Moore Mows Down Joss Field

Moore Mows Down Joss Field
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Syracuse, NY

by Lea Andrews

Making a rare appearance on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, Steve Moore went undefeated through the 25-player field, taking down reigning champ Dennis “The Hatchet Man” Hatch in the finals. The $1,500-added Mary Capotto Memorial event was held March 6-7 at Cap’s Cue Club in Syracuse, NY.

Moore blew by Chance Chin 9-3 to reach the hot seat match against Dave Grau, who’d just edged out Hatch 9-8. Grau managed just five games against Moore, though, and he moved over to the semifinals to try to fight his way back.

On the left side of the bracket, tour bigwig Bucky Souvanthong was plowing through the field, ousting Lyn Wechsler 9-4 to meet up with Dwight Dixon, who’d eased past Brian Holmes 9-8. Taking care of Dixon 9-7, Souvanthong moved on to Chin. Meanwhile, Bruce Carroll got past Geoff Montgomery 9-6 to face tour director Mike Zuglan, who’d just knocked out Mike Renshaw 9-5. Holding Zuglan to four games, Carroll moved on to Hatch, who dropped him into fifth 9-3. In the quarterfinals, Hatch went up against Souvanthong, who’d advanced over Chin 9-7. Against Hatch, though, he managed just four games, landing in fourth. Hatch moved on to a rematch with Grau, which ended in his favor 9-7, putting him into very familiar territory: the finals. The true double-elimination final match didn’t go the usual way for Hatch, though. Taking control from the beginning, Moore earned his decisive victory 9-4.

Results:
1st Steve Moore $1,000
2nd Dennis Hatch $800
3rd Dave Grau $600
4th Bucky Souvanthong $400
5th Chance Chin $250
Bruce Carroll
7th Dwight Dixon
Mike Zuglan

Hatch Back on Top of Joss Billiards Event

Hatch Back on Top of Joss Tour
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Amsterdam, NY

by Lea Andrews

Recent Mosconi Cup MVP Dennis Hatch may have briefly fallen from grace at the last Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop, but at the February 20-21 stop, he proved the fall was only temporary. Hatch topped the field of 44 that gathered for the $2,000-added event, which was held at Main St. Billiards in Amsterdam, NY.

Hatch edged out last stop’s winner Chris Orme 9-8 to reach the hot seat match against Dan Heidrich, who’d come out on top of his own hill-hill match against Kevin Guimond. Hatch took control of the set 9-6 to claim the hot seat and push Heidrich into the semifinals.

On the left side of the bracket, tournament director Mike Zuglan, who’d earlier taken a 9-7 loss to Hatch, had been blazing his way through the field. A 9-2 blowout over Tom Acciavatti put him up against Paul Dryden, who’d breezed past Jared Zimmerman 9-2. After taking care of Dryden 9-5, Zuglan moved on to Guimond. Meanwhile, Dave Grau eked out a win over Mike Dechaine 9-8 to face Dave Fernandez, who’d held Paul Rozonewski to five games. Fernandez managed just four against Grau, though, and landed in seventh while Grau moved on to Orme, who had his eyes on another stint in the finals. A 9-6 victory over Grau pushed Orme into the quarterfinals against Zuglan, who’d eased past Guimond 9-3. Both Zuglan and Orme were looking for the rematch with Hatch, and though Zuglan fought hard for it, it was Orme who got himself one step closer 9-6, and another 9-6 win over Heidrich in the semifinals put him there.

It seemed like a second set wouldn’t be needed in the true double-elimination final match as Hatch got out to a comfortable 7-3 lead, but Orme stormed back into the match, keeping the string to himself and pushing the second set 9-7. The two powerhouses stayed even at first, tying up at four games apiece, but once Hatch managed to pull away a little bit, he stayed there, earning his fourth Joss win this season 9-7.

Results:
1st Dennis Hatch $1,500
2nd Chris Orme $1,000
3rd Dan Heidrich $760
4th Mike Zuglan $560
5th Kevin Guimond $400
Dave Grau
7th Paul Dryden $250
Dave Fernandez
9th Tom Acciavatti $100
Jared Zimmerman
Paul Rozonewski
Mike Dechaine

Tucker Takes Down Tetreault on Joss Billiard Tour

Tucker Takes Two for the Win
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Providence, RI

by Skip Maloney

In something of a roller coaster ride, Joe Tucker returned from a defeat among the winners’ side final four to take both sets of a double-elimination final from Matt Tetreault and capture his first win on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour. Playing in his home room, Snooker’s Café and Billiards in Providence, RI, Tucker was joined by 46 other entrants on the weekend of May 2-3, for the $2,000-added event, with a total purse of $5,760.

From among the winners’ side final four, Tetreault and Tom McGonagle struggled to get into the hot seat match. Each survived a hill-hill battle, but the hot seat match was much more decisive, with Tetreault shutting out McGonagle and waiting for what turned out to be Tucker’s return.

On the one-loss side, it was Tom D’Alfonso and Dave Grau emerging from among the final 12. D’Alfonso advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-6 win over Damon Sobers, but Grau dropped into the tie for fifth with a 9-5 win by Tucker. Tucker then got tangled up in his second hill-hill battle in the quarterfinal match versus D’Alfonso, defeating him and advancing for a second shot at McGonagle in the semifinals. Tucker took advantage, dropping McGonagle into third place with a 9-5 win and turning to face Tetreault.

In the double-elimination final that followed, Tetreault and Tucker battled back and forth to hill-hill before Tucker prevailed, forcing a second set. After a break, the two resumed and continued the battle that had characterized the opening set. Tucker’s break came when the scored was tied at 7-7. Tucker won the next rack to reach the hill first and then closed out the match at 9-7.

Results:
1st Joe Tucker $1,460
2nd Matt Tetreault $1,000
3rd Tom McGonagle $800
4th Tom D’Alfonso $600
5th Damon Sobers $400
Dave Grau
7th Bob Madenjian $250
Nelson Oliveira
9th Steve Goulding $150
Pete Ziernak
Tim Perry
Chris Leal

Hatch Continues to Dominate Billiards Tour

Hatch Makes It 9 out of 10 Wins
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Parsippany, NJ

by Skip Maloney

With an undefeated weekend on April 25-26, Dennis Hatch made it nine wins out of ten stops on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour. The $2,000-added event drew 41 entrants to Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ.

Hatch’s journey began with a bye in the opening round, followed by victories over Russ Stepnowski, Matt Tetreault, and Chris Taomina that put him among the winners’ side final four. As Hatch squared off against Shaun Wilkie, Tom McGonagle faced Dave Grau. Hatch and McGonagle sent Wilkie and Grau west by identical 9-7 scores and faced each other in the hot seat match. Hatch gained the hot seat with a 9-4 win.

Meanwhile, on the one-loss side, Hatch’s eventual opponent in the finals, Al Lapena, was working his way back from a second-round defeat at the hands of Holden Chin. Victories over Jason Michas and Joe Korsiak put him into the money rounds, where, after wins over Chris Taomina and Ken Kerner, he squared off against Grau. It was Matt Tetreault waiting for Wilkie. Lapena got by Grau 9-2, as Wilkie dropped Tetreault 9-4 and the two met in the quarterfinals. Lapena moved into the semifinals against McGonagle with a 9-4 win over Wilkie.

After steamrolling over McGonagle 9-1, Lapena opened the true double-elimination finals against Hatch by trading racks with him to 3-3. Lapena didn’t know that when he sat down to allow Hatch to break the seventh rack he wouldn’t get back to the table again until Hatch was on the hill. Hatch missed a shot in the twelfth rack, and Lapena stepped back to shoot for the first time in just over half an hour. He missed a subsequent shot, and Hatch made a second set unnecessary by finishing it 9-3.

Results:
1st Dennis Hatch $1,400
2nd Al Lapena $980
3rd Tom McGonagle $750
4th Shaun Wilkie $550
5th Dave Grau $400
Matt Tetreault
7th Ron Piotkowski $200
Ken Kerner
9th Mike Wong $100
Chris Taomina
Holden Chin
Bruce Carroll

Joss Tour Live from Comet Billiards

Accu-stats.com to broadcast Joss North East Tour FREE Sat. Apr. 25 and Sun. 26.

All eyes are on Dennis Hatch as Mike Zuglan’s Joss North East Tour cruises in to Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ.. The best matches, all the way to the finals, will be broadcast Free, from the Accu-Stats Arena, courtesy of Accu-stats.com. The action starts at 1 pm on Saturday, April 25.

Accu-Stats continues on its quest to bring viewers the best in Live pool action.

Tues. April 28, 2009, 8:00 PM
The Weekly, 9-Ball Break & Run Contest (Amateur Event)
The New 9-Ball Jackpot!–Projected prize $300

Wed. April 29, 2009, 8:00 PM
The Weekly, Race to 1 – Nine-Ball Game Show
The New Ten-Ball Jackpot –Projected prize–$3000

In May 23-24, Tony Robles will bring the Predator 9-Ball Tour to Comet Billiards.