Rodriquez and Daspin Victorious at Tri-State Tour Double Event

Todd Fleitman

Spin City Café & Billiards is a classic example of the “New Age” billiard rooms featuring amenities such as a beautiful piano, bar, and restaurant. Spin City hosted a successful Tri-State event o­n June 6-7, 2004, featuring a split handicap double tournament with $1,500 added.  The 60-player field was divided into “A” and “B” players in o­ne event and the “C” and “D” players in the other.

With 19 players in the “A” and “B” class, o­ne would expect the event to be fairly easy, but that was not the case. The field was packed with strong players including the likes of Noel Bensurto, Mhet Vergara, Jonathon Jessen, Hiram Maldonado, Dan Chapman, and Ben Masucci, just to name a few. Ben Masucci and Ed Rodriquez out-played the entire field o­n both days. Rodriquez really came to play and dominated all opponents, including Jonathan Chen, Chapman, Masucci, and Hiram Sherman. Rodriquez took the hot seat while Masucci, who had won his matches before suffering his first loss to Rodriquez, dominated the o­ne-loss side to reach the finals. During the finals, Rodriquez led until Masucci tied the match at 5-all, when Rodriquez got a quick win to reach the hill and never looked back for a 7-5 victory.

The “C” and “D” class event consisted of 41 players. o­n the second day 12 players remained; however, o­ne player stood out in the field: Matt Daspin, fairly new to tournament play and o­nly 14 years old. In fact, Daspin dominated the field all the way to the hot seat. While he anxiously awaited the finals, Albert Lopez, who won four matches prior to losing to Daspin, fought his way back to meet him in the finals, where Lopez quickly took a 4-2 lead. Oddly enough, the young 14-year-old calmly tied up the match at 4–all and won the next two games for a 6–4 victory and his first major win. With a competitive attitude like Daspin’s, you can expect to hear great things about him.

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