Tony Eglesias went undefeated on the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, October 31, defeating Robert Kight twice to take the top prize. The $750-added, B-D handicapped event drew 32 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
After opening victories over Alison Fischer, Marc Koellhoffer, and Yomaylin Feliz, Eglesias moved among the winners' side final four to meet Duane Toney, who'd defeated him in the finals of a Tri-State stop early in September. As in that event, the two met only once. This time, though, Eglesias advanced to the hot seat match with a 7-4 victory of Toney that sent him to the one-loss side, where he'd eventually fall to Kight. Kight, in the meantime, sent Chris Luethi west 7-4 for his first chance at Eglesias. Eglesias gained the hot seat with a commanding 7-1 win and awaited his return.
On the one-loss side, Ricky Deng, who's only been on the tour for about a year, got by Feliz 6-5 and Gerard Gromley 7-3 to pick up Luethi. Toney faced Mike Gasper, who'd advanced past Ken Decuire 7-5 and Gary Murgia 7-4. It was Toney and Deng advancing to the quarterfinals; Toney with a 7-2 win over Gasper, Deng with an 8-2 win over Luethi. Toney got into the semifinals with a 6-3 win over Deng and then finished in third place on the heels of a 7-6 win for Kight.
In the true double elimination finals that followed, Eglesias established an early 3-0 lead before Kight took games four and five. Eglesias fought back immediately, winning four in a row and reaching the hill first. Not to be outdone, Kight came right back with three racks of his own to pull within one at 6-5, but Eglesias won the 12th game to avoid a second set.
