Jason Egeln went undefeated and was declared the winner of the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, March 26, when a potential late start for the finals led he and his opponent, Mike Aldenderfer, to a decision that would split the first and second place prizes. The $750-added, C/D handicapped event drew 35 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
The two finalists were also the two battling for the hot seat; Egeln, the Tri-State Tour veteran and Aldenderfer, a newcomer from Williamsport, PA. They faced each other first after Egeln had defeated Pho Tran 6-2 and Aldenderfer had gotten by Paul Spaanstra 6-1. In what would prove to be their only meeting, Egeln send Aldenderfer to the semifinals 6-3, and began a long wait in the hot seat, which would lead to the late night decision not to play again.
Spaanstra and Tran moved to the one-loss side to meet Scott Abramowitz and Allen Wong, respectively; Abramowitz having defeated Kevin Early, double hill and Chuck Giallorenzo 6-3, Wong advancing past Marcelo Adinolfi and Sameer Mohamed, both 6-3. Both matches went double hill and both advanced the one-loss side competitors, Abramowitz and Wong, to the quarterfinals.
Wong, who'd been sent west in the opening round of play by Aldenderfer 6-4, entered the quarterfinals with seven victories behind him, and one ahead of him for a second crack at Aldenderfer. He chalked up his eighth in a row with a 6-4 win over Abramowitz to earn the re-match. Aldenderfer ended his run with a 6-2 victory that was the event's final match. He and Egeln chose not to play the final match, splitting the first and second place prize, while the undefeated Egeln earned the event title.
Tour representatives thanked Ed Liddawi and the staff of Sandcastle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Dr. Dave Billiards Instructional Products.
