(l to r): Paul Kazalski, Dominick Souza & Joe Callaluca
Dominick Souza came into the February 29 stop on the New England 9-Ball Series looking for his second win on the tour since he went undefeated at a stop in Tyngsboro, MA (Maxamilian’s Billiards) in April, 2018. His opponent in the hot seat match at this most recent event, Joe Callaluca, finished fourth at that 2018 stop, and settled for 3rd place this past weekend, when he was defeated by Paul Kazalski in the semifinals. Souza went on to defeat Kazalski in the finals to claim title to the $500-added event that drew 30 entrants to Strokers Bar and Billiards in Pelham, NH.
Working in the upper bracket with a FargoRate of 640, Souza got by Jose Concepcion 5-3, David Ty 6-3 and survived a double hill fight against Mark Morgan to draw TK Marshall in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Callaluca, in the meantime, sporting a FargoRate of 500 and working in the lower bracket, defeated Owen Gomez 3-1, and chalked up two straight shutouts, over Mike Felix and Doug Walker to draw Eli Davenport (502) in the other winners’ side semifinal. Davenport was fresh off a winners’ side quarterfinal victory over Kazalski (421).
Souza and Marshall battled to double hill before Souza advanced to the hot seat match. Callaluca recorded his third straight shutout, downing Davenport 3-0. With Callaluca racing to 4, Souza claimed the hot seat 6-2 and waited on what turned out to be the return of Kazalski.
Kazalski opened his loss-side campaign with two straight 3-1 victories, over John Mills and Tiffany Vuong and picked up a rematch versus Davenport. Marshall drew David Ty, who, following his defeat at the hands of Souza on the winners’ side, had won three straight on the loss side, downing Brian Tierney and Xhuljano Kamxhiu, both 4-2 and surviving a double hill battle against Roger Vivier to reach Marshall.
Ty and Kazalksi eliminated Marshall and Davenport; Ty shutting Marshall out and Kazalski successfully navigating his rematch against Davenport 3-1. Kazalski then took the quarterfinal match over Ty 4-3 (Ty racing to 6).
With Fargo Rates separated by 79 points (Callaluca, 500 and Kazalski, 421), the semifinal was a straight up race to 4 for both of them. They battled to double hill before Kazalski prevailed to earn a shot against Souza in the hot seat and a chance to chalk up his first regional tour victory.
Souza put a stop to that chance by giving up only a single rack in the only set necessary in a true double elimination final. Souza sealed the victory 8-1 and claimed the title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Strokers, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, BCAPL, 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 with Lease Fundings, Master Billiards, OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America and Piku Tips. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#15), scheduled for Saturday, March 7, will be the $500-added Joe Brown Memorial, to be hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.
(l to r): Eli Davenport, Ross Webster & Troy Fortin
In something of an end-of-the-year dash to an imagined finish line, Ross Webster had already made 2019 his best earnings year to date, when he came back from a hot seat loss to double dip Troy Fortin in the finals of a November 30-December 1 stop on the New England 9-Ball Series. Webster’s only (recorded) cash finishes in 2019 began in September when he finished in the tie for 9th place at the New England 9-Ball Series’ Tour Championships. Two weeks later, he finished in 3rd place at the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s Maine Event XXIII, behind Jeremy Sossei and Joe Dupuis (Webster has won three Joss Tour Second Chance events since 2017). Separated by two weeks in October, he finished in the tie for 5th place at two more stops on the New England 9-Ball Series. According to our records, his win this past weekend marked his first major regional tour victory. The $1,000-added event drew 52 entrants to Legends Billiards in Auburn. ME.
After an opening round bye, Webster downed Jason Richard, Scott Martel and Dana Oulette to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Tyler Campbell. Fortin, in the meantime, working in the lower bracket, defeated Gerry Gross, Bradley Nichols, Bob Lussier and Eli Davenport to reach his winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Jozy Vienneau.
Webster gave up just a single rack in a 7-1 victory over Campbell that put him in the hot seat match. Fortin joined him after surviving a double hill fight against Vienneau (7-4). Fortin locked up in a second straight double hill fight, battling for the hot seat and won it.
On the loss side, Campbell picked up Keith Trafton, who’d lost an opening round match to Stan Rupard and embarked on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He’d picked up loss-side wins #6 & #7 against Oulette (5-0) and Samoth Sam (5-2) to arrive at the battle for 5th/6th against Campbell. Vienneau drew Eli Davenport, who’d been sent to the loss side by Fortin and defeated Jason Seavey, double hill and Nathan Johnson 5-2 to reach Vienneau.
Trafton eliminated Campbell 5-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Davenport, who’d defeated Vienneau 6-2. Davenport ended Trafton’s loss-side streak, double hill in those quarterfinals (4-5). Webster, in turn, ended Davenport’s four-match, loss-side streak with an 8-2 win in the semifinals.
With the wind at his back (so to speak), Webster sailed into the finals and claimed the opening set over Fortin without giving up a rack. Fortin was able to muster three of the four racks he needed to win the second rack and force a 12th, deciding game. Webster closed it to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Legends, as well as sponsors Predator, BCAPL, 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 with Lease Fundings, Master Billiards and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Sunday, December 15, will be a Partners 9-Ball Tournament, hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
(l to r): TJ Perrino, Brian Chase, Charlie Matarazzo & Rick Gatta
Partners tournaments are not a main item on anyone’s pool calendar menu, although as the industry has begun to notice the increased-interest advantages of team competitions, they may be a harbinger of things to come. The New England 9-Ball Series hosts them fairly regularly, and while they present something of a narrative challenge, as descriptions of the event require lengthy and repetitive use of the double names, which defy any shorthand means of reducing the overall words-per-report average. Its most recent partners tournament (Stop #9 on the tour), held on Sunday, December 9 at Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH, drew 64 sets of partners, which, if nothing else, managed to increase the tour’s entrants-per-event average.
The teams of two play with an average FargoRate, which, in the case of the eventual winners – TJ Perrino and Brian Chase – happened to be the highest FargoRate (600) among the event’s final and money-earning 12 teams. The range of competition, as defined by the combined FargoRate, amounted to 150 points, with the lowest team (450; Ben Come and Nelson Perron) being eliminated in the matches that determined the four-way tie for 9th place. As with their singles tournaments, the event was initially broken up into separate upper and lower (ranked) brackets.
Perrino/Chase advanced through the upper bracket to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against John Ferreira and Kevin Rodriguez (594). Charlie Matarazzo and Rick Gatta (530), in the meantime, emerging from the lower bracket, squared off against Jason Parker and Jose Concepcion (493). Perrino/Chase survived a double hill match against Ferreira/Rodriguez and advanced to the hot seat match. Matarazzo/Gatta had a slightly easier battle, defeating Parker/Concepcion 4-1. Perrino/Chase downed Matarazzo/Gatta 5-1 (Matarazzo/Gata racing to 4) and waited in the hot seat for their return.
Ferreira/Rodriguez, no doubt eager to avenge their double hill loss versus Perrino/Chase in the winners’ side semifinals, got right back to work, giving up only two racks over their next 11 games. They first downed McGuane/Mathieu 4-2, as Collier/Soto were busy eliminating Parker/Concepcion 3-1. Ferreira/Rodriguez then shut out Collier/Soto in the quarterfinals and turned to the one obstacle in the way of their hoped-for rematch; Matarazzo and Gatta.
Both teams chalked up four racks in the semifinals. Matarazzo/Gata, however, with the lower FargoRate, were racing to four, and the Ferreira/Rodriguez bid for a shot in the finals came to an end, one game shy. Matarazzo/Gata had managed only a single rack in the hot seat match, but they mounted a more vigorous campaign in the finals. They forced Perrino/Chase (racing to 5) into an eighth deciding game. Perrino/Chase, though, won the deciding game to claim the partners title 5-3.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest, along with 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 New England 9-Ball Series will move into the 2019 portion of its current season with a $500-added event (Stop #10), scheduled for Saturday, January 5, and hosted by Legends Sports Bar in Auburn, ME.
Mark Ruzzano rather handily defeated Bob Lucas to claim the hot seat at stop #28 on the New England 9-Ball Series, and while Lucas came back to fight a double hill battle in the finals, Ruzzano prevailed to claim the title. The event, held on Sunday, July 29, drew 30 entrants to Stix and Stones in Abington, MA.
After an first round bye, Ruzzano opened his winning campaign with victories over Ken Botelh (6-1) and Kevin Rodriguez (6-2) to arrive at an upper-bracket, winners’ side semifinal against Henry Leighton. Lucas (a C player), in the meantime, after downing two straight C+ opponents, arrived at a winners’ side semifinal against a third, Eli Davenport.
Ruzzano (a B player) defeated Leighton 6-3, as Lucas was busy securing a double hill win over Davenport. With Lucas racing to 5, Ruzzano claimed the hot seat 7-2.
On the loss side, the only Open player in the stop, Joe Dupuis (playing in his own room, where he works) was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that began with an opening round loss to Kevin Rodriguez and would take him as far as the semifinals. With three loss-side notches on his belt, Dupuis drew Rodriguez for a second time, and defeated him 10-3. He went on to down Jim Prather 9-3 and draw Leighton, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Davenport picked up fellow C+ player Bill Phillips, who’d gotten by Rob Diehl 5-2 and Derrick Cunningham 5-1 to reach him.
Dupuis and Phillips advanced to the quarterfinals; Dupuis, double hill (9-4) over Leighton and Phillips 5-2 over Davenport. Dupuis chalked up what would prove to be his final win, defeating Phillips 10-2. With Dupuis racing to 11 and Lucas racing to 4 in the semifinals, Lucas prevailed 4-6.
In their second match, using that ever-illusive momentum factor, Lucas battled Ruzzano to an 11th deciding game, which with Ruzzano racing to 7 and Lucas to 5, came with Ruzzano ahead in actual games 6-4. Ruzzano completed his undefeated run and claimed his first New England 9-Ball Series title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Stix and Stones, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. Stop #29 on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Sunday, August 12, will be the last tour stop before the Tour Championship and will be hosted by Snookers in Providence, RI.
(l to r): Keith Musto, Jodie Thompson, Dominic Souza
In the New England 9-Ball Series tournament on Saturday, April 28, eight of the event’s final 14 matches, and six of its last eight went double hill. Dominic Souza, who played in three of the event’s final 14 matches, avoided the double hill dramas to go undefeated, downing Jodie “JT” Thompson twice; hot seat and finals. The event (tour stop #24) drew 25 entrants to Maxamillian’s Billiards in Tyngsboro, MA.
Moving into the winners’ side semifinal stage of the proceedings, Souza was paired against Keith Musto (both from the upper-rank bracket), while Thompson met up with Joe Kaulenas (both from the lower-rank bracket). Souza gave up only a single rack to Musto and advanced to the hot seat match. Thompson joined him with a double hill win over Kaulenas. Souza went on to claim the hot seat 8-2 over Thompson.
On the loss side, Musto picked up Ben Savoie, who’d survived two straight double hill matches, against Craig LaCrosse and Frank Porto, to reach him. Kaulenas drew Joe Callaluca, who’d defeated Richard Comeau 6-2, and Eli Davenport, double hill. From this point on, all matches, except the finals, went double hill.
In a straight-up race to 6, Musto got into the quarterfinals, double hill, over Savoie. In a 6-5 race, Callaluca (racing to 6) downed Kaulenas (racing to 5) 6-4. The quarterfinal was the third straight double hill match for Callaluca, and the second for Musto. Musto won it and advanced to his third straight double hill match, against Thompson in the semifinals.
With Musto (B), racing to 6 and Thompson (C+) racing to 5, the two knotted things at 5-5, a win for Thompson, allowing him a second shot at Souza in the finals. One more game win for Thompson would have made for a double hill final (and forced a second set), but Souza (racing to 8) finished things at 8-3 to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Maxamillian’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series tour (#25), scheduled for Saturday, May 19, will be hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.
(l to r): Carlos Aguilar, Richard Comeau, Mike Minichello & Jenn Brown (daughter of Joe Brown)
Mike Minichello was the only Open player to compete in the Joe Brown Memorial, held under the auspices of the New England 9-Ball Series on Saturday, February 25. As such, he was racing to 10 in five of his seven matches against B players, and to 12, twice, against the eventual runner-up, Richard Comeau (D+, racing to 4). He went undefeated through the field of 49 entrants, winning 75 of the 91 games he played. The $500-added Joe Brown Memorial Tournament (Stop #17 on the tour) was hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.
Minichello faced primarily B players, racing to 5, and only one of them – Rick Bergevin – challenged him with a double hill match in the event’s second round. Minichello advanced to a winner’ side semifinal against Ben Benson, while, from the lower bracket, two D+ players, Richard Comeau and Mike Negrelli, squared off in the other one.
Minichello moved into the hot seat match with a 10-3 victory over Benson, and was joined by Comeau, who’d sent Nigrelli west (straight-up race to 4) 4-1. Minichello claimed the hot seat 12-2 over Comeau and waited for him to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, where races were shortened by one game, Nigrelli picked up Eric Newell (C), who’d defeated Andrew Nash (D+), double hill, and then shut out Jay Cunningham (C+) to reach him. Benson drew Carlos Aguilar (C), who’d been defeated in the third round of winners’ side play and was working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. Moving into the money rounds, he’d gotten by Sam Samoth (A+) 4-5 (Samoth racing to 8), and Eli Davenport 4-1, in a straight-up race to 4.
Nigrelli shut out Newell, and in the quarterfinals, faced Aguilar, who’d eliminated Benson 4-1. Aguilar chalked up his last win downing Nigrelli 5-1. Comeau then ended Aguilar’s loss-side streak 3-2 in the semifinals (Aguilar racing to 5). Minichello completed his undefeated run with a 12-1 victory over Comeau to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Saturday, March 10, will be hosted by Straight Shooter’s in Fall River, MA.
(l to r): Sammy Khiev, Kassie Lam & Eddie Bissonnette
In the final event of the 2017 portion of the New England 9-Ball Series tour (Stop # 10), Sammy Khiev navigated his way undefeated through a field of 33 to capture the event title. He was challenged in the finals by Eddie Bissonnette, who won seven on the loss side, including three straight, double hill wins, for the right to meet him. The $500-added event, the annual Robert Marcotte Memorial, was held on Saturday, December 16, and hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.
As the event wound down to its final 12 players, all but one of them was ranked as a B, B+, C or C+ player on the tour. Joan Fraser, a D player, was the only exception. Khiev was the only B player to advance to a winners’ side semifinal, where he faced C+ player Warren Basch. Kassie Lam and Don Roy, both C players, squared off in the other winners’ side semifinal. Khiev got into the hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Basch. Lam joined him, following her 5-3 win over Roy. Khiev gave up only a single rack to Roy in the hot seat match that followed (a 7-5 race), and waited for Bissonnette to finish his loss-side run.
It was Roy who drew Bissonnette on the loss side; Bissonnette having allowed only a single rack to be scored against him in loss-side wins #3 and #4. He’d shut out Eli Davenport and gave up the one rack to Joan Fraser. Basch picked up Geoff James, who’d recently eliminated John Edgar 5-1 and Ben Benson 5-2.
Bissonnette and Roy locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Bissonnette to the quarterfinals. He was joined by James, who’d shut out Basch.
Bissonnette chalked up his second straight double hill win in the quarterfinals against James, downing him 4-5 (James racing to 6). He chalked up his third double hill win in the re-match against Lam in the semifinals. With Lam (C) racing to 4, Bissonnette (C+) moved into the finals with a 5-3 win.
Those finals came within a game of being Bissonnette’s fourth straight double hill match. Khiev, though, pulled out in front at the end to win it 6-3 (Bissonnette racing to 4) and claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-balls National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#11), scheduled for the weekend of January 6-7, 2018, will be the $1,500-added Robert Dionne Memorial Tournament, to be hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
(l to r): Rick Gatta, Mourad Idrais & Joe Callaluca
During the New England 9-Ball Series stop (#7) on Sunday, November 26, Mourad Idrais and Rick Gatta played 20 games of 9-ball over three matches. While none of the individual matches went double hill, the aggregate score did. With Gatta (a B player) racing to 6 and Idrais (C+) racing to 5 in those matches, they split the games evenly at 10-10, which would translate into a win for Idrais were they to have played a single race-to-11 match. Idrais backed up the aggregate score win by winning two out of the three matches, including the final one that broke their 1-1 match tie and earned him the event title. The $500-added event drew 34 entrants to Maxamillian’s Billiards in Tyngsboro, MA.
Idrais and Joe Callaluca (both C+) emerged from the event’s lower bracket to appear in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Gatta and Lozar Gurevich (both B) from the upper bracket appeared in the other one. Idrais sent Gallaluca to the loss side 5-1 and was joined in the hot seat match by Gatta, who’d defeated Gurevich 6-1. Idrais sent Gatta to the semifinals 5-3 in their first of three and waited on his return.
In a straight-up race to 5, Callaluca advanced to the quarterfinals, double hill, over Phillips. Gurevich joined him with a 5-2 win over the higher handicapped Morgan. Callaluca went on to win the quarterfinal match 5-2 over the higher handicapped Gurevich.
The semifinal match between two players (Gatta & Gallaluca) who’d already lost to Idrais once went double hill, with Gatta eventually earning the right to face Idrais a second, and, as it turned out, a third time. Gatta came into the opening set of the finals with proverbial ‘guns a-blazing’ and promptly shut him out. Idrais almost returned the favor. He allowed Gatta only a single rack in a 5-1, second set win that earned him the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Maxamillians Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. Stop #8, scheduled for Saturday, December 2, will be a $500-added event, hosted by World Championship Billiards in Manchester, CT.
By the time the fifth stop on the New England 9-Ball Series was down to its final 12 players, Josh Rupard was one of only two A+ players left. Both he and Kerry McAuliffe were battling in the loss-side’s first money round at the time, though not against each other. Rupard advanced through five loss-side matches to meet and defeat Eli Davenport (C+) twice in a true double elimination final. The $500-added event – The Don Clemons Memorial – drew 48 entrants to Buster’s Billiards in Sommersworth, NH on Saturday, November 4.
Rupard chalked up three victories on the winners’ side of the event’s top bracket, until he ran into Sammy Khiev, a B player. With Rupard racing to 8, and Khiev to 5, Khiev advanced 5-4 to the event’s overall winners’ side semifinal against Paul Laverdiere (B). Coming from the event’s lower bracket, C+ Eli Davenport squared off against D+ Peter Rizzo, Sr. in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Khiev and Laverdiere locked up in a straight-up race to 7, that went double hill before Khiev finished it to advance to the hot seat match. He was joined by Davenport, who’d shut Rizzo out.
Davenport claimed the hot seat over Khiev 5-3, in what would prove to be Khiev’s final match.
On the loss side, it was Laverdiere who picked up Rupard, who’d opened his loss-side work with an 8-2 win over Geoff James, and an 8-1 win over Matt Gagne. Rizzo drew Kassie Lam, who’d eliminated George Morgan 6-1 and Martin Flagg 5-2. Rupard and Lam advanced to the quarterfinals; Rupard, 8-2 over Laverdiere and Lam, 5-2 over Rizzo.
Rupard and Lam fought to double hill in those quarterfinals, but Rupard had the last word and advanced to a semifinal re-match against Khiev. Rupard leapfrogged over that semifinal match, when Khiev forfeited.
Rupard and Davenport played 20 games in the true double elimination final. Rupard won 18 of them. He gave up only two in the opening set, and none at all in the second set to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s Billiards, as well as all of the players who came out to support this memorial event. In honor of Don Clemons, the tournament raised $340 for the American Cancer Society; $240 from tournament entries, and $100 from challenge matches played against Mike Dechaine. Dionne also thanked sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America.
The next stop – #6 – on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Saturday, November 18, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
