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Albair declared official winner of time-constrained NE 9-Ball Series 8-Ball event

Runner-up Kyle Pepin

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.

Aguilar and Dunbar split top prizes in NE 9-Ball Series’ opener

(L to r): Matt Rezendes, Carlos Aguilar & Tyler Dunbar

Carlos Aguilar and Tyler Dunbar opted out of a final match at the end of the New England 9-Ball Series’ 2018-2019 opener, held on Sunday, September 23. As the undefeated competitor, Aguilar claimed the event title. To secure his runner-up position, Dunbar, who’d been defeated in the second round of play, won nine on the loss side to earn a spot in the finals that didn’t happen. The event drew 57 entrants to Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
 
Tour director Marc Dionne announced at the start of this new season for the New England 9-Ball Series that the tour would no longer be using letter ratings (A, B, C, etc.) to determine handicaps and match races. They have switched to the FargoRate system for this purpose and with certain competitors and matches, we’ll be providing current FargoRates, in parentheses, as a reference.
 
The tour continues to separate the players into lower and upper (rank) brackets at the start of events, combining them towards the end. Playing in the lower bracket, Aguilar (503) chalked up victories over Peter Rizzo, Sr., Lida Mullendore and Tyler Boudreau, who’d just sent Dunbar (461) to the loss side.  Aguilar then defeated Dorie Oakes, advancing to an overall winners’ side semifinal against Josh Edmonds (479). From the upper bracket, Matt Rezendes (539) and Jose Concepcion (585) squared off in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
In a straight-up race to 5, Aguilar and Edmonds battled to double hill before Aguilar prevailed, advancing to the hot seat match. He was joined by Rezendes, who’d sent Concepian to the loss side 5-2 (Concepcian racing to 6). With Rezendes racing to 6, Aguilar claimed the hot seat 5-2 in what proved to be his final match.
 
On the loss side, it was Edmonds who picked up Dunbar, seven matches into his loss-side winning streak that had included recent victories over Dorie Oakes and Ben Come, both 5-1. Concepcian drew Mike Gagne, who’d chalked up two straight double hill wins against Gabriel Kirshnitz and Ruben Soto to reach him.
 
In what was Gagne’s third straight, straight-up race to 5, Concepian allowed him only one rack and advanced to the quarterfinals. Dunbar joined him following a 4-1 victory over Edmonds.
 
Dunbar started the quarterfinal match with three on the wire in a race to 6, and though he and Concepcian chalked up three racks each, the handicap advantage gave Dunbar the win and advancement to his last match of the night.
 
Dunbar and Rezendes battled to double hill before Dunbar finished it to earn a shot at Aguilar in the hot seat. The two opted out of the final match and split the top two cash prizes.
 
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL 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, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for October 6, will be the $500-added Dave Marcus Memorial Tournament, hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.