Basdeo Sookhai, Andzrej Kaldan and owner operator Kevin Buckley
Andrzej Kaldan and Basdeo Sookhai played their last match, battling for the hot seat on the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, April 28. They were scheduled to face each other a second time in the event finals, but when they got to those finals, they opted, in the face of mutual fatigue and the lateness of the hour, to split the top two prizes. Kaldan, sitting in the hot seat, was declared the official winner of the $1,500-added, A-D handicapped event that drew 49 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
From among the winners' side final four, Sookhai sent Daniel Dagotdot to the loss side with an 8-5 victory, as Kaldan was busy sending Randy Mackin over 6-2. In what would prove to be the event's title match, Kaldan and Sookhai battled to double hill, before Kaldan prevailed to sit in the hot seat.
Dagotdot moved over to face Dave Shlemperis, who'd defeated Beau Baer 7-2 and Keith Adamik 7-3. Mackin picked up Kim Meyer-Gabia, the tour's top female player, who'd gotten by Jaydev Zaveri 6-1, and Luis Nova 6-4. Dagodot got right back to work with an 8-4 win over Shlemperis, but Meyer-Gabia handed Mackin his second straight loss, finishing his day. Dagotdot then ended Meyer-Gabia's day in the quarterfinals 9-5, for a second shot against Sookhai.
Sookhai defeated Dagotdot a second time, 8-4 in the semifinals, and then, accepted the proposal to split the top two prizes with Kaldan.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State event is a $500-added A-D handicapped event, scheduled for Saturday, May 5, at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
