Ed Manlulu joined a growing list of first-time winners on the Tri-State Tour by going undefeated on Saturday, January 16. The $750-added, B-D handicapped event drew 30 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
After opening round victories over John Egeln, Paul Everton and James DeLillo, Manlulu moved among the winners' side final four, where he faced Tri-State veteran George Osipovich. Chris Leuthi , in the meantime, squared off against Gary Murgia. Manlulu and Leuthi advanced to the hot seat match for their first meeting of two, after identical 7-5 victories over Osipovich and Murgia. Manlulu gained the hot seat with a commanding 7-1 victory and then waited for Leuthi's return from the semifinals.
On the one-loss side, Scott Abramowitz, from among the final 12, was on a march to those semifinals. He faced Osipovich after victories over Peter Brennen 6-5 and Christian Smith 8-6. Raul Reyes, Jr., moved past DeLillo 7-5 and Ed Culhane 7-4 to pick up Murgia. Abramowitz moved into the quarterfinals with a decisive 6-1 victory over Osipovich and was joined by Reyes, after his 7-4 win over Murgia. Abramowitz won his fourth straight in those quarterfinals, defeating Reyes 6-3 and moving against Leuthi.
His streak ended there, as Leuthi fought for a second chance against Manlulu. Luethi prevailed 8-4 and got that second chance. Manlulu completed his undefeated day with a 7-5 win that earned him the first place prize.
Tour representatives thanked Sierra Cues, Ozone Billiards and Milliken SuperPro professional cue sports cloth for their sponsorship of this event.
