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.
Room Owner Andrea Duvall, Bucky Souvanthong and Jamie Garrett
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour returned from its mid-season “Turning Stone” break over the weekend of February 5th – 6th and things looked pretty similar at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard in Utica, NY as they did before the break. Once again, it was tour points leader Bucky Souvanthong turning in an undefeated performance to add another tour stop win to his impressive resume.
Souvanthong has a perfect record in the five Joss Tour Stops he has played in this season, competing in the finals of all five. This week, it was Jamie Garrett stepping up from the field of 41 players to try to stop Souvanthong. Garrett had Saturday wins over Jed Jecen, Dave Copperwheat, and Tyler Arnold. He came back on Sunday and won a tough 9-7 match with Damon Sobers to get to the hot-seat match.
Souvanthong had wins over Bob Merkert, Maury Cotter, Sam Marranca, and Jason Reese on Saturday, and then kicked off Sunday with a 9-3 win over Len Gianfrate. The hot-seat match was a well disputed one, with Souvanthong coming out on top 9-7.
Garrett wasn’t going to go down without a fight on this weekend, as he eliminated Gianfrate 7-6 to earn another shot at Souvanthong in the finals.
While Bucky was the story going into the finals, Garrett has had a great season on the tour himself. With two fourth-place finishes on tour already, combined with a seventh-place finish back in October, Garrett knew he already had his best career finish in the bag. That would have to be enough for him this time, as Souvanthong won the first set of the finals 9-4 for his third tour win this season.
Sunday’s Second Chance tournament saw Aaron Greenwood with an undefeated win of his own. Greenwood had a hill-hill scare against Mike Armstrong in his first match of the day but followed that win up with another four match wins by a combined score of 12-2. The hot-seat match was a 3-0 win over Glen Van Court and the finals were a 3-1 win over Bill Goodman for first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will take this weekend off, but will be back in action on February 19th – 20th for the Northeast 9-Ball Open XXXIII at Sharpshooters Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY.
Room owner Andrea Duval, Jeremy Sossei and Ron Casanzio
Jeremy Sossei is definitely picking up where he left off after his short break from the game in 2018. He kept up his winning ways with an undefeated run through a field of 44 players at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard in Utica, NY for the Joss NE 9-Ball tour stop on April 6th – 7th.
Sossei’s first match of the day on Saturday was his closest match of the day, as he got things started with a 9-5 win over Frank Ricelli. After that win though, Sossei put together back to back 9-2 wins over Andrew Van Master and Bruce Carrol, and he then closed out day one with a one-sided 9-4 win over Bucky Souvanthong.
Sunday play got underway with Sossei scoring a 9-4 win over Bruce Nagle and then a 9-5 win over Ron Casanzio for the hot-seat.
On the one loss side, all eyes were on Damon Sobers. After a 9-7 loss to Ryan Mayo midday Saturday, Sobers won six straight matches on the left side of the board (including hill-hill wins over Ben Werblow, Ed Saur and Bruce Nagle. Casanzio would finally end Sobers’ winning streak with a 7-4 semi-final match score.
Casanzio would still not be able to get by Sossei in the finals, where Sossei won 9-4 in the first set. It was Sossei’s second Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win this year.
While Josh Welsh’s win in Sunday’s second chance tournament was not an undefeated one like Sossei’s main event win, it was still impressive. Welsh cruised to the hot-seat with a five match winning streak and an overall record of 15 wins and 2 losses. After Jon McConnell eliminated Jared Zimmerman on the one loss side, he came back and handed Welsh his first loss 3-2 in the first set of the double elimination finals. Welsh then came back and scored a 3-2 win over McConnell in the second set for the tournament win. The win was Welsh’s first win on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour.
