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.

Making a rare appearance on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, Moore went undefeated through the 25-player field, taking down reigning champ Hatch in the finals.

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

Reanne Evans has regained the world number-one spot in women’s snooker as ranked by the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association.

Evans said, “I thought I was way in front, but I’m happy to be back to number one now. It’s good to be ladies’ number one, but I want to play on the men’s [circuit]. I do need to improve, but I’m cueing OK.”
 
Catalano said: “She played well. I had a few chances but didn’t take them. It’s a bonus to get to the final. I haven’t been practicing much, so I suppose I should be happy with what I’ve done.”
 
Evans, who won the inaugural EASB Ladies’ Tour event in Leeds February 1, heads to St Petersburg, Russia, next month with Catalano for the European Team Championships.
 
Derby schoolgirl Hannah Jones, 12, doubled the black off the cushion in the deciding frame of the Plate final to become the youngest in WLBSA history to clinch a senior title.
 
WLBSA chairman Mandy Fisher said, “Hannah is the youngest person to have won anything in the WLBSA by a mile.”
 
Supanni Yam-Oum, a director of SR Cues Ltd based in Ashford, Kent, donated a handmade £380 cue to Evans.
 
Making her WLBSA debut, Yam-Oum, originally from Thailand and now living in Canterbury, started playing snooker in November aged 56.
 
She said she “loved” the event and added, “If you can’t play snooker, you can’t sell the cues.”
 
The WLBSA South Coast Classic attracted a 21-player-strong field. 
 
It was the fourth of six WLBSA ranking events this season. Following the Connie Gough National Championship in Luton in March, Cambridge Snooker Centre hosts the World Championships in April. Evans will be bidding for a record fifth straight world title.

Advancing to the one-loss side’s round of 16 proved to be as difficult as the winners’ side, with one out of every four matches playing to double-hill. Melissa Morris, Alice Rim, Hazel Cook, and Caroline Pao advanced on the heels of their hill-hill victories, while Debbie Schjodt took the easier route with the only shut-out victory of the round against Denise Wilkinson. Also advancing were Melissa Herndon with a 9-4 defeat of Kim White and Val Finnie, whose 9-6 victory ended Ewa Laurance’s tournament run.

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