Sabrina Sherman & Mac Jankov
Appearing for only the 7th time on the Tri-State Tour’s 2018/2019 season, Sabrina Sherman (as a C player; 7th among women and 17th in the C class overall) went undefeated through a field of 34 entrants, on hand for the Sunday, February 24 stop on the tour. Sherman, who finished in the money twice during the 2017/2018 tour season (4th & 5th) and runner-up Mac Jankov (the tour’s top-ranked C player; 17 appearances) opted out of a final match, leaving Sherman, in the hot seat, as the event’s official winner. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
Sherman’s trail to the victory went through Jason Goberdhan, Debra Pritchett and Alfredo Alatamirano, before arriving at a winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Dave Monahan. Jankov, in the meantime, squared off against Stewart Warnock, Sr.
Sherman downed Monahan, double hill, and in the hot seat match faced Jankov, who’d sent Warnock, Sr. to the loss side 7-4. Already guaranteed her best finish on the tour, Sherman claimed the hot seat 6-4 in what proved to be her last match.
On the loss side, Monahan picked up Joshua Joseph, who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d defeated Amanda Andries 6-4 and Corey Avallone 6-1 to reach Monahan. Warnock, Sr. drew Andrew Ciccoria, who’d most recently eliminated Junko Rummel and Dejan Kocev, both 6-3.
Warnick, Sr. shut Ciccoria out and in the quarterfinals, faced Joseph, who’d defeated Monahan 7-3. Joseph advanced one more step, downing Warnock, Sr. 6-4 in those quarterfinals.
In the event’s final match, Jankov earned himself a second shot at Sherman by stopping Joseph’s loss-side run 6-4 in the semifinals. Jankov and Sherman made the decision not to play a final and Sherman went home with her first official title.
Tour representatives thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, DIGICUE OB, and Hustlin USA. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for March 10, will once again be hosted by Steinway Billiards.
