Tomasz Bak, Keith Diaz and Jamiyl Adams
It's been over a year since Keith Diaz won a stop on the Tri-State Tour; his last, an April 15, 2012, undefeated run through a field of 53 at Eastside Billiards in Manhattan was also his first. He stopped a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Raj Vannala to win that event. On Saturday, August 17 at the Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, Diaz won five on the loss side to meet and defeat hot seat occupant Tomasz Bak and claim the event title. The $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event drew 41 entrants.
Diaz survived an opening round, double hill match against Debra Pritchett, and defeated Alberto Sanchez 7-2, before running into Adrian Daniel among the winners' side final eight. Daniel sent him west 7-2 and moved into a winners' side semifinal against Jamiyl Adams. Bak, in the meantime, squared off against Basdeo Sookhai. Bak sent Sookhai over 7-5, and in the hot seat match, met up with Adams, who'd downed Daniel 6-2. Bak took the hot seat battle 8-4 and waited on Diaz.
On the loss side, Diaz met up with the previous week's winner, Ed Lum, and defeated him 6-4. He followed with a 6-3 win over Chris Soto-Chimelis, which set him up for a re-match against Adrian Daniel. Sookhai drew Adrian Daniel's son, Meshak Daniel, who'd gotten by Dave Shlemperis 7-2, and survived a double hill fight against Steve Wright.
Diaz wreaked his vengeance on the elder Daniel 6-3, and in the quarterfinals, met up with his son, who'd eliminated Sookhai 7-4. Diaz then eliminated Meshak Daniel 7-4 and gave up only a single rack in the semifinal match against Jamiyl Adams.
Diaz came out of the finals gate in a hurry, chalking up eight up in a row before Bak managed to win a rack. Bak took two in a row, but it was all he took, as Diaz came back with two of his own to win the match and event title 10-2.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at the Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be the third annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament, scheduled for August 31-September 2 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY. The annual tournament is a combined effort between the Tri-State and Predator Tours, at which, this year, Earl Strickland in the Open category and Daniel Dagotdot in the Amateur event, will look to repeat as champions.
