Quin Chen, Adrian Daniel and Frank Sieczka
When you're in the hot seat, looking to win your first tour event, the footsteps approaching you from the loss side of the bracket are likely to make a little more noise than they might if you were an 'old hand' at tournament victories. Such might have been the thoughts of Adrian Daniel on Sunday, November 27, as he sat in the hot seat of a Tri-State Tour stop, awaiting what turned out to be the arrival of one Frank Sieczka. Daniel took the final step, downing Sieczka in the finals to capture the $462-added, C/D, double points 8-ball event (his first on the tour) that drew 22 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
Daniel entered the event, occupying the same space among the tour's C+-ranked players that he'd occupied at the end of the 2015-2016 tour season (#6). His eventual finals opponent, Sieczka, also a C+ player, was making his first appearance on the 2016-2017 tour, after finishing in the #11 spot a year ago.
Sieczka was moved to the loss side of the bracket by Allison LaFleur in a winners' side quarterfinal. LaFleur advanced to face Daniel in one winners' side semifinal, as Quin Chen and Marcos Santos squared off in the other one. Daniel sent LaFleur to an immediate re-match against Sieczka with a 7-5 win. Chen joined him for the hot seat match with a 5-3 victory over Santos. It was Daniels' second appearance in a Tri-State hot seat match; his first since 2013. Daniel completed his winners' side run with a 5-1 victory over Chen, and listened as the footsteps of Sieczka drew closer.
Sieczka opened his loss-side campaign with a 5-2 win over Michael Raymond, and followed that with a 5-3 win over Erick Carrasco, which set him (Sieczka) up for the re-match against LaFleur. Santos drew Mike Guevara, who'd defeated Ryan Dayrit 7-5 and Greg Matos 5-1 to reach him.
Sieczka successfully wreaked his vengeance on LaFleur 5-3, and in the quarterfinals, faced Santos, who'd eliminated Guevara 5-2. Sieczka took the quarterfinal match 5-3 over Santos, and then locked up in a double hill fight against Chen in the semifinals. Sieczka prevailed for a shot at Daniel.
Daniel, already having earned more money this year than in any previous year on record, was appearing in his third Tri-State final (one of his runner-up finishes in 2013 had seen him come from the loss side). Sieczka was appearing in his fourth, three of which had led to event titles, one in 2015, and two in 2014. They came within a game of double hill, but Daniel pulled out in front to take it by two, 5-3, and claim his first Tri-State win.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, December 11, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.
