Dave Grau, East Ridge Billiards owner Chris Braiman and Spencer Auigbelle
Dave Grau went undefeated at Eastridge Billiards in Rochester, NY on February 23rd - 24th for his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop win in over ten years. No one can say he didn’t have to fight for it though.
Grau’s Saturday wins were fairly routine, with the closest competitor (Joe Mayo) losing to Grau 9-6. Sunday, on the other hand, was a different story. Grau started his Sunday campaign with a hill-hill win over Jorge Teixeira and then followed that up with another hill-hill win, this time over Spencer Auigbelle for the hot-seat.
Bucky Souvanthong put together an impressive five match winning streak on the one loss side, after losing a 9-6 match to Ron Casanzio on Saturday. Souvanthong ran out of gas on Sunday though, finishing in 4th place after a loss to Teixeira. Teixeira then dropped a 7-1 decision to Auigbelle in the semi-final match.
The rematch between Grau and Auigbelle in the finals was just slightly more decisive with Grau winning the first (and only) set 9-7 for first place.
Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Chris Braiman run through the right side of the board, scoring a 3-0 win over Dan Sharlow for the hot-seat. Aaron Cameron had lost to Braiman in his second match of the day, but navigated the one loss side and defeated Sharlow 3-1 in the semi-final match. Cameron would get his revenge and then some, in the final match. A 3-2 win in the first set of the finals was followed up by a 3-1 win in the second set to give Cameron first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action this weekend with the $2500 added 10th NE Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open at Snookers in Providence R.I.
