Dailey comes back to take Tri-State stop

Duane Dailey, a relative newcomer to the Tri-State Tour, came back from a defeat in the hot seat match to defeat Mike Watson in the finals of the Tri-State stop on Saturday, Aug. 8. The $500-added event drew 34 entrants to Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ.

From among the winners' side final four, Dailey got by Teddy Lubis 8-6, as Mike Watson was surviving a hill-hill struggle against Emily Duddy. Watson then sent Dailey to the semifinals with a 6-3 victory that put him in the hot seat waiting for Dailey's return.

On the one-loss side, Pete Brennan moved past Annie Flores 6-3 and Jason Egeln 6-5 to pick up Duddy. T. J. Smithers defeated Antonio Navarro 6-2 and Guy Iannuzzi 7-1 for the right to face Lubis. Duddy moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-4 victory over Brennan. Lubis joined her with a 7-3 win over Smithers. Duddy and Lubis seesawed back and forth through the quarterfinals until a late surge from Lubis dropped Duddy into fourth place. This gave Lubis a second chance versus Dailey, who'd sent him west from among the winners' side's final four.

Dailey, though, eager for his own second chance against the man who'd sent him to the one-loss side (Watson), battled Lubis back and forth to double hill before persevering and getting that second chance. In the single set finals that followed, Dailey once again found himself embroiled in a match that went to a single deciding game and for the second match in a row, he hung on to win it and this time, take home the first place prize.