Erica Testa, Stacie Bourbeau, and Lindsey Monto (not pictured is the fourth team member Kim Storey)
In the New England Women Pool Alliance’s second team event, the $500-added Anchorperson Challenge, four mixed-geography teams of four women competed against each other in a first stage series of best two-out-of-three round robin, 8-ball matches. At the conclusion of this first stage, a single representative (best record from first stage) from each of the teams (the anchorwoman) competed in a best three-out-of-five set of round robin matches. The format was altered slightly to accommodate four teams instead of the planned-for eight teams around which the event was initially planned.
At the end of the first stage and based on potential point allocation for games won in the second stage, it was mathematically possible for any one of the four teams to win the event as they moved into that second stage. Victorious Secret (Sam Barrett, Nicole Albergeria, Dawn Fanning and Becca Sue Phillis) emerged from the first stage, ahead by two points (11-9; each match won by a player earned her team a single point), but in the anchorwoman challenge set of matches, Bad Ass Bitches’ Stacie Bourbeau won nine out of the 10 games she played to chalk up another nine points for her team (Erica Testa, Lindsey Monto & Kim Storey) and win the event for them; 19-13, over Victorious Secret. The event drew its four teams/16 women to Amazin’ Billiards in Malden, MA on Sunday, May 23.
During the second stage of the event, the players not involved in that stage squared off in a consolation event; a single elimination bracket with 12 women. Two women, members of what turned out to be the top two teams, were to have squared off in the finals of this event – Lindsey Monto from Bad Ass Bitches and Nicole Albergeria from Victorious Secret. But in the end, they chose not to play a final match and split the $200 in total consolation prize money. They also turned down an opportunity to play a single ‘bragging rights’ match.
In the opening stage of the event, Hot Pockets (Lida Mullendore, Stef Brownstein, Kayleen Gray and Tina DeLima) played against Victorious Secret. Victorious Secret won 24 of the 41 games they played against Hot Pockets, earning 11 points to Hot Pockets’ 5. Stef Brownstein won six of the 17 games for Hot Pockets and represented the team in the second stage. Sam Barrett and Nicole Albergeria chalked up 16 of their team’s 24 games (eight each). Though tied for total games won, it was Barrett who advanced to the second stage for Victorious Secret, because she had lost one less game than Albergeria.
The Tonkin Team/Bad Ass Bitches round robin ended with a little closer score. The BAB won 22 of the 41 games they played against the Tonkin Team (Stacey Tonkin, Pam Fiahlo, Emily Cady and Dawn Luz) and nine of the 16 points awarded. Stacie Bourbeau and Lindsey Monto each won seven games, but Monto lost one more, which sent Bourbeau to stage two. Emily Cady won eight games for the Tonkin team and advanced to the second stage.
The races were a bit longer in the second stage (best three out of five) and the point distribution for winning was a little different; a first win earned a single point, a second earned three points and a third earned four points. Bourdeau went undefeated in the stage, earning nine points for the Bad Ass Bitches (18 total), four more than Sam Barrett earned for Victorious Secret (13 total). Emily Cady from The Tonkin Team (7 total) and Stef Brownstein from Hot Pockets (5 total) earned four points each.
Event director Katie Fiorilla thanked the ownership and staff at Amazin’ Billiards, as well as sponsors who contributed money to the prize fund and other aspects of making the event happen, including Mazin Schooni, the NE 9-Ball Series, AZBilliards, Emily Cady, Dawn Luz and the Tonkin Tour.
The next event of the New England Women’s Pool Alliance will be a fund raiser in August (exact date to be determined) in August. As a fund-raising event, it will be open to all genders. Later, in the fall (at another exact date to be determined), the NEWPA will sponsor an event that will be a women’s event, a domestic violence awareness event.
Phil Harju (Union Station owner), Kyle Pepin, Ben Savoie and Tyler Dunbar
With the popularity of Fargo, more and more tournaments are converting to a handicapped system based on those Fargo ratings. While this format allows lower rated players to compete against more experienced opponents, it can sometimes be daunting for those better players to “outrun the handicap” in these handicapped matches. While some of the results were close, Kyle Pepin outran them all to win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour’s Fargorate Handicapped event at Union Station Billiards in Portland, Maine on March 23rd – 24th.
Pepin (653 Fargo) made his way through the winner’s side with three match wins on Saturday (Marc Dionne, Justin Grant and Josh Lerner). The handicaps (8-6, 9-5 and 8-5 were manageable, although Pepin did go hill-hill with Lerner in his last match of the day.
Sunday play for Pepin started with a 9-5 race against Jerry Guitard that Pepin won 9-3. That was followed by the biggest spot that Pepin had to give up all weekend. His match against Tyler Dunbar (465 Fargo) was a 10-4 race that Pepin won 10-3. Pepin commented after the event on the format for this event. “The handicapped format was tough, a lot of tough spots and close matches, but I think it was pretty fair and made me play pretty honest. I didn’t have many chances to make mistakes.” he said.
Ben Savoie (570 Fargo) was making this way through the one loss side after a loss to Guitard late on Saturday. Savoie had wins over Dave Hall, Josh Lerner and Samoth Sam before earning his revenge over Guitard 7-2. Savoie then sent Dunbar home in third place with an 8-3 win in the semi-final match.
The final match between Pepin and Savoie was an 8-6 race, where Pepin won 8-4 in the first set for first place and his second career Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win. Pepin was complimentary of the event after the win. “I think the format is great for lower ranked players and the more people people play in events that are reported to Fargo, the more accurate everyone’s handicap will be.” he said.
Sunday’s second chance tournament was the regular race to three format where Jim Hayden bounced back from a loss in the hot-seat match and double dipped Lindsey Monto in the finals for first place.
Capping what’s been a pretty good year for him that included his second victory at the annual New England Pool & Billiards Hall of Fame Open 9-Ball event in March, Joe Dupuis went undefeated at the New England 9-Ball Series invitational Tour Championships on the weekend of September 8-9. The $10,000-added event drew 111 entrants to Bo’s Billiards in Warwick, RI.
In the earlier rounds of the upper bracket, Dupuis, competing as an Open player, won three matches in which, on average, he’d given up between three and four racks per match. In his fourth match, against Rich Howard, Dupuis picked up the pace a bit and gave up only a single rack in a 10-1 victory that advanced him to an overall winners’ side quarterfinal match against Sam Samoth. He sent Samoth to the loss side 8-5 to draw Dillon Nickerson in one of the winners’ side semifinals. From the lower bracket, Ryan Urso and Kevin Rodrigues had worked their way through a separate set of lower-ranked opponents giving up, on average, between two and three racks per match, to arrive and face each other in the other winners’ side semifinal.
In a straight-up race to 6, Urso downed Rodrigues 6-3 and advanced to the hot seat match. Dupuis stepped up the pace a second time, and though Nickerson had three games on the wire, in a race to 9, Dupuis made that point moot by shutting him out to join Urso in the hot seat match. Urso started the hot seat match with five games on the wire in a race to 10, and though he chalked up three on his own, Dupuis chalked up his 10 and sat in the hot seat, waiting for Urso to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, A player Ryan Cullen, who’d been defeated by Nickerson in a winners’ side quarterfinal, defeated Ben Savoie, double hill (7-4) and Roy Morgridge 7-5 to draw a re-match versus Nickerson. Rodrigues drew Ben Benson (B), who’d eliminated C+ players Lindsey Monto 6-2 and Anthony Petruzelli, double hill.
In their re-match, the two A players, Cullen and Nickerson battled to double hill, before Cullen finished it, advancing to the quarterfinals. Rodrigues joined him, downing fellow B player Benson 6-3.
Cullen gave up only a single rack in his quarterfinal match against Rodrigues and faced Urso in the semifinals. With two games on the wire at the start, Urso downed Cullen, double hill (5-6).
Joe Dupuis took his ‘foot off the gas’ a bit in the opening set of the true double elimination final against Urso. As in the hot seat match, Urso started with five games on the wire in a race to 10, and earned his requisite five more, before Dupuis had reached his third (5-2). The two battled to double hill in the second set, with Dupuis winning the deciding 14th game to claim the Tour Championship title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Bo’s Billiards, 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 New England 9-Ball Series will open its 2018-2019 season on Sunday, September 23, with an event to be hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
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.
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.
