Tony Ignomirello and Arturo Reyes
An unexpected and unspecified emergency forced Alex Osipov to shorten the finals of the Tri-State Tour stop on February 26. Sitting in the hot seat, playing that final match against Arturo Reyes, Osipov received an urgent phone call that required him to leave quickly. The two opted to make it a single game, 'sudden death' match for the event victory, and it was Reyes who won it. The $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event drew 45 entrants to the Cue Bar in Bayside, NY.
The two had met first in the battle for the hot seat. Osipov had sent Ramon Feliciano west 7-3, while Reyes was busy defeating Wesley Kennedy 7-4. Osipov got into the hot seat with a 7-5 win and waited for the ill-fated final matchup.
Feliciano moved to the loss side and picked up Tony Ignomirello, in the midst of a six-match winning streak that would get him into the semifinals. He (Ignomirello) defeated Jerica Dela Cruz 6-4, and Tyronnie Harlee 7-6 to reach Feliciano. Kennedy drew Bryan Jeziorski, who'd dropped Justin Miller 7-1 and Ed Hugh 7-4.
Jeziorski ended Kennedy's day 7-1 and moved into the quarterfinals against Ignomirello, who'd defeated Feliciano 6-4. Ignomirello's winning streak ended with a 7-3 victory over Jeziorski. Reyes won the semifinal match against him 7-5, and then went on to the 'sudden death' final game, winning it to capture the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at the Cue Bar for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. Next stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $500-added A-D handicapped event, scheduled for March 3 at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
