By the time the 22nd stop on the New England 9-Ball Series had worked its way down to its final 12 competitors on Sunday, July 14, the range of Fargo Rates stretched from 735 to 357, due in part to the fact that the tour initially separates higher and lower Fargo Rated players into upper and lower brackets, keeping them apart until the final matches of the event. Demonstrating that the handicapping system does tend to level the competitive playing field and make it possible for lower-ranked players to effectively compete against higher-ranked opponents, the player who eventually claimed the hot seat had one of the three lowest Fargo Rates among the remaining 12 players. That hot seat occupant turned out to be Mike Felix (485), but the competitor he had sent to the semifinals, Ben Benson (554) came back from those semifinals to defeat Felix twice and claim the event title. The event drew 66 entrants to Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
Benson had advanced in the upper bracket to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Tom D’Alfonso, who had the highest Fargo Rate among the event’s final 12 (735). Felix, in the meantime, squared off against Buffy Oldham (468) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Benson started the match against D’Alfonso with five ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 8. D’Alfonso chalked up five of the eight he needed, but not before Benson had won the three he needed to advance to the hot seat match. In a straight-up race to 4, Felix downed Oldham, double hill, to meet Benson in the hot seat match. Felix started the hot seat match with a single ‘bead on the wire’ in a race to 5. He and Benson battled to double hill (3-4), before Felix chalked up his fourth rack and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, D’Alfonso picked up Geoff James, who’d shut out Beau Powers and eliminated Josh Rupard, double hill (3-3; Rupard racing to 4) to reach him. Oldham drew Gabriel Kirshnitz, who’d only given up a single rack in his previous two matches; that one to Mark Pulsifer and none at all to Troy Fortin.
D’Alfonso and Oldham advanced to the quarterfinals; D’Alfonso giving up a single rack to James in a 5-1 win, as Oldham gave up none at all to Kirshnitz in a 3-0 win. The quarterfinal match was yet another shutout, as D’Alfonso eliminated Oldham 8-0 to earn himself a rematch against Benson in the semifinals.
D’Alfonso was able to chalk up an additional rack beyond the five he’d managed in the winners’ side semifinal against Benson. But for the second time, Benson won the three he needed to win the semifinal 3-6 and advance to the final rematch against Felix.
Same situation; Felix began the final match with a single ‘bead on the wire’ in a race to 5. Benson gave up only a single rack in the opening set of the true double elimination final. He gave up two in the second set, but scored the five he needed to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell with Lease Fundings, Master Billiards and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The event originally scheduled for July 28, to be hosted by Stix and Stones in Abington, MA, has been cancelled. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, now scheduled for the weekend of August 3-4, will be a $500-added Summer Sizzler Partners Tournament, hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
Capping what’s been a pretty good year for him that included his second victory at the annual New England Pool & Billiards Hall of Fame Open 9-Ball event in March, Joe Dupuis went undefeated at the New England 9-Ball Series invitational Tour Championships on the weekend of September 8-9. The $10,000-added event drew 111 entrants to Bo’s Billiards in Warwick, RI.
In the earlier rounds of the upper bracket, Dupuis, competing as an Open player, won three matches in which, on average, he’d given up between three and four racks per match. In his fourth match, against Rich Howard, Dupuis picked up the pace a bit and gave up only a single rack in a 10-1 victory that advanced him to an overall winners’ side quarterfinal match against Sam Samoth. He sent Samoth to the loss side 8-5 to draw Dillon Nickerson in one of the winners’ side semifinals. From the lower bracket, Ryan Urso and Kevin Rodrigues had worked their way through a separate set of lower-ranked opponents giving up, on average, between two and three racks per match, to arrive and face each other in the other winners’ side semifinal.
In a straight-up race to 6, Urso downed Rodrigues 6-3 and advanced to the hot seat match. Dupuis stepped up the pace a second time, and though Nickerson had three games on the wire, in a race to 9, Dupuis made that point moot by shutting him out to join Urso in the hot seat match. Urso started the hot seat match with five games on the wire in a race to 10, and though he chalked up three on his own, Dupuis chalked up his 10 and sat in the hot seat, waiting for Urso to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, A player Ryan Cullen, who’d been defeated by Nickerson in a winners’ side quarterfinal, defeated Ben Savoie, double hill (7-4) and Roy Morgridge 7-5 to draw a re-match versus Nickerson. Rodrigues drew Ben Benson (B), who’d eliminated C+ players Lindsey Monto 6-2 and Anthony Petruzelli, double hill.
In their re-match, the two A players, Cullen and Nickerson battled to double hill, before Cullen finished it, advancing to the quarterfinals. Rodrigues joined him, downing fellow B player Benson 6-3.
Cullen gave up only a single rack in his quarterfinal match against Rodrigues and faced Urso in the semifinals. With two games on the wire at the start, Urso downed Cullen, double hill (5-6).
Joe Dupuis took his ‘foot off the gas’ a bit in the opening set of the true double elimination final against Urso. As in the hot seat match, Urso started with five games on the wire in a race to 10, and earned his requisite five more, before Dupuis had reached his third (5-2). The two battled to double hill in the second set, with Dupuis winning the deciding 14th game to claim the Tour Championship title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Bo’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America.
The New England 9-Ball Series will open its 2018-2019 season on Sunday, September 23, with an event to be hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
l to r: Jessie Murphy, Francisco Cabral, Ben Benson, Matt Eline, Ned McConnell, and Lida Mullendore
Francisco Cabral and Jessie Murphy, sitting in the hot seat, opted out of a second and final match against Ben Benson and Matt Meline during the Saturday, April 8 Partners Tournament, stop (#22) on the New England 9-Ball Series. The event drew 53 teams of two to Snookers in Providence, RI.
The two pairs of competitors met first in the hot seat match. Cabral/Murphy had defeated the team of Sal Midolo and Lance Liscotti, double hill, in one winners’ side semifinal, as the team of Benson/Eline was downing Rob Diehl and Austin Ross 5-3 in the other one. Cabral/Murphy grabbed the hot seat, and as it turned out, their final match, in a shutout over Benson/Eline.
Midoli/Liscotti got into the quarterfinals with a 6-3 win over Gormly/Psarros. They were joined by Mullendore/McConnell, who’d eliminated Diehl/Ross 5-3.
Mullendor/McConnell then shut out Midolo/Liscotti. In the subsequent, straight-up race to 5 in the semifinals, Benson and Eline earned a second shot at Cabral and Murphy with a 5-2 win over Mullendore/McConnell. The last two teams opted out of a final match, potentially two, and split the top two prizes. As occupants of the event’s hot seat, Cabral and Murphy claimed the official event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Snookers, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#23), scheduled for Saturday, April 21, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
(l to r): Carlos Aguilar, Richard Comeau, Mike Minichello & Jenn Brown (daughter of Joe Brown)
Mike Minichello was the only Open player to compete in the Joe Brown Memorial, held under the auspices of the New England 9-Ball Series on Saturday, February 25. As such, he was racing to 10 in five of his seven matches against B players, and to 12, twice, against the eventual runner-up, Richard Comeau (D+, racing to 4). He went undefeated through the field of 49 entrants, winning 75 of the 91 games he played. The $500-added Joe Brown Memorial Tournament (Stop #17 on the tour) was hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.
Minichello faced primarily B players, racing to 5, and only one of them – Rick Bergevin – challenged him with a double hill match in the event’s second round. Minichello advanced to a winner’ side semifinal against Ben Benson, while, from the lower bracket, two D+ players, Richard Comeau and Mike Negrelli, squared off in the other one.
Minichello moved into the hot seat match with a 10-3 victory over Benson, and was joined by Comeau, who’d sent Nigrelli west (straight-up race to 4) 4-1. Minichello claimed the hot seat 12-2 over Comeau and waited for him to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, where races were shortened by one game, Nigrelli picked up Eric Newell (C), who’d defeated Andrew Nash (D+), double hill, and then shut out Jay Cunningham (C+) to reach him. Benson drew Carlos Aguilar (C), who’d been defeated in the third round of winners’ side play and was working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. Moving into the money rounds, he’d gotten by Sam Samoth (A+) 4-5 (Samoth racing to 8), and Eli Davenport 4-1, in a straight-up race to 4.
Nigrelli shut out Newell, and in the quarterfinals, faced Aguilar, who’d eliminated Benson 4-1. Aguilar chalked up his last win downing Nigrelli 5-1. Comeau then ended Aguilar’s loss-side streak 3-2 in the semifinals (Aguilar racing to 5). Minichello completed his undefeated run with a 12-1 victory over Comeau to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Saturday, March 10, will be hosted by Straight Shooter’s in Fall River, MA.
(l to r): Sammy Khiev, Kassie Lam & Eddie Bissonnette
In the final event of the 2017 portion of the New England 9-Ball Series tour (Stop # 10), Sammy Khiev navigated his way undefeated through a field of 33 to capture the event title. He was challenged in the finals by Eddie Bissonnette, who won seven on the loss side, including three straight, double hill wins, for the right to meet him. The $500-added event, the annual Robert Marcotte Memorial, was held on Saturday, December 16, and hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.
As the event wound down to its final 12 players, all but one of them was ranked as a B, B+, C or C+ player on the tour. Joan Fraser, a D player, was the only exception. Khiev was the only B player to advance to a winners’ side semifinal, where he faced C+ player Warren Basch. Kassie Lam and Don Roy, both C players, squared off in the other winners’ side semifinal. Khiev got into the hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Basch. Lam joined him, following her 5-3 win over Roy. Khiev gave up only a single rack to Roy in the hot seat match that followed (a 7-5 race), and waited for Bissonnette to finish his loss-side run.
It was Roy who drew Bissonnette on the loss side; Bissonnette having allowed only a single rack to be scored against him in loss-side wins #3 and #4. He’d shut out Eli Davenport and gave up the one rack to Joan Fraser. Basch picked up Geoff James, who’d recently eliminated John Edgar 5-1 and Ben Benson 5-2.
Bissonnette and Roy locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Bissonnette to the quarterfinals. He was joined by James, who’d shut out Basch.
Bissonnette chalked up his second straight double hill win in the quarterfinals against James, downing him 4-5 (James racing to 6). He chalked up his third double hill win in the re-match against Lam in the semifinals. With Lam (C) racing to 4, Bissonnette (C+) moved into the finals with a 5-3 win.
Those finals came within a game of being Bissonnette’s fourth straight double hill match. Khiev, though, pulled out in front at the end to win it 6-3 (Bissonnette racing to 4) and claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-balls National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#11), scheduled for the weekend of January 6-7, 2018, will be the $1,500-added Robert Dionne Memorial Tournament, to be hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
