Everett Belliveau, Darren Belliveau & Ben Savoie
Some folks might attach some measure of cosmic influence, probably associated with numerology, to the fact that Stop #2 on the New England 9-Ball Series was held on 02/20/22 and that the top 2 prizes were split by 2 members of the same family, Everett (the father) and Daren (the son) Belliveau. Here at AZBilliards, we’ll just let that go and move on to explain that the $500-added, Open event (no handicaps), for maximum Fargo rates of 680, drew six less than 22 entrants to Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
While the #2 is known in numerology as a “cooperative” number and represents partnerships, it is also known as a “supremely feminine force,” so we’ll skip that part, too, and note that instead of 2 brackets, normally utilized in NE 9-Ball Series’ stops to separate higher and lower-ranked players at the start of a given stop, this Open event had only 1 (one).
Daren went undefeated to the hot seat of the event, making him the official winner. Dad, Everett, lost his opening match to Ben Savoie, and chalked up six on the loss side, including a semifinal rematch against Savoie, for the right to negotiate with his son on the dispensation of their winnings. Might have been fun to watch father and son battle for the right not to pay their next dinner bill, but it didn’t happen.
Daren got by Mike Nicoloro and Daniel Simoneau to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal versus tour director Marc Dionne. Following his victory over Everett, Savoie went on to send Xhuljano Kamxhiu to the loss side and advance to the other winners’ side semifinal, against Rick Gatta.
Daren downed Dionne 7-4 and in the hot seat match, faced Savoie, who’d defeated Gatta 7-3. Daren claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Savoie.
On the loss side, Dad worked his way through Stacy Hamel, Josh Turansky and Jeff Furness, giving up 2 racks to each of them, to pick up Gatta, coming off his winners’ side semifinal gig. Dionne drew Kamxhiu, who, after falling to Savoie on the winners’ side, downed Jacqueline Loving 6-1 and Andy Downs 6-3.
Dad eliminated Gatta, you guessed it, 6-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Dionne and Kamxhiu struggled to double hill, before Kamxhiu prevailed to join Dad and then, be defeated by him 6-3. We’re not sure whether, by the time the semifinals began, father and son had already made the decision about a potential matchup (whether early in the proceedings or only after the semifinals), but what we do know is that Dad made a father/son matchup in the finals possible with a rematch victory over Savoie 6-4.
As noted at the outset, Father and son opted out of the final and split the equivalent of 4 times $220. No word on who bought dinner.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest, along with sponsors Predator, Poison, Arcos II, BCAPL, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, AZBilliards, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, MJS Construction, Master Billiards, OTLVISE, Outsville, Salotto and Just The Tip Cue Repair and Custom Accessories. The next stop on the NE 9-Ball Series (#3, which is a more masculine number), scheduled for March 12, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Branford Cue & Brew in Branford, CT.
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