Jaydev Zaveri, Stewart Warnock and Lidio Ramierez
Stewart Warnock came out of the gate fast on Sunday, April 27, chalking up a shutout in his first match, and following through with an undefeated run through five other opponents to capture the event title on a Tri-State Tour stop. The $1,000-added event drew 52 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
Ari Hirshfeld was on the receiving end of Warnock's opening-round shutout, before Bogie Uzdejczyk, Robert Pamilar, and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu went down, moving Warnock into a winners' side semifinal against Vinny Ferri. Jaydev Zaveri, in the meantime, who'd end up facing Warnock twice, faced Kevin Ippolitto. Warnock defeated Ferri 8-5, and met up with Zaveri, who'd downed Ippolitto 7-6. Warnock took the first of two against Zaveri 9-7 and waited in the hot seat for the second.
On the loss side, Lidio Ramirez was putting together an eight-match winning streak that had started when he fell in the opening round to Mike Pruitt. Halfway through the run, he defeated Wilfredo Albay 7-6, and Basdeo Sookhai 7-5, which set him up to face Ferri. Ippolitto, in the meantime, met up with David Gumbs, who'd defeated Yurgos Hatziefthimiou 7-4 and Shane Torres 7-5, to reach him.
Ramirez got by Ferri 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Ippolitto, who'd eliminated Gumbs 7-2. Ramirez completed his loss-side run with a 10-7 win over Ippolitto, and then ran into Zaveri, who stopped him 8-5 for a second chance against Warnock.
Like Warnock in the tournament, Zaveri came out of the starting gate in the finals, fast. He opened up a 4-0 lead, before Warnock responded. He responded, though, with a vengeance, chalking up nine straight to take the match and the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for May 3 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.
