaduridze 6-2 and Pat Mareno 6-4. Guzman and Bubet got back on track right away, with Guzman surviving a double hill match versus Khan and Bubet winning 7-5.
Two straight double hill battles followed and ended the evening's proceedings. Bubet defeated Guzman in the quarterfinals 8-7, but was then himself defeated in the double hill, semifinal match against DeCaprio, 6-5. Davladze and DeCaprio chose not to face each other in a final match, and agreed to a split in the top two prizes, allowing the undefeated Davladze to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Gotham City Billiard's owners, Kevin and Isabel Buckley, for their continuing support of the players, as well as the "outstanding equipment" provided for them to play on. They also thanked sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Custom Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for Saturday, September 21, at Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
