Dan Cintron and Carl Yusuf Khan
Dan Cintron won his second straight event on the Tri-State Tour with an undefeated day on Sunday, December 18. It was also the second time in a row that the final match proved to be the battle for the hot seat, as Cintron and Carl Yusuf Khan (like Cintron and Rick Shellhouse, a week earlier) opted out of a final match. The $1,000-added, A/D handicapped, 9-ball event drew 34 entrants to the Cue Bar in Bayside, NY.
Cintron and Khan met first (and last) among the winners' side final four. An 8-6 win for Cintron sent Khan to the loss-side, from where he'd return to challenge in the finals. Cintron squared off in the hot seat match against Steve Wade, who'd defeated Keith Diaz 6-4. Cintron played his last match and got into the hot seat with a 10-8 victory over Wade.
Khan moved over and picked up Gary Murgia, who'd defeated Raul Reyes 7-5 and survived a double hill battle against Keith Adamik (an earlier Khan victim). Diaz drew Rene Villalobos, who'd gotten by Thomas Shuler, double hill, and Vincent Morris 6-2. Khan defeated Murgia 7-3, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Villalobos, who'd eliminated Diaz 6-4.
Villalobos put up a quarterfinal fight that went double hill, but Khan prevailed to face Wade in the semifinals. In what proved to be the final match of the evening, Khan dropped Wade into third place 7-3, at which point, he and Cintron chose to split the top prizes.
Tour representatives thanked Sammy, Nikko and Richard of the Cue Bar for their congeniality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be in 2012, at a $2,000-added, A/D handicapped event, offering Double Points to be held at Gotham Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, January 7-8.
