by InsidePOOL Staff

Jeremy Sossei enjoyed an unchallenged run through the 57-player field that gathered for the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s first stop of the new year. The event was hosted by Fast Eddie’s Billiards in New Milford, CT, January 7-8, and boasted a $2,000-added prize purse.

In the $1,500-added main event, Sossei worked his way through the winners’ bracket to face Bucky Souvanthong, whom he easily handled 9-3 to advance to the hot seat match. His opponent there was Vinny Zuniga, who had just bested Scott Ireland 9-5. Sossei had little trouble in this match and quickly sent Zuniga to the one-loss side 9-4.

Jeremy Sossei enjoyed an unchallenged run through the 57-player field that gathered for the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s first stop of the new year.

Once on the west side, Ireland was soon eliminated 9-1 by Nick Conner and took home fifth place. Tying with him was Rick Sleeper, who was ousted by Souvanthong 9-3. The following quarterfinal match was a hill-hill nail-biter, with Conner triumphing over Souvanthong 9-8.

Wanting a rematch with Sossei, Zuniga topped Conner in the semifinal match 9-5 to advance to the finals. But once there, he soon found himself dominated by Sossei, who took home the title with a 9-2 victory.

In the $500-added second chance event, a dozen players participated. Steve Mack went undefeated through the field to take home first place and $300. Brent Boemmels earned $200 for his runner-up finish. Bruce Carroll won $120 for third, Bud Robideau $80 for fourth, and rounding out the field were Dawn Fox and Bob Vanduzee, who each took home $20 for fifth place.

Results:
1st Jeremy Sossei $1,100
2nd Vinny Zuniga $800
3rd Nick Conner $650
4th Bucky Souvanthong $500
5th Rick Sleeper $350
Scott Ireland
7th Holden Chin $250
Choneyi Tenzin
9th Dave Fernandez $125
Tom Torres
Phil Davis
Spencer Auigbelle

by InsidePOOL Staff

Many fine players were eliminated from the 36th U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships Friday, with only the top 6 returning Saturday to collect their piece of the $175,000 prize purse. Defending champion Darren Appleton will face off with former champ Alex Pagulayan in the hot seat at 1 p.m., while Shawn Putnam and Dennis Hatch will go head to head in the quarterfinal match.

Appleton sent Johnny Archer west in a tight 11-9 match and then went on to face down Putnam 11-7 to reach the hot seat match. In the bottom bracket, Pagulayan breezed through reigning 10-ball champion Huidji See of the Netherlands 11-3 to face Larry “The Truth” Nevel, who had just bested Japan’s Kenichi Uchigaki 11-9. Pagulayan held the lead in his match with Nevel, who, down 9-5, missed a bank shot on the 6 ball and stabbed the floor with his cue, smashing the shaft. Pagulayan reached the hill after that rack, and though Nevel put another couple racks under his belt, after a failed attempt at a bank in the last rack, Pagulayan ran out for the 11-7 win.

Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour regular Hatch was taking care of business on the west side of the chart, routing Johnny Archer and sending him home in ninth place. Their score was tied 4-all when Archer allowed Hatch to the table and never saw it again, as Hatch ran the set out to win 11-4. Hatch then turned Filipino champ Warren Kiamco’s lights out in the following round, eliminating him 11-5.

Live real time scoring is being provided by ProPool.com and are being displayed at Inside POOL TV.

Many fine players were eliminated from the 36th U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships Friday, with only the top 6 returning Saturday to collect their piece of the $175,000 prize purse.

After his winners’ side match loss, Nevel went on to face Hatch, with “The Hatchetman” dominating completely. Up 9-3, Hatch pushed out after his break, and Nevel took a swing at the 1 ball and scratched, handing Hatch the hill and then forfeiting the next rack to hand the match to Hatch 11-3.

2011 U.S. Open 9-Ball Final 8 Player Tournament Brackets
2011 U.S. Open 9-Ball Tournament Brackets
Day 1 Results
Day 2 Results
Day 3 Results
Day 4 Results
Day 5 Results

Putnam defeated reigning world 9-ball champion Yukio Akagariyama 11-9 only to be sent west by Appleton 11-7. From there he held a 10-4 lead over See, who attempted a comeback and won the next four racks, but Putnam shut him down 11-7 to return Saturday.

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by InsidePOOL Staff

The 36th installment of the prestigious U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships kicked off in Chesapeake, VA, October 16 at the Chesapeake Conference Center, where 251 players converged to vie for their share of the $50,000-added prize purse.

Past champions in attendance include Allen Hopkins, Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer, Ralf Souquet, Shane Van Boening, Mike Lebron, Gabe Owen, Alex Pagulayan, Nick Varner, and Tommy Kennedy.

Champion in 2001, Corey Deuel suffered a surprising first-round loss to Li Wen Lo 11-8, so if he intends to reclaim the title, he will have to do so from the one-loss side as he did in 2001.

Reigning champion Darren Appleton scored a bye in the first round and will play Robert Hart, who went double-hill with Mike Badstuebner and won, in the next round.

Japan is well-represented in this event, with top players such as Toru Kuribayashi, Kengo Matsumoto, Naoyuki Oi, and reigning world 9-ball champion Yukio Akagariyama. Kenichi Uchigaki won his first-round match over Tommy Kennedy 11-9 and will advance to play Harvey Shognosh in the next round.

Appleton is always a major threat to snap off a big event.

The live scoring will be posted at Inside POOL TV Live U.S. Open Scoringand the tournament brackets will be updated continuously and posted at:

U.S. Open 9-Ball Tournament Bracket 1

U.S. Open 9-Ball Tournament Bracket 2

England also has a strong contingent at this year’s Open. In addition to Appleton, Chris Melling, the reigning China Open champion is here, as well as former world 9-ball champ Daryl Peach, Karl Boyes, Jason Shaw, and Mark Gray.

The Filipino factor seems to be less this year—former champ Alex Pagulayan is here, as is Antonio Gabica, Antonio Lining, and Lee Vann Corteza.

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by InsidePOOL Staff

It was a grind, but ultimately Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton took home the top prize at the October 8-9 installment of the Great Southern Billiard Tour over Keith Bennett. The stop opened up to allow pros as well as amateurs to their U.S. Open warm-up event, hosted by Speak Eazy Billiards in Sanford, NC, and the $1,500-added prize purse attracted a field of 71 hopefuls.

Ranked as an AAA player, Daulton raced to 13 against double-A-ranked B.J. Ussery in the winners’ side final four, sending him to the one-loss side with a 13-8 win. AA-ranked Bennett and A-ranked Tony Morrison raced to 11 in the other winners’ side match, with Bennett routing Morrison 11-3. In the following round, Daulton and Bennett went head to head for the hot seat, where Bennett eked out an 11-11 win.

Larry “The Truth” Nevel was taking advantage of the opportunity to warm up for the Open, eliminating Carlos Cruz at seventh place 13-8. Tying with Cruz was Sam Monday, who was sent home by Mike Fuller 11-4. Nevel went on to dominate Ussery 11-2, while Morrison ousted Fuller at fifth 9-10. In the quarterfinal match, Morrison held Nevel back from reaching the required 13, winning there 9-11.

It was a grind, but ultimately Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton took home the top prize at the October 8-9 installment of the Great Southern Billiard Tour over Keith Bennett.

Eagerly awaiting an opponent after his hot seat match loss, Daulton devoured Morrison 13-2 in the semifinals to earn a rematch with Bennett in the double-elimination finals. The first set saw Daulton win over twice as many racks as Bennett did to take it 13-6 and force a second set. There Daulton again dominated, winning this time by the score of 13-8.

Results:
1st Shannon Daulton $1,100
2nd Keith Bennett $600
3rd Tony Morrison $425
4th Larry Nevel $325
5th Mike Fuller $160
B.J. Ussery
7th Sam Monday $90
Carlos Cruz
9th Antonio Slaydon $50
Mike Higgins
Steve Page
B.J. Hucks

by InsidePOOL Staff

It was an undefeated run to the finals for Mike “Fireball” Dechaine at the October 1-2 stop of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, where he defeated Ashley Nowlan for the title. The main event boasted a $3,000 prize purse and attracted a field of 27 to TJ’s Classic Billiards in Waterville, ME.

In the winners’ side final four, Dechaine narrowly escaped Ivaylo Petrov to advance to the hot seat match, where he faced Mike Renshaw, who had just sent Bob Lewis 9-3. Known as a fast and aggressive player, Dechaine breezed through Renshaw, only allowing his opponent one rack before winning 9-1.

Once on the west side, Petrov came up against Nowland, who eliminated him in fifth place 9-7. Lewis tied with Petrov after running into Cleiton Rocha, who bested him 9-7. In the quarterfinal match, Nowland kept the momentum going with a 9-5 victory over Rocha.

Renshaw awaited Nowlan in the semifinal match, and Nowlan was the clear winner 9-4, while Renshaw took home third place. A primed Dechaine took control of the final match with Nowlan and was done in record time, taking the victory 9-1.

In the second chance event, Jeff LaFlamme ran unchallenged through the 13-player field to reach the finals. Taking the long way around, Mike Bradford lost his first-round match and then won five in a row to reach LaFlamme. The final match went hill-hill, with LaFlamme triumphing 3-2.

It was an undefeated run to the finals for Mike “Fireball” Dechaine at the October 1-2 stop of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, where he defeated Ashley Nowlan for the title.

Main Event Results:
1st Mike Dechaine $1,000
2nd Ashley Nowlan $725
3rd Mike Renshaw $525
4th Clayton Rocha $350
5th Bob Lewis $200
Ivaylo Petrov

Second Chance Results:
1st Jeff LaFlamme $280
2nd Mike Bradford $180
3rd Kyle Richard $140
4th Cody Francis $80
5th Steve Reynolds $40
Jason Robichaud

by InsidePOOL Staff

Daniel Dagotdot scored his second title of the Tri-State Tour’s 2011-2012 season with his September 24 split with Alan Chan in the finals. He went undefeated through the 49-player field that gathered at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, to vie for their share of the $1,500-added prize purse.

A win by the smallest 7-6 margin over Gary Murgia in the winners’ side final four put Dagotdot in the hot seat match, where he faced Chan, who had just bested Michael Aro 6-5, for the first time. Chan put up a good fight, but Dagotdot prevailed 8-5 to await a finals competitor.

Murgia was quickly ousted at fifth place by Alex Gilvarg 7-5, while Aro followed him after a 6-4 loss to Tony Ignomirello. After a first-round loss, Ignomirello was on a roll, winning his ninth match in a row in the quarterfinals over Gilvarg 9-6.

Owner/Operator Kevin Buckley; 3rd place - Tony Ignomirello; 1st place - Daniel Dagotdot; right 2nd place - Alan Chan

Ignomirello’s run was stopped in the semifinals by Chan, who sent him home in third place with a 6-2 win. In the finals, Chan and Dagotdot decided to split, with Dagotdot taking the title.

Results:
1st Daniel Dagotdot $920
2nd Alan Chan $650
3rd Tony Ignomirello $400
4th Alex Gilvarg $260
5th Michael Aro $160
Gary Murgia
7th Pat DiBuono $120
Chris Peralta
9th Joe Landi $90
Carl Yusef Khan
Ron Mason
Sam Smuke

by InsidePOOL Staff

The Turning Stone Classic has returned to the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY, for its twenty-seventh installment, with a full field of 128 billiards players seeking their share of the $25,000-added prize purse. The event is held September 8-11 and is produced by Mike Zuglan of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour.

Several mishaps occurred in the first couple of rounds. Defending champion Corey Deuel is not at the event, but Turning Stone XIV and XV champion Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer suffered a second-round loss to Jeremy Sossei 9-4 and will have to reclaim his title from the west side of the chart. So far he has eliminated Ron Casanzio and Billy Biasin, both 9-4.

Alex Pagulayan has had his ups and downs so far. His first match with Angelos Inness he won 9-6 but then advanced to face recent Seminole Pro Tour stop winner Rodney Morris, who had just bested Pete Sever 9-5. Morris was able to send Pagulayan to the one-loss side 9-6 and then follow that up with a 9-4 defeat of Zuglan, who had just bested Dennis Hatch in a thrilling double-hill match 9-8. In the next round, Pagulayan whitewashed Hatch 9-0 to advance, thwarting “The Hatchetman” in his attempt to claim the title.

The Turning Stone Classic has returned to the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY, for its twenty-seventh installment, with a full field of 128 billiards players seeking their share of the $25,000-added prize purse.

View the Turning Stone Classic tournament brackets

Jose Parica, who was just crowned Empire State champion at last weekend’s Predator 9-Ball Tour stop, blew through Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie 9-4 in the first round and then bested Angelina Paglia by the same score in the second. In the third round he delivered Los Angeles’ Ernesto Dominguez to the left side 9-6.

Oscar, the younger Dominguez, won his first two matches but was then stopped by Bucky Souvanthong 9-3. Souvanthong was also responsible for the first-round defeat of Shane Van Boening 9-6. Both Dominguez and Van Boening are still alive as yet.

Three ladies participated in the event this time. Liz Ford won one of three matches, being ousted by Hatch 9-1. After her second-round loss to Parica, Paglia was then ousted in the fourth round by Chris Orme 9-4. And Jennifer Barretta, who had a first-round loss to Ivaylo Petrov 9-5, has rebounded on the one-loss side to win her last three matches.

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by InsidePOOL Staff

Playing so well that his handicap was raised mid-tournament, Ed Hugh sliced through the field at the September 2 Tri-State Tour to take the title over Robert Plaut in the finals. The 9-ball tournament drew a 40-player field to Amsterdam Billiards and Bar in New York City, NY, to vie for their share of the $1,000-added prize purse.

Hugh’s domination of the event saw him reach the final four undefeated, where he sent Daniel Dagotdot to the one-loss side 7-2. Alex Berszinn likewise delivered Mel McCullen to the west side to advance to play Hugh in the next round. Berszinn put up a good fight, but it was Hugh who claimed the hot seat 7-5.

Bogie Uzdejczyk was making his move on the left side, ousting Emily Duddy at seventh place 7-5 and going on to eliminate Dagotdot in fifth 7-2. Tying with Dagotdot was Robert Plaut, who was expelled by Mel McCullen 7-4.

Playing so well that his handicap was raised mid-tournament, Ed Hugh sliced through the field at the September 2 Tri-State Tour to take the title over Robert Plaut in the finals.

Uzdejczyk’s run came to an end in the quarterfinal match, where he was sent home in fourth place by Plaut 8-5. Plaut advanced to face off against Berszenn, whom he trounced 7-2 to earn the chance to fight for the title. In the final match, both played well, but it was Hugh who took home the title 8-5.

Results:
1st Ed Hugh $800
2nd Robert Plaut $500
3rd Alex Berszinn $300
4th Bogie Uzdejczyk $200
5th Mel McCullen $140
Daniel Dagotdot
7th Emily Duddy $100
Pat Mareno
9th Scott Simonetti $80
William Galagher
Cyndia Haefner
Javier Colayco

by InsidePOOL Staff

Matt McMillan overcame a case of nerves to withstand a run from the one-loss side by Yomaylin Feliz to take the Tri-State Tour’s August 6 event. The 9-ball tournament boasted a $1,000-added prize purse and attracted a field of 36 nine-ball players.

Matt McMillan overcame a case of nerves to withstand a run from the one-loss side by Yomaylin Feliz to take the Tri-State Tour’s August 6 event.

McMillan went the easy route to the finals—going undefeated. He faced off against Luis Jimenez in the winners’ side final four and sent him to the left side 6-3, as Trevor Heal defeated Raj Vannala in the other winners’ side match. McMillan was on a roll and went through Heal in the hot seat match 7-3 to await a finals opponent.

Feliz suffered an early loss and was faced with a long slog through the west side of the chart. She eliminated Paul Everton 7-5 and Charles Darwin Vergara, son of Mhet Vergara, 6-4 to reach Vannala, who had won the Ginky SanSouci memorial tournament the month prior. Feliz ousted Vannala unceremoniously 7-3 in fifth place, while Stuart Mickle, playing in his first Tri-State event, sent Jimenez in the same spot with a 7-2 win.

Feliz and Mickle squared off in the quarterfinal match, with Feliz coming out on top 7-4 as Mickle took home fourth place. Heal, a favorite in the event, was waiting in the semifinals but fell short against Feliz, who easily handled him 7-3. In the final match against McMillan, though, Feliz found her opponent too much to handle and McMillan took the title 6-3.

Results:
1st Matt McMillan $700
2nd Yomaylin Feliz $400
3rd Trevor Heal $300
4th Stuart Mickle $200
5th Raj Vannala $120
Luis Jimenez
7th Charles Darwin Vergara $90
Raphael DaBreo
9th Paul Everton $60
Ronald Gabia
Alex Berszinn
Bernard Isaacowitz

by InsidePOOL Staff

The first Saturday in June welcomed 29 players to the Tri-State Tour’s 9-ball event, with Ed Culhane coming through the one-loss side of the chart to win it all. The June 4 stop was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, and featured a $500-added prize purse.

The first Saturday in June welcomed 29 players to the Tri-State Tour’s 9-ball event, with Ed Culhane coming through the one-loss side of the chart to win it all.

On the winners’ side final four, “Devil Dave” Ascolese matched up with Dave Jusis, while Shawn Dobson faced off against James Spinella. Ascolese won convincingly 7-3, while Dobson sent Spinella to the left side of the chart 7-4. In the following hot seat match, Ascolese eked out a 7-6 victory.

After an early loss to Jusis, Culhane went on a tear, besting Borana Andoni 7-5, Ray Marisette 8-6, and then earning revenge on Jusis 7-3 to reach the quarterfinal match. His opponent, Spinella, had just ousted Bogie Uzdejczyk 7-5. Culhane won that match 7-3 to advance to the semifinals.

A determined Culhane went on to meet Dobson for the right to face Ascolese in the finals, and it was Culhane who came out the 7-2 victor. Unstoppable in the finals, Culhane bested Ascolese 9-2 in the finals to claim the title.

Results:
1st Ed Culhane $550
2nd Dave Ascolese $320
3rd Shawn Dobson $200
4th James Spinella $120
5th Dave Jusis $80
Bogie Uzdejczyk