Jose Liza Domeneche, Peter Ziemak and Tony Ignomirello
Peter Ziemak, returning to the Tri-State Tour after a brief hiatus, went undefeated to claim his first Tri-State title. He did so at the expense of Tri-State veteran, Tony Ignomirello, who had two shots at Ziemack, but fell short in both of them. The $1,000-added event drew 38 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
It wasn't easy for either of the finalists. Ziemack survived two straight double hill battles against Mike Zimny and Borana Andoni at the outset. A slightly less nerve-wracking victory over Smiley Feliz 8-4 put Ziemack in a winners' side semifinal against Jose Liz Domeneche. "Iggy," in the meantime, had his own two opening, double hill wins, against Lisa Peloso and Eddie Perez, before defeating Bob Toomey and Jason Critelli for a seat in the winners' side semifinals, against Frank Sieczka. Ziemak chalked up a third double hill win, over Domeneche, as Ignomirello sent Sieczka west 6-4. Ziemack got into the hot seat 9-7 over Iggy, which proved to be the final match between the two.
Domeneche moved to the losers' bracket and met up with Smiley Feliz, who'd gotten by Eric Gasman 8-6 and Ricardo Mejia 7-3. Sieczka faced Jason Critellii, who'd defeated Dennis Kennedy 6-2 and Dave Fitzpatrick 6-4. Smiley put up a fight, forcing a deciding game, but Domeneche moved on to the quarterfinals, where he met Critelli, who'd eliminated Sieczka 6-4.
The prize in Critelli's eyes was a second shot at Ignomirello, who'd sent him to the loss side, but Domeneche got to him first, winning their quarterfinal match, 7-4. Like Critelli, Domeneche had his sights set on a re-match; his, against Ziemak in the hot seat. Ignomirello stopped that from happening, defeating Domeneche 7-4 and, in effect, ending the night's proceedings. Ziemak and Iggy opted out of a final match, splitting the top two prizes, while declaring the undefeated Ziemak as the event's official winner.
Tour representatives once again thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.
