Borana Andoni, Vincent Morris and Mike Harrington
Though he and Borana Andoni ended up splitting the first and second place prizes of the August 18 stop on the Tri-State Tour, Vincent Morris, from his position in the hot seat, was able to lay claim to his first Tri-State event title. The $1,500-added, A-D handicapped 9-ball event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards, in Brooklyn, NY.
With victories over Raymond Lee, Ben Castaneros and Luis Jimenez, Morris moved among the winnners' side final four to face Mike Harrington. Andoni, in the meantime, squared off against Koka Davladze. Morris got into the hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Harrington, and in the hot seat match, faced Andoni, who'd sent Davladze west 6-3. In what would prove to be their only meeting, Morris gained the hot seat with a 7-3 win over Andoni.
Harrington moved to the loss bracket to meet up with Mel McMullen, who'd handed Jimenez his second defeat 7-2 and then survived a double hill match versus Keith Diaz. Davladze met up with Gary O'Callaghan, who'd eliminated Ed Culhane 7-2 and Ron Gabia 7-3. Davladze moved into the quarterfinals with a double hill win over O'Callaghan and was met by Harrington, who'd defeated McMullen 7-3.
It was Harrington, with an 8-5 win over Davladze, who got to face Andoni in the semifinals. She ended his day with a double hill win, at which point, she and Morris opted to split the top two prizes, and declare Morris the official winner.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership (Kevin and Isabell Buckley) and staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
