In June of this year, she became the first female to record a victory on the 2008/2009 Tri-State tour. On Saturday, August 29, Borana Andoni picked up her second victory on the tour, this time, becoming the first female to post a win on the 2009/2010 tour schedule. The $500-added, C-D handicapped event drew 31 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
In June, Andoni had swept the field, finishing the day undefeated. On this Saturday, from among the winners' side final four, she sent Mike Schloven west 6-4 and entered into the hot seat match versus Leo Liu, who'd sent Randy Mackin over 6-3. Liu gained the hot seat in a hill-hill contest that sent Andoni to the semifinals, from where she would return and ultimately finish the day with that single defeat.
On the one-loss side Duane Toney and Naomi Fingerhut were waiting for Mackin and Schloven. Toney had shutout Kevin Kemp and defeated Peter Lee 6-2 to face Mackin. Fingerhut, after losing her opening match, battled back to win five in a row, including her fourth versus Ted Lapadula 6-4 and her last against Tom Ho, a hill-hill win that set her up versus Schloven. Schloven prevailed in a hill-hill struggle, as Mackin downed Toney 6-4. Mackin repeated that 6-4 score in the quarterfinals against Schloven.
Andoni made short work of Mackin 6-1 in the semifinals and got her second shot at Liu. In an extended format race in the finals that followed, the two battled back and forth to a 4-4 tie, at which point Andoni took command. She won the next four to capture the first place prize and her second Tri-State Tour stop.
Photo courtesy of NYCGrind.com
