He'd gotten as close as second place, twice in 2010; knocking on the door, so to speak. On Saturday, February 26, Richard Ng chalked up his first victory on the Tri-State Tour, going undefeated through a field of 30 entrants. The $750-added, A-D handicapped, 10-ball event was hosted by Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
Following victories over Jonathan Woo and Gary Murgia, both 7-3, Ng moved among the winners' side final four to challenge Daniel Dagotdot. His eventual opponent for the hot seat and finals, James DeGiosafatta, took on Michele Li. Ng moved Dagotdot west 8-6, while DeGiosafatta sent Li over to join him 6-3. Ng took the first of two against DeGiosafatta 6-4 to get into the hot seat.
Waiting for Dagotdot and Li on the one-loss side were Serrafin Serrano and Andrew Cleary. Serrano had defeated tour veteran George Osipovitch and Paul Spaanstra, both 7-4, and drew Dagotdot. Cleary had defeated Dave Fitzpatrick 5-2, and survived a double hill battle against William Zarzour to pick up Li. Serrano ended up on the wrong end of his third straight 7-4 match, which sent Dagotdot to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Cleary, who survived his second straight double hill matchup to drop Li into the tie for fifth place.
Cleary, having been sent to the one-loss side early, moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-1 record on the day. He'd end up 6-2, in a struggle won by Dagotdot 10-7, that some observers noted, had an influence on the semifinals that followed. One step away from the finals, Dagotdot ‘ran out of steam,' giving way to DeGiosafatta 8-5. The final matchup saw DeGiosafatta and Ng battle back and forth to a 2-2 tie, at which point, Ng took control, winning four straight to seal the event victory.
Tour representatives thanked Ed Liddawi and the staff at Sandcastle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards,Viking Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Dr. Dave Billiards Instructional Products.
