Phil Harju (room owner), Cody Francis, Dave Hall and Mike Zuglan
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour wrapped up the first half of their season over the weekend of November 18th and 19th at Union Station Billiards in Portland, Maine where the field of 37 players came down to two local players fighting it out for their first Joss Tour wins.
Sunday matches on the winner’s side saw Bruce Nagle score a hill-hill win over Ivaylo Petrov and Cody Francis with a 9-7 win over Josh Rupard. Francis then went on to take the hot-seat with a 9-7 win over Nagle.
On the one loss side, Dave Hall was on a roll after a lopsided 9-2 loss to Mark Desjardin in his first match on Saturday. Hall bounced back with Saturday wins over Sam Hebert, Mike Dube and Xavier Libby to make it into the money on Sunday.
Sunday matches saw Hall pick up where he left off on Saturday, as he defeated Jim Hayden, Rupard, Jeremy Sossei and Nagle to earn his spot in the finals.
For two players playing for their first tour wins, Francis and Hall made the most of it. Hall, from nearby Portland Maine, handed hometown favorite Francis his first loss in the first set of the finals 9-6. Francis returned the favor in the second set of the finals and eliminated Hall 9-7 to take first place and $1,050 in prize money.
Sunday’s second chance tournament came down to Mark Stewart facing Chad Bazinet three times before a winner was crowned. Stewart won the first meeting in the hot-seat match 3-0, but Bazinet defeated Dan Couture in the semi-final match and was back for another shot at Stewart in the finals. Bazinet scored a 3-2 win in the first set of the finals, but Stewart came back to score a 3-2 win of his own for first place.
The tour now takes a break for the rest of 2017 and will be back in action on January 4th - 7th for the Turning Stone Classic XXIX at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, Ny. That event has a handful of spots left open and players are urged to contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163 to lock down their place in the event,
