Mike Zimny, Thomas Rice and Eddie daCosta
Mike Zimny, battling knee pain towards the end of the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, May 4, went on to complete an undefeated run through a field of 29. The $560-added event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Zimny had to stop a loss-side challenge from 14-year-old Thomas Rice to claim the title. Rice had been sent west by Eddie da Costa, who then moved among the winners' side final four and a match against Luis Jimenez. Zimny and Borana Andoni met in the other winners' side semifinal. Zimny downed Andoni 7-2 and in the hot seat match met da Costa, who'd sent Jimenez to a loss-side match against Rice 7-1. Zimny gave up only one rack in the hot seat match and waited on Rice.
Rice had opened his five-match, loss-side challenge with a double hill victory over Dennis Quinn and then defeated Kyle Bubet 6-3, to pick up Jimenez. Andoni drew Ricardo Mejia, who'd gotten by Scott Simonetti 7-3 and survived a double hill match against Bob Larbalestrein. Andoni defeated Mejia 7-1 and met up with Rice in the quarterfinals. Rice had benefited from a forfeit victory in his match against Jimenez.
Rice eliminated Andoni 8-6 in the quarterfinals, and then, in a re-match against da Costa in the semifinals, defeated him 6-4 for a crack against Zimny. Zimny, though, prevailed 7-5 in the final matchup.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, May 11, will be hosted by House of Billiards in Staten Island, NY.
