Qays Kolee, Room Owner Andrea Duvall and Bucky Souvanthong
Bucky Souvanthong came through a field of 46 players to win his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop of the new season at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard on October 27th – 28th.
Kolee’s final three matches before the hot-seat match couldn’t have been much closer as he defeated Nick Brucato 9-8, Hendrick Drost 9-7 and Spencer Auigelle 9-8.
Souvanthong took the hot-seat with a fairly routine 9-5 win. Kolee scored a more convincing 7-4 win over Auigbelle on the one loss side, but dropped the first set of the finals against Souvanthong 9-3.
Twenty one players came back to Billiards on the Boulevard on Sunday for the $500 added second chance tournament. Fred Gokey defeated Mike Sykes for the hot-seat 3-2, and then defeated Nick Coppola in the second set of the finals (after a 3-0 loss in the first set) 3-2 for the win.
Joss NE 9-Ball Tour Director Mike Zuglan is urging players interested in playing in the Turning Stone Classic XXXI to contact him as soon as possible. He has “a handful of spots left”, and the event will certainly fill up.
Day two at the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's Turning Stone Classic XXIV started with both of day one's big upset victims starting on their long paths to hopeful tournament glory.
Appleton's thoughts about forfeiting because of a pinched nerve in his neck were forgotten and he, as well as Mike Dechaine, won both of their day two matches. Appleton scoring wins over Dale Kimmett and John Babravich, while Dechaine eliminated Tony Antone and Jason Michas. Other surprisingly early residents of the one loss side, Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez, also won their day two matches and remained in the hunt on day three.
Joining these players on the one loss side were such notables as Johnny Archer, Karen Corr, John Morra, Hunter Lombardo, Shane McMinn, Danny Hewitt and Matt Krah. Archer's 9-5 loss on the winner's side was at the hands of Shaun Wilkie, and it looked like Archer would be booking an early flight home late on Friday night as he trailed Paul Rozonewski 5-0. Archer did what he has done his entire career though, and shook off the scoreline to grind his way back into the match. He won eight straight games and won the match 9-6.
Day two was not kind for Mosconi Cup hopefuls as Jeremy Sossei, Scott Frost and Skylar Woodward all dropped winners side matches. Frost clawed back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the score with Jayson Shaw, but was unable to stop Shaw as he won the next six games for the 9-3 win. Woodward lost a heartbreaking 9-8 decision to Canadian Sylvain Grenier, and Sossei lost 9-5 to Canadian Martin Daigle. Mosconi Cup frontrunners Shane Van Boening and Corey Deuel remained unbeaten on day two.
Day three will be tough for everyone, but especially the players who are on the left side of the board. They will be faced with match after match, and very little time to regroup in between these battles.
Danny Hewitt cruised – unbeaten and relatively untested – through a field of 45 players to win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop at Sharp Shooters Billiards in Amsterdam, NY on February 8th and 9th.
An early Satruday 9-5 win over Paul Rozonewski was the closest any opponent would get to beating Hewitt all weekend. Hewitt wouldn't even break a sweat in the match for the hot-seat, as he defeated Jeremy Sossei 9-0.
On the one loss side, Rozonewski was on a six match winning streak and would have to get by Sossei to earn another shot at Hewitt in the finals. Rozonewski would have to settle for third place though, as Sossei handed him another 9-5 loss.
The final match between Hewitt and Sossei was just a little longer than their first meeting, with Hewitt scoring a 9-2 win in the first and only set of the finals.
The second chance tournament on Sunday drew fifteen players and Mike Donnelly scored an undefeated win, with victories over Demian Provost for the hot-seat and again in the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's next stop will be February 22nd and 23rd at Trick Shot Billiards in Clifton Park, NY.
Tour director Mike Zuglan urged players interested in participating in this year's Turning Stone Classic XXII on September 18th – 21st to get their entry fees in to him as soon as possible. The field is roughly 35% full already.
Angelo Innes scored his first ever Joss NE 9-Ball Tour victory over the weekend of April 14th and 15th at the NE 9-Ball Open XXV held at the Golden Cue in Albany, NY.
Innes took the direct route through the field of 44 other players and was sitting in the hot-seat undefeated after a close 9-7 win over Chance Chin in the winners side finals.
Chin then dropped a 9-5 match to Jeremy Sossei on the one loss side, and was forced to settle for third place.
Sossei had been sent to the left side on Saturday by tour director Mike Zuglan, and had battled back all day Sunday to earn his place in the finals against Innes. On paper, Sossei may have been the match favorite, and he did reach the hill first in the first set of the finals. Innes quickly joined Sossei on the hill at 8-8 and broke the rack for the case game. In what could have been a perfect Hollywood ending, Innes made a ball and saw a 1-9 carom line up for him. One shot later, Innes had earned his first Joss tour victory.
Innes took home $1000 for first, while Sossei pocketed $730 for second.
The second chance event on Sunday drew 22 players fighting it out for $940 in prize money.
Cote then came back strong and scored a 3-0 win over Bud Robideau to earn another shot at Rozonewski in the finals.
Cote kept his strong play going and defeated Rozonewski 3-0 in the first set of the finals, but fell short as Rozonewski won the final set 3-1.
Rozonewski earned $340 for first and Cote settled for $220 in second place prize money.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will take the rest of April and May off and be back in action June 9th-10th at Snookers in Providence, RI. After that event, the tour will head to Verona New York for the Turning Stone Classic XIX. Mike Zuglan still urges all players to get their entries for the Turning Stone event as it is filling fast. Players can call Zuglan at 518-356-7163.
With Dennis Hatch relinquishing his stranglehold on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour, more and more players are coming out to take their shot at continuing the new tradition of a different winner every week. This week, it was Mika Immonen and Stevie Moore setting themselves as the players to beat in the field of 38 players at Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead.
While the meeting between Immonen and Moore could have easily been for the hot-seat, the tournament board fated them to meet up first thing on Sunday morning where Immonen scored a 9-2 win to send Moore to the left side of the board. Immonen followed that win up with a 9-5 win over Holden Chin for the hot-seat.
Moore bounced back from his loss to Immonen with three wins on the left side of the board. 9-6 over Jorge Rodriguez, 9-5 over Yesid Garibello and hill-hill over Holden Chin. Those three wins setup the rematch between Immonen and Moore in the finals.
If two matches between these two competitors was good, then three would be even better as Moore defeated Immonen 9-4 in the first set of the double elimination finals. The second set of the finals was close, but Immonen won it 9-6 for first place and $1100 in prize money.
The second chance event on Sunday saw Oscar Bonilla go undefeated with a 3-1 win over Steve Wright for the hot-seat and a 3-2 win over Paul Rozonewski in the finals. Bonilla pocketed $300 for the win.
As usual, players who are interested in playing at the upcoming Turning Stone Classic XVIII are urged to contact Mike Zuglan as quickly as possible. This event always fills up and there is always a waiting list.
