It's hard to know who was luckier; Alex Osipov, sitting in the hot seat, or Kyle Bubet, winning eight on the loss side and when Osipov had to leave, being declared the winner of the March 16 stop on the Tri-State Tour. Osipov didn't have to face the obvious 'hot' player coming at him off the eight, loss-side wins, but by the same token, Bubet didn't have to face the only man in the tournament without a loss. The $750-added, A-D handicapped event drew 32 entrants to the House of Billiards on Staten Island, NY.
As Bubet was busy with his loss-side streak, Osipov advanced to the hot seat, defeating George Poltorak 7-4 in one of the winners' side semifinals. Once Thomas Rice had downed Chris DeCaprio 6-1 in the other, Osipov sent him west, as well, 7-2. It proved to be Osipov's last match.
Bubet, in the meantime, who'd started the day with a shutout win over Pat Mareno, before being moved to the loss side in a double hill win by Eddie Perez, began to work his way back. He got by Inna Bediner, and Dennis Kennedy, before facing Perez a second time. He shut Perez out, and then defeated Sam Hoffman to pick up DeCaprio. Poltorak drew Chris Derewonski, who'd gotten by Kim Meyer-Gabia 9-6, and Keith Diaz 9-7.
Poltorak eliminated Derewonski 9-4, and in the quarterfinals faced Bubet, who'd dropped DeCaprio into the tie for fifth place 6-4. Bubet then defeated Poltorak 6-2, and in the (semi) final match of the event, ended Rice's day 6-2. Osipov was on-call at his job, and was forced to leave before the final match was played. He was gone before Bubet reached him, so Bubet automatically received the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at House of Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, March 24, is a $750-added, A-D handicapped event, to be hosted by Clifton Billiards, in Clifton, NJ.
