What a difference a week can make. At the New England 9-Ball Series’ 2019-2020 season opener last week (Sept. 22), Tyler Boudreau chalked up his third 2019 victory on the tour, meeting and defeating in the event finals, Buddy Oldham, who’d won nine on the loss side for the right to face him.  Boudreau and Oldham were back this past Saturday (Sept. 28) for the second stop on the ’19-’20 tour; Boudreau looking to chalk up his fourth win, and Oldham still looking for his first major win. Boudreau went two and out, while for the second week in a row, Oldham settled for a runner-up finish. Both were defeated by Brett Cavazos, who went undefeated at the $500-added, Dave Marcus Memorial Tournament that drew 43 entrants to Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.

 

Boudreau was awarded an opening round bye and then lost his first match to Cavazos. Separated by only six Fargo Rate points (Boudreau, 550 & Cavazos, 544) they played a straight-up race to 6, which sent Boudreau to the loss side 6-3, where he lost his first match. Demonstrating that it wasn’t a fluke, Cavazos advanced to shut out Yenik Nazarian and then, in another straight-up race to 6, defeat last week’s third-place finisher Mourad Idrais 6-4. This moved Cavazos into a winners’ side semifinal match against Brett Chansky. Oldham, in the meantime, apparently not enamored of the extra matches needed to be played with an early loss, downed Dana Hussey, Greg Andrecyk, survived a double hill fight against Aundria Reynolds and defeated Phil Walton to draw Kyle King in the other winners’ side semifinal (King had been the only opponent he’d defeated on the winners’ side of the bracket in last week’s event).

 

Cavazos sent Chansky to the loss side 6-2. Oldham joined him in the hot seat match after shutting out King. Cavazos claimed the hot seat 6-3 (Oldham racing to 5).

 

On the loss side, Chansky picked up Idrais, who, after his defeat at the hands of Cavazos in a winners’ side quarterfinal, downed Tony Albair 5-2 and shut out TJ Marshall. King drew Phil Walton, who followed his defeat at the hands of Oldham with victories over Richard Comeau 4-1 and Jamie Dube in a shutout.

 

Chansky advanced to the quarterfinals with a double hill win over Idrais. King joined him when Walton forfeited. Chansky and King battled to double hill before Chansky closed it out to face Oldham in the semifinals.

 

Oldham started the semifinal with two on the wire in a race to 6. He and Chansky both chalked up four racks, but the handicap advantage advanced Oldham to the finals. Cavazos and Oldham opted out of those finals and split the top two prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Cavazos went on record as the official winner of the Dave Marcus Memorial Tournament.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, BCA Pool League, 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 NE 9-Ball Series (#3), scheduled for the weekend of October 12-13, will be the $2,000-added Bangor Bash, to be hosted by Rack City in Bangor, ME. Pre-registration is required for this event, with a deadline of 5 p.m. on Friday, October 11.

For its third and final Partners Tournament of the 2018/2019 season, the New England 9-Ball Series went with 8-ball as the game and though some of the partners who appeared in the previous two tournaments (playing 9-ball) were on-hand for this one, no two repeated as champions. It should be noted, as well, that the last partners tournament, held in April at Snooker’s in RI, ended up with three teams sharing the title, because those three teams preferred to be considered co-champions of the event. One of that trio of teams, Mike Demarco & Jeff Harnois, finished in the four-way tie for 9th place in this most recent tournament.

 

It was Tyler Boudreau and Tom D’Alfonso who went home with this most recent partners title. They went undefeated through a field of 45 teams that competed on the weekend of May 18-19 at Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH. Boudreau/D’Alfonso, with a Fargo Rate of 582, had to get by Elliot Coates and Josh Rupard (same Fargo Rate) twice; once in a winners’ side semifinal and again, in the finals.

 

In their first meeting, Boudreau/D’Alfonso shut Coates/Rupard out. In the other winners’ side semifinal, Greg Andrecyk & CK Anousavanh defeated Paul Kazalski & Frank Porto in a double hill fight. Boudreau/D’Alfonso claimed the hot seat 4-1 over Andrecyk/Anousavanh and waited for Coates/Rupard to complete a three-match trip on the loss side to get into the finals.

 

Coates/Rupard picked up PJ Nicolosi & JT Thompson, who’d shut out Roy Morgridge & Mark Small and eliminated George Morgan & Mike Olcott 4-2. Kazalski/Porto drew Jason Cheng & Fred Watson, who’d defeated Jose Concepcion & Ben Hernandez in a double hill fight and Tony Deliso & Pam Fialho 3-1.

 

Coates/Rupard downed Nicolisi/Thompson 4-1 and in the quarterfinals, faced Cheng/Watson, who’d defeated Kazalski/Porto, double hill. Coates/Rupard then defeated Cheng/Watson 4-1 and followed it with a double hill, 4-2 victory over Andrecyk/Anousavanh in the semifinals, to earn a second shot at Boudreau/D’Alfonso in the finals.

 

Coates/Rupard improved on their earlier meeting against Boudreau/D’Alfonso; the shutout in the winners’ side semifinal. The final turned out to be a double hill fight, but Boudreau/D’Alfonso prevailed a second time to claim the partners 8-ball tournament.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s 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 with Lease Fundings, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop (#21) on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Saturday, June 1, will be hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.