Jayson Shaw, Regina & Steve Goulding and Raphael DaBreo
The biggest story this season on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour has been the dominant player of tour points leader Bucky Souvanthong. While he was not in attendance at the 12th New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame Open on March 5th – 6th at Snookers in Providence Rhode Island, even Souvanthong might have had a hard time keeping up with eventual event winner Jayson Shaw.
Shaw, the owner of the nearby pool room US1 Billiards, made the two hour trek to Providence and turned in an undefeated run through the field of 81 players. Shaw explained that taking care of his room had kept him from devoting the time to the game that he wanted to over the past couple of years, but with the assistance of his wife Ara, he now had the room under control and was ready to get back to his past form. He must have been pretty close to that past form, as he had wins over Scott Tavernier, Mhet Vergara, Frank Wolak and Kevin West on Saturday. Tavernier and West both got four racks against Shaw, and that was the most he allowed all day.
Shaw’s Sunday started off with two more dominant wins, a 9-2 match against Greg “Sweet Money” Winbush and then another 9-2 win over Phil Davis for the hot-seat. Just prior to the loss against Shaw, Davis sent last year’s Ocean State 9-Ball Champion Raphael DaBreo to the one loss side and DaBreo got his revenge in the semi-final match, eliminating Davis 7-3.
The final match only took one set, with Shaw scoring a 9-7 win for first place and his first Joss Tour win since January’s Turning Stone Classic.
Shaw, who says he likes nothing better than getting together with some fellow Europeans for a team event at the end of each year, earned $1550 for first place and hopes this won’t be his last big win of the year. Shaw isn’t limiting his options to just 9-ball events either. Lately, he says he has picked up the game of straight pool and actually had his lifetime best run just a few weeks ago. If what the fans saw in Providence is any indication, we will definitely be seeing Shaw’s name in the winners circle again soon.
Sunday’s second chance event saw Robert Lee take the hot-seat with a 3-1 win over Jamie Gauthier, but it was RJ Carmona coming from the one loss side scored 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Lee in the finals for first place.
Luis Lopez, Jason Sheerman, Greg Matos and Jimmy Acosta
No one has ever repeated as the champion of the annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial’s Amateur Tournament. Raj Vannala was the event’s inaugural champion in 2011, and after that, it was won by Daniel Dagotdot, Michael Yednak, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Rhys Chen, Tony Liang, and Phil Davis. Last year, Lukas Fracasso-Verner won the title and was the only one of the previous eight champions to compete this year. Delimelkonoglu and Yednak competed in the Open/Pro event. The amateur event maintained its ‘unique winner’ tradition at the 9th annual Ginky Memorial, held this past Memorial Day weekend (May 25-27). Jason Sheerman, defeated in an early round by Jimmy Acosta, won seven on the loss side to meet and defeat Acosta in the finals and become the 9th unique amateur to win the Ginky Memorial. Sheerman had cashed in two previous Ginky Memorial appearances, finishing 25th in 2017 and 17th in 2016. The tournament’s namesake would be proud to know that his annual memorial tournament has crowned a new amateur winner every year since the event was inaugurated. This year’s $2,000-added Amateur event, held under the combined auspices of the Predator Pro Am, Tri-State and Mezz Pr Tours, drew a record 169 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.
The Open/Pro side of the 9th Annual Ginky Memorial was won by Alex Kazakis, who went undefeated through a field of 36 entrants, downing Jayson Shaw in the finals (see separate story). Shaw, by the way, was looking for his third Ginky Memorial title, having been one of only two competitors to have won the Open/Pro side of the event twice, in 2015 & 2017. Mike Dechaine won the inaugural Open/Pro event in 2011, was runner-up to Earl Strickland in 2012, and won it a second time in 2014.
In this year’s Amateur event, the 169 entrants were initially divided into upper and lower handicap brackets, merging only as the event drew near the end. With Sheerman already at work on the loss side, Acosta advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Mike Saleh. Greg Matos, in the meantime, squared off against Jim Gutierrez.
Acosta got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 victory over Saleh and was joined by Matos, who’d sent Gutierrez to the loss side 7-3. Acosta claimed the hot seat 8-6 over Matos and waited (though not for very long) on what turned out to be the return of Sheerman.
It was Saleh who picked up Sheerman, four wins into his loss-side streak that had most recently included a 7-4 win over Juan Guzman, and 8-5 win over Andrew Lee. Gutierrez drew Luis Lopez, who’d defeated Mac Jankov 6-4 and Bob Mapes 7-5 to reach him.
Sheerman chalked up his fifth loss-side win 7-1 over Saleh. He was joined in the quarterfinals by Lopez, who’d eliminated Gutierrez 6-3.
Win #6 for Sheerman sent Lopez to the figurative showers 10-5. Win #7 did the same to Greg Matos, who was eliminated 9-7.
As it turned out, the quarterfinals and hot seat match were happening simultaneously in this event, going into Monday evening. So, when Matos fell to Acosta in the hot seat match, the semifinals started immediately (this was happening just as the finals of the Open/Pro event were getting underway). So, Acosta didn’t have a lot of time in the hot seat to think about the fact that the competitor he’d sent to the loss side in what must have seemed like a lifetime ago, was on the verge of earning a rematch. And earn it he did.
Sheerman took full advantage of his second chance against Acosta. He defeated him 9-7 to become the 9th different player to capture the George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial Amateur title.
Event director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his entire Steinway Billiards staff, who worked tirelessly, professionally and with remarkable grace throughout a long weekend with over 200 pool players and a contingent of venue regulars who spent time playing chess and backgammon at nearby tables. Robles also acknowledged his regular tour sponsors, including Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, Capelle (Billiards Press.com), PoolontheNet.com, The DeVito Team, as well as the cooperation of the other sponsoring tours (Tri-State and Mezz Tours) and the tireless, non-stop live stream operated by Upstate Al and his broadcast team.
Robles also made note to all in attendance of the defining fact that this annual event is held each year in memory of George “Ginky” Sansouci, who passed away in 2011, and whose legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of innumerable players in the New York area and wherever “Ginky” played. The event was attended by members of the Sansouci family, who were accorded ‘front row’ seating privileges for all of the live-streamed matches and remain deeply grateful for the opportunity to celebrate Ginky’s life with a living, breathing memorial to his influence on the game and the people who continue to play it.
Jonathan Pinegar (Photo courtesy Super Billiards Expo)
Davis tops largest SBE field of 1,024 to win Amateur Open
In its multi-discipline, varied-skill format that, with some overlap among 11 events, drew over 3,000 pool players to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks, PA over the weekend of March 28-31, the Super Billiard Expo’s Pro Am Bar Box Championships has always existed as something of a challenge. In 2018, they used the challenge in promoting the event, asking potential participants a simple question – How good do you really think you are?
Open to all levels of competitors, without restriction, its field is capped at 32 players, who play a ‘best of three set’ format with races to 6 in each set (all other Amateur events utilized the same format, although with races to 5 in each set). While encouraging and expecting a wide variety of players from the amateur to the pro, this year’s ProAm Bar Box Championships featured a field that was tipped somewhat toward the amateur end of things. Not completely, because it was won by 20-year veteran Jonathan Pinegar, who’s been winning and cashing in amateur and semi-pro events for nearly 20 years. Known throughout most of his career as “Hennessee from Tennessee,” Pinegar has, in recent years, been signing on to events with his given name. At this year’s SBE, he signed in as John Pinegar. This year’s runner-up was Demetrius Jelatis.
The posted brackets on the SBE Web site for all of the amateur events (including the ProAm Bar Box) do not indicate the scores of the individual sets, which masks the give and take of game-by-game scoring. Instead, each player is seen to have won their individual matches by only one of two possible outcomes; 2-0 or 2-1. There is no way of knowing, therefore, a given player’s game-winning percentage, only his or her set-winning percentage.
Pinegar won 10 of 12 sets he played over five matches. He opened with a 2-1 win over Alex Olinger, went 2-0 against Kevin West and allowed Scott Haas a single set in the third round, which brought him to a semifinal matchup against Justin Espinosa. Jelatis, in the meantime, won eight of the 12 sets he played over five matches. He opened with two straight 2-0 set victories over Shane Clayton and Alan Rolan, before giving up a set to Ryan McCreesh. This set him (Jelatis) up against Jorge Rodriguez in the other semifinal. Rodriguez is another one of those competitors who’s been competing at the semi-pro and pro-level for years.
Pinegar got into the finals with a 2-0 set victory over Espinosa. Jelatis joined him after a 2-1 set victory over Rodriguez. Pinegar completed his undefeated (in sets) run with a 2-0 victory over Jelatis.
Davis goes undefeated in his individual bracket, advances to win Amateur Open
In the largest field of the SBE, the Amateur Open, 1,024 entrants initially split up into 16 brackets of 64 players each. Each of those brackets delivered a single player to a Final 16 bracket. Phil Davis didn’t lose a single set (best of three sets in races to 5) in his initial bracket, going 2-0 against Chris Garrett, Matt Clatterbuck, Mark Alicea, Paul Swinson, Richard Anderson and in his bracket’s finals, Jason Balas. He gave up his first set in the opening round of the single-elimination final 16 bracket, going 2-1 against Joe Wright. He went back to his 2-0 pattern against Mark Nanashee in the second round, which moved him into the semifinals against Julio Burgos.
Raed Shabib, in the meantime, gave up his first set, in the opening round of his 64-player bracket, to Christopher Balderson. He didn’t give up another one until his bracket finals, having gone 2-0 against Abel Rosario, John Hoge, Bill Mason and Randy Tate. He took the bracket final 2-1 over James Adams. He opened the Final 16 portion of his run with a 2-1 victory over George Crawford and then downed Brett Stottlemeyer 2-0, to arrive at a semifinal against Chris Bruner.
Davis and Shabib advanced to the finals with identical 2-1 set victories over Burgos and Bruner, respectively. Davis completed his undefeated run with a 2-1 victory over Shabib in the finals.
Amateur highlights
The next highest attended Amateur tournament was the Open Seniors event (for 50+), which drew 384 entrants. Originally split into eight preliminary brackets, yielding a single winner, the event was won by Bobby Connor. He advanced through the Final 8 field with set wins over Oscar Bonilla and Dennis Spears, both 2-1. He was met in the finals by Efrain Morales, who’d defeated Joe Armeni 2-1 and Chuck Ross 2-0. Connor didn’t give up a set in claiming the Open Seniors title.
Next up, with 192 entrants, was the Super Seniors (65+), who started in four initial brackets, yielding a very short final field of four. Ed Matushoneck downed Tom Acciavatti 2-1 to claim his spot in the finals, and was joined by Ronny Park, who’d defeated Nelson Rivera 2-1. Matushoneck claimed the Super Seniors title with a 2-0 win over Park.
The Amateur Ladies drew 188, just four less than the Super Seniors. Combined, those two events would have yielded an enormously entertaining field with just four less than the Open Seniors event. As it was, the 188 ladies, like the Super Seniors, started with four initial 64-player brackets (with a number of opening round byes) and ended with a final field of 4. Rachel Lang and Michelle Jiang advanced to the finals without giving up a set to either Marie-France Blanchette and Stacey Tonkin. Lang downed Jiang in the finals two sets to one.
In the 12 and under Juniors event, which drew 56 entrants, Parker Jakubczak downed 2018 11 & under Junior National Champion Kyle Yi in the finals 2-1. In the 17 & under category, which drew 76 entrants, two-time 14 & under National Junior Champion Nathan Childress defeated Ivo Linkin in two straight sets.
Junior Singh, Ramon Rodriguez, Amy Yu and Phil Davis
Phil Davis became the 7th different player to win the Amateur event of the Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament, held this past weekend – May 27-29 – at Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Held under the combined auspices of the Predator Pro Am, Tri-State and Mezz Tours, the event featured its usual array of amateur-status talent. Last year's winner, Tony Liang, was out of this one early, leaving the door open for Davis to go undefeated and follow (in order) Raj Vannala, Daniel Dagotdot, Mike Yednak, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Rhys Chen and Liang into the Ginky Memorial history book.
Attendance at this annual event has grown steadily over the years, although the numbers did drop a little this year; from 190 to 165 in the $2,000-added Amateur event, and from 54 to 44 in the $2,000-added Pro event, which, by the way, was won by Jayson Shaw (see separate story). Last year's winner, Zion Zvi, like Tony Liang in the Amateur event, was knocked out early.
Both events were streamed live throughout the weekend by AZBTv, sponsored by Blatt Billiards, and featuring the commentary of Upstate Al and a host of guest commentators.
The 165-entrant Amateur tournament divided the players up into two separate brackets of A players and B-D players. They did not meet until the very end. Amy Yu won the B-D bracket, while Ramon Rodriguez won the A bracket. Davis, defeated early by Rodriguez, came back on the loss side to defeat him and advance to the finals against Yu.
As the event moved into the 9/12 matches, only one previous Ginky Memorial champion remained, Rhys Chen, who, after a 7-5 victory over James Conn, was knocked out by Koka Davladze 8-6. Davladze, who'd previously eliminated James Stevens 9-6 advanced to meet Davis in the 5/6 matches. Junior Singh, in the meantime, having defeated Neven Lipovac 7-4, and Benny Rosado 7-5, picked up Gary Bozigian.
Davis and Singh advanced to the quarterfinals; Davis 7-1 over Davladze, and Singh 7-5 over Bozigian. Davis took the quarterfinal match over Singh 9-5, and then, in a re-match against Rodriguez, downed him 7-5 for a shot at Amy Yu.
He took full advantage. Giving six racks to Yu in a race to 13, Davis completed his loss side run with a 13-8 victory to claim the 7th George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial title.
Event director Tony Robles, as he is every year at this time, was demonstrably appreciative of the effort put forth by representatives from the Tri-State and Mezz Tours, as well as the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards. In addition to thanks offered to Blatt Billiards (BlattBilliards.com) for their sponsorship of the live stream, Robles also thanked sponsors Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), and the DeVito team.
Steve Goulding, Jorge Rodriguez, Mike Dechaine and Mike Zuglan
Corr is among inductees to Hall of Fame
It was almost a storybook ending. The Joss Northeast 9-Ball's 6th Annual New England Pool & Billiards Hall of Fame/Ray Desell Memorial 9-Ball Open, held on the weekend of February 27-March 1, included, on Friday, the induction of nine candidates into the New England Hall of Fame. Among them were Karen Corr, who made it to the semifinals of the $2,500-added 9-ball event that drew 88 entrants to Snookers in Providence, RI. She was defeated in those semifinals by Mike Dechaine, who won five on the loss side to meet and twice defeat hot seat occupant, Jorge Rodriguez, and reclaim the title he'd last won in 2013. It was Dechaine's third win on the tour, dating back to October.
Dechaine's victory carried echoes of the 5th annual event, in which Joey Dupuis came from the loss side and defeated Dechaine in the finals. This time, it was Dechaine on the loss side, after a 9-6 loss to Nelson Oliveira in a winners' side quarterfinal. Oliveira advanced to meet Corr, while Rodriguez and Jeremy Sossei, looking for his third Joss win of the 2014-2015 season, met in the other winners' side semifinal.
Rodriguez and Sossei battled to double hill before Rodriguez prevailed for a spot in the hot seat match. He was joined by Corr, who'd dispatched Oliveira 9-6. Rodriguez sent Corr to the semifinals 9-3 and waited in the hot seat for Dechaine.
Over on the loss side, Dechaine was at work. He defeated Pete Bowman and Cleiton Rocha 9-6 to draw Sossei; they'd met last in the finals of the Ocean State 9-Ball Championship in November. Oliveira picked up Ryan Lineham, who'd gotten by Mark Creamer 9-5 and Paul Dryden 9-7.
Lineham brought Oliveira within a game of double hill, but it was Oliveira advancing to the quarterfinals. Dechaine had somewhat of an easier time against Sossei, defeating him 9-2 for a shot against the man who'd sent him to the loss side. Dechaine chalked up another 9-2 win, dropping Oliveira into fourth place, and turned to face Corr in the semifinals.
Having given up three or less racks during his four loss-side matches, Corr proved to be a little more resilient. She battled Dechaine and chalked up seven, before Dechaine pulled ahead to win it.
It was clear from the outset in the double elimination finals that Dechaine was on a mission. While both players exhibited signs of fatigue as Sunday, March 1, turned into Monday, March 2, Dechaine jumped out of the gate and claimed the opening set 9-5. Rodriguez came out just as determined in the second set, taking an early 4-0 lead. Rodriguez would continue to creep forward, but by rack #12, Dechaine had tied things up. He would go on to win the next two and stood on the brink of claiming the title. Rodriguez, though, battled back to tie things, double hill, and then, just as he stood on the brink of claiming the title, he scratched on the final break. Dechaine closed it out around 2 a.m. to claim the 6th Annual New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame/Ray Desell Memorial title.
A $500-added Second Chance tournament, saw Justin Muller go undefeated, downing Bob Madenjian in the finals. Ed Loring finished in third place, after defeating Phil Davis, who finished fourth. Tim Perry and Clyde Matta tied for fifth place.
In addition to Karen Corr, the New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame inducted Grace Nakamura, “Upstate Al” Leon, Shayne Cote, Philip Capelle, Steve and Tammy Reynolds, Bart Rivezzi, and Nick Scofield at the ceremonies on Friday evening, February 27. The next stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for March 28-29, will be the Northeast 9-Ball Open XXVIII, and will be hosted by Golden Cue Billiards in Albany.
Stop eight on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour went basically as expected with Jeremy Sossei (ranked #1 on tour) defeating Ron Casanzio (ranked #2 on tour) twice to complete an undefeated run and capture first place at Sharpshooters Billiards in Amsterdam, NY.
The latter stages of the event couldn't have been closer with all four of the matches between the final eight players on the winners side going hill-hill before a victor was determined. Sossei would defeat Willie Oney in that round of play, before scoring a 9-7 win over Casanzio for the hot-seat.
Casanzio wouldn't stay on the left side of the brackets for long though, as he cruised through his match with Danny Hewitt and won 9-4.
Sossei looked like he would run away with the first set of the finals as he led the match 8-2 before Casanzio made one more push. Down by six racks, Casanzio broke and ran four straight racks to get back within two games at 8-6, but his run would end when he broke dry in the 15th rack and Sossei ran out for the 9-6 victory.
Twelve players came back on Sunday to compete in the second chance tournament that saw Bruce Carroll hold off a late charge from Jorge Teixeira in the finals. Carroll defeated Phil Davis 3-0 for the hot-seat, and Davis then lost 3-2 to Teixeira. Teixeira defeated Carroll 3-1 in the first set of the double elimination finals, but Carroll would come back to win the second set by the same 3-1 scoreline.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action on Feb 21st and 22nd at Trick Shot Billiards in Clifton Park, NY.
According to information in our records, it's been something of an 'off' year for Jayson Shaw. Reported earnings of $50K in 2013 were cut by almost half in 2014 (as was his Money Leaderboard ranking; down from 14 at the end of 2013 to 29 at the end of this year). Going into the final event of the Predator Tour season, on the weekend of December 13-14, Shaw was poised to pick up his sixth overall win of the year, having previously won three on the Predator Tour, along with victories at Turning Stone XXII and the NYC 8-Ball Championships. By the end of 2013, he'd chalked up 10, including some head-to-head matchups against Mike Dechaine and Johnny Archer, and a doubles victory with Earl Strickland over Francisco Bustamante and Warren Kiamco.
Shaw recorded that fourth win on the 2014 Predator Tour, coming from the loss side of an Open/Pro field of 30 that had shown up to compete in the Predator Tour's season finale; a $2,000-added event, hosted by Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar and Grill in West Hempstead, NY.
According to information, also in our records, it's been an 'on' year for 15-year-old Thomas Rice, who won the $3,000-added Amateur event of the Predator Tour's finale. It was the young man's first Predator tour win since September 2013, and came on the heels of a November win on the Tri-State Tour, which he'd not won since May 2013. Though he's 'cashed' in fewer 2014 events, he's made almost twice as much money (the recent Tri-State win, which drew 64 entrants, accounted for just about half his 2014 winnings). Unlike his Open/Pro counterpart in this most recent event, Rice went undefeated through the field of 87 that came out to play, and added another $2K to his yearly total.
In the Open/Pro event, the finish of the final three (Shaw, Frankie Hernandez, Jeremy Sossei) duplicated the final three finish of a September Predator Tour stop in Queens. However, how each of the three got there was a lot different. Shaw went undefeated in September, defeating Sossei for the hot seat, and then, Hernandez in the finals. On the weekend of December 13-14, it was Hernandez over Sossei for the hot seat (7-2), with Shaw battling back from the loss side to defeat Sossei in the semifinals (7-2) and shutting Hernandez out in the finals.
Mike Dechaine and Raphael Dabreo were the winners' side semifinal victims; Sossei surviving a double hill match against Dechaine, as Hernandez was downing DaBreo 7-4. It was DaBreo who had the misfortune of running into Shaw, who'd already eliminated Chris Derewonski 7-2 and shut out Phil Davis on the loss side. Dechaine drew Jorge Rodriguez, who'd gotten by Holden Chin 7-4 and Kevin Guimond 7-1. Shaw defeated DaBreo 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Dechaine, who eliminated Rodriguez 7-4.
The quarterfinal meeting between two of the game's feistier competitors came within a rack of going double hill, but Shaw finished it 7-5, and then, picking up steam, he downed Sossei in the semifinals 7-2. Not content with that, Shaw turned to face Hernandez and didn't give up a rack to claim his fourth Predator and sixth overall event of 2014.
In the Amateur event, Rice's victory went through Laszlo Kovacs in a winners' side semifinal, as Todd Trent met up with Wanlop Chantarakolkit. Rice squeaked by Kovacs, double hill, and faced Trent, who'd defeated Chantarakolkit 7-2. Rice claimed the hot seat 7-3 and waited on the return of Mike Panzarella, whom he'd sent to the loss side, double hill, in an earlier match.
Panzarella moved over, chalked up two, and then defeated Eric Grasman 7-3 and Tom Hagan 7-2, to draw Kovacs. Chantarakolkit picked up Josh Friedberg, who'd eliminated Giovanni Maga 7-5 and George Poltorak 7-2. Both battles for the right to play in the quarterfinals went double hill; Panzarella over Kovacs and Chantarakolkit over Friedberg.
Panzarella took the quarterfinal match over Chantarakolkit 9-7 and then chalked up his seventh, loss-side win 9-7 over Trent in the semifinals. Rice put an end to Panzarella's winning streak 7-5 in the finals.
In the final event of the Predator Tour's 2014 season, tour director Tony Robles sent out special thanks to all of the room owners that have sponsored stops on the tour, as well as all the players, spectators and fans who went to those rooms to play, watch and support the tour. He also thanked his assistants – Gail (his wife), and Bill Finnegan – without whom, very little would have been possible. He also thanked tour sponsors Delta-13 Racks, The National Amateur Pool League (NAPL), NYCGrind.com (Alison Fischer and Jerry Tarantola), PoolOnTheNet.com, AZBilliards.com, Gotham Technologies, Billiards press (Phil Capelle) and Billiards Digest.
Salt City Owner Frank Del Conte, Spencer Auigbelle and Jeremy Sossei
Jeremy Sossei turned in a dominating performance going through a field of 37 players undefeated to win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop at Salt City Billiards in Syracuse NY.
On his way to the hot-seat match, the closest Sossei allowed an opponent was Bucky Souvanthong who managed five racks before Sossei won the match 9-5. The hot-seat match turned out to be more of the same as Sossei scored a comfortable 9-3 win over Spencer Auigbelle.
On the one loss side, Auigbelle and Souvanthong battled to hill-hill before Auigbelle dropped the case nine ball to earn a rematch with Sossei in the finals.
The finals would go one set with Auigbelle unable to better his three racks from the hot-seat match. Sossei scored another 9-3 win in the first set of the finals.
The second chance event on Sunday saw Phil Davis bounce back from an early loss to Lance Kellogg and not lose a match the rest of the way. Davis won five straight matches on the one loss side to get to the finals, where he defeated hot-seat holder Geoff Montgomery 3-2 and 3-2 in the two set final match.
Next up for the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be the Al Conte Memorial on November 8th and 9th at Hippos House of Billiards in Utica, NY.
Tony Robles started the year off with a victory over Mike Dechaine in the first stop on his Predator Tour. Dechaine had downed him in the battle for the hot seat on the weekend of January 11-12, but Robles came back to defeat him 11-5 in the finals. Seven months later, on the weekend of July 12-13, after finishing second or third in four subsequent stops on the tour, the Silent Assassin returned to the winners' circle with an undefeated run that saw him best Zion Zvi twice (Robles had defeated Zvi in the semifinals of the January stop). The $500-added Open/Pro side of the tour stop drew 12 entrants to the Amsterdam Billiard Club in Manhattan.
In the concurrently-run Amateur event, Phil Davis came from the loss side to defeat Thomas Rice in the finals. The $500-added Amateur event drew 57 entrants.
Robles and Zion Zvi met in the hot seat match, after Robles had defeated Hunter Lombardo 8-5 and Zvi had dispatched Frankie Hernandez to the loss side 8-4. Robles took the first of his two against Zvi 8-6.
Lombardo and Hernandez moved to the loss side and were immediately eliminated. Adam Wheeler, who'd gotten by Shawn Sookhai 8-1 and Craig McAndrews 8-3, took out Hernandez in a double hill match. Jeremy Sossei, who'd picked up a forfeit against Jerry Tarantola and defeated Sean Morgan 8-3, ended Lombardo's day 8-4.
Sossei gave up only a single rack in the quarterfinals against Wheeler, and then had his short, loss-side run ended by Zvi, who allowed him only a single rack in the semifinals. In their second meeting, Robles and Zvi battled to double hill, before Robles prevailed to capture his second Predator Open title of the year.
In the Amateur event, it was teenager Thomas Rice advancing to the hot seat, only to be bested in the finals by Phil Davis. Davis had been sent to the loss side by Chris Derewonski 7-1 in a winners' side semifinal, while Rice was busy defeating Akbar Karmoddien 7-2. Rice got into the hot seat with a 9-1 victory over Derewonski, and waited on the fateful return of Davis.
On the loss side, Davis picked up Raphael Dabreo, who'd defeated Marco Dy 7-3 and Miguel Laboy 7-4, to reach him. Karmoddien, in the meantime, faced Ron Mason, who'd survived a double hill match against Wanlop Chan and downed Dax Linden 7-3. Mason and Davis advanced to the quarterfinals; Mason, 7-5 over Karmoddien and Davis, 7-2 over DaBreo.
Davis survived a double hill battle against Mason in those quarterfinals, and then took out Derewonski 7-5 for a shot against Rice in the hot seat. Rice took an early and lengthy lead over Davis in the finals. Ahead 8-2, however, Rice faltered and saw Davis chalk up nine in a row to snatch the Amateur title away from the teenager.
Jud Parker worked his way through six opponents, going undefeated on April 19, to claim his first event title on the Tri-State Tour. The $1,000-added event drew 30 entrants to the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Parker defeated Brian Singh, Gil Costello, and Thomas Schreiber to move among the winners' side final four and a match versus Pat Mareno. His eventual finals opponent, Eric Tang, in the meantime, squared off against Phil Davis in the other winners' side semifinal. Parker moved into the hot seat match with a 6-2 win over Mareno, but it was Davis who met him, having sent Tang to the loss side 7-4. Parker claimed his fifth victim with a double hill win over Davis and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Tang.
Tang's first opponent on the loss side was Rhio Annie Flores, who'd gotten by Tony Ignomirello and Dave Ascolese, both 7-4, to reach him. Mareno drew Paulo Valverde, who'd defeated Schreiber 6-4 and Mike Figueroa 6-3. Tang and Mareno got right back to work, eliminating Flores 7-3, and Valverde 6-3, respectively and faced each other in the quarterfinals.
Tang ended Mareno's day 8-3 in those quarterfinals to earn himself a re-match versus Davis in the semifinals. He took advantage of the opportunity, downing Davis 7-4 for a shot at Parker in the hot seat. Parker, though, offered Tang limited opportunities in the final match, jumping out to a 3-0 lead, and then, after allowing Tang a single rack, adding three more to reach the hill. Tang chalked up one more rack, before Parker closed it out to claim his first Tri-State title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at the Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for April 27, will be hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.
