Popov Plays to Win
Tri-State Tour / Edison, NJ
Alex Popov cut through the field at the March 27 Tri-State Tour stop and went undefeated to the finals. This $750-added stop was hosted by Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, and attracted a field of 30 players.
After besting Ken Debroske in the winners’ side final four 6-4, Popov went on to the hot seat match. There he faced off against Randy Mackin, who had just sent Joe Varvaro to the one-loss side 6-3. Their match went hill-hill, but it was Popov who prevailed 6-5.
Debroske rebounded on the west side of the chart, besting Qian Chen 7-3 and sending him home in fifth place. Tying with Chen was Varvaro, who suffered his second loss of the event to Richard Ng 6-4. Debroske and Ng collided in the quarterfinals, with Ng managing to stay alive after a hill-hill battle 6-5.
Ng advanced to the semifinal match against Mackin, who had been cooling his heels since the hot seat match. It was a close call, but Ng sent Mackin home with a third-place finish and moved on. In the finals, it was another hill-hill nail-biter that saw Popov remain undefeated to take the title.
1st Alex Popov $490
2nd Richard Ng $280
3rd Randy Mackin $180
4th Ken Debroske $110
5th Joe Varvaro $70
Qian Chen