Summer 2019 NAPL Singles 9-Ball Championship Winners!

Congratulations to the Summer 2019 NAPL Singles 9-Ball Championship Winners!

Summer is nearly gone, and so another summer session of NAPL Singles 9-Ball wrapped up this past weekend.  After 15 weeks of regular season play, players from the NYC-area’s NAPL singles leagues came together to find out who’s the best in their class and who has what it takes to win the NAPL Singles 9-Ball Grand Champion title.  Held at Steinway Billiards on August 24th and 25th, players faced off against others in their handicap class in four separate tournament brackets to claim cash prizes and bragging rights for best in class of the NAPL singles league.  These final four winners continued on to compete in championship style in a new double elimination tournament to determine who was THE best overall.  This season, Julie Ha did what very few have done before her…she won the Grand Champion title in an entirely undefeated run!  CONGRATULATIONS Julie!  Read on to check it out!

Congratulations to JULIE HA, the new NAPL Singles 9-Ball Grand Champion!

Summer 2019 Class Champions During playoffs, players first compete for the title of Champion of their own handicap class in a true double elimination tournament before fighting for top prize.  Julie Ha (B+), Luis Ortiz (C+), and Debra Studley (D+) all took the challenge head on, going undefeated in their respective divisions to attain Class Champion status.  Drew Cicoria (C) worked a bit harder for his title, losing to C Class Runner-Up Allison LaFleur in the division hot seat match (6-3).  He defeated Diana Tse (6-2) in the division semi-final to return on Sunday for a second chance at LaFleur.  This time he emerged victorious to take the class title. Congrats to all for top notch performances!  Here’s how the brackets finished: S2019 B and Higher C+ Class C Class D+ / D Class 1st Place Julie Ha (Steinway Fri) Luis Ortiz (Steinway Fri)Drew Cicoria (Steinway Fri) Debra Studley (Steinway Tues) 2nd Place (5th-8th overall) Oscar Peralta (Steinway Fri)$225 Khan Yilmaz (Steinway Tues)$175 Allison LaFleur (Steinway Fri)$200 Jeff Rosen (Cue Bar – Mon)$175 3rd Place (9th-12th overall) Annie Flores (Steinway Fri) $125N/ADiana Tse (Steinway Fri) $100Dee Tracey (Steinway Fri) $1004th Place (13th-16th overall) Sean Geronimo (Steinway Fri) $75N/A N/A N/A *Wondering why there are different payouts?  This accounts for the different field sizes in each bracket.

Final Four Earning the NAPL Singles 9-Ball Grand Champion title is no easy task.  First you must prove to be the best in your handicap class across the league, capturing the title of Champion of your  division.  Julie Ha, Luis Ortiz, Drew Cicoria, and Debra Studleysucceeded in overcoming that first hurdle, claiming their respective division titles and moving on to the Final Four chart to battle against each other for the coveted Grand Champion title. Julie Ha, B & Higher Division Champion, took on Luis Ortiz (Champ of the C+ Class), defeating Ortiz 8-5.  Drew Cicoria, C Division Champ, faced off against Debra Studley, the D+/D Class Champion, and defeated her 6-2.  Having successfully dispatched their initial opponents, Ha and Cicoria squared off in the hot seat match.  Ha took to the challenge and sent Cicoria to the B side (9-6).  Meanwhile, Ortiz fell to Studley 7-2, advancing Studley to a rematch (and revenge) against Cicoria (6-4).   Last season, Carmine Andujar was the first wholly undefeated Grand Champion in recent history, and the first D+ to break through from the hot seat to win.  This season we hit other landmarks.  Most notably, it was the first all female final.  Debra Studley faced off against Julie Ha, one of the toughest competitors in the league.  This marked Studley’s first appearance in a competitive final.  Unfortunately Studley succumbed to the more experienced Ha 9-6.  Kudos to Debra Studley, Drew Cicoria and Luis Ortiz for their strong finishes.  Huge congratulations to Julie Ha, for taking down her first NAPL championship titles in undefeated style, and our newest NAPL Singles 9-Ball Grand Champion! FINAL FOUR 1st Julie Ha (B+) $1,700 2nd Debra Studley (D+) $1,100 3rd Drew Cicoria (C) $750 4th Luis Ortiz (C+) $500 Will you be next?  You don’t need to be a monster on the table for a chance to win. New season starts tonight at Cue Bar and at Steinway Billiards next week.  For more details, see below.

Congrats to the Summer 2019 Divisional Winners! Kudos to each of the players listed below!  They played their best every week, working hard to earn the top spots in their divisions. Great job!Front row:  Allison LaFleur, Chelsea Vaughan, Joe DeVito, Andrew Tasso, Jerry Chianella, Khan Yilmaz.  Back row:  Carmine Andujar, Luis Ortiz, Jerry Almodovar, Erik Hagen, Esteban Morell, Glenn Studley, Drew Cicoria, Oscar Peralta Location / Division 1st Place ($100) 2nd Place ($50) Cue Bar / Lower Division Justin Ramos Jerry Chianella Cue Bar / Upper Division Esteban Morell Panos Exarhos Steinway Tues / Division 1 Andrew Tasso Erik Hagen Steinway Tues / Division 2 Khan Yilmaz Glenn Studley Steinway Fri /  Division 1 Dario Tapia Oscar Peralta Steinway Fri / Division 2 Joe DeVito Luis Ortiz Steinway Fri / Division 3 Drew Cicoria Allison LaFleur Steinway Fri / Division 4 Jerry Almodovar Carmine Andujar Steinway Fri / Division 5 Brendan Asher Chelsea Vaughan MVP ($100) Awarded to players with the best record overall Female MVP Allison LaFleur Male MVP Joe DeVito