Pete Bowman, Mike Zuglan, Snookers manager Paul Troxell and Ray McNamara
Oldest player to win on tour,’ Bob Darigis, wins Second Chance event
He’d be the first to tell you that it’d been a long time coming. But it did show up. This past weekend (June 4-5), after 20 years of attempts, Ray McNamara (generally known on the tour as ‘Ray Mac’) claimed his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour title, using the last regular season event of the tour’s 2021-2022 season to do so. In an effort that began (as far as we know) with a 7th place finish at a stop in Bristol, CT in October of 2002, McNamara went on to compete regularly on the Joss and other tours, and more recently, won the 364-entrant Amateur Senior event of the Super Billiards Expo this past April. The $1,500-added, 15th stop on the 2021-2022 Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour drew 53 entrants to Snooker’s in Providence, RI.
In addition to crowning a first-time champion, the event played host to another event champion, whom tour director Mike Zuglan described as “the oldest person (he could) think of who won any of (their) events.”A $500-added Second Chance tournament that drew 14 entrants was won by 71-year-old Bob Darigis.
“Ray Mac and Bob were both around in the days when me, Larry Lisciotti and Joe Tucker were still playing around,” said Zuglan.
Ray Mac’s trip to the winners’ circle had to go through another Joss NE 9-Ball veteran, also looking for his first (recorded with us) win on the tour, Pete Bowman. They met twice; hot seat match and finals. Mac had gotten by Nick Coppola, Lida Mullendore, Clyde Matta and Ryan Cullen to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Bob Madenjian, who, it should be noted, finished in the four-way tie for 5th place behind McNamara in the SBE’s Amateur Senior tournament in April and would end up in the same position at this event. Peter Bowman sent Aro Majumber and Brandon Coley to the loss side before encountering the later-to-be winner of the Second Chance event, Bob Darigis, who battled him tooth and nail to double hill before he sent him over, as well. Bowman then downed Darren Jevons to pick up Kerry McAuliffe in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Mac sent Madenjian west 9-2, while Bowman was defeating McAuliffe 9-3. McNamara claimed the hot seat 9-5, which was, as far as we know, his first.
On the loss side, McAuliffe picked up Steve Mack, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Madenjian and jumped onto the loss-side wagon with victories over Rich Kravetz 7-5 and Dan Sharlow 7-3. Madenjian picked up Francisco Salas, who’d also lost to Madenjian on the winners’ side (3rd round) and was working on a seven-match, loss-side streak that would take him as far as the semifinals and include the double-hill elimination of Jeremy Sossei, followed by wins over Darren Jevons 7-2 and Frankie Hernandez 7-3.
Mack did his part to secure a rematch versus Madenjian with a 7-4 win over McAuliffe, but Salas took Madenjian out 7-5 and then eliminated Mack 7-3 in the quarterfinals.
Bowman closed out Salas’ run with a 7-3 win in the semifinals to earn his second shot at Ray Mac, waiting for him in the hot seat. Though Salas would chalk up three more racks against Ray Mac in the finals than he had in the hot seat, Ray Mac prevailed 9-5 to claim his first Joss Northeast 9-Ball title, closing the ‘long time coming’ door behind him.
The final standings in tour points were headed up by Bucky Souvanthong, who appeared in nine of the season’s 15 events, winning five of them. Ron Casanzio finished in 2nd place, based on 10 appearances, with a single win. Jeremy Sossei was in 3rd place, having won three of his five appearances. Len Gianfrate placed fourth, just ahead of Aaron Greenwood. Rounding out the top 10 on the 2021-2022 tour were Jamie Garrett, Dan Sharlow, Frank Hernandez, Mhet Vergara and Bruce Carroll.
Tour director Mike Zuglan thanked Regina and Steve Goulding and their Snookers’ staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Joss Cues, Turning Stone Resort Casino, Simonis Cloth, Poolonthenet.com, AZBilliards, Aramith, Billiards Press and World Class Cue Care. The next event, the tour’s season finale, scheduled for Sept. 1-4, will be the $25,000-added Turning Stone Classic XXXV 9-Ball Open, hosted by the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY
The biggest story on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour this season has been the dominant run by tour points leader Bucky Souvanthong. Souvanthong has four first place finishes this season and has competed in the finals of every tour stop that he has played in. While he kept his string of finals appearances intact at the Northeast 9-Ball Open XXXIII held at Sharp Shooters Billiards and Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY on February 19th – 20th, first place went to Jeremy Sossei instead of Souvanthong.
Souvanthong and Sossei found themselves on the same side of the brackets in this 54 player event. Sossei had Saturday wins over Jason Collins, Jim Kearney, Tito Ortiz and Dawn Fox, while Souvanthong defeated Chris Tiru and Pat Fleming before being handed a lopsided 9-3 loss by Damon Sobers.
Souvanthong came back on Sunday and took out his vengeance on the left side of the board. Tom Acciavatti fell 7-2, Bud Robideau lost 7-0 and Bruce Carroll took a 7-0 loss to Souvanthong.
Back on the right side of the board, it was smooth sailing for Sossei with a 9-3 win over Sobers and then a 9-4 win over Marko Clarke for the hot-seat. Souvanthong had wins over Ron Casanzio and Clarke to earn his spot in the finals against Sossei but Sossei ended things before Souvanthong had any chance to get things going with a 9-2 win in the first (and only) set of the finals.
Sundays second chance event saw Jim Kearney face off against Greg Bombard three times before a winner was declared. Kearney had a 3-0 win over Bombard for the hot-seat, but after a hill-hill battle with Joe Wysocki in the semi-finals, Bombard came back and handed Kearney a 3-0 loss in the first set of the double elimination finals. The rubber match went to Kearney by that same 3-0 scoreline for first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will take this weekend off and the come back on March 5th – 6th for the 12th N.E. Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open at Snookers Billiards Bar & Grill in Providence, Rhode Island.
Bucky Souvanthong, East Ridge Billiards Owner Chris Braiman, and Ron Casanzio
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour kicked off their 2021/2022 schedule with another $2000 added weekend at East Ridge Billiards in Rochester, NY where Ron Casanzio proved again why he is a danger to win any Joss Tour stop that he plays in.
After a first round bye, Casanzio found himself on the wrong side of a 9-7 match against Luis Recio. That left him facing a long uphill battle, and he took that battle on. Casanzio started his westward quest through the brackets with another close one, a hill-hill win over Rohit Aggarwal. From there, Casanzio went on a tear. He finished the day on Saturday with wins over Alex Alvarado, Hendrik Drost and Robert Czupryniak by a combined score of 21-7. That left him in the cash and due to come back on Sunday.
Casanzio picked things up on Sunday where he left off, with wins over Deo Alpojora, Chris Braiman and Aaron Greenwood to land him in the semi-final match.
Back on the winners side, Bucky Souvanthong was playing his usual top speed. Souvanthong came into Sunday as one of the final four undefeated players and ran over Chris Braiman (9-2) and Dave Driedel (9-3) to take the hot-seat.
Casanzio made quick work of Dreidel in the semi-finals 7-2, to earn his shot at Souvanthong in the double elimination final match.
The first set of the finals was a competitive 9-6 win for Casanzio, but Souvanthong looked to have things under control in the second set. Souvanthong was on the hill at 6-4 when a routine 9-ball missed the pocket to give Casanzio a second chance. That was all that Casanzio needed as he won three straight racks for the hill-hill win and another Joss NE 9-Ball Tour Stop win on his resume.
Sunday’s second chance event saw sixteen players competing for over $800 in prize money. Bruce Carroll went undefeated with wins over Rohit Aggarwal for the hot-seat and again in the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action this weekend at Brickhouse Billiards in N. Syracuse, NY.
A Special Added Event ,Stop # 6.5 of our 2019/2020 season will be held at Diamond Billiards Bar & Grill in Rochester. This event was added after our schedules were printed but all info can be found at joss9balltour.com Diamond Billiards boasts all Diamond tables by way of 8 nine footers and 12 seven footers. There is also a full bar and kitchen to take care of all of our needs. Our generous host, Fran Imburgia deserves much thanks for hosting our event. So lets give Diamomd Billiards Bar & Grill a warm Joss Tour welcome by coming out to play in or just watch another great 9-ball tournament. While you are there, you could even win a gorgeous, custom engraved, Joss Cue, valued at $1,600 in the raffle. Anyone can participate in the raffle and you do not have to be present to win! This beautiful cue can be viewed here: https://josscues.com/product/joss-northeast-9-ball-tour-cue-model-2019-20/
There will be a free live stream on Facebook of this event provided my Mike Pool of Billiard Net TV. There will also be an upgrade option on billiardnet.tv
For more info about Diamond Billiards, look them up on Facebook or call them at 585-491-6261.
For those of you needing motel info, please call Diamond Billiards at 585-491-6261
This event Diamond Billiards will consist of a $1500 added Saturday and Sunday Main Event (entry Fee $120 for pro level or $70 for non pro level) and a $500 added second chance event on Sunday ($20 Entry Fee) for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday. All of our events are open to players of all skill levels. Please remember that all of our billiard parlor events are now races 9 on the winners side and races to 7 on the one loss side.
Those coming to play must arrive on Saturday Nov. 2, Before 11:30 AM in proper dress of No t-shirts, tanks, sweats or shorts!! Clean Jeans and sneakers and a shirt with a collar work just fine for our billiard parlor events. Complete tour info can be found on our site: www.joss9balltour.com
Also, our third "Joss Junior 9-Ball Championships" will be held at Sharp Shooters on January 25, 2020. There will once again be 2 divisions. 18 & under and 12 and under. For more info, please contact Mike Zuglan immediately at 518-356-7163 for entry information. Please contact Mike if you would like to donate any items to be given away at the event.
Please note that our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXXIII 9-Ball Open on January 9 – 12, 2020 is Full at 128 Paid players. If you would like to be put on the waiting list, please contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163
Please remember to spread the word to frequent your local billiard parlors and utilize and promote the world class products of our most generous sponsors. They are the backbone of our sport and deserve our support!!
Thanks and I hope to see you all at Diamond Billiards.
Mike Zuglan
The Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour Is Proudly Sponsored By;
Bucky Souvanthong, Brickhouse Billiards Co Owner Brad Rees and Ron Casanzio
The talk on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour this season has been the six tournament winning streak put together by Jeremy Sossei. Over the October 26th – 27th weekend at Brick House Billiards in Syracuse NY, Bucky Souvanthong started building a winning streak of his own.
Souvanthong had three lopsided Saturday wins over Gary Hinkley (9-3), Eric Hamel (9-4) and Hendrik Drost (9-5). Things got tougher on Sunday morning though, as Souvanthong went to hill-hill before sending Ron Casanzio to the one loss side. Next up for Souvanthong was Jay Goyer in the hot-seat match. That match went to Souvanthong 9-6.
After wins over Tony Antone, Dave Ricci and Goyer, Ron Casanzio would be the one to come out of the one loss side to challenge Souvanthong in the finals. Looking back on Souvanthong and Casanzio’s hill-hill match earlier, it was no surprise that the rematch would be another close one. The players were tied at 7-7 when Souvanthong took the hill at 8-7 and then proceeded to make the 9-ball on the break in rack sixteen, for the 9-7 win.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Diamond Billiards Bar & Grill in Rochester, NY on November 2nd and 3rd for their next stop. Players who are interested in playing in January’s Turning Stone Classic XXXIII are urged to contact Mike Zuglan and get their entry fees in.
Stop # 6 of our 2019/2020 season will be at the brand new Brick House Billiards in N. Syracuse NY on October 26 & 27 for the first of two events this season. Our hosts Mary & Brian Holmes and Brad Rees have created one of the most beautiful rooms in the state while sparing no expense. Brick House comes complete with 8 of the Diamond Pro tables used at one of our Turning Stone events, plus 8, 7 foot Diamond tables for the bar league crowd. There is also a brand new full bar and kitchen boasting a full pub menu with a few homemade specials thrown in to satisfy all of our needs. So lets give Brick House a warm Joss Tour welcome by coming out to play in or just watch another great 9-ball tournament. While you are there, you could even win a gorgeous, custom engraved, Joss Cue, valued at $1,600 in the raffle. Anyone can participate in the raffle and you do not have to be present to win! This beautiful cue can be viewed here: https://josscues.com/product/joss-northeast-9-ball-tour-cue-model-2019-20/
For more info about Brick House, look them up on Facebook or call them at 315-455-1979.
For those of you needing motel info, please call Brick House directly at 315-455-1979
This event at Brick House Billiards will consist of a $1500 added Saturday and Sunday Main Event (entry Fee $120 for pro level or $70 for non pro level) and a $500 added second chance event on Sunday ($20 Entry Fee) for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday. All of our events are open to players of all skill levels. Please remember that all of our billiard parlor events are now races 9 on the winners side and races to 7 on the one loss side.
Those coming to play must arrive on Saturday Oct. 26, Before 11:30 AM in proper dress of No t-shirts, tanks, sweats or shorts!! Clean Jeans and sneakers and a shirt with a collar work just fine for our billiard parlor events. Complete tour info can be found on our site: www.joss9balltour.com
Also, our third "Joss Junior 9-Ball Championships" will be held at Sharp Shooters on January 25, 2020. There will once again be 2 divisions. 18 & under and 12 and under. For more info, please contact Mike Zuglan immediately at 518-356-7163 for entry information. Please contact Mike if you would like to donate any items to be given away at the event.
Please note that our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXXIII 9-Ball Open on January 9 – 12, 2020 is fast approaching and will fill to capacity very soon. If you would like to compete in this BCA, WPA official ranking event, NOW is the time to enter to avoid being shut out! To enter you must contact me at 518-356-7163 or see me at any of our events Before the event is full at 128. I have actively been collecting entries since our last Turning Stone event and we are currently less than 10 spots remaining so I strongly urge everyone to act now or you will be shut out!!
Please remember to spread the word to frequent your local billiard parlors and utilize and promote the world class products of our most generous sponsors. They are the backbone of our sport and deserve our support!!
Thanks and I hope to see you all at the brand new Brick House billiards.
Mike Zuglan
The Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour Is Proudly Sponsored By;
Jeremy Sossei, Sharpshooters Manager Kayla and Bucky Souvanthong
Jeremy Sossei didn’t compete in the October 5th / 6th Joss NE 9-Ball Tour Stop, but he was back in action the last two weekends where he earned his seventh straight title and then finally lost in a final match.
The tour stop at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard on October 12th & 13th saw Sossei run through the field undefeated, beating Ron Casanzio for the hot-seat 9-7 and then Brad Guthrie in the finals. Sossei had defeated Guthrie in the final four on the winner’s side Sunday 9-4 and then did so again 9-2 in the finals.
The next stop, October 19th & 20th at Sharpshooters Billiards and Sports Pub, was looking like yet another Sossei victory as he went through Saturday matches against Bob Nerkert, Chris Braiman and Bruce Carroll undefeated. Sunday was more of the same, with Sossei defeating Danny Hewitt 9-5 and then Qais Kolee for the hot-seat 9-4.
Bucky Souvanthong had dropped a late Saturday match to Kolee, but ran through the one loss side with a Saturday night win over Ben Werblow and then Sunday wins over Ron Casanzio, Hewitt and Kolee to earn his place against Sossei in the finals.
Souvanthong is the only man to have won a Joss Tour Stop this season, aside from Sossei, and he won that stop on the one weekend that Sossei was not in attendance. He proved that he was more than capable of a tour stop win, with or without Sossei in the field, as he double dipped Sossei 9-3 and 7-5 in the finals for first place.
The October 13th second chance tournament saw Fred Gokey drop the hot-seat match to Nick Coppola and then come back to defeat Coppola twice in the finals for first place. The October 20th second chance tournament saw Bruce Carroll with an undefeated run that included 3-1 wins over Norm Vernon for the hot-seat and again in the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action this weekend at Brickhouse Billiards in Syracuse, NY for another $1,500 added main event and $500 added second chance event.
Day one at the Turning Stone Classic XXXII went pretty much as expected, with no real upsets of note. All of the top players advanced into day two without a loss.
The first rounds usually don’t offer many “marquee matches” but it looked like there would be one in the first round matchup between Joss Tour regular Matt Tetreault and Zion Zvi. Tetreault had other plans though, as he cruised to a dominating 9-1 win over Zvi.
Bruce Carroll, who got into the tournament at the last minute because of a no-show, took an early 2-0 lead over former champion Billy Thorpe, but Thorpe quickly righted his ship to tie things at 4-4 and then go on to win the match 9-5. Jim Prather did what he could to give the fans an upset as he fought Johnny Archer to a 4-4 tie before Archer took control of the match and won 9-4. Brandon Shuff was on his way to a convincing win over Jesse Docalavich in the final round of the night when he held an early 6-0 lead. Docalavich wasn’t going to just hand Shuff the win though, as he came back to 6-4 down, to get Shuff’s attention. Shuff then regained control for the 9-5 win.
Upstate Al is providing a free stream of select matches on his Facebook page and the noon (Eastern Time) match looks like a great one between Shane Van Boening and Johnny Archer. We are providing complete coverage of the event with online brackets and real time scoring for the duration of the event.
Brickhouse Billiards Owner Brad Rees, Jeremy Sossei and Hendrik Drost
Jeremy Sossei earned his third Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop win of the year (and second in as many stops) on April 27th – 28th at Brickhouse Billiards in North Syracuse, NY. While he would eventually get to the finals and pull off the win, it wasn’t smooth sailing like it has been for at earlier event this season.
Sossei started out the event with wins over Len Gianfrate, Tony Antone and Jesse Docalavich, but had his Saturday spoiled late by Nate Marshall, who scored a hill-hill win to send Sossei to the one loss side. Sossei bounced back from that loss in style and beat Steve Lamontagne 7-1 to close out the day.
Sunday play saw Marshall drop his first match of the day to Hendrick Drost 9-5, while Geoff Montgomery was sending Dwight Dixon to the one loss side 9-4. Drost would then go on to take the hot-seat over Montgomery 9-2.
Sossei scored wins over Bruce Carroll (7-0) and Dixon (7-5) to reach the final four on the one loss side. Sossei would not get a chance to avenge his loss to Marshall as Len Gianfrate eliminated Marshall 7-4 in 5th place. The opponent didn’t matter to Sossei though, as he then eliminated Gianfrate 7-5. The only person left standing between Sossei and the finals was Montgomery, and Sossei ended that opposition quickly with a 7-2 win.
The final match between Drost and Sossei was true double elimination, where Sossei scored a 9-4 win in the first set and then a 7-3 win in the second (and deciding) set for first place.
Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Aaron Greenwood lose his first match of the day, but come back with seven straight match wins (including both sets of the finals against Nick Coppola) for first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour is back in action this weekend (May 4th – 5th) at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY.
It’s sort of a February tradition at Sharpshooters Billiards in Amsterdam, NY. The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour comes to visit, and Jeremy Sossei ends up standing in the winner’s circle. For the fifth straight year (and sixth time in seven years), Jeremy Sossei finished in first place on February 16th and 17th. Even with his winning streak there, it wasn’t easy this year.
Sossei remained undefeated all day Saturday and started Sunday with a 9-3 win over Rick Kravetz. While Sossei was getting that win, Joey Cicero was sending BCA Hall of Famer Pat Fleming to the one loss side 9-6. Cicero then sent Sossei to join Fleming on the left side of the board as he took the hot-seat match 9-7.
On the one loss side, Jorge Teixeira was on a roll. After losing to Ron Casanzio on Saturday morning, Teixeira had won nine straight matches culminating in a 7-3 win over Bruce Nagle for 4th place. Teixeira gave Sossei almost all he could handle but ended up dropping the semi-final match 7-5.
That win left Sossei with the task of beating Cicero twice in a row, which he did in two hard-fought matches. Sossei scored a 9-6 win in the first set, followed by a 7-5 win in the second.
Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Ben Werblow dominate the field of nineteen players. Werblow went undefeated with wins over Bob Merkert, Greg Bombard, Nate Marshall and then Demian Provost for the hot-seat. In those four matches, Werblow lost a total of one game (to Bombard). Bruce Carroll eliminated Provost 3-0 in the semi-final match but was only able to manage one rack against Werblow in the finals.
