Looking for his third 2011 Tri-State Tour victory, Tri-State Tour veteran, Danny Cintron, the tour's top ranked player in 2010/2011, was victimized in the finals of the tour stop on Saturday, August 13, by a player he'd sent to the one-loss side in the tournament's fourth round. Daniel Dagotdot, third on that same list of 2010/2011 top-ranked players (with Scott Simonetti, in the middle), won five on the one-loss side, before besting Cintron in the extended-race-to-nine, single set final, and taking home the top prize. The $750-added, A-D handicapped event drew 49 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
After victories over Stewart Warnock, Arturo Reyes (double hill), and Mark Pantovic, Dagotdot came up against Cintron for the first time (that day) among the winners' side final eight. Cintron won 7-4 and moved on to defeat Raul Reyes, Jr. 8-5, for a chance at the hot seat. Facing him was Allen Wong, whose 6-4 victory over Rick Shellhouse, sent him over for an eventual quarterfinal meet-up with Dagotdot. Cintron slipped into the hot seat with a 9-5 win, and watched Dagotdot work his way toward their eventual re-match.
First up for Dagotdot on the one-loss side were Joe Palone and Ricardo Mejia, both of whom went down 7-4 to put Dagotdot up against Reyes, Jr. Shellhouse drew Keith Diaz, who'd gotten by Sandie Paterino and David Danchak, both 6-5. Advancing to the quarterfinals, Dagodot and Shellhouse allowed Reyes, Jr. and Diaz only five racks over the next 18 games; Dagotdot gave up two versus Reyes, Jr., Shellhouse allowed three.
In the quarterfinals, with three down and three to go, Dagotdot struggled versus Shellhouse, but came out ahead by two, 9-7. Next up, Allen Wong in the semifinals. Dagotdot gets over the final hurdle 8-5 and turns back for his rematch against Cintron.
Dagotdot jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the finals. Cintron fought back to tie it, but Dagotdot responded with the four straight he needed to sew up the event victory.
Tour representatives thanked the "Sandman" for excellent playing conditions and his generous support of the Tri-State Tour. Thanks were also extended to tour sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
