No stranger to the winners' circle on the Tri-State Tour, his last win coming last October, Richard Ng went undefeated on the weekend of January 9-10 to claim the first 2016 Tri-State title. The $1,500-added event drew 48 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

Ng's trail through the winners' side of the bracket almost got stalled in the opening round of play, when Chris Karp gave him a double-hill run for his money. Ng persevered and then defeated Lidio Ramirez, Chumreon Sutcharitakul, and Tony Liang, before running into Elvis Rodriguez in a winners' side semifinal. Mike Esposito, in the meantime, squared off against Erick Carrasco.

 

Ng sent Rodriguez to the loss side in another double hill win. Esposito sent Carrasco over double hill, as well. Ng claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Esposito and waited on what turned out to be the return of Carrasco.

 

On the loss side, Carrasco picked up Jaydev Zaveri, who'd gotten by Pashk Gjini, double hill and Tony Ignomirello 6-2. Rodriguez drew Ron Gabia, who'd eliminated Chris Kelly and Tony Liang, both 7-4. Rodriguez and Carrasco got right back into the loss side of things with victories over Gabia 7-4 and Zaveri 6-4, respectively.

 

Carrasco took the quarterfinal match versus Rodriguez 9-2 and then really demonstrated his frustration at being sent to the loss side by Esposito, by shutting him out 6-0 in the semifinal re-match. Carrasco took an early 3-0 lead in the finals, before Ng fought back to go ahead 4-3. They traded racks to a 6-6 tie before Ng took the final two games to win the event title 8-6.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, 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 January 16, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards, in Clifton, NJ.

Jayson Shaw picked up his third win on the 2015 Predator Tour, with an undefeated run on the weekend of July 11-12. The $500-added Open/Pro event drew 16 entrants to Amsterdam Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Kapriel Delimelkonoglu went undefeated, as well, to win the concurrently-run, $500-added Amateur event that drew 57 entrants.

 

Shaw had to get by Roberto Gomez twice to complete his undefeated run. They met first in a winners' side semifinal, as Zion Zvi and Sean "Alaska" Morgan squared off in the other one. Shaw downed Gomez the first time 7-3, and in the battle for the hot seat, faced Zvi, who'd sent Morgan to the loss side 7-4. Shaw claimed the hot seat and waited on Gomez' return.

 

On the loss side, Gomez ran into Tony Robles, who'd defeated Jennifer Baretta 7-3 and Jorge Rodriguez 7-2. Morgan drew Warren Kiamco, who'd gotten by Adam Wheeler 7-5 and given up a single rack to Hunter Lombardo. Robles battled Gomez to a double hill final game, but Gomez advanced to face Kiamco, who'd defeated Morgan 7-5.

 

Gomez took the quarterfinal match 7-2 over Kiamco, and then denied Zvi a second shot against Shaw with a 7-4 win in the semifinals. Gomez battled Shaw to within a game of double hill, before Shaw closed it out to claim the event title.

 

In the Amateur event, Delimelkonoglu had to put a stop to a five-match, loss-side winning streak by Carlos Luna to complete his undefeated run. As Luna was working on that loss-side streak, Delimelkonoglu advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Greg McAndrews. Pavam Bhargara, in the meantime, squared off against Dave Faraguna. Delimelkonoglu advanced to the hot seat match 8-2 over McAndrews, and was joined by Bhargara, who defeated Faraguna 8-7. Delimelkonoglu claimed the hot seat 8-6 and waited for Luna to finish his loss-side run.

 

Luna, who'd been sent to the loss side by McAndrews, defeated Dmitry Rosenfeld 7-4 and Amir Uddin 7-3 to earn a rematch against McAndrews. Faraguna picked up Abel Rosario, who'd defeated Jose Quillan 7-5 and Chris Karp, double hill. Faraguna and McAndrews picked up their second consecutive loss, immediately; Faraguna being eliminated Rosario 7-4, and Luna downed McAndrews 7-2.

 

Luna took the quarterfinal match over Rosario 8-6 and then sent Bhargara home 8-5. Delimelkonoglu ended Luna's loss-side streak with a 7-5 win to claim the Amateur event title.

It had been almost exactly four years since Chris Karp had stepped into a Tri-State Tour winners' circle; April 30, 2011, to be precise, when he went undefeated through a field of 32 at Eastside Billiards in Manhattan. Three years and 11 months later, on March 21, he went undefeated through a field of 41, on hand for a $1,500-added Tri-State event, hosted by Steinway Cafe and Billiards in Astoria (Queens), New York.

 

In his seven-match run to the finish line, Karp went through a set of Tri-State veterans, beginning with Mike Strassberg, Luis Jimenez, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and Bogie Uzdejczyk. Next up, in a winners' side semifinal, was Eddie Perez, while Koka Davladze met up with Sam Alvarez. Karp sent Perez packing to the loss side 7-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Alvarez, who'd dispatched Davladze 8-6. Karp took the hot seat 7-4 and waited on what turned out to be the return of Davladze.

 

On the loss side, Davladze ran into Uzdejczyk, who, following his defeat at the hands of Karp, had won two straight double hill matches against Jamiyl Adams and Stewart Warnock. Perez picked up Dave Shlemperis, who'd gotten by Delimelkonoglu 7-1 and Alberto Estevez 7-5. A 7-5 win for Shlemperis over Perez and a 7-4 victory for Davladze against Uzdejczyk, put them against each other in the quarterfinals.

 

Davladze then chalked up two straight 8-5 wins; over Shlemperis in the quarterfinals and Alvarez in the semifinals. Karp opened the finals against Davladze with three straight racks. They traded racks to 4-1, before Davladze checked in with three straight of his own, tying the match at 4-4. Karp got ahead by two, before Davladze checked in with what would prove to be his last rack. At 6-5, Karp surged ahead to win it 8-5.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Cafe and Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, March 29, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

Raphael Dabreo re-entered the Tri-State Tour winners' circle on the weekend of November 23-24 with an undefeated run through a field of 54, on hand for the $1,600-added, A-D handicapped 9-ball tournament, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. It was his third win on the 2013-2014 Tri-State tour, and his fourth win of the year, which included a September victory on the Predator Tour. DaBreo stopped a nine-match, loss-side winning streak by Matthew Harricharan to complete his undefeated run.

 

DaBreo's six-match trail to the win included two, double hill victories. He followed an opening round, 7-5 victory over Dan Faraguna, with a double hill win over Chris Karp, and a 7-4 win over Meshak Daniel, which set him up in a winners' side semifinal against Keith Adamik.  Bryan Singh, in the meantime, squared off against Jamiyl Adams in the other semifinal. DaBreo and Adamik battled to double hill, before DaBreo prevailed for a hot seat matchup versus Singh, who'd downed Adams double hill, as well. DaBreo sent Singh to the semifinals 9-5 and waited in the hot seat for what turned out to be Harricharan.

 

Harricharan, who'd been sent to the loss side by Meshak Daniel, double hill, had chalked up four, before surviving two straight double hill battles against Tony Liang and Lidio Ramirez (who'd spoiled a rematch by defeating Meshak Daniel 7-2). This set Harricharan up to face Adamik. Adams drew Eric Hummel, who'd gotten by Kim Meyer-Gabia 7-3 and Pat Mareno 6-1. 

 

Harricharan stopped Adamik one game shy of a third straight double hill match ,7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Adams, who'd defeated Hummel 7-4. Harricharan then chalked up a third double hill win, defeating Adams in those quarterfinals, and then, defeating Singh in the semifinals 8-4 for a shot against DaBreo.

 

Harricharan took an early 2-0 lead in the finals and maintained it through the sixth match. Down 2-4, DaBreo took command at that point, winning five straight to claim his third 2013-2014 Tri-State title. 

 

Tour representatives expressed their thanks to Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, playing conditions and on-going support of the tour and its players. They also thanked sponsors  Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the tour is scheduled for  November 30 at Gotham Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. 

Emerson Verano, sitting in the hot seat, watched, as James "Doc" Pasciolla completed a six-match, loss-side run to meet him in the finals of the September 21 stop on the Tri-State Tour. Pasciolla had been at it on the loss side since the opening round, and eliminated five opponents (plus one by forfeit). Verano, though, stepped to the table and stopped the run to finish undefeated. The $1,000-added event drew 19 entrants to Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.

 

Verano's trip through the winners' bracket kept tightening. He opened with a 7-4 win over Fred Garcia, then gave up five to Chris Karp and in a winners' side semifinal, battled to double hill before winning over Steve Kaminow.  Verano's hot seat opponent, Andrew Cleary, had weathered some tough storms of his own, including two, successive double hill wins over Mike Guevara and Martin Carducci for the right to face Verano for the hot seat. Verano sent Cleary to the semifinals and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Pasciolla.

 

Pasciolla's loss-side trip began with a shutout over Mike Figueroa, and almost stalled in a double hill battle against Mike Guevara. He survived to earn a re-match against Motos, whom he defeated 6-3 to pick up Carducci, coming over from the winners' side semifinal. Kaminow drew Chris Karp, who'd defeated Mike Cardinale 7-2 and Eddie Medina, double hill.

 

Pasciolla rolled on through to the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over Carducci, as Karp was busy defeating Kaminow, double hill. Pasciolla won his second, loss-side double hill battle against Karp and with a forfeit by Cleary, jumped right into the finals against Verano. Verano opened up with a six-pack, and though Pasciolla would win the next two, and then, three more, Verano completed his undefeated run 8-5 to claim his first Tri-State title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rockaway Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, a $1000-added, A-D handicapped 9-ball event, is scheduled for September 29 at On the Snap Billiards in Sayreville, NJ.

Tri-State Tour representatives couldn’t remember the last time that a female player won a stop on the tour, and were only comfortable noting that it hadn’t happened in at least 10 years. There’ve been a lot who finished second (Emily Duddy and Annie Flores, as examples), and while Jeanette Lee played on the tour back in the 90s, and might well have chalked up a victory back then, record-keeping from that time wasn’t very precise. 

We do know this: Kim Meyer-Gabia, who, at present, is the number-one ranked female on the tour won her first Tri-State event ever, and though it’s recorded with an asterisk, because no final match was played, it will go down in Tri-State history as the first female victory in a long time. Meyer-Gabia went undefeated in the $1,000-added A-D handicapped event on June 16, that was hosted by Carom Cafe in Flushing, NY and drew 37 entrants.

Following victories over Ron Mason, Mashak Daniel and Tony Ignomirello, Meyer-Gabia moved among the winners’ side final four to face Pat Mareno. Stewart Warnock, in the meantime, squared off against Meyer-Gabia’s eventual finals opponent, Chris Karp. Two double hill victories sent Meyer-Gabia and Warnock to the hot seat match, where Meyer-Gabia prevailed 8-5 to sit in the hot seat.

Karp moved over and picked up Basdeo Sookhai, who’d advanced through Arturo Reyes 7-3 and Daniel Dagotdot 8-5 to reach him. Mareno drew Mason, who’d defeated Ignomirello 6-3 and Ben Castaneros 6-4. Karp got back on track with a 7-4 victory over Sookhai, but it was Mason prevailing over Mareno 7-2. 

Karp won the quarterfinal match versus Mason 7-4, and then completed his three-match, loss-side journey with a 7-2 victory over Warnock in the semifinals. Karp and Meyer-Gabia consulted with each other, and given the lateness of the hour, decided not to play a final match, leaving Meyer-Gabia, undefeated in the hot seat, as the official winner.

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Carom Cafe, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is a $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event, scheduled for June 23-24 at Amsterdam Billiards & Bar in New York City.

Tri V. Chau opened his tournament bid on the Tri-State Tour on the weekend of May 19-20 with victories over two of the toughest females on the tour, followed it with a victory over the previous week’s winner, and got into the hot seat with two straight double hill wins. He concluded the campaign with a second victory over his hot seat opponent, Joe Palone, to complete an undefeated weekend, chalking up his first Tri-State Tour win. The $1,000-added B-D handicapped event drew 22 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

Chau started out on Saturday with a decisive 7-1 victory over the # 3-ranked female on the Tri-State Tour, Emily Duddy, and then survived a double hill battle against the # 1 female on the tour, Kim Meyer-Gabia. He then defeated Al Cacciola, who’d won the last tour stop, 7-4 and moved among the winners’ side final four to face Chris Karp. Palone, in the meantime, squared off against Richard Ng. In his second of three double hill wins, Chau sent Karp west, as Palone was busy surviving his own double hill match against Ng. In his last double hill win, Chau sent Palone to the semifinals and sat in the hot seat, awaiting his return.

On the loss side, Jaydev Zaveri defeated Luis Jimenez 6-4 and Carl Yusuf Khan 7-4 to pick up Karp. Ng drew Cacciola, who’d gotten by Ed Culhane 10-7 and Rick Shellhouse 6-1. Zaveri and Ng got right back on track, advancing to the quarterfinals with identical 7-3 victories over Karp and Cacciola. Following another 7-3 win, it was Ng moving on to face Palone in the semifinals.

Ng and Palone battled to double hill, before Palone prevailed for a second crack at Chau. The final matchup went back and forth, until Chau moved ahead to win by two, 7-5. He’d come close before – in January of 2010, when he finished second – but this was Chau’s first Tri-State Tour victory. 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of BQE Billiards for their cooperation and hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be a $1,000-added, B-D handicapped event, scheduled for May 26-27 at Amsterdam Billiards & Bar in New York City.