In what proved to be the only time they met and the match that decided the winning team, Jeff Furness and Bob Campbell, sporting a FargoRate of 520, defeated Josh Rupard and Elliot Coates, with a FargoRate of 593, in the hot seat match of the New England 9-Ball Series’ Partners’ Tournament, held on Sunday, December 15. The event drew 55, two-person teams to Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.

 

As with all NE 9-Ball Series events, the 55 teams were split into separate upper and lower FargoRated brackets at the outset. Rupard and Coates advanced through their first four matches and gave up only a total of five racks; two, in their opening match and one each in the other three. This set them up to face Beau Powers and Ben Savoie, also FargoRated at 593, in the Upper Bracket’s winners’ side semifinal. Powers and Savoie were challenged in their four opening matches and came to the winners’ side semifinal with an aggregate score of 20-13 and having survived two double hill matches.

 

The lower bracket winners’ side semifinal featured eventual winners Furness and Campbell, who’d opened their campaign with a shutout and then had to battle to double hill twice (4-3 both times) and 5-3 once to meet Shawn Ingham and Michael Beauchesne in their winners’ side semifinal.

 

Furness/Campbell advanced to the hot seat match with a 6-2 win over Ingham/Beauchesne. They were joined by Rupard/Coates, who’d sent Powers and Savoie to the loss side 5-3. The 73-point differential in their FargoRates gave Furness/Campbell a single rack on the wire in a race to 5. They won it, downing Rupard/Coates 4-2.

 

On the loss side, Powers/Savoie picked up Lukas Fracasso-Verner and Scott Reynolds, a team with a FargoRate a scant six points ahead of their own (599-593), which created a straight-up race to 4. Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds had defeated the teams of Paulie Kazalski/Dominick Souza and Everett Belliveau/Dan McCaie, both 4-2 to reach Powers/Savoie. Ingham/Beauchesne drew Ricardo Diaz and Souheli Muraby, who’d eliminated the team of Troy Fortin/Dave Morrison, double hill (4-3) and then shut out Jay Cunningham and Mike Negrelli.

 

Powers/Savoie, in their straight-up race to 4, downed Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds 4-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Diaz/Muraby, who’d ended Ingham/Beauchesne’s day 6-1. Two straight-up races to 4 followed. In the first, the quarterfinals, it was Diaz/Muraby advancing past Powers/Savoie 4-2.

 

In the second, which proved to be the final match of the event – the semifinals – Rupard/Coates downed Diaz/Muraby 4-1. The last two teams standing – Rupard/Coates and Furness/Campbell – agreed to split the top two prizes, leaving the undefeated Furness/Campbell team as the event’s official winners.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, BCAPL New England, FargoRate, 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 NE 9-Ball Series will commence the 2020 portion of its schedule with a $500-added event, scheduled for Saturday, January 4, at Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.

Going into the finals, there had been three distinct phases to Tom D’Alfonso’s victory on the New England 9-Ball Series’ tour stop #15 – The Joe Brown Memorial – on Saturday, March 9. In his opening three matches, he won 90% of the games he played (29-4). During a three-match trip on the loss side, he chalked up 92% of the games he played (24-2). In one match, a winners’ side semifinal, double hill loss, he won only 61.5% of the games he played (5-8; D’Alfonso was racing to 9). He returned from that defeat to face Dave Morrison in a double elimination final and over 20 games, gave up only two racks (90%, exactly). The single loss left D’Alfonso with a deceptively low, although admittedly good 85% overall win percentage in games played. The $500-added event drew 49 entrants to Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.

 

After an opening round bye in the event’s upper bracket, D’Alfonso gave up a surprising (only in hindsight) three racks to Jeff Provencher in a 9-3 win. Over the next 21 games in two matches, he gave up only one, to Matt Gagne, first, and then, none at all to Fred White, which set D’Alfonso up to face Mike Verducci in a winners' side semifinal. Morrison, in the meantime, working in the lower bracket following a bye, had defeated Catherine Ong 5-3, Walter Kelly 4-4 (Kelly racing to 6) and shut out Carlton Gagnon, to face Jason Seavey in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

In a straight-up race to 5, Morrison advanced to the hot seat match over Seavey 5-1. Verducci started his winners’ side semifinal match against D’Alfonso with four on the wire in a race to 9. He chalked up the five he needed and sent D’Alfonso to the loss side, double hill 5-8.

 

On the loss side, D’Alfonso picked up Fred White, who, in a straight-up race to 6, defeated Carlos Aguilar 6-3 and then, with three games on the wire in a race to 7, beat Ben LeBlanc 4-1. Seavey drew Fred Gillis, who’d eliminated Carlton Gagnon, double hill (4-3) and Walt Kelly 4-2.

 

In a straight-up race to 4, Seavey advanced to the quarterfinals 4-2 over Gillis. D’Alfonso, giving White four on the wire in a race to 8, shut him out to join Seavey in the quarterfinals. Also giving both Seavey and later, in the semifinals, Verducci, four on the wire in races to eight, D’Alfonso defeated them both 8-1.

 

Giving Morrison in the hot seat five on the wire in races to 9, D’Alfonso took the opening set of the true double elimination final 9-2. He didn’t give up a single rack in the second set and claimed the Joe Brown Memorial title.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s Billiards for their hospitality and support for the Joe Brown Memorial, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, 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, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#16) will be the $1,000-added Players Championship, scheduled for this weekend (March 16-17) at Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.

The tournament never made it past the quarterfinals. Following the winners’ side semifinals of the September 5 stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, two competitors moved to the loss side and played one match each. When those two matches that determined the two-way tie for 5th place were over, it was 2 a.m. on Sunday, September 6. The four remaining competitors opted out of further play and made arrangements to split the top four cash prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat at the time, Tony Albair took the official event title. The $500-added, 8-ball event drew 69 entrants, who played on Legends Sports Bar in Auburn, ME’s 10 Diamond tables for as long as they could.

 

Albair came out of the event’s lower bracket and opened his campaign by shutting out three female opponents – Dorie Oakes, Patricia Stevens and Dorothy Gauvin. He defeated Tyler 3-2 and then sent a third woman, Noreen Moy, to the loss side 3-1 to face Barret Ridley in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Kyle Pepin, in the meantime, emerged from the upper bracket, defeating (after an opening round bye) Scott Bower 5-1, Gabriel Kirshnitz 5-2, Ross Webster 4-1, and Steve Smith 3-2 to face Jason Barnies in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Pepin and Albair advanced to the hot seat match with identical 3-2, double hill wins over Barnies and Ridley. With two on the wire at the start in a race to 4, Albair claimed the hot seat 2-2.

 

On the loss side, Barnies picked up Dillon Nickerson, who had picked up a forfeit win over Xavier Libby, and downed Steve Smith 3-1 to reach him. Ridley drew Noreen Moy, who, after being sent to the loss side with a shutout, chalked up two of her own, against Carlton Gagnon and Dave Morrison, to face Ridley.

 

In what proved to be the final matches of the event, Nickerson defeated Barnies 3-1, while Moy went out the way she’d come in, via shutout at the hands of Ridley. The decision was made to end the proceedings, granting Albair and Pepin 1st and 2nd place, respectively. Nickerson and Ridley split the 3rd and 4th place prizes.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, 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, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (Stop #11) will be the $750-added annual Robert Dionne Memorial Tournament, scheduled for January 12-13, at Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.

The last time Matt Rezendes and Ryan Hemingway cashed in stops on the New England 9-Ball Series, they both finished in third place; Hemingway in August and Rezendes, a month later. On Saturday, November 24, at a $500-added event (Stop #7), that drew 46 entrants to Stix & Stones in Abington, MA, they moved up a notch. Matt Rezendes claimed the official title by going undefeated, although he and Hemingway opted out of a final match, choosing to let the double hill hot seat match stand as the defining contest between them.

 

Coming out of the upper bracket, Rezendes (FargoRate – 543) advanced through George Morgan, Ryan Stevens, Jim Prather and Bill Gallagher, to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Andy Maynard (513). Hemingway (484), working initially in the lower bracket with an opening round bye, defeated Kyle Downey, Cameo Moy and Mark Pulsifer to face Mike Nigrelli (438) in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

In a straight-up race to 5, Rezendes shut Maynard out to get into the hot seat match. Hemingway joined him with a double hill (4-2) victory over Nigrelli. With Hemingway starting with a single game ‘on the wire,’ the hot seat match went double hill before Rezendes won what proved to be his last match 5-3.

 

On the loss side, Maynard picked up Ben Savoie, who’d gotten by Jim Prather 4-1 (Prather racing to 6), and, in a straight-up race to 5, Bill Gallagher 5-2. Nigrelli drew Mark Pulsifer, who’d eliminated Dave Morrison, double hill, in a straight-up race to 4 and Bob Lucas 4-2 in another straight-up race to 4. Savoie downed Maynard 5-3, as Nigrelli and Pulsifer locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Nigrelli to join Savoie in the quarterfinals (3-3).

 

Racing to 6 (Nigrelli starting with three ‘on the wire’), Nigrelli advanced to the semifinals 3-4. Nigrelli started the semifinals with a single rack ‘on the wire’ and battled Hemingway to double hill, before Hemingway concluded the event’s final match. Rezendes and Hemingway made the decision to forego a final match and opted to split the top two prizes, while the undefeated Rezendes claimed the official event title. 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Stix and Stones, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, 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, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop (#8) on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for this weekend (Dec. 1-2), will be the $3,000-added Bangor Bash, hosted by Rack City in Bangor, ME.