Salt City Billiards in Syracuse NY was our host for stop #4 of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour's current 20th season with Danny Hewitt taking top honors in the main event. Hewitt's road to the finals was a relatively easy trip with wins over Dave Johnson 9-1, Rohit Aggarwal 9-2, former NYS Champ Alan Kiehle 9-6, Joe Darigis 9-4, Spencer Auigbelle 9-6 and Hendrik Drost 9-3 for the hot seat. His opponent in the finals, Martin Daigle, had a much tougher task at hand. Having lost a hard fought hill-hill 1st round match to Bucky Souvanthong, things were not looking good. But, that loss seemed to trigger a winning attitude as Daigle proceeded to knock off opponents one by one to the tune of 9 wins in a row for him to reach the finals verses Hewitt. Daigle's victories included wins over Lance Kellogg 9-2, Bruce Carroll 9-1, Dwight Dixon 9-3, Dave Grau 9-3, Joe Darigis 9-4, Ed Saur 9-7, Bruce Nagle 9-8, Spencer Auigbelle 9-3 and Hendrik Drost 9-4.
In the true double elimination format it appeared that Daigle had not lost any steam, winning the first set of the all Canadian finals over Hewitt 9-6. The set was somewhat close early on but hewitt was always slightly behind and seemed to have a little trouble getting his game in gear. The second set however was much different as Hewitt simply dominated Daigle to the tune of 9-2. Hewitt collected $1,000 while Daigle settled for second money of $700 and Drost earned $550 for a great 3rd place finish.
Our $20 entry fee Sunday second chance tourney saw Dave Mills come back from an early loss for the win. That event saw Jason Hall defeat Jerome Rockwell for the hot seat. Mills then beat Rockwell and went on to defeat Hall two sets in the final by scores of 3-2 & 3-2. Mills collected $280 for first, Hall $180 for second and Rockwell $120 for third.
The lucky winner of our $1,500 custom engraved Joss Cue raffle was a local player, Charles Maitland.
We are fast approaching our mid season championship "Turning Stone Classic XXVII 9-Ball Open" on January 5-8, 2017. If you would like to compete in this world class event, I suggest you contact Mike Zuglan immediately to avoid being left out. The event is limited to the first 128 paid entries and Always fills months ahead. If just coming to watch, spectator admission is Free once again. Mike Zuglan can be reached at 518-356-7163.
Main Event results:
1st – Danny Hewitt – $1,000
2nd – Martin Daigle – $700
3rd – Hendrik Drost – $550
4th – Spencer Auigbelle – $400
5/6 – Bruce Nagle & Aaron Greenwood – $300 each
7/8 – Ed Saur & Marco Kam – $200 each
9/12 – Bucky Souvanthong, Joe Darigis, Ron Casanzio & Mark Creamer – $100 each
Second Chance results:
1st – Dave Mills – $280
2nd – Jason Hall – $180
3rd – Jerome Rockwell – $120
4th – Nate Marshall – $80
5/6 – Lance Kellogg & Russ Randall – $40 each
The picture includes Frank Delconte, owner, Martin Daigle 2nd place Dan Hewitt 1st Jennifer Delconte, owners wife
Front Meane Daigle Nichole Delconte (daughters)
Bucky Souvanthong, (room owner) Julie Berlin and Ron Casanzio
In a true double elimination tournament format, it is not a common sight to see the player who loses the hot-seat match come back and douple dip their opponent in the finals. It happened twice though at the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's third stop of the season at Sharpshooters Billiards in Amsterdam NY on October 8th – 9th.
The main event saw Ron Casanzio edge Bucky Souvanthong 9-8 for the hot-seat. Casanzio has turned in a number of strong finishes on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour, but had not visited the winner's circle since 2013. Souvanthong eliminated Brent Boemmels 9-5 to earn the chance to keep Casanzio from that winner's circle one more time. It looked like smooth sailing for Casanzio in the first set of the finals as he raced out to a quick 4-0 lead. A missed shot in rack five was all the opportunity that Souvanthong needed as he took control and won the next eight racks. Casanzio tried to mount a comeback, but could only get to 8-6 before Souvanthong took the first set 9-6. The second set was a much closer affair with neither player able to build any sort of lead. The match stayed that way until the end, with Souvanthong clinching the 9-7 win for first place.
The second chance tournament was very similar to the main event, with Dave Johnson defeating Nick Brucato 3-2 for the hot-seat. Brucato came back and beat Hendrik Drost 3-1 to earn his place in the finals. It was Brucato's second trip to the second chance event finals in as many weeks, and he made the most of it this time with 3-1 and 3-2 wins over Johnson for first place. Drost might have still done the best of any player in the second chance event, as he combined his third place prize money with winning the custom engraved Joss cue raffle.
Casanzio's second place finish in the main event was enough to propel him to first place on the Joss Tour Points List, with Souvanthong a close 25 points behind.
The Joss Tour will be at Salt City Billiards for their next stop on October 15th – 16th. Players who wish to compete in the upcoming Turning Stone Classic XXVII should contact Zuglan at 518-356-7163 to lock up their place in the event.
