Mike Esposito, Richard Ng and Eric Carrasco
No stranger to the winners' circle on the Tri-State Tour, his last win coming last October, Richard Ng went undefeated on the weekend of January 9-10 to claim the first 2016 Tri-State title. The $1,500-added event drew 48 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Ng's trail through the winners' side of the bracket almost got stalled in the opening round of play, when Chris Karp gave him a double-hill run for his money. Ng persevered and then defeated Lidio Ramirez, Chumreon Sutcharitakul, and Tony Liang, before running into Elvis Rodriguez in a winners' side semifinal. Mike Esposito, in the meantime, squared off against Erick Carrasco.
Ng sent Rodriguez to the loss side in another double hill win. Esposito sent Carrasco over double hill, as well. Ng claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Esposito and waited on what turned out to be the return of Carrasco.
On the loss side, Carrasco picked up Jaydev Zaveri, who'd gotten by Pashk Gjini, double hill and Tony Ignomirello 6-2. Rodriguez drew Ron Gabia, who'd eliminated Chris Kelly and Tony Liang, both 7-4. Rodriguez and Carrasco got right back into the loss side of things with victories over Gabia 7-4 and Zaveri 6-4, respectively.
Carrasco took the quarterfinal match versus Rodriguez 9-2 and then really demonstrated his frustration at being sent to the loss side by Esposito, by shutting him out 6-0 in the semifinal re-match. Carrasco took an early 3-0 lead in the finals, before Ng fought back to go ahead 4-3. They traded racks to a 6-6 tie before Ng took the final two games to win the event title 8-6.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for January 16, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards, in Clifton, NJ.
