Ambi Estevez, Duc Lam and Kevin Scalzitti
In a winners' side semifinal during the Sunday, May 15 stop on the Tri-State Tour, Kevin Scalzitti suffered a loss at the hands of Duc Lam. After winning three matches on the loss side, Scalzitti came back in the finals to return the favor. The $1,000-added event drew 23 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.
Following victories over Mike Harrington 7-3, Ed Medina 7-2 and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu 7-2, Scalzitti met up with Lam, as Ambi Estevez squared off against Bob Toomey in the other winners' side semifinal. Lam sent Scalzitti west 8-5 and, in the hot seat match, faced Estevez, who'd defeated Toomey 6-3. Lam claimed the hot seat 9-7 and waited for his second, fateful match against Scalzitti.
Scalzitti opened his loss-side campaign against Pascal Dufresne, who'd defeated Steve Kaminow 7-2 and eliminated Delimelkonoglu 7-5. Toomey picked up Alberto Sanchez, who'd gotten by Andrea Shiffman 7-4 and survived a double hill battle versus Akiko Taniyama.
Scalzitti downed Dufresne 7-1, as Toomey eliminated Sanchez 7-4. Dufresne took the quarterfinal match that followed 7-5 over Toomey, and then dropped Estevez 7-4 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Scalzitti employed some semifinal momentum to get off to a quick, three-rack lead against the opponent who'd sent him to the loss side, Lam. Lam took rack #4, but Scalzitti came right back with two in a row to take a commanding 5-1 lead. That lead vanished when Lam chalked up four in a row to knot the match at 5-5. They proved to be Lam's last. Scalzitti responded with four straight of his own to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, May 21, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.
