Pete Bowman, Mike Zuglan, Snookers manager Paul Troxell and Ray McNamara
Oldest player to win on tour,’ Bob Darigis, wins Second Chance event
He’d be the first to tell you that it’d been a long time coming. But it did show up. This past weekend (June 4-5), after 20 years of attempts, Ray McNamara (generally known on the tour as ‘Ray Mac’) claimed his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour title, using the last regular season event of the tour’s 2021-2022 season to do so. In an effort that began (as far as we know) with a 7th place finish at a stop in Bristol, CT in October of 2002, McNamara went on to compete regularly on the Joss and other tours, and more recently, won the 364-entrant Amateur Senior event of the Super Billiards Expo this past April. The $1,500-added, 15th stop on the 2021-2022 Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour drew 53 entrants to Snooker’s in Providence, RI.
In addition to crowning a first-time champion, the event played host to another event champion, whom tour director Mike Zuglan described as “the oldest person (he could) think of who won any of (their) events.”A $500-added Second Chance tournament that drew 14 entrants was won by 71-year-old Bob Darigis.
“Ray Mac and Bob were both around in the days when me, Larry Lisciotti and Joe Tucker were still playing around,” said Zuglan.
Ray Mac’s trip to the winners’ circle had to go through another Joss NE 9-Ball veteran, also looking for his first (recorded with us) win on the tour, Pete Bowman. They met twice; hot seat match and finals. Mac had gotten by Nick Coppola, Lida Mullendore, Clyde Matta and Ryan Cullen to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Bob Madenjian, who, it should be noted, finished in the four-way tie for 5th place behind McNamara in the SBE’s Amateur Senior tournament in April and would end up in the same position at this event. Peter Bowman sent Aro Majumber and Brandon Coley to the loss side before encountering the later-to-be winner of the Second Chance event, Bob Darigis, who battled him tooth and nail to double hill before he sent him over, as well. Bowman then downed Darren Jevons to pick up Kerry McAuliffe in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Mac sent Madenjian west 9-2, while Bowman was defeating McAuliffe 9-3. McNamara claimed the hot seat 9-5, which was, as far as we know, his first.
On the loss side, McAuliffe picked up Steve Mack, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Madenjian and jumped onto the loss-side wagon with victories over Rich Kravetz 7-5 and Dan Sharlow 7-3. Madenjian picked up Francisco Salas, who’d also lost to Madenjian on the winners’ side (3rd round) and was working on a seven-match, loss-side streak that would take him as far as the semifinals and include the double-hill elimination of Jeremy Sossei, followed by wins over Darren Jevons 7-2 and Frankie Hernandez 7-3.
Mack did his part to secure a rematch versus Madenjian with a 7-4 win over McAuliffe, but Salas took Madenjian out 7-5 and then eliminated Mack 7-3 in the quarterfinals.
Bowman closed out Salas’ run with a 7-3 win in the semifinals to earn his second shot at Ray Mac, waiting for him in the hot seat. Though Salas would chalk up three more racks against Ray Mac in the finals than he had in the hot seat, Ray Mac prevailed 9-5 to claim his first Joss Northeast 9-Ball title, closing the ‘long time coming’ door behind him.
The final standings in tour points were headed up by Bucky Souvanthong, who appeared in nine of the season’s 15 events, winning five of them. Ron Casanzio finished in 2nd place, based on 10 appearances, with a single win. Jeremy Sossei was in 3rd place, having won three of his five appearances. Len Gianfrate placed fourth, just ahead of Aaron Greenwood. Rounding out the top 10 on the 2021-2022 tour were Jamie Garrett, Dan Sharlow, Frank Hernandez, Mhet Vergara and Bruce Carroll.
Tour director Mike Zuglan thanked Regina and Steve Goulding and their Snookers’ staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Joss Cues, Turning Stone Resort Casino, Simonis Cloth, Poolonthenet.com, AZBilliards, Aramith, Billiards Press and World Class Cue Care. The next event, the tour’s season finale, scheduled for Sept. 1-4, will be the $25,000-added Turning Stone Classic XXXV 9-Ball Open, hosted by the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY
Kerry McAuliffe may have begun his title quest for the New England 9-Ball Series’ Tony Mendonca Memorial Tournament with a bit of a struggle, but he held on to complete that quest by going undefeated. The $500-added (Stop #18) event drew 16 entrants to Stroker’s Billiards in Pelham, NH.
The early-event struggle began with an upper bracket, double hill battle versus Daniel Simoneau, and was followed by a match against tour director Marc Dionne, in which he gave up only two racks. From that point, over the next three matches it took him to claim the title, he gave up only four total racks, all of them to John Vitale, whom he met and defeated twice.
Following McAuliffe’s victory over Dionne, he faced Vitale for the first time in one of the winners’ side semifinals, while lower bracket competitors Michael Selig and Neal Katz faced off in the other one. In their first of two, McAuliffe shut Vitale out. Selig joined McAuliffe in the hot seat match after downing Katz 7-1. McAuliffe shut Selig out, as well, to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Vitale picked up Dionne, who, following his defeat at the hands of McAuliffe, had eliminated Jodie Thompson, double hill and Mark Morgan 5-2. Katz drew Rebecca Welch, who’d lost her opening match to Jeffrey Sheehan and was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side winning streak that had included a forfeit win, as well active victories over Stacy Hamel and Bob Campbell, both 4-1.
Vitale decided that it was time to join the ‘shutout’ party and eliminated Dionne that way, while Welch gave up only a single rack to Katz and joined Vitale in the quarterfinals. Vitale gave up just one rack to Welch in those quarterfinals.
Back in shutout mode again, Vitale downed Selig, earning himself a second shot against McAuliffe, waiting for him in the hot seat. Their straight-up race to 6 came within a game of double hill, but McAuliffe edged out in front at the end and claimed the Tony Mendonca Memorial title 6-4.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Strokers, 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 next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#19), scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
Soel Quinones, Ambriory Minyety, Kerry Mcauliffe, Scott Reynolds, Alvin Lam and Ricardo Diaz
Ambriori Minyety and Soel Quinones went undefeated through a field of 32 teams to claim the New England 9-Ball Series title on the eighth stop of the 2020-2021 tour. The $500-added event, held on Sunday, April 11, was hosted by Snooker’s in Providence, RI.
Minyety & Quinones began their day in the lower bracket, getting by two teams (one shutout and one double hill match) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Casey Olivieri and Joe Watt. From the upper bracket, Kerry McAuliffe and Scott Reynolds got by two team opponents (identical 5-1 scores) to arrive at their winners’ side semifinal against Kevin Bauccio and Matt Rezendes.
Two double hill matches advanced Minyety/Quinones (4-3) to the hot seat match versus McAuliffe/Reynolds (5-4). Minyety/Quinones went on to claim the hot seat 5-2 over McAuliffe/Reynolds and waited on their return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Bauccio/Rezendes drew a re-match against the mixed gender team of Stacie Bourbeau and Mark Morgan, whom they’d defeated in a winners’ side quarterfinal 5-3. Bourbeau/Morgan then defeated the teams of Jose Concepcion and Derek Cunningham and Dominick Sousa and Brandon Coley, both 5-3. Olivieri/Watt picked up Ricardo Diaz and Alvin Lam, who were working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently included a double hill victory over Steve Downs and Melissa Austin, and a 4-2 win over Rich Senna and Ryan McCrum.
Bauccio/Rezendes defeated Bourbeau/Morgan 5-2 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Diaz/Lam, who’d chalked up loss-side win #5, eliminating Olivieri/Watt 4-2. Diaz/Lam advanced one more step, defeating Bauccio/Rezendes 4-3 in those quarterfinals (Bauccio/Rezendes racing to 5).
McAuliffe/Reynolds ended the Diaz/Lam loss-side streak with a 5-2 win in the semifinals and got a second shot at Minyety/Quinones waiting on them in the hot seat.
McAuliffe/Reynolds were able to improve their score from the hot seat match, but only by a single rack. Minyety/Quinones completed their undefeated run with a 5-3 victory in the finals.
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, Salotto, 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, scheduled for Sunday, April 25, will be a $500-added, 8-Ball event, hosted by Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
Lucas Fracasso-Verner, Kerry McAuliffe, and Tyler Boudreau
Normally, a match between a player Fargo-rated at 677 (racing to 8) and one rated at 531 (racing to 4) would give the lower-rated player a one in three chance of winning the match. At Stop #3 on the 2020 New England 9-Ball Series this past weekend (Oct. 10-11), a 677 and a 531 played three matches, in which that expected outcome was reversed in two of them. The 677 – Lukas Fracasso-Verner – won the first of the three, battling for the hot seat, but the 531 – Tyler Boudreau, who, with the event’s lowest Fargo Rate, won the NE 9-Ball Series Tour Championships last September – won the other two, which were the true double elimination finals. The $750-added event drew 39 entrants to Strokers Bar & Billiards in Pelham, NH.
Awarded an opening round bye in the upper bracket, Fracasso-Verner began with a 6-3 win over David Simoneau and then shut out Ronny Chestna. A 6-2 win over Kerry McAuliffe put Fracasso-Verner into a winners’ side semifinal match against Tyler Campbell. Boudreau, in the meantime, was mowing them down in the lower bracket. After his opening round bye, Boudreau worked his way to a winners’ side semifinal against Emily Cady by an aggregate score of 15-2, giving up one rack each to Matt Caissie and Buddy Oldham, after opening with a shutout over Carlton Gagnon.
Fracasso-Verner advanced to the hot seat match with his third shutout, over Campbell. Boudreau joined him after sending Cady to the loss side 5-2. Boudreau’s 20-4 work through his first four matches didn’t serve him well in the battle for the hot seat. He managed only a single rack against Fracasso-Verner who claimed the seat 8-1 and, as it turned out, his last victory of the event.
On the loss side, Tyler Campbell picked up McAuliffe, who, after his defeat at the hands of Fracasso-Verner in a winners’ side quarterfinal, downed Derek Cunningham and Ronny Chestna, both 6-2. Cady drew a rematch against Joe Callaluca, whom she’d sent to the loss side in one of the other winners’ side quarterfinals. Callaluca had then survived a double hill match versus Aaron Barra and eliminated Buddy Oldham 5-2.
McAuliffe stopped Campbell 7-3 (Campbell racing to 5), and was joined in the quarterfinals by Cady, who, in a straight-up race to 5, defeated Callaluca, double hill. In an 8-4 race, McAuliffe eliminated Cady 8-1 in those quarterfinals. Boudreau, racing to 4 against McAuliffe’s 8 in the semifinals, got his second shot against Fracasso-Verner with a 4-8 win.
Working with the same Fargo Rate handicap he’d faced in the semifinals, Boudreau won the first set of the true double elimination final against Fracasso-Verner 4-4. Fracasso-Verner added a single rack to his total in the second set, but Boudreau won it 4-5 to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Strokers Billiards, as well as Predator, Poison, Arcos II, BCAPL, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Bob Campbell, MJS Construction, Master Billiards, OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America, Piku Tips and Just the Tip Cue Repair and Custom Accessories.
The next stop on the NE 9-Ball Series (#4), scheduled for this weekend, Sunday, Oct. 18, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Amazin’ Billiards in Malden, MA.
Though their official 2020-2021 schedule will not begin until the weekend of September 26-27, the cancelled-since-March New England 9-Ball Series returned to the tables this past weekend (Aug. 29-30) to hold its annual Summer Sizzler tournament. Normally, a single affair held over a weekend, this Summer Sizzler, in deference to issues related to the pandemic, played out over two days and featured two separate tournaments on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, in six matches, Kerry McAuliffe played 40 games and lost only six of them, finishing his undefeated run to the winners’ circle of Summer Sizzler Day 1 with shutouts in his winners’ side semifinal against Mark Morgan and his two matches – hot seat and finals – against Andy Downs. On Sunday, in five matches, Frank Gaetani played 35 games and lost 10 of them to go undefeated and claim the Summer Sizzler Day 2 title. Both events were hosted by Strokers Bar & Billiards in Pelham, NH and drew 32 (Saturday) and 29 (Sunday) entrants. There was some duplication in the entrants for both days, although none in the payout department.
On Day 1, McAuliffe, playing in the upper bracket, got by Shaun Conley, Ronnie Chestna and survived a double hill match versus Vadim Brown (6-3, Brown racing to 4) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Mark Morgan (one of the players who competed on both days). Andy Downs, from the lower bracket, defeated Nathan Johnson, Emily Cady and Tony Legos to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal against Casey Olivieri.
McAuliffe began his run of three straight shutouts with a defeat over Morgan, putting him in the hot seat against Downs, who’d defeated Olivieri 4-2. McAuliffe then shut Morgan out to claim the hot seat.
Moving to the loss side and right into the first money round, Morgan survived a double hill match against Steve Sutton and advanced to the quarterfinals. Olivieri joined him after a 4-2 victory over Bob Campbell.
Morgan leapfrogged right into the semifinals, when Olivieri forfeited the quarterfinal match. In the semifinals that followed, the much higher Fargo-rated competitor (Morgan) hit a bump in his road and was only able to muster a single rack against Downs, who, with Morgan racing to 5, won the match 4-1. The momentum of the semifinal win didn’t appear to help Downs at all. McAuliffe shut him out a second time in the finals and undefeated, claimed the Summer Sizzler’s Day 1 title.
Frank Gaetani, Owen Gomez and Tom Comerford
Summer Sizzler Day 2
On Day 2, it was Frank Gaetani, from the event’s upper bracket, taking center stage and it looked, initially, as though he were going to follow in McAuliffe’s ‘shutout’ footprints as he shut out Justin Cunningham in the opening round. He had to survive a second-round, double hill battle against Dana Mackenzie before regaining his footing and shutting out Mark Morgan, who was apparently still ‘out of gear’ from his day-before 3rd place finish. Gaetani faced Tom Comerford in one of the winners’ side semifinals and would face him again in the finals. Owen Gomez, in the meantime, giving up only three racks total to Paul Kazalski (2), Norm Charett (1), and Donny Call, faced Jenn Fogg in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Gaetani sent Comerford west 5-1 and in the hot seat match, faced Gomez, who’d chalked up his second shutout against Fogg. Gaetani claimed the hot seat 5-2 over Gomez.
On the loss side, Comerford and Fogg had to battle to advance to the first money round, which was the quarterfinals. Comerford made it with a 5-3 win over Jodie Thompson. Fogg did not, falling to Tony Mendonca 6-2.
In a straight-up race to 5, Comerford eliminated Mendonca in those quarterfinals, and then, defeated Gomez 5-2 for a second shot at Gaetani. In a straight-up race to 5, Gaetani claimed the Day 2 title 5-3.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Strokers for their hospitality, 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, OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America and Piku Tips. As noted above, The New England 9-Ball Series’ season opener is scheduled for the weekend of September 26-27. The $1,000-added event will be hosted by Rack City in Bangor, ME.
(l to r): Lukas Fracasso-Verner, TD Marc Dionne, Josh Caesar & Ryan Lineham
Until this past weekend (Jan. 25-26), Josh Caesar had cashed in exactly five events on the New England 9-Ball Series. His name started cropping on our database (generally indicative of cash winnings) in January of 2018, when he finished 9th in that year’s Winter Classic. He cashed in only one other event that year (that we know about), the 2018 Tour Championship in September. Last year, he cashed in three of the tour’s events, winning one of them in February and tripling his recorded cash earnings from the year before.
In the finals of this year’s Winter Classic, held this past weekend, Caesar faced an opponent who’d cashed in three times as many events as he (Caesar) did last year and earned nearly six times as much money. Lukas Fracasso-Verner had won two stops on last year’s tour, was runner-up in the Player’s Championship and overall, had cashed in seven tour events. He’d also won the Predator Pro Am Tour’s Empire State Championship and was third at the Ocean State 9-Ball Championship, held under the auspices of the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour. All in all a prodigious resume for a player with somewhat limited experience to be facing in the finals of an event.
Caesar faced Fracasso-Verner three times in this event; battling for the hot seat and twice in the finals. He took the last two of those three to claim the 2020 Winter Classic title. The $2,000-added Winter Classic drew 127 entrants (15 more than it did last year) to Snooker’s in Providence, RI.
Working initially from the lower (FargoRate) bracket, Caesar opened his trek to the hot seat match with three, straight-up races to 5 in which he defeated Matt Caissie 5-2, shut out Mike Zingarella and sent Dennis Boucher to the loss side 5-3. He then downed three straight opponents, double hill, to get into that hot seat match – Kyle King, Phil Walton, and in the winners’ side semifinal, Bob Campbell. Fracasso-Verner, in the meantime, got by Billy Lanna 6-3, Jay Duffin 8-2, Beau Powers 6-2 and then, like Caesar, won two straight double hill matches against Kerry McAuliffe and Roarke Dickson to get into his winners’ side semifinal against Derrick Cunningham. Unlike Caesar, though, Fracasso-Verner shut Cunningham out in his winners’ side semifinal, and then, claimed the hot seat 8-2 over Caesar, who was racing to 4.
On the loss side, which was still featuring separated upper and lower bracket matches, Cunningham drew RYan Lineham, who’d eliminated Roarke Dickson 5-2 and Chad Avallone 6-1 to reach him. Campbell picked up Scott Reynolds, who’d recently defeated Ed Cortney, double hill and Philip Walton 4-2. Lineham and Reynolds advanced to the quarterfinals, after handing Cunningham and Campbell their second straight loss; Lineham 5-1 over Cunningham and Reynolds, shutting out Campbell.
Lineham, who battled and defeated Fracasso-Verner in the finals of a Second Chance 10-Ball event at last year’s Classic, was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that he no doubt assumed would give him a shot at Fracasso-Verner in the hot seat and potentially, the 2020 Winter Classic title. He won his sixth loss-side match in the quarterfinals, surviving a double hill battle against Reynolds, but the much-lower-handicapped Caesar ended the streak 4-2 in the semifinals (Reynolds racing to 8).
Caesar started and would play the true double elimination final with four ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 8. He chalked up his first four racks while holding Fracasso-Verner to two and claimed the opening set. Fracasso-Verner put up a hell of a fight in the second set, forcing an 11th and deciding game. Caesar won it to claim his second NE 9-Ball Series title and his first Winter Classic.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Snooker’s, as well as title sponsor 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, OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America and Piku Tips. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#13), scheduled for Feb. 15-16, will be the $1,000-added Mark Young Memorial, hosted by Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
(l to r):George Palmer, Gabriel Kirshnitz & Gene Hunt.
According to our records, while Gene Hunt has been competing at the tables for about a decade now, he hasn’t had a payout at a regional tournament since May of 2016, when he finished 9th at a stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Those same records now indicate that on Saturday, June 1, Hunt chalked up an undefeated win on the New England 9-Ball Series, downing Gabriel Kirshnitz twice to claim the event title. The event (stop #21) drew 56 entrants to Crow’s Nest Pub and Grill in Plaistow, NH.
On his way to his first meetup versus Kirshnitz in the hot seat match, Hunt, working in the event’s upper bracket, dispatched Phil Russo and Javier Fantauzzi to the loss side, before facing one of the event’s two highest Fargo-rated players, Kerry McAuliffe (648). The highest Fargo-rated player at this event was Ryan Cullen (673), who’d show up later on the loss side. Hunt (559) battled McAuliffe to double hill before sending him to the loss side 5-6. He then defeated Soel Quinones 6-2 to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Steve Sutton.
Kirshnitz (488), in the meantime, working in the lower bracket got by Don Roy, Kim Orr, Mark Pulsifer and shut out Chris Richard to draw George Palmer in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Both of the winners’ side semifinals went double hill with Hunt, in a straight-up race to 6, downing Sutton and Kirshnitz, in a straight-up race to 5, sending Palmer to the loss side. The battle for the hot seat went double hill, as well. With Hunt racing to 6 and Kirshnitz to 5, Hunt claimed the hot seat 6-4.
On the loss side, it was Sutton who drew the event’s top Fargo-rated player, Cullen, who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. He’d recently shut out Quinones and picked up a forfeit win from Eric Lim. George Palmer drew Mark Small, who, like Cullen, was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end. He’d most recently defeated Chris Richards, double hill and shut out Catherine Ong. Small’s elimination of Ong and Cullen’s forfeit over Lim sent Ong and Lim, who are married, home at the same time, with the same $80 payout for the two-way tie for 7th place.
Sutton and Palmer got right back to work. Sutton downed Cullen 4-4 (Cullen racing to 6) and Palmer eliminated Small, double hill (4-3). With Sutton racing to 5, Palmer then defeated him 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
In a straight-up race to 4 in the semifinals, Kirshnitz earned himself a second shot at Hunt in the hot seat with a 4-1 victory over Palmer. In a repeat of their hot seat match, Hunt and Kirshnitz battled to double hill a second time, with the same result. Hunt claimed his first NE 9-Ball Series title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest 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, Master Billiards and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#22), scheduled for July 14, will find the tour back at Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
l to r: Chris Benoit, Mike Uttley, Mike DeMarco, Jeff Harnois, Scott Reynolds, Lukas Fracasso-Verner
The generally congenial atmosphere of Scotch Doubles competition lends itself to the idea that the journey itself is more significant, and fun, than the destination of winning or losing. In that spirit, at Stop #17 on the New England 9-Ball Series, the last three teams standing at the end of the tournament on Sunday, April 7, apparently expressed a desire to be considered co-champions of the event.
Now here’s what happened. By the end of a no-doubt long Sunday, when the event came down to its final two matches (possibly three, with a double elimination final), those three teams opted out of further play and split the top three cash prizes. As the only undefeated team at that point, DeMarco and Harnois would technically be granted the official status as winners, with Benoit/Uttley as runners-up and Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds finishing in third.
It was a four-match march to the winners’ side semifinals for DeMarco/Harnois and Benoit/Uttley. Two of DeMarco/Harnois’ matches in that march went double hill. In those winners’ side semifinals, DeMarco/Harnois defeated Tour Director Marc Dionne and Dominick Souza 5-1, as Benoit/Uttley squared off and downed Justin Cunningham and Jordan Stevens 4-2. DeMarco/Harnois claimed the hot seat 4-1 in what proved to be the final match for both partnerships.
On the loss side, Dionne/Souza and Cunningham/Stevens ran right into their second straight loss. Dionne/Souza met up with the team they’d sent to the loss side in the winners’ side quarterfinals – Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds, who’d defeated Adam Blair and Kerry McAuliffe 5-3 and Jason Platt and Ran Tamba 4-1. Cunningham/Stevens faced Daniel Nizeul and Paul Fontaine, who’d recently defeated Ned McConnell and Lida Mullendore, double hill, and Jason D’Angelo and Bill O’Mara 4-1.
Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds wreaked their rematch vengeance on Dionne/Souza, though not before Dionne/Souza took them to the brink of elimination by putting up a double hill fight. Nizeul/Fontaine eliminated Cunningham/Stevens by shutting them out 3-0.
In what proved to be the last match of the night, Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds defeated Nizeul/Fontaine 4-1 in the quarterfinals. It would no doubt have been interesting to see what might have happened had two teams with a combined FargoRate separated by only five points met up in the finals (588 for Fracasso-Verner/Reynolds and 583 for DeMarco/Harnois), but that didn’t happen. Benoit/Utley (510), in the never-happened semifinals, might have had something to say about that potential matchup, but we’ll never know. Any more than we’ll likely ever know why the event format is called “Scotch Doubles,” instead of Lithuanian Doubles or Japanese Doubles. Just one of those things we’ll never know.
Tour director Marc Dionne, rallying from his and his partner Souza’s loss, though no doubt soothed by the cash they split for finishing in the tie for 5th place, thanked the ownership and staff at Snooker’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, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America.
Dionne also notified potential participants at the next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#18) that the posted date has changed. Scheduled for this Saturday, April 13, the event has been re-scheduled to occur on Saturday, April 20, at the same location, Legends Sports Bar in Auburn, ME.
(l to r): Clyde Matta, Dave Morganelli & Robert Piersa
Lineham wins second-tier 10-ball event
There were two distinctly different events at the 12th stop on the New England 9-Ball Series; its annual Winter Classic held on the weekend of January 26-27 and hosted by Snooker’s in Providence, RI. The main event was a $2,000-added 9-ball tournament that was traditionally handicapped with the use of FargoRates to determine the matches and drew 112 entrants. There was also a $500-added, non-handicapped 10-ball tournament with 21 entrants, which was billed as something of a Second Chance event, but offered $1,570 worth of cash prizes for the top four finishers.
Dave Morganelli went undefeated through the field of 112 to take the 9-ball event, downing Rob Piersa twice. RYan Lineham did likewise through the shorter-field 10-ball tournament, defeating Corey Avallone in the hot seat match and Lukas Fracasso-Verner in the final. It took Morganelli seven matches to claim the 9-ball title. Lineham grabbed the 10-ball title in five.
Morganelli was one of 12 competitors in the 9-ball tournament’s lower bracket that was awarded an opening round bye, after which he got by Justin Grant, Chuck Sampson, Mourad Idrais, and Phil Medeiros to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Bob Lucas. Rob Piersa, in the meantime, without a bye in the upper bracket, defeated Rich Senna, Ryan Lineham (the eventual winner of the 10-ball event), Brian Chase and Bill Cote to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup against Kevin Bauccio.
In a straight-up race to 5, Morganelli advanced to the hot seat match 5-3 over Lucas. Piersa joined him after downing Bauccio 7-4 (Bauccio racing to 6). Morganelli, with a FargoRate of 539, started the hot seat match with three on the wire in a race to 7 against Piersa, with his FargoRate of 651. They split the actual games 4-4, but with the handicap, Morganelli claimed the hot seat.
In straight-up races to 5 (Lucas/Blair) and 7 (Matta/Bauccio), Blair and Matta handed Lucas and Bauccio their second straight loss; Blair 5-3 over Lucas and Matta 7-5 over Bauccio. Matta took the subsequent quarterfinal match over Blair 7-3.
In a straight-up race to 6, Piersa (651) downed Matta (611) 6-1 in the semifinals to earn himself a second (and potentially, third) shot against Morganelli, waiting for him in the hot seat. Morganelli took the opening and only set necessary 5-2 to claim the NE 9-Ball Series Winter Classic title.
Lineham becomes second person on the weekend to eliminate Fracasso-Verner
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Lukas Fracasso-Verner, 17, has made something of a dangerous habit out of coming from the loss side to claim a number of event titles, including a 12-match, loss-side trip to win last year’s “Ginky” Memorial, and a seven-match, loss-side winning streak to win the NE 9-Ball Series’ Robert Dionne Memorial, two weeks ago. On the weekend of January 26-27, the habit got the best of him at the NE 9-Ball Series’ Winter Classic. He was sent to the loss side in the third round of the main event, and won only one match on the loss side, before being eliminated, out of the money. He rallied a bit in the 10-ball tournament, advancing to a winners’ side semifinal, and then, winning three on the loss side for a shot against Ryan Lineham in the hot seat. Lineham prevailed.
After an opening round bye, Lineham had defeated Kerry McAuliffe and Mike Hurley to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Chad Bazinet. Fracasso-Verner, in the meantime, faced Chad Avallone. Lineham downed Bazinet 7-5, as Avallone was sending Fracasso-Verner to the loss side 7-4. Lineham claimed the hot seat 7-2 over waited on what turned out to be the return of Fracasso-Verner.
On the loss side, Fracasso-Verner shut out Jon Leandro and in the quarterfinals, faced Bazinet, who’d eliminated Francisco Cabral 5-1. Fracasso-Verner downed Bazinet in those quarterfinals 5-3, for a rematch against Avallone in the semifinals. A double hill fight ensued that eventually sent Fracasso-Verner to the finals.
They could have played a modified race to 5 in the finals, but Fracasso-Verner and Lineham opted to play it out to the normal race to 7. Fracasso-Verner survived the double hill, opening set of the true double elimination final 7-6, but Lineham grabbed the second set 7-5 to claim the 10-ball event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Snooker’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL 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, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#13), will be a $750-added event, scheduled for the weekend of February 16-17 and hosted by Straight Shooters Family Billiards in Fall River, MA.
(l to r): TJ Perrino, Brian Chase, Charlie Matarazzo & Rick Gatta
Partners tournaments are not a main item on anyone’s pool calendar menu, although as the industry has begun to notice the increased-interest advantages of team competitions, they may be a harbinger of things to come. The New England 9-Ball Series hosts them fairly regularly, and while they present something of a narrative challenge, as descriptions of the event require lengthy and repetitive use of the double names, which defy any shorthand means of reducing the overall words-per-report average. Its most recent partners tournament (Stop #9 on the tour), held on Sunday, December 9 at Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH, drew 64 sets of partners, which, if nothing else, managed to increase the tour’s entrants-per-event average.
The teams of two play with an average FargoRate, which, in the case of the eventual winners – TJ Perrino and Brian Chase – happened to be the highest FargoRate (600) among the event’s final and money-earning 12 teams. The range of competition, as defined by the combined FargoRate, amounted to 150 points, with the lowest team (450; Ben Come and Nelson Perron) being eliminated in the matches that determined the four-way tie for 9th place. As with their singles tournaments, the event was initially broken up into separate upper and lower (ranked) brackets.
Perrino/Chase advanced through the upper bracket to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against John Ferreira and Kevin Rodriguez (594). Charlie Matarazzo and Rick Gatta (530), in the meantime, emerging from the lower bracket, squared off against Jason Parker and Jose Concepcion (493). Perrino/Chase survived a double hill match against Ferreira/Rodriguez and advanced to the hot seat match. Matarazzo/Gatta had a slightly easier battle, defeating Parker/Concepcion 4-1. Perrino/Chase downed Matarazzo/Gatta 5-1 (Matarazzo/Gata racing to 4) and waited in the hot seat for their return.
Ferreira/Rodriguez, no doubt eager to avenge their double hill loss versus Perrino/Chase in the winners’ side semifinals, got right back to work, giving up only two racks over their next 11 games. They first downed McGuane/Mathieu 4-2, as Collier/Soto were busy eliminating Parker/Concepcion 3-1. Ferreira/Rodriguez then shut out Collier/Soto in the quarterfinals and turned to the one obstacle in the way of their hoped-for rematch; Matarazzo and Gatta.
Both teams chalked up four racks in the semifinals. Matarazzo/Gata, however, with the lower FargoRate, were racing to four, and the Ferreira/Rodriguez bid for a shot in the finals came to an end, one game shy. Matarazzo/Gata had managed only a single rack in the hot seat match, but they mounted a more vigorous campaign in the finals. They forced Perrino/Chase (racing to 5) into an eighth deciding game. Perrino/Chase, though, won the deciding game to claim the partners title 5-3.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest, along with sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL 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, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The New England 9-Ball Series will move into the 2019 portion of its current season with a $500-added event (Stop #10), scheduled for Saturday, January 5, and hosted by Legends Sports Bar in Auburn, ME.
