Jason Egeln and Ryan McCarthy
Ryan McCarthy traveled to the one-loss side early; in the second round of play on the Tri-State Tour stop on Sunday, April 25, to be precise. But he chalked up five straight wins in the west bracket for the right to meet hot seat occupant, Jason Egeln. The two did not play a final match; agreeing to split the top two prizes, with McCarthy declared as the official winner. The $750-added, C-D handicapped event drew 20 entrants to Eastside Billiards in Manhattan, NY.
After an opening round victory over Andrew Cleary, McCarthy moved west on the heels of a 7-2 victory by Sam Li. The two would meet again in the semifinals. Li moved among the winners' side final four, where he met and defeated Ramilo Tanglao 6-5. Egeln, in the meantime, defeated Glenn Andaya 6-3 and squared off in the hot seat match versus Li. Egeln prevailed 6-4 to gain the hot seat, in what would prove to be his last match of the evening.
McCarthy's five-match road back to the finals began with 6-4 wins over Ron Mason and Cory Sohlman, which set him up to face Andaya. Javier Coylaco, in the meantime, got by Alvin Borja, and inadvertently denied Cleary a re-match versus McCarthy (who'd sent him to the one-loss side in the opening round), by defeating him 6-4. Coylaco picked up Tanglao. McCarthy advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3 win over Andaya, as Coylaco shutout Tanglao to join him. McCarthy defeated Coylaco 6-2 and moved into the semifinals for a rematch versus Li. The two battled back and forth in the event's final matchup, but it was McCarthy advancing to the finals with a 6-5 win.
In light of what was described as an “urgent phone call,” the two decided to call it a draw, with McCarthy declared as the official winner. The two split the first and second place winnings.
Thanks from Tri-State staff went out to Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Viking Cues, Stealth Cues, BlueBook Publishing and Human Kenetics for sponsorship of the event.
