The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour brought a field of 32 players to Drexeline Billiard Club in Drexel Hill, PA this weekend to compete for the $5500 in prize money. What the field lacked in size, it made up for in talent with such stars as last week's winner Jose Parica, WPBA #1 ranked Karen Corr, Keith McCready, Allen Hopkins and others.
Hopkins dropped his first match with a 9-8 loss to Shaun 'The Shirt' Wilkie, but didn't let that deter him from his goal. On the winners side, it was McCready and Joe Dipietro playing for the hot-seat. Dipietro is the reigning Pennsylvania State 8-Ball Champion and was proving to all this weekend that he was a force to be reckoned with in 9-Ball too. As strong as Dipietro was playing, McCready could not be stopped as he cruised to a 9-2 win.
Meanwhile, on the one-loss side, Hopkins was rolling through his matches with his sites set on the finals. Hopkins eliminated Pooky Rasmeloungon while Corr was eliminating Jose Parica. This set up Hopkins vs Corr, which Hopkins won 9-5. Hopkins then scored an identical 9-5 win over Dipietro to earn his place in the finals against McCready.
The finals started out close with the players tied at 2-2, but McCready then took control to win seven of the next eight games on his way to a 9-3 win.
McCready earned $1560 for first, while Hopkins settled for $1100 in second place prize money. Dipietro and Corr filled out the top four spots.
Tour director Mike Zuglan thanked Drexeline owner Bob Maidhof for holding the event. "Bob has had us here for the past four seasons and it is always a pleasure to play here. The equipment is great and the staff really takes care of us" said Zuglan.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will now take their holiday break and will be back in action on January 8th-9th at Rack N Roll Sports Café & Billiards in Stamford, CT. Next week's event originally scheduled to take place at World Class Billiards in Peabody, MA was cancelled.
Complete Results:
1st Keith McCready $1560
2nd Allen Hopkins $1100
3rd Joe Dipietro $850
4th Karen Corr $650
5th/6th Jose Parica, Pooky Rasmeloungon $450
7th/8th Brandon Sluzalis, Lee Holt $250
