(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): 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.
Eric Tang returned from a winners' side semifinal defeat at the hands of Dennis Levesque to defeat him in the finals of the newly-revived Eastern States Amateur Championship, held on Labor Day weekend. The $2,000-added event drew 75 entrants to Snooker's Billiards in Providence, RI. A concurrently-run, $3,000-added Pro event (separate story) drew 30 entrants.
Tang (an "A" player) and Levesque (a "B+") met first in the winners' side semifinal, as Dan Faraguna (B) and Mark Small (C) met up in the other. Levesque took the first (and last) of two against Tang 7-3 and in the hot seat match, met up with Small, who'd sent Faraguna west 7-4. Levesque gained the hot seat 8-7 over Small and waited on Tang.
Tang moved over and picked up Paul Dryden, who'd defeated Ryan Cullen and Victor Nau, both 7-5, to reach him. Faraguna drew Josh Gormly, who'd eliminated Chris Amaral 7-4 and Mike Demarco 7-5. Tang got by Dryden 7-2, and after Gormly had defeated Faraguna 7-3, Tang defeated him 7-2 in the quarterfinals.
Tang chalked up the third straight loss-side match in which he'd given up only two racks by defeating Small in the semifinals 9-2. Levesque, in the finals, challenged that streak, as he and Tang battled to double hill (8-7). Tang chalked up game #16 to snatch the title away from Levesque.
Tour Director Tony Robles thanked Steve and Regina Goulding, owners of Snookers, and their staff, as well as "(his) lovely wife, Gail," NYCGrind, NAPL, AZBTV, New England 9-Ball Series, Gloria Jean's Ride the NineTour, Poolonthenet.com, Gotham City Technologies, Ozone Billiards.com, Delta-13 racks and ("the Big Kahuna," said Robles) Predator Cues.
Paul Dubwa withstood a strong challenge from Scott Packard, who won six straight matches on the loss-side to meet him in the finals of the Lucasi Hybrid New England 9-Ball Tour stop on Sunday, November 13. Dubwa prevailed to go undefeated in the $330-added event which drew 22 entrants to 9-Ball Rack ‘Em Up Billiards in Auburn, ME.
It was Dubwa against John Regan in the battle for the hot seat. Dubwa had sent Jud Strang west in a 6-6 handicapped win among the winners’ side final four, while Regan was busy dispatching Mark Small to the loss side 6-4. Dubwa got into the hot seat with a 7-3 win, and watched as Packard drew closer, one match at a time.
Strang moved over and picked up Philip Walton, who’d defeated John Parson and Kyle Pepen, both 6-4. It was Small who came to the loss-side and had the misfortune of running into Packard, who’d chalked up his second and third wins on the loss side against Rick Beaulie 4-2 and Joey Meuse 4-4. Packard moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over Small and was joined by Strang, who’d downed Walton 6-1.
Packard took advantage of a handicap to move past Strang 5-6 in those quarterfinals, and turned to face his final obstacle; Regan in the semifinals. Packard completed his run with a 5-3 victory over Regan, but couldn’t put a stop to Dubwa, who allowed him only two racks in completing his undefeated day.
In an Open 8-Ball stop on the Lucasi Hybrid New England 9-Ball Tour, which featured short races to 3, half of the event’s final 14 matches were decided by a final game, including the second set of a true double elimination final, which was won by Dan Simoneau, forced to play that second set after an opening set shutout by Mike Barbagallo. The event drew 25 entrants to Legends Billiards in Portsmouth, NH on Sunday, November 6.
Simoneau and Barbagallo were both among the winners’ side final four, but facing different opponents. Simoneau squared off against Jeff Palmquist as Barbagallo took on Paul Eno. Simoneau survived the first of his own three double hill battles, defeating Palmquist, while Eno downed Barbagallo 3-1. Simoneau then chalked up another double hill win, this time over Eno, and sat in the hot seat awaiting Barbagallo’s return.
On the loss-side, Palmquist picked up Mike Nicaloro, who’d gotten by Scott Contrell and Ben Lablanc, both 3-1. Barbagallo drew Gill Stadig, who’d defeated Andrew Vigue 3-1 and chalked up one of the double hill wins in a battle versus Mark Small. Barbagallo and Stadig locked up in a double hill contest that eventually sent Barbagallo to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Nicaloro, who’d defeated Palmquist 3-1.
Barbagallo then got locked up in his second straight double hill match, and persevered to defeat Nicaloro, and earn a re-match against Eno. Barbagallo gave up only a single rack in the semifinals against Eno, and then completely shut out Simoneau in the opening set of the finals. Simoneau fought back in the second set to assist in recording the seventh double hill match among the final 12 players, and hung on to win it.
