At Stop #27 on the New England 9-Ball Series, Peter Copland and Rob Rogan played two double hill matches against each other. In the first, Copland sent Rob Rogan to the loss side. In the second, playing in the opening set of a true double elimination final, Rogan forced a second, deciding set, which never happened. With a single win each, Copland and Rogan opted out of a second set, making Copland, in the hot seat, the event’s official winner. The event, which employed a ‘shortened race chart’ due to the combination of 64 players and only 11 tables, was hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH on Sunday, July 15.

Their first meeting took place in the third round of the event’s lower bracket. With Copland (a C+) racing to 5, and Rogan (a C), racing to 4, Copland advanced 5-3. Rogan moved west on the bracket and embarked on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would culminate in their re-match. Copland, in the meantime, moved on to another double hill match against Tyler Dunbar, which he won, advancing to a winners’ side semifinal against fellow C+ competitor Mike Galinat, Sr. (Galinat’s son, Mike, Jr., was shut out by Copland in the opening round of play, and won two on the loss side before being eliminated). Playing in the other winners’ side semifinal, from the event’s upper bracket were Mike Minichello (Open) and Matt Treglia (B+).

Copland sent Galinat, Sr. to the loss side 4-1, and in the hot seat match, faced Minichello, who’d survived a double hill match (7-3) against Treglia. Copland shut Minichello out in the battle for the hot seat and waited on what proved to be his re-match against Rogan.

Of the seven matches Rogan won for the right to face Copland a second time, three of them went double hill, including wins over Jenn Brown 4-2 (Brown racing to 3) and Tyler Dunbar, which set Rogan up to face Galinat, Sr. coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Treglia picked up fellow B+ player Xavier Libby, who’d defeated Justin Fournier, double hill, and Dillon Nickerson (an A player, racing to 5) 4-1 to reach him.

In their straight-up race to 5, Libby got by Treglia 5-1, as Rogan chalked up his third, loss-side double hill win over Galinat, Sr. With Libby racing to 6 in the quarterfinals that followed, Rogan eliminated him 4-3 and then, due to a forfeiture by Mike Minichello in the semifinals, leap-frogged right into the double elimination final re-match against Copland.

In the 5-4 match (Copland to 5), Rogan took the opening set 4-4. There was no second set, and as the hot seat occupant, Copland took the event title when he and Rogan split the top two prizes.

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest, 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 on the New England 9-Ball Series (#28), scheduled for July 29, will be hosted by Stix and Stones in Abington, MA.

As an A Player, Ken Ludy was generally racing to 7 games during Stop #18 on the New England 9-Ball Series, held on Saturday, March 10. In six of the eight matches it took for him to claim the event title, Ludy’s opponents were racing to fewer games. He played one opponent, another A player, straight up, while in his winners’ side semifinal match against Joe Dupuis (an Open player), it was Dupuis who had to win more games (9 to Ludy’s 6). Ludy won all but one of his eight matches in the $500-added event that drew 44 entrants to Straight Shooter’s Family Billiards in Fall River, MA.

 

In all but two of Ludy’s matches, opponents chalked up less than five racks against him. The two opponents who chalked up five or more against him were Dupuis, who, racing to 9, managed to run up six, before Ludy hit that same number to win the match, and Tyler Campbell, who chalked up five to win the opening set of the true double elimination final. That winners’ side semifinal win against Dupuis, which finished at 6-6 put Ludy in the hot seat match against Ryan Stevens, who, in a straight-up race to 6, had sent Campbell to the loss side 6-4. With Stevens racing to 5, Ludy claimed the hot seat 7-1.

 

On the loss side, Dupuis, fresh off his victory at the New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame tournament a week earlier, picked up fellow Open player, Mike Minichello, who’d won the previous stop on the tour, and after being defeated by Dupuis on the winners' side of this event, defeated Sal Morgado and Antero Tavares (both B players, racing to 5), both 10-1 to get a second shot at Dupuis. Campbell drew Lida Mullendore, who’d gotten by Josh Caesar 6-2 and Adam Blair 5-3.

 

In a straight-up race to 7, Dupuis advanced to the quarterfinals over Minichello, 7-1. Campbell joined Dupuis with a 6-3 win over Mullendore. Campbell, in those quarterfinals, then chalked up his requisite five racks, before Dupuis could hit his target of 10, winning the match 5-8 to advance to a rematch against Stevens in the semifinals.

 

Campbell proceeded to shut Stevens out in those semifinals (6-0) and then, win the opening set of the true double elimination final 5-4. Ludy rallied in the second set, allowing Campbell only a single rack on his way to a 7-1 victory that secured the event title.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family 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, scheduled for the weekend of March 17-18, will be the $2,000-added Players Championship, to be hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.

Players & Fans,

 

Congratulations to Stop # 10 winners, Joe Dupuis ($1,400 main event), Mike Minichello ($300 second chance event), Mike Demarco ($1,200 Joss cue raffle winner), Nelson Oliveira (entry into the Super Billiards Expo pro event provided by Allen Hopkins for being our 2016/2017 Tour Point Champion) & all of this years New England Pool & Billiard Hall Of Fame Inductees.

 

On March 10 & 11, stop # 11 of The Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, the "Kevin Ketz Memorial Open" will be at Trick Shot Billiards & Sports Pub in Clifton Park (near Albany) NY. Our hosts Tim & Julie Berlin deserve many thanks from all of us for their continuing support and having already hosted 2 events this season at their other room, Sharp Shooters Billiards & Sports Pub!!! Thanks again Tim & Julie!! Trick Shot is a full service room with everything needed for a great time of pool and fun anytime. It is complete with a delicious full food menu and a separate full service bar where you can watch all of your favorite teams in action. Trick Shot has also become one our areas premier places for bands and entertainment with a recently completed major addition allowing for outside as well as inside gatherings. So come on over to Trick Shot Billiards & Sports Pub to play in or just watch yet another of our great events. While there, you could even win a gorgeous, custom, engraved, Joss Cue valued at $1,200 by participating in Trick Shot's cue raffle. Anyone can participate  and you don't have to be present to win! The drawing will be just prior to the final match of the main event on Sunday. This amazing cue that will be given away at Trick Shot can be viewed here:       https://josscues.com/cues/custom/joss-custom-26/  

  

For more info about Trick Shot Billiards & Sports Pub, or to get directions and nearby motel info, please call them directly at 518-383-8771. Or visit their site at www.trickshotbilliardsny.com

 

This event at Trick Shot will consist of a $1500 added Saturday and Sunday Main Event (entry Fee $120 for pro level or $70 for non pro level) and a $500 added second chance event on Sunday ($20 Entry Fee) for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday.

 For those of you coming to play, you must arrive on Saturday March 10, BEFORE 11:30 AM, and in proper dress please. Yes, jeans and sneakers are permitted in our billiard parlor events. But please, NO T-shirts, tanks, shorts or sweats. Complete tour info can be found on our site www.joss9balltour.com  

 

SCHEDULE UPDATE: Stop # 12 that was previously scheduled at King Smiley Billiards, HAS BEEN MOVED TO Hippos The House Of Billiards (Utica NY) and will be held on the original date of March 17 & 18. Please spread the word to avoid any confusion.

 

Our season finale, the $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXX 9-Ball Open, is scheduled for August 23 – 26, 2018. I am currently accepting entries and strongly suggest that you pay your entry early to avoid being shut out. Entry fee for this great event is only $150 for Current tour members and only $200 for all others. As you can see, membership has its privileges! If you would like to enter, please contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163 or see me at any of our Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour regular season events before it is full. Currently I am about 1/2 full.

 

Lastly, I can't stress enough how important it is for all of you to please frequent your local billiard parlors and utilize the services of our most generous sponsors who are the backbone of our sport. These are the ones who keep our sport alive. So get out and play! 

 

Last year at the 8th Annual New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame Open 9-Ball tournament, Joe Dupuis advanced to the hot seat, only to be double-dipped by Zion Zvi in the finals. This year, Dupuis opted for the loss-side route at the 9th annual event and achieved better results. Sent to the loss side by the man he’d later (much later) face in the finals, Tim Perry, Dupuis won seven on the loss side to earn the re-match, win both sets of the double elimination final and claim the title he’d last won in 2014. The $2,500-added event drew 48 entrants to its regular venue, Snooker’s in Providence, RI.

 

Dupuis and Perry met first in the third round of play. They locked up in a double hill fight, that eventually sent Dupuis to the loss side. Perry advanced to a winners’ side quarterfinal against Ivaylo Petrov, which he won 9-6, moving him into a winners’ side semifinal against the Joss NE Tour’s current #4-ranked player, Bruce Nagle. Kyle Pepin and Jason Michas, in the meantime, squared off in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Perry downed Nagle 9-4, and in the hot seat match, faced Michas, who’d sent Pepin west 9-5. Perry got into the hot seat 9-5 over Michas, and waited on Dupuis’ return.

 

On the loss side, Dupuis’ trip back to the finals began against the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour’s #1-ranked player, and all-around tough draw, Jeremy Sossei. Sossei had been awarded a bye in the event’s opening round, and dropped his first match to Mark Ransom. On the loss side, he’d gotten by Bill Cote and Chuck Sampson before running into Dupuis, who ended his weekend with a 7-5 win. Things didn’t get any easier, either. Mike Minichello put up a double hill fight against Dupuis in the next loss-side round. Dupuis eliminated him and moved into the first money round.

 

Dupuis then defeated Mike Demarco 7-3 and in another double hill battle, Frank Hernandez, to draw Nagle, coming off his defeat in a winners’ side semifinal. Pepin, in the meantime, picked up Petrov, who, after his defeat at the hands of Perry in the winners’ side quarterfinal, had downed Clyde Matta 7-1 and Francisco Cabral 7-5.

 

Pepin advanced to the quarterfinals 7-5 over Petrov and was joined by Dupuis, who’d defeated Nagle 7-2. Dupuis got by Pepin 7-5 and then denied Michas a second shot at Perry in the hot seat with a 7-4 win in the semifinals.

 

Dupuis took the opening set of the double elimination final against Perry 9-6. Racing to 7 in the second set, Dupuis and Perry battled to 6-6, forcing a deciding game. Dupuis won it to claim his second New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame title.

 

A $500-added Second Chance event that drew 11 entrants saw another competitor, Mike Minichello, come from deep on the loss side to double dip the hot seat occupant, Mike Pettit. Minichello won four on the loss side, and was denied an opportunity to face the opponent who’d sent him there, Mark Ransom, when Ransom was defeated in the quarterfinals by Kevin Bauccio. Minichello went on to defeat Bauccio in the quarterfinals, Ranulf Tamba in the semifinals, and Mike Pettit, twice, in the finals; 3-1, 3-2.

 

Joss NE 9-Ball Tour director Mike Zuglan thanked Steve Goulding and his Snooker's staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Joss Cues, Simonis, Aramith, PoolOnTheNet.com, Heidrich Custom Cues, AZBilliards, Billiards Press, and Turning Stone Resort and Casino. The next stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for March 10-11, will be the $1,500-added Kevin Ketz Memorial ($500-added to Second Chance event), hosted by Trick Shot Billiards & Sports Club in Clifton Park, NY. Players are reminded that the following week’s event (March 17-18), originally scheduled to be hosted by King Smiley, will now be held at Hippo’s House of Billiards, in Yorkville, NY.

Mike Minichello was the only Open player to compete in the Joe Brown Memorial, held under the auspices of the New England 9-Ball Series on Saturday, February 25. As such, he was racing to 10 in five of his seven matches against B players, and to 12, twice, against the eventual runner-up, Richard Comeau (D+, racing to 4). He went undefeated through the field of 49 entrants, winning 75 of the 91 games he played. The $500-added Joe Brown Memorial Tournament (Stop #17 on the tour) was hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.

 

Minichello faced primarily B players, racing to 5, and only one of them – Rick Bergevin – challenged him with a double hill match in the event’s second round. Minichello advanced to a  winner’ side semifinal against Ben Benson, while, from the lower bracket, two D+ players, Richard Comeau and Mike Negrelli, squared off in the other one.

 

Minichello moved into the hot seat match with a 10-3 victory over Benson, and was joined by Comeau, who’d sent Nigrelli west (straight-up race to 4) 4-1. Minichello claimed the hot seat 12-2 over Comeau and waited for him to get back from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, where races were shortened by one game, Nigrelli picked up Eric Newell (C), who’d defeated Andrew Nash (D+), double hill, and then shut out Jay Cunningham (C+) to reach him. Benson drew Carlos Aguilar (C), who’d been defeated in the third round of winners’ side play and was working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. Moving into the money rounds, he’d gotten by Sam Samoth (A+) 4-5 (Samoth racing to 8), and Eli Davenport 4-1, in a straight-up race to 4.

 

Nigrelli shut out Newell, and in the quarterfinals, faced Aguilar, who’d eliminated Benson 4-1. Aguilar chalked up his last win downing Nigrelli 5-1. Comeau then ended Aguilar’s loss-side streak 3-2 in the semifinals (Aguilar racing to 5). Minichello completed his undefeated run with a 12-1 victory over Comeau to claim the event title.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s 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, scheduled for Saturday, March 10, will be hosted by Straight Shooter’s in Fall River, MA.

Zion Zvi backed up an undefeated victory at the 10th Annual Empire State Championships last week (Feb. 25-26), with a single-loss win at the 8th Annual New England Pool & Billiards Hall of Fame/Ray Desell Memorial Tournament on the weekend of March 4-5. Zvi faced a former champion of the event, Joe Dupuis, who won it in 2014, three times; once in the hot seat and twice in the double elimination finals. Zvi came back from a loss in the first meeting to double dip Dupuis in the last two. The $2,500-added event, held under the auspices of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, drew 86 entrants to Snooker's in Providence, RI.

 

Dupuis got into the hot seat of this event after a dramatic comeback in a winners' side semifinal against RYan Lineham. Down 6-0, and five racks behind when Lineham reached the hill, Dupuis came back to tie, before simultaneously taking his first lead of the match and winning it. Zvi joined him in the hot seat match following a 9-5 victory over Bruce Nagle. Dupuis has something of a reputation for thriving in fast-paced games. "When he's on his game, racing around the table," noted an AZ report from the 5th Annual Hall of Fame victory in 2014, "he's a sight to behold." He recreated that "sight to behold" phenomenon in the battle for the hot seat, as he allowed Zvi only three racks in the battle to win it.

 

On the loss side at the time, there were still a few potential winners of this event, including Jorge Rodriguez and Tom "Shorty" D'Alfonso. Rodriguez had been sent to the loss side by Dupuis (9-6) and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as Zvi and the semifinals. He and D'Alfonso met up in one of the four 9/12 matches, with Rodriguez winning it 7-1 (this was the first time that the Joss NE Tour arranged for loss-side matches to be races to 7). Rodriguez went on to defeat Rick Sleeper 7-3 to draw Lineham. Nagle picked up Dave Fernandez, who'd defeated Francisco Cabral 7-4 and Mike Minichello 7-3 to reach him.

 

Rodriguez and Fernandez handed Lineham and Nagle their second straight loss, both 7-4, before locking up in a double hill quarterfinal that eventually sent Rodriguez to face Zvi in the semifinals. Zvi ended Rodriguez' loss-side run 7-5 in those semifinals, and got the shot he was looking for against Dupuis in the hot seat.

 

They fought tooth and nail to double hill in the opener, before Zvi finished it, forcing a second set. They came within a game of forcing a second double hill encounter. Zvi pulled ahead late to claim the title 9-7.

 

"How are you feeling about this second straight win?" asked Upstate AL, commentator on the AZBTv stream.

 

"Like Jayson Shaw," said Zvi, referencing Shaw's victory at this event in 2016. "It's been a crazy week.

 

"I missed a lot of shots," he acknowledged. "I was grinding it, because I wasn't used to these tables. I couldn't make a ball on the break, and (Dupuis) kept getting the momentum."

 

A record-breaking number of entrants (33) signed on to a $500-added Second Chance tournament, available to "non-pros eliminated from the main event." Like the main event, the Second Chance finals went two sets. With Al McGuane in the hot seat, John Francisco (who'd been sent to the loss side by McGuane in a winners' side semifinal) took the opening set 3-2. By the same score, McGuane won the second set to claim the title.  Dave Shlemperis, downed by McGuane in the hot seat match 3-1, finished third, when Francisco followed loss-side victories over Brent Boemmels (3-2) and Bob Madenjian 3-1, and defeated him 3-1.

 

Joss NE 9-Ball Tour director Mike Zuglan thanked Steve Goulding and his Snooker's staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Joss Cues, Simonis, Aramith, PoolOnTheNet.com, Heidrich Custom Cues, AZBilliards, Billiards Press, and Turning Stone Resort and Casino. The next stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for March 11-12, will be a $1,500-added event ($500-added to Second Chance) – The Northeast 9-Ball Open XXIX – hosted by Trick Shot Billiards and Sports Pub in Clifton Park, NY. Zuglan also reminded prospective players about the Turning Stone Finale, set for August 31-September 3, which at present is about two-thirds full. Interested players should communicate with Zuglan soon.

Joe Kaulenas went undefeated on the J. Pechauer Ride the 9 Tour stop on Sunday, December 11, and stopped a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Josh Gormley to do it.  The $1,000-added event drew 63 entrants to Rhode Island Billiards Bar & Bistro in Providence, RI. 

From among the winners’  side final four, Kaulenas defeated Paul Torri 3-3 (Torri needing to reach four games), as his eventual hot seat opponent, Roarke Dickson, was sending Ian McKelvey to the loss side 4-1. Kaulenas got into the hot seat on the heels of a second 3-3 victory, with his opponent (Dickson) needing to reach four games.  

Over on the loss-side, Kaulenas’ eventual opponent in the finals, Gormley, was in the midst of his seven-match winning streak. Following his third and fourth win, against Tim Perry and Cleiton Rocha, he squared off against the man who’d sent him to the loss side, McKelvey. Torri drew Dave Gavrish, who, like Gormley, had been sent west by McKelvey, and then defeated Mike Minichello and Rob Piersa. 

Every match from that point through the single set of the finals turned into a double hill battle. Gormley wreaked his vengeance on McKelvey that way, and in the quarterfinals, faced Gavrish, who’d eliminated Torri that way, as well. Gormley took his last hurdle into the finals with his third straight, double hill win. 

Gormley engaged in his fourth double hill battle in the opening set of the finals. His seven-match winning streak ended there, with Kaulenas’ third straight, 3-3 victory to capture the event title. 

Tour director Gloria Magnano thanked Rhode Island Billiards Bar & Bistro owner, Anthony Costanzo, for his hospitality and money-added to the prize pool. Cleiton Rocha was the raffle winner of a J. Pechauer Cue, valued at $500.