Geoffrey Bauer, Ed Culhane and Daniel Dagotdot
In winning his first ever Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, August 14, Ed Culhane went undefeated and did not allow any of his six opponents to tally more than four racks in a match. The $750-added, B-D handicapped event drew 25 entrants to Master Billiards in Queens, NY.
Culhane opened his tournament bid with a 7-2 victory over John Palmiery. He followed it with his first of four straight 7-4 victories, defeating Mike Davie. His next 7-4 win, over Jose Arenas, put him among the winners' side final four where he faced Trevor Heal and yet another 7-4 win that put him into the hot seat match versus Geoffrey Bauer. Bauer had just sent Culhane's eventual opponent in the finals, Daniel Dagotdot west by the same 7-4 score. In his last 7-4 win of the day, Culhane sent Bauer to the semifinals and waited for Dagotdot to return.
Dagotdot moved west to face Mike Harrington, who'd defeated Arenas 6-3 and Ken Decuire 6-1 to reach him. Heal came up against Andrew Kane, who'd gotten by Antonio Navarro and Alan Chan, both 7-5. Dagotdot downed Harrington 7-5 and moved into the quarterfinals against Kane, who'd defeated Heal 7-2. Dagotdot got into the semifinals with a 7-6 win over Kane and then dropped Bauer into third place 7-2 for a chance at Culhane.
The two traded racks to a 2-2 tie, before Culhane won four in a row to take a commanding 6-2 lead. Dagotdot won the ninth game, but it was his last. Culhane finished it at 7-3 to finish his undefeated day, and first win on the Tri-State Tour.
Tour representatives extended thanks to Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Viking Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Dr. Dave Billiards Instructional Products for their sponsorship of this event.
