Mike Zimny went undefeated through a field of 62 entrants, on hand for the 4th Annual Paul Fanelli Memorial Tournament on the weekend of April 5-6. For the second year in a row, the event was held to benefit Lots of Love 4 Lindsay, a fund created initially to raise money for a heart transplant for a two-year-old named Lindsay Loeb and now, a little short of a year after that transplant was performed successfully, continues to help the Loeb family with medical expenses. The event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, and though independent, ranking points for participating players were assigned to the Tri-State Tour. The event was live streamed via AZBTv.
Zimny advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Caroline Pao, as Scott Abramowitz squared off against Mike Strassberg. Zimny defeated Pao 7-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Abramowitz. who'd sent Strassberg to the losers' bracket 6-3. Zimny moved into the hot seat with a 7-4 win over Abramowitz and waited for what turned out to be the return of Pao.
Pao moved over and picked up Bogie Uzdejczyk, who'd defeated Vinnie Ferri 7-4 and Giovanni Husang 7-2 to reach her. Strassberg drew Gil Costello, who'd advanced past Ray Marisette 6-3 and survived a double hill match versus Jay Chiu. Pao returned to her winning ways with a 7-3 win over Uzdejczyk, while Strassberg's tournament came to an end at the hands of Costello 6-5.
Pao then defeated Costello 8-4 in the quarterfinals and then spoiled Abramowitz' bid for a re-match against Zimny with a 7-3 win in the semifinals. The re-match was hers. Zimny, though, completed his undefeated run with a 7-5 victory over Pao in the extended-race finals to claim the event title.
