Easy Billiard Win for Wong

by Rick Davis

The Tri-State Tour visited Break, Bar and Billiards in Astoria Queens, NY, March 1 for an exciting day of pool. The B-D handicapped 9-ball event was owned by Kelly Wong, who bested the 28-player field to claim the title after recovering from a late defeat.

On the winners’ side it was Wong and Duane Toney in the hot seat match, although it seemed Wong could not shift into gear as Toney shut him out 6-0. Over on the one-loss side it was a fast and furious race as the players surged towards the later rounds. In the top eight Dave Shlemperis ousted Mike Harrington 6-4 and Brian Cap 7-2 to reach the quarterfinals, while Tony Eglesias eliminated D’Jamison Jenson 8-5 and Gary Murgia 7-4 to keep pace with Shlemperis and meet him in the quarterfinal round.

With the field down to the top 4 Eglesias slipped past Shlemperis 7-5 in the quarterfinals but was shut down in the semifinals by Wong, who bested him 7-5. At the final match of the event, Wong bolted out to an early 5-2 lead. He extended it to 6-3 and then 7-4 as Toney started to creep back and brought the score to 8-7, where Wong managed a timely escape to take the match 9-7 and claim the event win.

Results:
1st Kelly Wong
2nd Duane Toney
3rd Tony Eglesias
4th Dave Shlemperis
5th Brain Cap
Gary Murgia
7th Mike Harrington
D’Jamison Jensen