Tri-State Semi-Annual Event Claimed by Dokovic

by John Leyman

Romana Dokovic successfully defended her title as last summer's winner this year against a field of 18 other players at the Tri-State Tour's semi-annual, large-entry fee "A," "B," "C," "D" class 9-ball tournament at Amsterdam Billiards and Bar in New York City.  Although the turnout for the event, held August 21, 2004, was small, the competition was heated and the pressure was intense because of the high entry fees and large payouts.  Dokovic played great and got to the finals undefeated, defeating players such as Michael Aro, Marc Vidal, Jason Donofrio, and Erin McMannus to get to the hot seat.

Erin McMannus, a relatively new 17-year-old female player from Long Island, played well and showed that her skills are o­n the rise, getting her handicap raised as a result. She defeated Gil Costello, Elise Rosen, and Michael O'Connor before losing to Dokovic in the hot seat match.

Using his excellent safety skills, O'Connor orchestrated wins against Tim Cahill and Jon Jessen to meet McMannus in the o­ne-loss side.  It was a see-saw match between fellow Long Islanders, but O'Connor prevailed and took the win 8-7.

In the finals, O'Connor jumped out to a 4-0 lead by playing very well and getting some breaks when Dokovic ran out two tables from the 1 but missed both 9 balls. Not letting these misses dishearten her, Dokovic forged ahead, bringing the score to 6-6.  Some smart safety play saw O'Connor reach the hill in the race to 9, but he gave his opponent ball in hand with a dead 2-9 combo in the following rack.  Dolovic knotted the score o­n the hill after O'Conner misplayed a safety, but she came up dry o­n the final break.  O'Connor ran out to the 7 before missing and leaving a hard shot for Dokovic.  She banked the ball down the table, leaving an extremely difficult shot for O'Connor as it settled just beyond the side pocket.  Making his best attempt, O'Connor tried to make the ball and missed, leaving Dokovic a three-ball run-out for the win.

Results:

1st Romana Dokovic

2nd Michael O'Connor

3rd Erin McMannus

4rh Jonathan Jessen

5th Tim Cahill, Jason Donofrio

7th Marc Vidal, Elise Rosen

9th Gil Costello, Dan Chapman, Daniel You, Michael Yednak

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