Anthony Petruzzelli, Mike Zingarella, Jay Aliomer and Beau Powers
When you look at the way that the team of Anthony Petruzelli and Mike Zingarella began their quest for an event title at Stop #4 on the New England 9-Ball Series, it comes as no surprise that they finished undefeated to claim the Partners Tournament title. The $500-added event drew 24 teams of two to Snooker’s in Providence, RI.
Working, initially, in a separate, lower (Fargo Rate) bracket, Petruzzelli and Zingarella won 90% of their games (18-2; three matches) to get to the hot seat match. Their opponents in the hot seat match and later, in the finals, Beau Powers and Jay Aliomer, working in an upper bracket, won 20 of their first 24 games (83%) to face Petruzzelli and Zingarella the first time.
Here’s how it happened. In the lower bracket, Petruzzelli/Zingarella were awarded an opening round bye, before (in a straight-up race to 5) shutting out Eric Burgess and Kyle Lima. They gave up a single rack to Roarke Dickson and Jake Rickell in another race to 5, which set them up against Stephanie Ricket and Steve Miner in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Ricket/Miner began that match with four ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 8. Petruzzelli/Zingarella allowed them only one more than the ‘beads’ they’d started with and advanced to the hot seat match.
Powers and Aliomer, in the meantime, played four matches to get to the hot seat, giving up three racks in a straight-up race to 5 in their first match, versus Kurt Matheson and George Petway. In their next two races to 5, they gave up none at all to the teams of Chuck Sampson/Jarrod Clowery and Jimmy Nou/Joe Callaluca. Powers/Aliomer advanced to the hot seat match with a 5-1 victory over Nicole Albergaria and Steve Edmiston.
Petruzzelli/Zingarella began the hot seat match and later, the finals, with four ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 6. They took the first of their two against Powers/Aliomer 4-3.
Coming to the loss side, Edmiston/Albergaria faced Scott Tavernier and Fred Soulliere, while team Rickett/Miner squared off against Jean Minyety and Francisco Salas. Edmiston/Albergaria advanced to the quarterfinals 5-1 over Tavernier/Soulliere and were joined by Minyety/Salas, who’d shutout Rickett/Miner.
Edmiston/Albergaria then gave Minyety/Salas a taste of their own medicine, as it were, shutting them out in the quarterfinals. In a straight-up race to 5, team Powers/Aliomer eliminated Edmiston/Albergaria 5-3.
The hot seat match had lowered the game-winning averages of both teams as they girded for battle in the finals. The 4-3 loss had dropped Petruzzelli/Zingarella down from 90% to 81%. Petruzelli was still at 81% when the finals started, but having given up three racks against Edmiston/Albergaria in the semifinals, team Powers/Aliomer had dropped down to a 72% game-winning average (overall total of 28 racks-for versus 11 racks-against).
Though it had a way (one would think) of putting Petruzzelli/Zingarella in the driver’s seat for the finals, it didn’t alter the outcome. The two teams recorded the same score in the finals as they had in the hot seat match, with Petruzzelli/Zingarella on top 4-3 and claiming the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Snooker’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator, Poison, Arcos II, BCAPL, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, AZBilliards, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, MJS Construction, Master Billiards, OTLVISE, Outsville, Salotto and Just The Tip Cue Repair and Custom Accessories. The New England 9-Ball Series will return to Snooker’s on Sunday, May 1 for Stop #5 on the tour.
WITH THREE more events played on the USA Mosconi Cup ranking, it’s that man again as Shane Van Boening once again tops the list after winning the Pro Players Championship at the Super Billiards Expo. That’s brings the total of events played up to seven as the South Dakota Kid looks to make his 11th appearance in the event.
Despite missing the World Pool Series events in New York for personal reasons, Dennis Hatch stays in the upper echelons as he looks to make his fifth appearance in the Mosconi Cup. This year it’s about finishing in the top ten once the 16th and final event has been played out in early September.
That’s when USA skipper Johan Ruijsink will be making his picks from the top ten finishing players. To give himself some leeway in this make or break year for Team America, Ruijsink will be selecting four players from the top ten plus another whose final ranking won’t be of significance.
There is a new West Coast event added to the roster and that is:
June 23/25 – Pac-West Invitational – Portland, OR
Table: 9 ft
Players: Max 64
Added: $10,000
Grade: One
Spots are limited to 64 in this event so players wanting to enter should write to carissabiggs@gmail.com
Due to a change in the format and scheduling of the World Pool Series events, players who gain points in both the main event and the secondary challenge event will have only the higher points out of two counting towards their ranking.
WITH FOUR events played in the 15 event series to determine the top ten players eligible for Team USA, it is veteran and former Mosconi MVP Dennis Hatch who heads the list, having pointed at two of the four events played. Behind him is another former MVP in Rodney Morris, while other former Mosconi players Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Oscar Dominguez and Justin Hall help fill out the top ten spots.
This year it’s about finishing in the top ten once the 15th and final event has been played out in early September. That’s because US Team Captain Johan Ruijsink will be picking his team from the top ten finishing players. To give himself some leeway in this make or break year for Team America, Ruijsink will be selecting four players from the top ten plus another whose final ranking won’t be of significance.
After no events in February and most of March, the ranking calendar springs into action on 30 March as the Professional Players Championship gets underway at the Super Billiards Expo. It is a Grade One event with points ranging from 50 for the winner down to 5 for a top 32 finish.
2017 MOSCONI CUP is sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplies the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue of the event and Ultimate Team Gear provide all Mosconi Cup apparel.
Only two of the four finalists on-hand for the Open and Ladies' 2016 VA State 10-Ball Championships made it to the 2017 Championships, held on the weekend of February 11-12. In 2016, Janet Atwell and Jacki Duggan chalked up their second straight winner/runner-up (Atwell/Duggan) titles, and though Duggan competed in this year's event, finishing in the tie for 7th place, Atwell didn't play. Eric Moore and Brandon Shuff battled in the 2016 finals, and though Moore competed, finishing in the tie for 13th place, Shuff didn't play this year.
The Open event drew 60 entrants, while the Ladies' event drew 14, both to Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
Orcollo and the 2015 VA State 10-Ball Champion, Shaun Wilkie, battled twice in this year's event. Wilkie won their first match (one of the winners' side semifinals), and Orcollo won their second, in the finals.
Orcollo's position as the #3-ranked player in the world, may have led some to believe that he'd cut through this field like a hot knife through warm butter, but 'butter' fought back a bit in this event. Through his opening four matches, Orcollo was giving up between three and four racks per match; four each to Max Schlothauer and Jarrod Clowery, and three each to Chris Bruner and Reymart Lim. Orcollo was still a 'hot knife,' but his opponents in this event were doing a good imitation of butter just out of the refrigerator. In the winners' side semifinals, the 'hot knife' ran into some fresh-out-of-the-freezer butter, in the person of Shaun Wilkie, who defeated him 8-4 to get into the hot seat match. Wilkie was joined by Larry Kressel, who'd sent John Newton to the loss side 8-3 in their winners' side semifinal. Wilkie claimed the hot seat 8-4 over Kressel, and waited (the butter approaching room temperature) for the return of the 'hot knife.'
On the loss side, Orcollo picked up Mike Davis, who'd been defeated by Bobby Stovall in the second round and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him just as far as Orcollo. Newton drew Reymart Lim, who'd gotten by Chris Futrell 6-2, and Sean Sporleder 6-4 to reach him.
Orcollo cut through Davis without giving up a single rack, and in the quarterfinals, faced Lim, who'd given up only one rack to Newton. In the quarterfinals and semifinals, Lim and then, Kressel, put up back-to-back, three-racks-against fights, but were eliminated, sending Orcollo back for a re-match against Wilkie.
It wasn't looking good for the 'knife' in the early going of the finals, as Wilkie took a 5-2 lead. Orcollo, though won eight of the next nine games to claim the event title.
Lynch goes undefeated to claim VA State Ladies' 10-Ball title
[photo id=45763|align=right]It took Meredith Lynch just five matches to claim the 2017 VA State Ladies' Championship title. She got into the hot seat with an aggregate score of 24-11. Once by Sierra Reams and Lisa Cossette, she faced Bethany Sykes in a winners' side semifinal, as Cheryl Pritchard squared off against Nicole Fleming. Lynch downed Sykes 6-3, and in the hot seat match, in their first of two, faced Pritchard, who'd sent Fleming west 6-4. Lynch gave up four of the 11 racks she'd given up to gain the hot seat by defeating Pritchard 6-4.
On the loss side, Sykes picked up Tina Malm (winner of the APT's Ladies' season opener in January), who'd been defeated by Cossette in the opening round, and gotten by Sierra Reams 5-3, Melissa Mason 5-2, and last year's runner-up, Jacki Duggan, double hill, to reach her. Fleming drew Daisy Lim, who, like Malm, had lost an opening round match (to Fleming 6-1) and downed Terry Stovall, double hill; Cossette 5-3, and Gwen Townsend, double hill to earn a re-match against Fleming.
Sykes and Fleming advanced to the quarterfinals; Sykes 5-2 over Malm, and Fleming 5-3 over Lim, a second time. Three straight double hill battles marked the end of the Ladies' event. Fleming downed Sykes in the quarterfinals, and then, Pritchard eliminated Fleming in the semifinals. Pritchard put up a double hill fight in her second match against Lynch, but Lynch hung on to win 8-7.
WIth two days of play complete, the field at the Turning Stone Classix XXVII has been cut in half to just 64 players.
While no early tournament favorites have been eliminated yet, the one loss side is started to become populated with dangerous competitors.
Day two was moving along without any real fireworks on Fruday, until the 8pm round when the winner's side saw third round matches. No sooner had the round begun, than John Morra gave notice that he was going to be a danger to win this event with his 9-3 win over Darren Appleton. On the other side of the room, we looked to be on our way to the biggest upset of the event so far, when Joey Cicero started out with a 4-0 lead against reigning champion Jayson Shaw. "I got hooked on the 5-ball in the first game. I played a great shot to make it and scratched. The next time I get a shot it's 4-0" said Shaw after the match. Shaw turned in another of his comebacks though and won the match 9-8, with a break and run on the hill. Another great comeback win on Friday featured Karen Corr and Jarrod Clowery. Corr trailed Clowery 4-1 and 5-3 early, but came back to win the match 9-7 and remain undefeated going into Saturday.
To wins at the Derby City Classic (10-Ball Challenge), The New England Pool Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open and two stops on the Predator Tour this year, Jayson Shaw has added a victory in the 3rd Annual Eastern States Championships, held on the weekend of August 13-14. Shaw, defending the title he won last year, went undefeated through the Open/Pro field, downing, in order, Shaun Wilkie and Mike Dechaine to complete the run. The $2,000-added event, held under the auspices of the Predator Tour, The Ride the 9 Tour and the New England 9-Ball series, drew 31 entrants to Snookers in Providence, RI. A concurrently-run, $1,000-added Amateur event (separate story) drew 76 to the same location.
Shaw hooked up with Shaun Wilkie in the hot seat match of this event. Shaw had sent Gotham City Billiards House Pro Jorge Rodriguez to the loss side 8-4 in a winners' side semifinal, as Wilkie was tied up in a double hill fight he eventually won against Dechaine in the other one. Shaw claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Wilkie and waited on what turned out to be the return of Dechaine.
Dechaine began his loss-side trip back to the finals against Brandon Shuff, who'd eliminated Nelson Oliviera and Jeremy Sossei, both 8-4. Rodriguez drew Tom D'Alfonso, who'd gotten by Michael Yednak 8-3, and Jarrod Clowery 8-5.
Dechaine and Shuff locked up in a double hill battle that eventually sent Dechaine to the quarterfinals. Rodriguez and D'Alfonso came within a game of double hill, but Rodriguez edged out in front by the two necessary to join Dechaine in the quarterfinal match.
Dechaine downed Rodriguez 8-3, earning himself a re-match against Wilkie in the semifinals. He took care of Wilkie 8-4 to land in what was most certainly the marquee matchup of the event – Dechaine and Shaw in the finals. Shaw completed his undefeated run 9-5 over Dechaine to claim the event title.
Jeremy Sossei, Golden Cue Owner Kate Spinelli and Mike Dechaine
Mike Dechaine cruised, relatively untested, through a field of fifty three players to win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's NE 9-Ball Open XXVII at Golden Cue Billiards in Albany, NY on April 12th – 13th.
The closest any player got to Dechaine on day one, was a 9-6 win over Dwight Dixon. No one would come close to that on Sunday as Dechaine ran over Jarrod Clowery 9-2 for the hot-seat.
Clowery's return to the Joss Tour would come to an abrupt halt, with Mosconi Cup hopeful Jeremy Sossei scoring a 9-1 win over Clowery on the one loss side.
Sossei's dominating performance over Clowery wasn't enough preperation for Dechaine though, as Dechaine quickly dispatched Sossei 9-3 in the first and only set of the finals.
The second chance tournament drew twenty one players on Sunday, where Steve Greene defeated Mike Hurley 3-2 for the hot-seat, but then fell in two sets to tour newcomer Kiet Mieu in the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action at Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY on April 26th and 27th.
In the early morning hours of Monday, June 10, Rich Britt found himself battling in the second set of a true double elimination final against Mike Keith. Sitting in the hot seat, having defeated Keith 6-3 to get there, Britt was shut out in the opening set and was down 3-1 in the second set.
Sitting nearby, watching Britt play, was his best friend, from the age of 12, Jarrod Clowery. The tournament, which had drawn 68 players to Snooker's in Providence, RI, was a benefit for Clowery, who had been injured, severely, in the Boston Marathon bombing. The impetus for the tournament came out of Snooker's where a picture of Clowery hangs, recognizing his induction into the New England Pool Hall of Fame in 2012. House pro Ray McNamara is reported to have been the first to discuss the notion of a benefit tournament. The 'ball' of talk about it was picked up by Marc Dionne, tournament director of the New England 9-Ball Tour, and with enthusiastic support from the owners of the pool hall (Steve and Regina Goulding), and countless members of the New England pool community, including Mike Dechaine, it quickly became a reality, scheduled for June 9.
A collection jar was established immediately, and by the time the tournament was over, through raffles, entry fees and donations from a variety of sources, the event had raised nearly $7,000 to offset a combination of medical and living expenses, incurred by Clowery during his hospitalization and rehabilitation, following the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15.
Clowery is still facing surgery for the removal of shrapnel that had entered his body from (as he put it) his "ass to his ankles." He'd dropped like a stone, a victim of the second bomb, and been assisted immediately by two off-duty Connecticut police officers, who'd come to town to see the Red Sox play. These two – Karen Morehead and Jeff Menino – stayed with Clowery until an ambulance arrived. Rich Britt was at his side, pretty much from that point on
So there they were, the two of them, as the Sunday event turned into a Monday event. Britt wanting to win the tournament for his best friend. Clowery in the viewing area, still recuperating from his injuries, determined to watch his best friend do it.
With Britt in the hot seat, Keith had moved over to face the owner of Snooker's, Steve Goulding. They fought to double hill in those semifinals; Keith, anxious for a second crack at Britt, Goulding wanting a chance just as badly. Keith prevailed and in short order, took the opening set of the finals 6-0. Down 3-1 in the second set, Britt took command and won five straight to claim the top prize, a 32", LCD TV, which he promptly gave to Clowery.
"Richie's been my friend since we were kids," said Clowery, "and he stayed by my side the whole time. So then he turns around, wins the tournament, gives me the TV and won't take no for answer."
Britt, as it turned out, was just the tip of the benevolent iceberg. Mike Dechaine, who's known Clowery "since forever," too, and was 10 minutes away from the bombing sight when it occurred, organized the raffle of a Predator Cue that added over $2,000 to the coffers. He also added the entry fee to participate in the tournament and didn't play. Snookers raised over $500. MD (Marc Dionne) Promotions raised over $1,500, and there was that collection jar that had been gathering money since the idea for the benefit tournament was first proposed.
"It's the first time I've seen this pool community come together like this," said David Livesey, Snooker's general manager. "The fact that someone we knew had been injured brought (the bombing) home to everybody.
"The tournament filled a need everybody had to do something," he added, "whether it was time or money."
"It was a wonderful event," said Marc Dionne, who's also known Clowery for a long time. "It was different from any other tournament, because everybody just had fun. It didn't matter whether you won or lost, it was all about just helping Jarrod get through this ordeal."
And it ended, in those early Monday morning hours, on a note of poetic justice, as the two best friends returned each other's favors; Britt winning it for Clowery, and Clowery there in the stands to root him on.
Levittown, NY Saturday and Sunday Nov. 17 & 18.2001. Dan DiDominici owner of Leisure Time Billiards played host to Mike Zuglan's Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour. 43 Players showed to play for the almost $5000 in cash and enjoy one of the nicest pool rooms in the Northeast. Players from New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and even Spain showed. As always on the tour the competion was intense and the play was wonderful.
Saturday saw great matches including Zuglan and SanSouci meeting in the second round with Zuglan beating Ginky and then playing Robb Saez and winning to go undefeated for the day. US Navy Hospital Corpsman and great player Scott Richardson followed suit beating Ford, Lombardo and Lipsky to remain unscathed through Saturday. Joey "K" also beat everyone who got in his was as well as young Francisco Diaz of Malaga, Spain to round off the winner's side. On the one loss side we had Steve Gaikis, Robbie Saez, Danny Barouty and Jarrod Clowery.
With 8 players coming back on Sunday the great play even got better and no one player was a favorite this day. Joe Korsiak seemed to be on fire beating Diaz 9-3 and then besting Zuglan 9-6 to win the hot seat. On the one loss side it was all Diaz. This incredibly fast player with a great cue ball, a break that will never let him down played his heart out and beat Scotty Richardson and Mike Zuglan to win the one loss side of the chart. Playing with no fear and firing at everything he seemed to be unstoppable. In the true double elimination finals Francisco put on a show that all enjoyed. Unbelievable shot making and speed made these matches something to see. We clocked on game in 46 seconds and very few were too much longer. Jump shots, banks, combinations and more were coming from everywhere. Beating Korsiak 9-2 in the first match. In the second match Joey "K" undeterred by the Spaniards amazing play came out firing. Getting up 3-0 Joe broke and made nothing and the next thing you knew it was 3-3. Back and forth they won with Korsiak getting to the hill first. At 8-6 breaking Korsiak scratched and Diaz ran two and it was Hill Hill. Coming up empty on the break and the rack open Diaz could only sit and wait while Korsiak shot. But when Joey missed a tough 3-ball and scratched it was only a matter of a minute before Francisco Diaz had his first Joss win.
Many thanks to Danny and his great crew for a fine tournament. And if any of you get to this Part of Long Island, stop into Leisure Time and say hello. And while your in the area get over to Hicksville, NY and try a steak or dinner at Peppercorns restaurant. What a great place with great food and wonderful people. Long Island is a great place for pool and people and we had a great weekend. Thank you all.
