The talk on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour this season has been the six tournament winning streak put together by Jeremy Sossei. Over the October 26th – 27th weekend at Brick House Billiards in Syracuse NY, Bucky Souvanthong started building a winning streak of his own. 

 

Souvanthong had three lopsided Saturday wins over Gary Hinkley (9-3), Eric Hamel (9-4) and Hendrik Drost (9-5). Things got tougher on Sunday morning though, as Souvanthong went to hill-hill before sending Ron Casanzio to the one loss side. Next up for Souvanthong was Jay Goyer in the hot-seat match. That match went to Souvanthong 9-6. 

 

After wins over Tony Antone, Dave Ricci and Goyer, Ron Casanzio would be the one to come out of the one loss side to challenge Souvanthong in the finals. Looking back on Souvanthong and Casanzio’s hill-hill match earlier, it was no surprise that the rematch would be another close one. The players were tied at 7-7 when Souvanthong took the hill at 8-7 and then proceeded to make the 9-ball on the break in rack sixteen, for the 9-7 win. 

 

Sunday’s second chance tournament had a lot less suspense as Bruce Carroll beat Nick Brucato, Rick Manzi, Jamie Garrett and then Brucato again, for first place. 

 

The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Diamond Billiards Bar & Grill in Rochester, NY on November 2nd and 3rd for their next stop. Players who are interested in playing in January’s Turning Stone Classic XXXIII are urged to contact Mike Zuglan and get their entry fees in.

In a newly-renovated Premium Billiards in Syracuse, NY, Rick Manzi and Travis Solve (pronounced sol-vay) opted out of a second set in a true double elimination final and with one loss apiece on the day, chose to split the top two (and only) prizes. The $150-added event, held on Sunday, January 8, drew 10 entrants.

They met first in the battle for the hot seat, after Manzi had downed Thomas Bergen 5-4 and Solve had sent Dave Landon west 5-3. In the first of their two matches, Solve gained the hot seat with a 5-3 victory.

Over on the limited loss side, Roger Jackson and Kyle Racka were eliminated, leaving tour director Nick Brucato to face Mike Renshaw, and Jerry Sullivan squaring off against Dave Brobeck. Sullivan won a forfeit victory over Brobeck to pick up Landon, while Renshaw defeated Brucato 6-5 to draw Bergen. 

It was Bergen and Landon advancing to the quarterfinals; Bergen with a 6-5 win over Renshaw, Landon with a 5-2 victory over Sullivan. Bergen then survived a double hill quarterfinal battle against Landon and then, was himself defeated in a double hill semifinal by Manzi.

Manzi evened his match score versus Solve with a 5-2 win in the opening set of what was to have been a true double elimination final. At that point, the two opted to forego a second set, leave their match score tied at 1-1 and split the top two prizes. Manzi earned a free entry to the tour’s next stop, scheduled for January 15 at Six Pockets in Rochester, NY.

Duly impressed with the venue’s recent renovations, and looking forward to scheduling further stops on the tour there, tour director Nick Brucato thanked  Premium Billiards owner Frank Wollack for his hospitality.