l to r: Joe Dupuis, Steve Goulding (owner of Snooker’s) and Tim Perry
Last year at the 8th Annual New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame Open 9-Ball tournament, Joe Dupuis advanced to the hot seat, only to be double-dipped by Zion Zvi in the finals. This year, Dupuis opted for the loss-side route at the 9th annual event and achieved better results. Sent to the loss side by the man he’d later (much later) face in the finals, Tim Perry, Dupuis won seven on the loss side to earn the re-match, win both sets of the double elimination final and claim the title he’d last won in 2014. The $2,500-added event drew 48 entrants to its regular venue, Snooker’s in Providence, RI.
Dupuis and Perry met first in the third round of play. They locked up in a double hill fight, that eventually sent Dupuis to the loss side. Perry advanced to a winners’ side quarterfinal against Ivaylo Petrov, which he won 9-6, moving him into a winners’ side semifinal against the Joss NE Tour’s current #4-ranked player, Bruce Nagle. Kyle Pepin and Jason Michas, in the meantime, squared off in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Perry downed Nagle 9-4, and in the hot seat match, faced Michas, who’d sent Pepin west 9-5. Perry got into the hot seat 9-5 over Michas, and waited on Dupuis’ return.
On the loss side, Dupuis’ trip back to the finals began against the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour’s #1-ranked player, and all-around tough draw, Jeremy Sossei. Sossei had been awarded a bye in the event’s opening round, and dropped his first match to Mark Ransom. On the loss side, he’d gotten by Bill Cote and Chuck Sampson before running into Dupuis, who ended his weekend with a 7-5 win. Things didn’t get any easier, either. Mike Minichello put up a double hill fight against Dupuis in the next loss-side round. Dupuis eliminated him and moved into the first money round.
Dupuis then defeated Mike Demarco 7-3 and in another double hill battle, Frank Hernandez, to draw Nagle, coming off his defeat in a winners’ side semifinal. Pepin, in the meantime, picked up Petrov, who, after his defeat at the hands of Perry in the winners’ side quarterfinal, had downed Clyde Matta 7-1 and Francisco Cabral 7-5.
Pepin advanced to the quarterfinals 7-5 over Petrov and was joined by Dupuis, who’d defeated Nagle 7-2. Dupuis got by Pepin 7-5 and then denied Michas a second shot at Perry in the hot seat with a 7-4 win in the semifinals.
Dupuis took the opening set of the double elimination final against Perry 9-6. Racing to 7 in the second set, Dupuis and Perry battled to 6-6, forcing a deciding game. Dupuis won it to claim his second New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame title.
A $500-added Second Chance event that drew 11 entrants saw another competitor, Mike Minichello, come from deep on the loss side to double dip the hot seat occupant, Mike Pettit. Minichello won four on the loss side, and was denied an opportunity to face the opponent who’d sent him there, Mark Ransom, when Ransom was defeated in the quarterfinals by Kevin Bauccio. Minichello went on to defeat Bauccio in the quarterfinals, Ranulf Tamba in the semifinals, and Mike Pettit, twice, in the finals; 3-1, 3-2.
Joss NE 9-Ball Tour director Mike Zuglan thanked Steve Goulding and his Snooker's staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Joss Cues, Simonis, Aramith, PoolOnTheNet.com, Heidrich Custom Cues, AZBilliards, Billiards Press, and Turning Stone Resort and Casino. The next stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for March 10-11, will be the $1,500-added Kevin Ketz Memorial ($500-added to Second Chance event), hosted by Trick Shot Billiards & Sports Club in Clifton Park, NY. Players are reminded that the following week’s event (March 17-18), originally scheduled to be hosted by King Smiley, will now be held at Hippo’s House of Billiards, in Yorkville, NY.
Though he’d been among the top 10 finishers in 14 major events since January of 2016, an event victory had eluded Jorge Rodriguez since he won the season opener of the 2016 Predator Pro Am Tour. Rodriguez changed that at the second stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s 2017-2018 season. Rodriguez went undefeated through a field of 59, on hand for the $1,500-added Hudson Valley Fall Classic, hosted by The Spot in Nanuet, NY on the weekend of September 30-October 1.
Rodriguez faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals of the event. Following victories over Geovanni Hosang, and Ron Casanzio, Rodriguez gave up only one rack to his next two opponents, shutting out Thomas Haas, and giving up the single rack to Geoff Montgomery. This set Rodriguez up in a winners’ side semifinal against Matt Tetreault. In the meantime, Zion Zvi, who’d just sent Rodriguez’ eventual opponent in the finals, Jeremy Sossei to the loss side, squared off against Lee Van Corteza in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Rodriguez sent Matt Tetreault to the loss side 9-3, as Zvi downed Van Corteza 9-6. Rodriguez claimed the hot seat over Zvi 9-7 and waited for Sossei to complete a five-match, loss-side run that would put him into the finals.
Sossei opened his loss-side run with a 9-5 win over Jason Michas, and a 9-3 win over Carmen Lombardo, which set him up to face Tetreault. Van Corteza drew Rhys Chen, who was in the midst of his own six-match, loss-side run that had most recently included wins over Geoff Montgomery 9-5 and Olli Turkulainen 9-7.
Van Corteza ended Chen’s run in a double hill match, while Sossei was eliminating Tetreault 9-3. The Sossei/Van Corteza quarterfinal came within a game of going double hill, but Sossei advanced 9-7. The Sossei/Zvi semifinal rematch did go double hill, and when it was over, Sossei had earned himself a shot at Rodriguez in the hot seat.
Rodriguez completed his undefeated run with a 9-7 win over Sossei in the finals. The win put Rodriguez at the top of early tour rankings, alongside Nelson Oliveira who had won the season opener in September, but did not compete in Nanuet.
A $500-added, 19-entrant Second Chance event was won by Rob Pole, who defeated Mike Salerno in the finals. Scott Haas finished third, ahead of Jim Kearney. Brian Hunter and Ron Plontkowski finished in the tie for fifth.
The next stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of October 14-15, will be a $1,500-added event, hosted by Sharpshooter’s Billiards and Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY. A week later (October 21-22), at the same location, the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour will hold its second annual Juniors Tournament, featuring separate divisional events for 18-and-under and 12-and-under competitors. The 12-and-under group will play on 7-foot Diamond tables, while the older group will face off on 9-foot Diamonds. Last year’s winner in the 18-and-under group was Lukas Fracasso-Verner, who defeated Peter Abatangelo in the finals. Ivo Linkin won the 12-and-under competition, downing Zach Hemendinger twice in a true double elimination final.
Tour director Mike Zuglan thanked the ownership and staff at The Spot for their hospitality and asked that players be reminded of the upcoming Turning Stone XXIX, scheduled for January 4-7 at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY. Players interested in competing should touch base with Zuglan as soon as possible to secure a slot in the event.
Day two at the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's Turning Stone Classic XXIV started with both of day one's big upset victims starting on their long paths to hopeful tournament glory.
Appleton's thoughts about forfeiting because of a pinched nerve in his neck were forgotten and he, as well as Mike Dechaine, won both of their day two matches. Appleton scoring wins over Dale Kimmett and John Babravich, while Dechaine eliminated Tony Antone and Jason Michas. Other surprisingly early residents of the one loss side, Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez, also won their day two matches and remained in the hunt on day three.
Joining these players on the one loss side were such notables as Johnny Archer, Karen Corr, John Morra, Hunter Lombardo, Shane McMinn, Danny Hewitt and Matt Krah. Archer's 9-5 loss on the winner's side was at the hands of Shaun Wilkie, and it looked like Archer would be booking an early flight home late on Friday night as he trailed Paul Rozonewski 5-0. Archer did what he has done his entire career though, and shook off the scoreline to grind his way back into the match. He won eight straight games and won the match 9-6.
Day two was not kind for Mosconi Cup hopefuls as Jeremy Sossei, Scott Frost and Skylar Woodward all dropped winners side matches. Frost clawed back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the score with Jayson Shaw, but was unable to stop Shaw as he won the next six games for the 9-3 win. Woodward lost a heartbreaking 9-8 decision to Canadian Sylvain Grenier, and Sossei lost 9-5 to Canadian Martin Daigle. Mosconi Cup frontrunners Shane Van Boening and Corey Deuel remained unbeaten on day two.
Day three will be tough for everyone, but especially the players who are on the left side of the board. They will be faced with match after match, and very little time to regroup in between these battles.
Day one is in the books at the Joss NE 9-Ball's Turning Stone Classic XXIV, and the day was bookended by two surprising upsets.
The first upset of the day took place in round one, where a Darren Appleton pinched nerve in the neck teamed up with strong play from Joss Tour regular Jason Michas to send Appleton to the one loss side in his first match. Michas won the match 9-5 and Appleton said he was contemplating pulling out of the tournament to seek medical help on the neck. Fortunately for the fans in attendance, Appleton stuck it out and has already won his first match of the day on day two.
Other action in the first round saw Robb Saez with a dominating 9-0 win over Rich Grannis and Mosconi Cup hopeful Scott Frost scoring a lopsided 9-1 win over Ernesto Dominguez. While Ernesto was being sent to the one loss side, son Oscar was being sent to join him, after a hill-hill loss to Michael Yednak.
Round two on Thursday didn't hold any major upsets, but one match of note saw local Junior Champion Jake Miosi take a brutal loss. Miosi led Ray Lee 4-0 when the wheels fell off. Nine games later, Miosi had lost the match 9-4.
The second major upset of the day occured in the final round of play, as Canadian veteran "Machine Gun" Luc Salvas shot down Mike Dechaine on the streaming table. Dechaine trailed in the match early and Salvas pulled away to get to the hill at 8-6. Salvas had a runnable table, but missed a ball and Dechaine pounced on the opportunity. Dechaine would tie the match at 8-8, but missed a 4-ball while running the final table and Salvas cleaned up the table for the 9-8 win. Dechaine will begin the long journey through the one loss side with a match against Tony Antone Friday afternoon.
Paul Enslin, Room Owner Tim Berlin and Ron Casanzio
Were it not for the intervention of one Nelson Oliveira, the finals of Stop # 2 on the 2013-2014 Joss Northeast Tour, held on the weekend of October 12-13, would have been a repeat of Stop #10 on the 2012-2013 tour back in March, pitting Ron Casanzio against Jason Michas. Casanzio defeated Michas in that earlier matchup, and defeated him in a winners' side semifinal in this event. Casanzio had to get by Paul Enslin twice to capture this event title. The $1,500-added main event drew 51 entrants to Sharpshooter's Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY, while a Second Chance event, with an $800 total prize fund and won Marko Clarke, drew 15.
As Casanzio was busy sending Michas west 9-2 in one of the winners' side semifinals, Enslin was at work against Sourith Thammavong in the other. Enslin sent Thammavong after Michas 9-6 to meet up with Casanzio in the hot seat match. Over 21 games in their two meetings, Casanzio gave up only three racks to Enslin; one of them in their first meeting, which left Casanzio in the hot seat.
Michas moved over and met up with Phil Davis, who'd gotten by Dave Shlemperis and Greg Antonakos, both 9-5. Thammavong ran into Oliveira, who, after being defeated by Michas among the winners' side final eight, had defeated Chance Chin 9-1 and Matt Tetreault 9-6. A quarterfinal re-match was set up when Oliveira shut out Thammavong and Michas downed Davis 9-7.
Oliveira ended Michas' hopes for a finals re-match against Casanzio with a 9-6 win in the quarterfinals, and had his own bid foiled by Enslin, 9-6 in the semifinals. Casanzio completed his undefeated run with a 9-2 victory in the opening set of the true double elimination final.
Marko Clarke's victory in the Second Chance tournament went through Aaron Greenwood twice. He shut him out in the hot seat match. Greenwood came back from a 3-1 victory over Demian Provost in the semifinals and battled Clarke to double hill before Clarke prevailed to finish an undefeated day.
Stop # 3 on the Joss Northeast Tour, a $1,500-added event with a $500-added Second Chance tournament, is scheduled for October 26-27 at Premium Billiards in Syracuse, NY.
