Shaun Wilkie scored a hard fought win in the second set of the finals to defeat Ron Casanzio and win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's Al Conte Memorial at Hippos House of Billiards in Utica, NY on November 2nd – 3rd.
Casanzio, who finished in second place to Danny Hewitt last weekend, dropped a 9-6 decision to Martin Daigle in the final four on the winners side Sunday. Daigle then lost to Wilkie 9-6 for the hot-seat.
On the one loss side, Casanzio got his revenge over Daigle with a 9-5 victory that sent Daigle to the seats in third place,
The first set of the double elimination finals went to Casanzio 9-8, but Wilkie came back to capture the second set of the finals 9-7 for first place.
Fourteen players came back on Sunday to compete in the $500 added second chance tournament. This event saw Alain Parent bounce back from a loss to Paul Enslin in the winner's side final four to defeat Enslin 3-0 in both sets of the finals for first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will take next weekend off, but will be back in action on November 16th and 17th at Snookers in Providence, RI for the 25th Annual Ocean State 9-Ball Championship.
Paul Enslin, Room Owner Tim Berlin and Ron Casanzio
Were it not for the intervention of one Nelson Oliveira, the finals of Stop # 2 on the 2013-2014 Joss Northeast Tour, held on the weekend of October 12-13, would have been a repeat of Stop #10 on the 2012-2013 tour back in March, pitting Ron Casanzio against Jason Michas. Casanzio defeated Michas in that earlier matchup, and defeated him in a winners' side semifinal in this event. Casanzio had to get by Paul Enslin twice to capture this event title. The $1,500-added main event drew 51 entrants to Sharpshooter's Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY, while a Second Chance event, with an $800 total prize fund and won Marko Clarke, drew 15.
As Casanzio was busy sending Michas west 9-2 in one of the winners' side semifinals, Enslin was at work against Sourith Thammavong in the other. Enslin sent Thammavong after Michas 9-6 to meet up with Casanzio in the hot seat match. Over 21 games in their two meetings, Casanzio gave up only three racks to Enslin; one of them in their first meeting, which left Casanzio in the hot seat.
Michas moved over and met up with Phil Davis, who'd gotten by Dave Shlemperis and Greg Antonakos, both 9-5. Thammavong ran into Oliveira, who, after being defeated by Michas among the winners' side final eight, had defeated Chance Chin 9-1 and Matt Tetreault 9-6. A quarterfinal re-match was set up when Oliveira shut out Thammavong and Michas downed Davis 9-7.
Oliveira ended Michas' hopes for a finals re-match against Casanzio with a 9-6 win in the quarterfinals, and had his own bid foiled by Enslin, 9-6 in the semifinals. Casanzio completed his undefeated run with a 9-2 victory in the opening set of the true double elimination final.
Marko Clarke's victory in the Second Chance tournament went through Aaron Greenwood twice. He shut him out in the hot seat match. Greenwood came back from a 3-1 victory over Demian Provost in the semifinals and battled Clarke to double hill before Clarke prevailed to finish an undefeated day.
Stop # 3 on the Joss Northeast Tour, a $1,500-added event with a $500-added Second Chance tournament, is scheduled for October 26-27 at Premium Billiards in Syracuse, NY.
Mike Donnelly got by Jared Zimmerman twice, once in the battle for the hot seat and again in the finals, to go undefeated on the Dishaw Custom Cues Central New York Tour on Saturday, May 5. The $250-added amateur event drew 22 entrants to Hippo’s in Utica, NY.
From among the winners’ side final four, Donnelly faced Dwight Dixon, while Zimmerman mixed it up with Arlu Whitaker. Donnelly prevailed in an 8-4 victory over Dixon, as Zimmerman sent Whitaker to the loss side 7-3. Donnelly gave up just one rack to Zimmerman in their hot seat battle.
Dixon moved over to tackle Ed Saur, who’d defeated John Cotter 8-4 and Kevin Desilva 8-2 to reach him. Whitaker picked up Paul Enslin, who’d gotten by Jay Brotherton 8-4 and Vic Conte, Jr. (the only triple-A player among the final 12) 8-5. Dixon got back on track with an 8-5 victory over Saur, but Enslin handed Whitaker his second loss 8-1 and moved into the quarterfinals.
Dixon ended Enslin’s three-match, loss-side winning streak with an 8-4 victory in those quarterfinals, before Zimmerman stopped Dixon’s two-match streak 7-4 in the semifinals. Zimmerman had his second shot at Donnelly, but Donnelly repeated his earlier dominance with an 8-3 victory that secured the event title.
Tour Director Gary Lloyd thanked Vic Conte, Jr. and Hippo’s for voluntarily adding money to the event. The final stop on the Dishaw Custom Cues CNY Tour is scheduled May 19-20 at Premium Billiards in Syracuse, NY.
