Tri-State Tour / Edison, NJ

by InsidePOOL Staff

Richard Ng went unchallenged to take his first title on the Tri-State Tour, defeating James DeGiosafatta in the final match. The February 26 event was hosted by Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, and drew a field of 30 to vie for a piece of the $750-added purse.

Richard Ng went unchallenged to take his first title on the Tri-State Tour, defeating James DeGiosafatta in the final match.

After a close match with Daniel Dogodot in the winners’ side final four 8-6, Ng moved on to the hot seat match. There he faced off against DeGiosafatta for the first time in the tournament, delivering him to the one-loss side of the chart 6-4.

Dogodot went on to meet Serrafin Serrano on the west side and advanced 7-4, while Serrano took fifth place. Tying with Serrano was Michele Li, who had been eliminated by Andrew Cleary 6-5. Dogodot then matched up with Cleary in the quarterfinal match and came out on top 10-7, with Cleary taking home fourth place.

In the semifinal match Dogodot was turned away 8-5 by DeGiosafatta, who wanted a second chance at Ng in the final match. However, it was a one-sided match, with Ng triumphing 6-2 to earn his first tour title.

Results:

1st Richard Ng $540

2nd James DeGiosafatta $310

3rd Daniel Dogodot $200

4th Andrew Cleary $130

5th Michele Li $75

Serrafin Serrano

by InsidePOOL Staff

It was a good day for Gary Murgia, who went undefeated January 22 to claim the first-place prize on the Tri-State Tour. The tour stopped in at Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, for a 32-player, B-D 9-ball tournament that featured a $502-added prize fund.

It was a good day for Gary Murgia, who went undefeated January 22 to claim the first-place prize on the Tri-State Tour.

Murgia escaped a hill-hill bout against Peter Brennan in the winners’ side final four and moved on to the hot seat match. Challenging him there was Pat DiBuono, who had fought off Serrafin Serrano and sent him to the west side of the chart 7-4. It was a fairly easy victory for Murgia, and he advanced 7-3 while DiBuono headed to the semifinals.

Once on the left side, Brennan and Serrano did not have much luck and were eliminated in fifth place by Teddy Lubis 7-2 and Richard Ng 7-4, respectively. However, Lubis and Ng fought tooth and nail for the right to advance to the semifinals and meet DiBuono. Their score seesawed to hill-hill, with Lubis eking out a 7-6 win.

But DiBuono was determined to have another run at Murgia and eliminated Lubis in the quarterfinals 7-3 to earn a rematch. It was neck and neck through the race, but up 6-5, Murgia managed to win the next and deciding rack to take the title.

Results:
1st Gary Murgia $530
2nd Pat DiBuono $330
3rd Teddy Lubis $210
4th Richard Ng $120
5th Peter Brennan $80
Serrafin Serrano
7th Kyle Bubet $60
Tony Ignomirello

by InsidePOOL Staff

Sixteen 9-ball players braved the wintry conditions to reach the Tri-State Tour’s December 26 stop, held at Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, during a blizzard. Coming through the one-loss side was Ed Culhane, who bested the undefeated Brian Cap in the finals to take the title.

Sixteen 9-ball players braved the wintry conditions to reach the Tri-State Tour’s December 26 stop, held at Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, during a blizzard. Coming through the one-loss side was Ed Culhane, who bested the undefeated Brian Cap in the finals to take the title.

After a close 8-6 win over Rick Shellhouse, Cap advanced to the hot seat match. His opponent was Mike Strassberg, who had just notched a 6-4 victory over George Osipovitch. Cap was able to handle Strassberg quite easily and sent him to the one-loss side 9-5 to await his final opponent.

A 7-2 win over Mike Davie and then a 7-4 score over Christian Smith put Culhane in the final four on the west side. Meeting him there was a determined Osipovitch, and their match went all the way to the hill before Culhane triumphed, eliminating Osipovitch 7-6. Richard Ng tied with Osipovitch for fifth place after being ousted by Shellhouse in another hill-hill match 6-5.

Culhane forged ahead in the quarterfinal match, sending Shellhouse home with a strong 7-2 win and going on to face Strassberg. Both players wanted to move on to the final match to challenge Cap, but Culhane wanted it more, edging out Strassberg 9-7 and relegating him to third place. The final match saw Culhane ride him momentum through to the finish, winning over Cap 9-5.

Results:
1st Ed Culhane $410
2nd Brian Cap $220
3rd Mike Strassberg $110

by InsidePOOL Staff

Teddy Lubis went unchallenged through the Tri-State Tour’s 20-player field December 5, besting Frank Barreca 7-4 in the finals. The event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Edison, NJ, and featured a $1,000-added prize fund.

Teddy Lubis went unchallenged through the Tri-State Tour’s 20-player field December 5, besting Frank Barreca 7-4 in the finals.

A lopsided 8-4 victory over Russel Babaniyazov in the winners’ side final four sent Lubis to the match for the hot seat, where met faced off against Mel McCullen. McCullen had just delivered an 8-5 defeat to Basdeo Sookhai. It was a fairly close match, but Lubis prevailed 9-6 while McCullen went to the west side of the chart.

Barreca was busily fighting his way through the left side, scoring a 6-0 whitewashing over Babaniyazov to advance to the quarterfinal match. There he matched up against Sookhai, who had just eliminated Gary Murgia at fifth place 7-2. Barreca showed determination in his quest to keep moving on, and he ousted Sookhai 7-2.

McCullen did not fall so easily, but he did ultimately go home in third place after his semifinal loss to Barreca 7-5. Once in the final match against Lubis, Barreca faltered, and it was Lubis who went on to claim the event title 7-4.

Results:
1st Teddy Lubis $600
2nd Frank Barreca $300
3rd Mel McCullen $180
4th Basdeo Sookhai $100

by InsidePOOL Staff

Christian Smith and Vinny Zuniga made a quick end to the Tri-State Tour finals with a sudden-death match that saw Smith come out on top for first place. The $750-added event brought in 24 players to host room Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.

Christian Smith and Vinny Zuniga made a quick end to the Tri-State Tour finals with a sudden-death match that saw Smith come out on top for first place.

Smith went through the winners’ side undefeated, besting Teddy Lubis 7-4 on the winners’ side final four to reach the hot seat match. Meeting him there was Vinny Zuniga, who eked out a hill-hill victory over Ken DeBroske 7-6. Zuniga whitewashed Smith in the winners’ side finals 7-0 to advance to the hot seat unchallenged.

On the one-loss side, DeBroske regrouped and put in a solid defeat of Duane Toney 7-5, while Teddy Lubis ousted Dave Ascolese 7-4. The two went on to meet in the quarterfinal match, where DeBroske squeaked by Lubis 7-5.

It was touch and go in the semifinal match, but Smith managed to edge out DeBroske 7-6 in the semifinals to earn a chance to go up against Zuniga in the finals. Once there, though, the two players opted to play a single game to determine top honors. Smith won, and the rest was history.

Results:
1st Christian Smith $570
2nd Vinny Zuniga $285
3rd Ken DeBroske $170
4th Teddy Lubis $110

by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com

A field of 24 players came out to battle at Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, September 18-19 for the fifteenth stop of the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour’s 2010 season. This event featured both the amateur 9-ball division, won by Brenda Heras, and the open/pro 10-ball division, won by George SanSouci.

Brenda Heras won the amateur event at Sandcastle Billiards. Pictured are Pat Dibuono, Brenda Heras and Daniel Dagodot.

Six strong aspiring female players clearly all wanted to make a statement, and one of them did. Heras delivered a breakthrough performance by not only going further than any other woman but also any other man. On that weekend, Heras earned the honor of becoming the first woman player to ever win a Predator Tour event.

Her road to the finals included wins over Soner Bulut 7-2, Daniel Dagodot 7-2, and Noel Bensurto 7-4 before Pat Dibuono sent her west 7-3. Heras came back to the finals with a buzzworthy 7-2 win over the previous week’s Predator Tour winner, Dagotdot.

Dibuono’s undefeated run to the finals included wins over Ramilo Tanglau 7-4, Gail Glazebrook 7-1, Roger Hanas 7-6, and ultimately Heras in the hot seat match.

After rolling over Dagotdot in the semifinals, Heras continued her momentum going into her rematch with Dibuono in the finals. In the finals, Heras’ play was dominant, as she won 7-3.

In the open/pro division, “Ginky” bounced back from a first-round 8-2 loss to Jeremy Sossei to win the event. SanSouci defeated Matt Krah 8-4, Neslihan Gurel 8-1, Jeremy Sossei 8-5, and Mustafa Dikilitas 8-5. In the finals SanSouci bested tour director Tony Robles hill-hill for the win.

SanSouci, pictured left, picked up the win in the pro event. also pictured are Mustafa Dikilitas (middle) and Robles.

Amateur Results:
1st Brenda Heras $600
2nd Pat Dibuono $400
3rd Daniel Dagotdot $255
4th Alberto Lopez $155
5th Roger Hanos $100
Noel Bensurto

Pro/Open Results:
1st George SanSouci $500
2nd Tony Robles $300
3rd Mustafa Dikilitas $110

by InsidePOOL Staff

Ryan McCarthy made a bid from the one-loss side of the chart after a first-round loss to take top honors at the September 12 stop of the Tri-State Tour. The $750-added 9-ball event was hosted by Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, and attracted a field of 18 players.

Ryan McCarthy made a bid from the one-loss side of the chart after a first-round loss to take top honors at the September 12 stop of the Tri-State Tour. The $750-added 9-ball event was hosted by Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, and attracted a field of 18 players.

McCarthy, after his first-round loss to Jason Egeln 6-4, won four matches in a row to earn a rematch against Egeln in the quarterfinal match. Egeln had just eliminated Iggy in fifth place 6-2, while McCarthy’s previous match had seen him oust Cleary 7-5 to tie with Iggy. McCarthy kept the drive going and sent Egeln home 6-4.

Another 6-4 victory for McCarthy followed, this time over Abramowitz, who took third place. The final match was a race to 8, and though both players fought hard, McCarthy was able to keep his momentum going to surge ahead over DeBroske and win the match 8-5.

Results:
1st Ryan McCarthy $410
2nd Ken DeBroske $200
3rd Scott Abramowitz $100

by InsidePOOL Staff

Daniel Dagotdot survived a late loss in the August 21 Tri-State Tour event to come back and take the title from Allen Wong in the finals. The $750-added 9-ball event was hosted by Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, and featured 36 players.

Daniel Dagotdot survived a late loss in the August 21 Tri-State Tour event to come back and take the title from Allen Wong in the finals.

Once on the one-loss side of the chart, Murgia suffered his second loss to Dan Cintron 7-4, but Ng rebounded and was able to deal a hill-hill defeat to George Osipovitch 6-5. Cintron went on to face Ng in the quarterfinal match and eliminated him 9-7. Fresh from the winners’ side of the brackets, Dagotdot was Cintron’s next opponent, but Dagotdot wanted revenge and showed it with his 7-3 victory over Cintron to reach Wong again. In the finals, Wong took an early lead, but soon Dagotdot overtook him and kept the lead throughout to claim a 9-7 victory.

Results:
1st Daniel Dagotdot $600
2nd Allen Wong $390
3rd Dan Cintron $240
4th Richard Ng $150
5th Gary Murgia $90
George Osipovitch
7th Rajesh Vannala $70
Nick Verducci

by InsidePOOL Staff

George Osipovitch went unchallenged through the Tri-State Tour’s July 24 event to take top honors over Mark Alicea in the final match. The tour’s 24-player field was hosted by Edison Billiards in Edison, NJ, who vied for a piece of the $750-added purse.

Osipovitch sent Rick Shellhouse to the one-loss side after their 7-5 match in the winners’ side final four, while Duane Toney delivered Gary Murgia there as well 7-2. In the following hot seat match, it was a close call, but Osipovitch overcame Toney 7-5 and rested while he waited for his finals opponent.

Once on the west side, both Shellhouse and Murgia were eliminated quickly. Ken DeBroske ousted Shellhouse 7-5, and Alicea took care of Murgia 7-4. DeBroske and Alicea then faced each other in the quarterfinal match, which turned into a hill-hill nail-biter before Alicea edged out DeBroske 6-5. Alicea had fewer troubles with Toney, defeating him in third place 7-3. But he could not conquer Osipovitch, who won their final match by a decisive 6-2 score.

George Osipovitch went unchallenged through the Tri-State Tour’s July 24 event to take top honors over Mark Alicea in the final match.

by InsidePOOL Staff

Rikki Ragoonanan went undefeated through field at the Tri-State Tour’s June 19 stop, defeating Raphael DaBreo to take the title. Hosted by Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, this $750-added stop attracted 26 players.

Pat DiBuono made it through the winners’ side final four without a scratch, defeating George Osipovitch 7-2 to reach the hot seat match. Meeting him there was Ragoonanan, who had just bested Troy Deocharran 8-6. The hill-hill battle saw Ragoonanan take the hot seat 7-6, while DiBuono went west.

On the left side, Raphael DaBreo, a recent winner on the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour, ousted Osipovitch 7-6 at fifth place, while Allen Wong tied with Osipovitch after a 6-4 loss to Deocharran. The quarterfinal match was a close one, with DaBreo the one to advance after a 7-5 victory over Deocharran. DaBreo kept the momentum going with a hill-hill victory over DiBuono in the semifinals 7-6. But in the finals, another nail-biter, it was Ragoonanan who took the last rack and the victory 7-6.

Rikki Ragoonanan went undefeated through field at the Tri-State Tour’s June 19 stop, defeating Raphael DaBreo to take the title.