Jordan Emerson, initially competing in an upper bracket, almost made it back from a long loss-side run to win stop #11 on the New England 9-Ball Series, but Andy Downs, who began the tournament in the lower bracket, completed an undefeated run with two double hill victories in the hot seat match and finals to claim the event title. The $500-added event drew 36 entrants to Run ‘Em Racks in Johnston, RI on Saturday, May 8.
Downs began his title run the way he ended it, with a double hill win. He survived his opening match 5-4 over William Aley and then, defeated Joel Smith 5-3 and Ed Murray 7-2 to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Heidi Rezendes. Meanwhile, Billy Lanna got by John Vitale 6-3 and then sent Jordan Emerson to the loss side 7-2 to draw Beau Powers in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Bertrand defeated Lanna, double hill (5-6), while Downs gave up only a single rack to Rezendes to join Betrand in the hot seat match. In a straight-up race to 6, Downs won his second double hill match of the tournament and claimed the hot seat over Bertrand.
On the loss side, Emerson had opened his journey back to the finals with 5-3 wins over Channing Thompson and Samantha Barrett. He then eliminated Clyde Matta, double hill, and Keith Platt 5-2, to draw Lanna, coming over from the winners’ side. Rezendes, in the meantime, drew Chuck Sampson, who’d defeated Ed Murray 5-3 and Kacey Devine 4-2 to reach her.
Over the next three matches, which would put him into the finals, Emerson gave up only four racks in 22 games. He gave up the first of those against Lanna, which put him in the quarterfinals against Rezendes, who’d survived a double hill bout versus Sampson.
Emerson gave up one more rack sending Rezendes to the proverbial showers in those quarterfinals and then, in his final hurdle to the finals, gave up two against Bertrand in the semifinals.
Fargo Rate calculations would tell you that if Downs and Emerson faced off in a race to 6, 10 times, Emerson (with the higher Fargo rate; 575-527) would win seven times. They were apparently involved in one of the three percentage-hypothetical matches, because while Emerson battled him to double hill, Downs hung on to win the final game, set and match to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Run ‘Em Racks, as well as title sponsor 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, Piku Tips and Just The Tip Cue Repair and Custom Accessories. The next stop on the NE 9-Ball Series (#12), scheduled for Sunday, May 16th, will be a $500-added Partners Tournament, hosted by House of Billiards in Hampton Falls, NH.
(l to r): Tyler Boudreau, Josh Caesar & Mike Minichello
Chances are, Tyler Boudreau is not going to have a 496 FargoRate for long. On Sunday, November 3, he missed, by a game, picking up his third win on the New England 9-Ball Series; his 4th, if you include his win with Tom D’Alfonso in a Partners Tournament. Boudreau made it to a winners’ side semifinal before being sent to the loss side, from where he mounted a campaign that set him up in the finals against Michael Minichello (703). He took the opening set, and battled to double hill, before Minichello won the second set to claim the title. The $500-added event (#6) drew 42 entrants to Bo’s Billiards in Warwick, RI.
They came within two, single games of playing for the hot seat. Working from the upper (higher FargoRate) bracket, Minichello got by Ricardo Diaz, Jay Duffin, Rick Gatta and Mike Demarco to draw Vashon Robinson in the upper bracket’s winners’ side final (the overall winners’ side semifinal). Boudreau, working in the lower bracket in the meantime, got an opening round bye and defeated Tracey Duffin, Justin Bertrand and Adam Blair, to draw Josh Caesar in the lower bracket’s winners’ side final (overall winners’ side semifinal).
Minichello and Caesar both won double hill fights; Minichello over Robinson 8-3 (Robinson racing to 4) and, in a straight up race to 5, Caesar over Boudreau. Minichello had to win another double hill fight against an opponent racing to 4 (Caesar) and did so to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Boudreau picked up Mark Ruzzano, who’d defeated Adam Blair 4-2 and survived a double hill battle versus Phil Walton to reach him. Robinson drew Keith Platt, who, in straight up races to 5, had recently eliminated Kevin Bauccio 5-2 and Mike DeMarco 5-1.
Platt and Robinson, both racing to 5, battled to double hill before Platt prevailed and advanced to the quarterfinals. Boudreau joined him after defeating Ruzzano 4-2. Boudreau then ended Platt’s day by shutting him out in those quarterfinals.
The loss-side rematch between Boudreau and Caesar lacked the double hill drama of its winners’ side semifinal predecessor. Boudreau allowed Caesar only a single rack and advanced into the finals.
The handicap arrangement gave Boudreau ‘five on the wire’ against Minichello in a race to 9. They both chalked up four racks in the opening set, but the handicap gave Boudreau the victory. Minichello got out ahead in the second set, but gave up three racks to Boudreau, leading to a 12th and deciding rack. Minichello won it to claim the event title, his first recorded victory since he won the tour’s Joe Brown Memorial in February, 2018.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Bo’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 (#7) on the NE 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Saturday, November 23, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
(l to r): Phil Walton, Brian Tierney & Shiekh Ahmed
Three of the four matches that Shiekh Ahmed played to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal during the 4th stop on the New England 9-Ball Series on the weekend of October 19-20, went double hill. Working from the event’s lower (Fargo Rate) bracket, in straight-up races to 5, he gave up four racks to all but one opponent. He was sent to the loss side in the winners’ side semifinal match, won three on that side of the bracket and then, double-dipped hot seat occupant Brian Tierney to claim his first recorded event title. The $500-added event drew 42 entrants to Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
Looking for your first regional title, getting locked up in two straight double hill fights right out of the gate can’t be encouraging. Ahmed survived his opener against Mark Menillo and his second match against John Porto, before he caught a bit of break and was able to down Sarah Archer 5-2. He was right back in the soup for the winners’ side quarterfinal, where once again, he had to play a single, deciding game. He won that game versus Mike Zingarella and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Phil Walton.
Meanwhile, in the upper bracket neighborhood, Brian Tierney, following a bye, was working his way toward the hot seat with victories over Dennis Brewer 6-4, Ryan Cullen 4-4 (Cullen racing to 7) and Tom D’Alfonso 4-5 (D’Alfonso racing to 8) to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal against Brett Cavazos.
Tierney sent Cavazos to the loss side, double hill (6-5) and in the hot seat match faced Walton, who’d sent Ahmed over 4-3 (Ahmed racing to 5). Tierney claimed the hot seat 7-1 over Walton and waited on the return of Ahmed.
Ahmed moved over and picked up Kevin Brule, who was in the midst of a roller-coaster, five-match, loss-side winning streak, in which he’d shut out two opponents (Liana Pitre and Mike Zingarella), gave up a single rack to two more (Aundria Reynolds and Mark Menillo) and survived a double hill match against a fifth (Justin Bertrand). Brett Cavazos picked up Lukas Fracasso-Verner, who was working on a six-match, loss-side streak that had most recently eliminated Frank Porto 6-1 and shut out Tom D’Alfonso.
Ahmed advanced to the quarterfinals by recording his fourth double hill win, over Brule. He was joined by Fracasso-Verner, who won his seventh loss-side match 6-2 over Cavazos (racing to 4).
With Fracasso-Verner racing to 7, Ahmed advanced 4-7 to his semifinal rematch against Walton. With Walton racing to 4, Ahmed earned his shot at Tierney in the hot seat with a 5-2 semifinal victory.
With Tierney racing to 6 in the first set, Ahmed won it 5-4. The second set, technically a loss-side match, featured a different dynamic, as the two squared off in a straight-up race to 5. Ahmed took that match 5-2 to claim his first event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Yale Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, BCAPL, 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 next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#5), scheduled for Saturday, October 26, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Legends Billiards in Lewiston, ME.
According to our records, neither Justin Bertrand nor Ryan Lineham had ever won a major event before they met in the hot seat and finals of Stop #6 on the New England 9-Ball Series. And they represented the opposite ends of a FargoRate spectrum; Bertrand with a lower 482 and Lineham with the higher 651. This gave Bertrand ‘five on the wire’ in their two races to 8 in the hot seat and finals. Bertrand is likely to be edging up the FargoRate scale following his victory in both of those matches, in which he claimed his first (recorded) event victory. The $500-added event, held on Sunday, Nov. 4, drew 56 entrants to Bo’s Billiards in Warwick, RI.
Following a lower-bracket, opening round bye and victories over Charlie Matarazzo and Felix Batista and Tyler Boudreau, Bertrand moved into a winners’ side semifinal against Jason D’Angelo. Lineham, in the meantime, had gotten by Russell Belisle, Josh Christian, Rick Faggioli and Rick Gatta to meet up with Kevin Bauccio in the other winners’ side semifinal.
In a straight-up race to 5, Bertrand downed D’Angelo 5-3. Lineham downed Bauccio 6-3 (Bauccio racing to 5). In their first of two, battling for the hot seat, Lineham managed to erase Bertrand’s ‘five on the wire’ handicap deficit, but not before Bertrand chalked up three racks to win the battle 3-5.
On the loss side, D’Angelo picked up Jason Parker, who’d lost his opening match and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d most recently shut out Boudreau and downed Cho Loy Yen 3-1 (Yen racing to 5) to meet D’Angelo. Bauccio drew Mark Young, who’d eliminated Gatta 5-3 and TJ Perrino 5-4.
In a straight-up race to 5, Bauccio defeated Young 5-1. He was joined in the quarterfinals by Parker, who’d picked up a forfeit win over D’Angelo. Parker advanced one more step, downing Bauccio 3-5 in those quarterfinals (Bauccio racing to 8). His loss side streak was stopped by Lineham in the semifinals, though not before Parker had forced a double hill deciding match at 8-2.
Lineham came out on the losing end of his second straight double hill match, against Bertrand in the finals. He chalked up seven of the eight racks he needed, but Bertrand chalked up his three to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Bo’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, FargoRate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool & 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#7), scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 10-11, will be a $1,000-added event to be hosted by Spin City Billiards & Café in Woodside, NY.
