(l to r): Ricardo Diaz, Souheli Muraby, Jeff Furness, Bob Campbell, Elliot Coates & Josh Rupard
In what proved to be the only time they met and the match that decided the winning team, Jeff Furness and Bob Campbell, sporting a FargoRate of 520, defeated Josh Rupard and Elliot Coates, with a FargoRate of 593, in the hot seat match of the New England 9-Ball Series’ Partners’ Tournament, held on Sunday, December 15. The event drew 55, two-person teams to Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
As with all NE 9-Ball Series events, the 55 teams were split into separate upper and lower FargoRated brackets at the outset. Rupard and Coates advanced through their first four matches and gave up only a total of five racks; two, in their opening match and one each in the other three. This set them up to face Beau Powers and Ben Savoie, also FargoRated at 593, in the Upper Bracket’s winners’ side semifinal. Powers and Savoie were challenged in their four opening matches and came to the winners’ side semifinal with an aggregate score of 20-13 and having survived two double hill matches.
The lower bracket winners’ side semifinal featured eventual winners Furness and Campbell, who’d opened their campaign with a shutout and then had to battle to double hill twice (4-3 both times) and 5-3 once to meet Shawn Ingham and Michael Beauchesne in their winners’ side semifinal.
Furness/Campbell advanced to the hot seat match with a 6-2 win over Ingham/Beauchesne. They were joined by Rupard/Coates, who’d sent Powers and Savoie to the loss side 5-3. The 73-point differential in their FargoRates gave Furness/Campbell a single rack on the wire in a race to 5. They won it, downing Rupard/Coates 4-2.
On the loss side, Powers/Savoie picked up Lukas Fracasso-Verner and Scott Reynolds, a team with a FargoRate a scant six points ahead of their own (599-593), which created a straight-up race to 4. Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds had defeated the teams of Paulie Kazalski/Dominick Souza and Everett Belliveau/Dan McCaie, both 4-2 to reach Powers/Savoie. Ingham/Beauchesne drew Ricardo Diaz and Souheli Muraby, who’d eliminated the team of Troy Fortin/Dave Morrison, double hill (4-3) and then shut out Jay Cunningham and Mike Negrelli.
Powers/Savoie, in their straight-up race to 4, downed Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds 4-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Diaz/Muraby, who’d ended Ingham/Beauchesne’s day 6-1. Two straight-up races to 4 followed. In the first, the quarterfinals, it was Diaz/Muraby advancing past Powers/Savoie 4-2.
In the second, which proved to be the final match of the event – the semifinals – Rupard/Coates downed Diaz/Muraby 4-1. The last two teams standing – Rupard/Coates and Furness/Campbell – agreed to split the top two prizes, leaving the undefeated Furness/Campbell team as the event’s official winners.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, BCAPL 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 with Lease Fundings, Master Billiards and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The NE 9-Ball Series will commence the 2020 portion of its schedule with a $500-added event, scheduled for Saturday, January 4, at Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
By the time the 22nd stop on the New England 9-Ball Series had worked its way down to its final 12 competitors on Sunday, July 14, the range of Fargo Rates stretched from 735 to 357, due in part to the fact that the tour initially separates higher and lower Fargo Rated players into upper and lower brackets, keeping them apart until the final matches of the event. Demonstrating that the handicapping system does tend to level the competitive playing field and make it possible for lower-ranked players to effectively compete against higher-ranked opponents, the player who eventually claimed the hot seat had one of the three lowest Fargo Rates among the remaining 12 players. That hot seat occupant turned out to be Mike Felix (485), but the competitor he had sent to the semifinals, Ben Benson (554) came back from those semifinals to defeat Felix twice and claim the event title. The event drew 66 entrants to Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
Benson had advanced in the upper bracket to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Tom D’Alfonso, who had the highest Fargo Rate among the event’s final 12 (735). Felix, in the meantime, squared off against Buffy Oldham (468) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Benson started the match against D’Alfonso with five ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 8. D’Alfonso chalked up five of the eight he needed, but not before Benson had won the three he needed to advance to the hot seat match. In a straight-up race to 4, Felix downed Oldham, double hill, to meet Benson in the hot seat match. Felix started the hot seat match with a single ‘bead on the wire’ in a race to 5. He and Benson battled to double hill (3-4), before Felix chalked up his fourth rack and claimed the hot seat.
On the loss side, D’Alfonso picked up Geoff James, who’d shut out Beau Powers and eliminated Josh Rupard, double hill (3-3; Rupard racing to 4) to reach him. Oldham drew Gabriel Kirshnitz, who’d only given up a single rack in his previous two matches; that one to Mark Pulsifer and none at all to Troy Fortin.
D’Alfonso and Oldham advanced to the quarterfinals; D’Alfonso giving up a single rack to James in a 5-1 win, as Oldham gave up none at all to Kirshnitz in a 3-0 win. The quarterfinal match was yet another shutout, as D’Alfonso eliminated Oldham 8-0 to earn himself a rematch against Benson in the semifinals.
D’Alfonso was able to chalk up an additional rack beyond the five he’d managed in the winners’ side semifinal against Benson. But for the second time, Benson won the three he needed to win the semifinal 3-6 and advance to the final rematch against Felix.
Same situation; Felix began the final match with a single ‘bead on the wire’ in a race to 5. Benson gave up only a single rack in the opening set of the true double elimination final. He gave up two in the second set, but scored the five he needed to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator, 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 event originally scheduled for July 28, to be hosted by Stix and Stones in Abington, MA, has been cancelled. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, now scheduled for the weekend of August 3-4, will be a $500-added Summer Sizzler Partners Tournament, hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
(l to r): Josh Rupard, Elliot Coates, Tyler Boudreau & Tom D’Alfonso
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 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.
(l to r): Paul Andrews, Tom D’Alfonso & John Patrick
The average Fargo Rate among the 53 entrants who signed on to compete for the 18th stop on the New England 9-Ball series was 501. By the time the $500-added event, held on Saturday, April 20, and hosted by Legends Sports Bar & Grill in Auburn, ME, had worked its way down to its final 12 competitors, that average had edged up to 527. At the lower end of the scale was Jennifer Lamson, who checked in with a 205 Fargo Rate. At the upper end of the scale was the event’s official winner, Tom D’Alfonso, who, after over 20 years of competition, entered the tournament with a Fargo Rate of 731. As defined by the rating system, his two closest competitors were Josh Rupard (663) and Kyle Pepin (652), both of whom he faced and defeated in winners’ side matches.
D’Alfonso faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals of this event; John Patrick and Paul Andrews, respectively. He and Andrews opted out of a final match, leaving D’Alfonso, the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, as the event’s official winner.
Three of the six matches D’Alfonso won to claim the title required him to win twice as many games as his opponent (4-8). His first came against Bill Poland, whom he defeated 8-1. His second victory came against Rupard, who was racing to 5, against D’Alfonso’s 6. D’Alfonso defeated him 6-2 and moved on to his second 8-1 victory, over Eddie Bissonnette. D’Alfonso then sent Pepin to the loss side 7-1 (Pepin racing to 5) and faced Dennis Boucher in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
John Patrick, in the meantime, after an opening round bye, faced four straight opponents in even matches. He downed Elizabeth Wright 6-4 and then, in races to 5, defeated Bernie Bell 5-2 and Matt Preble 5-3. This set him up in a third straight-up race to 5 in the other winners’ side semifinal, against Gabriel Kirshnitz.
D’Alfonso got into the hot seat match with an 8-2 victory over Boucher. Patrick joined him after a double hill, 5-4, win over Kirshnitz. In what would prove to be his last match of the event, D’Alfonso completed his undefeated run with an 8-2 victory over Patrick. He finished with a game-winning average of 83%, having given up only nine racks over 54 games.
On the loss side, Boucher picked up James Stonkus, who, in a double hill battle, had eliminated Pepin 4-6 and Bissonnette 4-3 (Bissonnette racing to 5). Kirshnitz had the misfortune of running into the eventual runner-up, Paul Andrews, who was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him to the unplayed final. He’d most recently eliminated Jozy Vienneau 5-2 and Matt Preble 4-2.
Two double hill battles advanced Boucher over Stonkus (5-4) and Andrews over Kirshnitz (4-3) to the quarterfinals. Over the next eight games, Andrews gave up only two racks; one each to Boucher in the quarterfinals and Patrick in the semifinals. Andrews and D’Alfonso agreed to the top-two-prizes split, leaving D’Alfonso as the event’s official winner.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Legends, 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 on the New England 9-Ball Series (#19), scheduled for this Saturday, April 27, will be hosted by Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
Mike Yednak, Dany Normandin and Union Station Owner Phil Harju
Sometimes, getting that first match win is the key to tournament success. That looked to be the case on April 7th – 8th at Union Station Billiards in Portland Maine where Dany Normandin earned his first career Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win.
Normandin’s first match was against the always dangerous Kyle Pepin. Pepin approaches the table with a confidence that can affect many opponent’s games and this match was a close one with Normandin pulling out a 9-7 win. After that win though, no opponent would put up much of a challenge to keep Normandin from the winner’s circle. Xavier Libby, Jim Hayden and Samoth Sam all fell to Normandin on Saturday, by a total score of 27-11.
Normandin picked up where he left off when Sunday play got underway, as he took the hot-seat with a 9-4 win over Ivaylo Petrov.
On the one loss side, Pepin had made it through five straight matches on Saturday and opened Sunday play with a 9-2 win over Josh Rupard. Pepin’s run would finally be brought to a close by Michael Yednak in the next round as Yednak scored a 9-7 win to earn his spot in the semi-final match against Petrov. Yednak’s only loss in the event up to this point had been a loss to Petrov mid-day on Saturday, but he would avenge that loss with a 9-5 win over Petrov to send Petrov to the seats in 3rd place.
The finals would go only one set and would continue Normandin’s dominant play as he beat Yednak 9-3 for first place and $1000 in prize money.
Sundays second chance tournament saw Ross Webster drop his second match to Xavier Libby, but come back with five match wins for first place. After the win over Webster, Libby then dropped the hot-seat match to Gary Bryant 3-0. After eliminating Libby 3-0, Webster came out of the one loss side to defeat Bryant 3-0 and 3-1 in the finals for first place and $300 in prize money.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action on April 28th – 29th at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar and Grill in West Hempstead, NY.
(l to r): Carlton Gagnon, John Parsons & Nick Conner
By the time John Parsons and Nick Conner reached the finals of the March 24 stop on the New England 9-Ball series, they’d played a total of 56 games, and won 41 of them. Parsons (the C+ player) had been a little stingier than Conner (the A player), giving up only five racks in his 25 games. Conner went 21-10. It was to have been a true double elimination final, but when Conner took the opening set (chalking up more racks against Parsons in that single set than all of Parsons’ previous opponents combined), the two opted out of a final match and split the event’s top two prizes. The $500-added event drew 43 entrants to Legends Sports Bar & Grill in Auburn, ME.
The first of their two matches played out in the battle for the hot seat. Conner had defeated Samoth Sam (as an A+, racing to 5) 4-4. Parsons shut out his ‘C’ opponent, Carlton Gagnon, to join him. With Conner racing to 6 in the hot seat match, Parsons sent him to the semifinals 3-2, and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Sam drew an immediate re-match against Tyler Campbell, whom he’d defeated in a winners’ side quarterfinal, and then downed Josh Rupard 3-5 (Rupard racing to 6), and Steve Smith, double hill. Gagnon picked up Gary Columbie, who’d eliminated Roland Beaulieu 3-1, and Josh Edmonds, double hill.
Campbell defeated Sam 3-3 (Sam racing to 6), and was joined in the quarterfinals by Gagnon, who’d eliminated Columbie, double hill (3-3). By the same score, Gagnon defeated Campbell in those quarterfinals, and then had his short, loss-side streak ended by Conner, who shut him out for a second shot at Parsons in the hot seat.
Conner gave up only a single rack in the opening set of the true double elimination final. There wasn’t a second set. The event title and relevant cash was split between them.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Yale 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 (#21), scheduled for Saturday, March 31, will be an ‘A and below’ event, hosted by Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
He almost caught him. Steve Smith, a B+ player on the New England 9-Ball Series Tour, was more or less cruising along during the Saturday, January 13 stop on the tour, and after three matches, had made it to the hot seat. Josh Rupard, in the meantime, an A+ player, who’d been defeated in the second round of upper-bracket play, worked his way through seven matches on the loss side to eventually challenge Smith in the finals. Rupard took the opening set of the true double elimination final, but Smith came back in the second set to win it and claim the event title. The $500-added event drew 27 entrants to Legends Sports Bar and Grill in Auburn, ME.
Smith and Rupard might have met up in the third round of upper-bracket play had it not been for Derrick Burnham, who sent Rupard to the loss side, and advanced to a winners’ side quarterfinal against Smith. Smith sent Burnham to the loss side and faced Martin Flagg in a winners’ side semifinal. Two C players, Eric Newell and Steve Downs, squared off in the other one.
Smith survived a double hill fight against Flagg, while Newell defeated Downs 5-3. Smith claimed the hot seat with an 8-3 win over Newell, and waited for Rupard to complete his loss-side run.
It was Flagg who had the misfortune to draw the final-bound Rupard on the loss side. Rupard had chalked up wins #3 and #4 against Kyle Pepin (forfeit) and Sam Khiev (8-4) to reach Flagg in the first of the event’s money rounds. Downs picked up Lindsey Monto, who’d eliminated Randy Gilbert 6-2 and George Morgan 5-2 to reach him.
Rupard, obviously picking up some speed, shut Flagg out to advance to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Monto, who’d defeated Downs 6-1. Monto put up a fight against Rupard in that quarterfinal matchup, chalking up three of the five racks she needed to defeat the racing-to-9 Rupard.
Rupard followed that quarterfinal win with a second shutout; this time against Newell (racing to 5) in the semifinals. Rupard would carry that momentum into the finals, but Smith, in spite of his wait in the hot seat, wasn’t giving in easily. Smith came within a game of forcing a deciding game in the opening set of the true double elimination final (8-4, with Smith racing to 6). In the second set, Smith kicked it up a notch, edging ahead of Rupard when the score was tied at 5-5 (Smith on the hill). Smith chalked up the necessary sixth rack to win the second set and claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Legends Sports Bar and Grill, 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 (#13) on the New England 9-Ball Series tour, scheduled for Saturday, January 20, will be a B+ and below, non-handicap tournament, with an upper bracket (B+ and B) racing to 6, and a lower bracket (C+ and below) racing to 5. The brackets will combine in the quarterfinals, with races to 5 for the rest of the tournament.
Phil Harju (room owner), Cody Francis, Dave Hall and Mike Zuglan
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour wrapped up the first half of their season over the weekend of November 18th and 19th at Union Station Billiards in Portland, Maine where the field of 37 players came down to two local players fighting it out for their first Joss Tour wins.
Sunday matches on the winner’s side saw Bruce Nagle score a hill-hill win over Ivaylo Petrov and Cody Francis with a 9-7 win over Josh Rupard. Francis then went on to take the hot-seat with a 9-7 win over Nagle.
On the one loss side, Dave Hall was on a roll after a lopsided 9-2 loss to Mark Desjardin in his first match on Saturday. Hall bounced back with Saturday wins over Sam Hebert, Mike Dube and Xavier Libby to make it into the money on Sunday.
Sunday matches saw Hall pick up where he left off on Saturday, as he defeated Jim Hayden, Rupard, Jeremy Sossei and Nagle to earn his spot in the finals.
For two players playing for their first tour wins, Francis and Hall made the most of it. Hall, from nearby Portland Maine, handed hometown favorite Francis his first loss in the first set of the finals 9-6. Francis returned the favor in the second set of the finals and eliminated Hall 9-7 to take first place and $1,050 in prize money.
Sunday’s second chance tournament came down to Mark Stewart facing Chad Bazinet three times before a winner was crowned. Stewart won the first meeting in the hot-seat match 3-0, but Bazinet defeated Dan Couture in the semi-final match and was back for another shot at Stewart in the finals. Bazinet scored a 3-2 win in the first set of the finals, but Stewart came back to score a 3-2 win of his own for first place.
The tour now takes a break for the rest of 2017 and will be back in action on January 4th – 7th for the Turning Stone Classic XXIX at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, Ny. That event has a handful of spots left open and players are urged to contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163 to lock down their place in the event,
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.
Mike Zuglan, Jeremy Sossei, Nelson Oliveira & Room Owner Phil Harju
It looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for Nelson Oliveira on his run through the field of 40 other players at the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's stop at Union Station Billiards in Portland Maine on November 19th – 20th, but in the end he would have to fight it out with Jeremy Sossei in a double elimination final before a winner was crowned.
Oliveira had no problems on Saturday, as he scored wins over Jeff Mosimann, Andrew Burns and Bob Dennis to remain undefeated. Joining him on the winner's side Sunday were Jeff Provencher, Dave Hall and Josh Rupard. Sunday matches saw Oliveira beat Provencher 9-1, and Hall beat Rupard 9-4. Oliveira would then go on to defeat Hall by that same 9-4 score.
On the one loss side. Jeremy Sossei was on a tear after a hill-hill loss to Samoth Sam on Saturday. After that loss, Sossei went on a seven match winning streak, including notable wins over Martin Daigle, Chad Bazinet, Provencher, Rupard and Hall.
Sossei extended his streak to eight matches with a 9-5 win over Oliveira in the first set of the double elimination finals. The second set was close early, with the players tied at 3-3, before Oliveira took control and won six straight games for the 9-3 win.
The second chance tournament on Sunday drew a field of 20 players where Brent Boemmels went undefeated to earn first place. Boemmels defeated Travis Webster 3-1 for the hot-seat and then held off Lindsey Monto 3-2 in the first set of the finals. Boemmels collected collected $320 for first, while Monto settled for $200 in second place prize money.
In addition to a fourth place finish in the second chance event, Josh Lerner was also the winner of the raffle for the $1500 custom engraved Joss cue at this event.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour now takes a break until the Turning Stone Classic XXVII on January 5th – 8th in Verona NY. This event is now full.
