Bucky Souvanthong, Brickhouse Billiards Co Owner Brad Rees and Ron Casanzio
The talk on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour this season has been the six tournament winning streak put together by Jeremy Sossei. Over the October 26th – 27th weekend at Brick House Billiards in Syracuse NY, Bucky Souvanthong started building a winning streak of his own.
Souvanthong had three lopsided Saturday wins over Gary Hinkley (9-3), Eric Hamel (9-4) and Hendrik Drost (9-5). Things got tougher on Sunday morning though, as Souvanthong went to hill-hill before sending Ron Casanzio to the one loss side. Next up for Souvanthong was Jay Goyer in the hot-seat match. That match went to Souvanthong 9-6.
After wins over Tony Antone, Dave Ricci and Goyer, Ron Casanzio would be the one to come out of the one loss side to challenge Souvanthong in the finals. Looking back on Souvanthong and Casanzio’s hill-hill match earlier, it was no surprise that the rematch would be another close one. The players were tied at 7-7 when Souvanthong took the hill at 8-7 and then proceeded to make the 9-ball on the break in rack sixteen, for the 9-7 win.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Diamond Billiards Bar & Grill in Rochester, NY on November 2nd and 3rd for their next stop. Players who are interested in playing in January’s Turning Stone Classic XXXIII are urged to contact Mike Zuglan and get their entry fees in.
Bucky Souventhong, Hippos Owner Andrea Duvall and Spencer Auigbelle
After his 9-1 win over Jared Zimmerman, things were looking pretty good for Bucky Souvanthong and his chances to win his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win of year at Hippos House of Billiards in Utica, NY on April 8th and 9th. It turned out to not be as easy as he might have thought it would be though.
Zimmerman took the trip to the left side of the board, and found Spencer Auigbelle was on a roll. Auigbelle had lost his third round match to Ron Casanzio on Saturday, but he fought back with six straight wins on the one loss side. After a 9-4 win over Mark Creamer, Auigbelle downed John McConnell, Bruce Nagle, Casanzio and Joe Darigis in identical 9-5 matches. Auigbelle then eliminated Zimmerman 9-6 to earn his place in the finals against Souvanthong.
Auigbelle took early control of the first match in the double elimination finals, and scored a 9-4 win to push things to a second set. Souvanthong had to be wondering if he was fated to settle for his second straight second place finish, as he lost to Bruce Nagle in the finals of the tour's stop at King Smiley's Billiards back in March. The second set saw a different player in Souvanthong though, as he took control and cruised to a 9-3 win and his first win of the year.
The second chance tournament on Sunday saw Dwight Dixon bounce back from a final four loss to John McConnell to double dip Hendrik Drost in the finals. After defeating Dixon, McConnell lost to Drost for the hot-seat 3-1. Dixon them eliminated McConnell 3-0, followed up by 3-1 and 3-2 wins over Drost in the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action on April 29th – 30th at Union Station Billiards in Portland, ME for another $1500/$500 added event.
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.
Derrick Beckwith, room owner Frank Delconte, Danny Hewitt, Bucky Souvanthong and Jolie Delconte
It took him two sets, but Bucky Souvanthong held off Danny Hewitt to win his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop of the season.
Souvanthong raced through the winner's side on Saturday with impressive wins over Martin Daigle, Hendrik Drost and Geoff Montgomery. A sunday morning win over Spencer Auigbelle set Souvanthong up in the hot-seat match against Travis Salvetti. Salvetti had ended Saturday with a 9-6 win over Danny Hewitt, and then started Sunday with a tough 9-7 win over Aaron Greenwood. It would be another close match for the hot-seat, with Souvanthong winning 9-7.
After the loss to Salvetti, Hewitt eliminated Jamie Garrett 9-2 late on Saturday night. Sunday saw Hewitt defeat Ron Casanzio 9-5, Auigbelle 9-4, Daigle 9-7 and then Salvetti 9-7.
Hewitt rode his momentum into the double elimination finals, and scored a 9-4 win over Souvanthong in the first of two sets. The second set was a mirror of the first set though, with Souvanthong taking the match 9-4 for first place.
The second chance event on Sunday saw Jose Mendez defeat Dave Ricci twice in the finals to take first place. Mendez lost to Ricci 3-1 for the hot-seat, but came back to score a 3-1 and then a 3-0 win over Ricci in the finals.
Derrick Beckwith was the lucky winner of the $1700 custom engraved Joss cue at this event.
Players are reminded that the tournament scheduled on April 23rd and 24th at Raxx in West Hempstead had been postponed. The next Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop will be June 4th – 5th at Snookers in Providence, RI.
Nelson Oliveira of New Bedford Ma. went undefeated to win stop # 5 of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour at Raxx Pool Room Sports Bar & Grill in West Hempstead NY. Nelson was never really threatened throughout the entire event having bested Hendrik Drost 9-3 for the hot seat and dusting off Raxx owner Holden Chin 9-1 in the final match. Holden Chin lost an early round to Hendrik Drost 9-8 but after 4 wins on the one loss side, got his revenge by a score of 9-3 to reach the finals. Once there though, it was all Nelson Oliveira who was chalking up his first Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour since a couple of years ago. Oliveira picked a cool $1,000 for the win, Holden Chin $650 for 2nd, Hendrik Drost $400 for 3rd and Kevin Ketz $150 for 4th.
Congratulations also to Kevin Ketz who was the winner (his second this season) of Raxx $1,700 custom, engraved Joss Cue raffle.
Our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXV 9-Ball Open scheduled for January 7-10, 2016 is fast approaching and filling fast as well! Serious players are urged to contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163 immediately to pay your entry fee and assure yourself a spot. The field is limited to the first 128 paid entries and is currently about 3/4 full.
Once again the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour would like to thank all of our most generous sponsors anad host rooms for all of your support.
