Atif Khan and Eric Carrasco
Atif Khan entered the last stop on the 2016 leg of the Tri-State Tour on Sunday, December 18, looking for his second win on the 2016-2017 schedule. Erick Carrasco showed up, looking for his first, ever. They met twice in the $1,000-added event that drew 42 entrants to Steinway Billiards, in Astoria (Queens), NY. Khan won them both to claim the event title, but not before Carrasco had won 13 of the 29 games they played against each other.
They met first in the hot seat match. Khan had arrived following victories over Juan Guzman, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Philip Pearce, and, in a winners' side semifinal, Akbar Karmoeddien 7-6. In the other winners' side semifinal, Carrasco downed David Grant 6-3. Khan stepped into the hot seat with a double hill win, leaving Carrasco to await his return.
On the loss side, Karmoeddien picked up Elvis Rodriguez, who'd defeated The Warrior (Carl Yusuf Khan) 7-1, and Philip Pearce 7-3, to reach him. Grant drew Ben Holcome, who'd eliminated Adrian Daniel 6-4 and Zouraiz Ellahi 6-4.
Two double hill matches decided advancement to the quarterfinals; Grant over Holcome, and Rodriguez over Karmoeddien. Rodriguez downed Grant 9-5 in those quarterfinals, and then, had his loss-side streak stopped 8-3 by Carrasco in the semifinals.
Carrasco jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the finals against Khan, before Khan fought right back to tie. Carrasco took the lead through the rack trading that led to a 6-6 tie. Khan took his first lead of the match at 7-6, and backed it up with a second win to claim the title.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. With best holiday wishes to everyone who made the 2016 leg of the Tri-State Tour possible, from players to tour staff to room owners and sponsors, the Tri-State announced it will open the 2017 portion of its schedule on January 7, at Shooter's Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
