by InsidePOOL Staff

Ben Castaneros and Raymond Lee met three times at the Tri-State Tour’s January 7-8 event, with Castaneros double-dipping Lee in the finals to take the title. The $2,000-added stop drew a field of 61 players to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, for the A- through D-player, 9-ball event.

Castaneros and Lee first matched up in the winners’ side final four, where Lee dealt Castaneros his first—and only—loss of the tournament 6-1. In the other bracket, Bryan Jeziorski sent Alex Osipov to the west side of the chart 7-5. Jeziorski put up a fight in the hot seat match, but Lee was able to notch a 7-4 win.

Ben Castaneros and Raymond Lee met three times at the Tri-State Tour’s January 7-8 event, with Castaneros double-dipping Lee in the finals to take the title. left to right: 3rd Place Bryan Jeziorski, 2nd Place Raymond Lee ; righ most 1st Place Ben Cataneros

From the left side of the bracket, Castaneros sprang back with a 7-4 victory over Mike Strassberg, while Osipov sent Ron Gabia home in a fifth-place tie with Strassberg after their match ended 7-2. Castaneros and Osipov collided in the quarterfinal match, which saw Castaneros best Osipov 6-4 to stay alive.

It was another victory for Castaneros in the semifinals, where he eliminated Jeziorski in third place 7-4. In the double-elimination final match, Castaneros dominated Lee 6-2 in the first set and 6-1 in the second to take first place.

Results:
1st Ben Castaneros $1,250
2nd Raymond Lee $870
3rd Bryan Jeziorski $590
4th Alex Osipov $420
5th Ron Gabia $270
Mike Strassberg
7th Ed Culhane $190
Andrzej Kaldan
9th Robert Plaut $140
Arturo Reyes
Luis Jimenez
Alan Chan

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

It was an unchallenged trip to the winner’s circle for Brian White at the December 3-4 stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour, where he bested a field of 73 players to take first place. The $1,500-added amateur 9-ball event was hosted by The Shore Thing in Myrtle Beach, SC.

White faced down Wendell Thompkins in the winners’ side final four 10-8 to advance to the hot seat match, while Scott Roberts bested Jason “J Bird” Brown 9-9 to do the same. It was White who claimed the hot seat after an easy 10-4 victory over Roberts.

Brown’s wings were soon clipped on the one-loss side by Greg Dix, who won their match 10-9. Tying with Brown in fifth place was Thompkins, who was eliminated by Jared McGee 10-8. McGee then went on to oust Dix 10-8 in the quarterfinal match.

Clearly on a roll, McGee then advanced to the semifinals, where he sent Roberts home 10-6 to earn a chance at the main prize against White. But White had other ideas, and he only allowed McGee to take one rack before he won the final match 10-1.

It was an unchallenged trip to the winner’s circle for Brian White at the December 3-4 stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour, where he bested a field of 73 players to take first place.

Results:
1st Brian White $1,000
2nd Jared McGee $600
3rd Scott Roberts $450
4th Greg Dix $300
5th Wendell Thompkins $200
Jason Brown
7th Dylan Letchworth $120
Mike Slaughter
9th Richard West $60
B.J. Hucks
Chris Ruesseger
Daniel Rutledge

by InsidePOOL Staff

Tom D’Alfonso bested hometown hero Mike “Fireball” Dechaine in a gritty double-elimination finals at the November 19-20 stop of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour to claim the title. The $5,000-added stop was hosted by Snookers Billiards Bar and Grill in Providence, RI, and drew a field of 64 top players.

It was D’Alfonso who skated through the winners’ bracket, defeating Ivaylo Petrov hill-hill and advancing to the hot seat match. There his opponent was Matt Tetreault, who had just bested Stevie Moore 9-6. The hot seat match was no contest, as D’Alfonso easily handled Tetreault 9-2 and sent his opponent to the west side of the chart.

Dechaine moved speedily through the one-loss side, eliminating Jennifer Barretta 9-5, Bucky Souvanthong 9-2, and then Moore 9-7 to reach the quarterfinal match. “Iron Mike” Davis, having just ousted Petrov 9-5 at a fifth-place tie, was Dechaine’s competitor, and Dechaine slipped past him 9-2.

In the semifinal match, Dechaine also found little resistance from Tetreault, sending his opponent home in third place 9-5. In the double-elimination final match, Dechaine dominated D’Alfonso in the first set 9-3, but D’Alfonso turned the tables in the second and won the title by the score of 9-3.

Tom D’Alfonso bested hometown hero Mike “Fireball” Dechaine in a gritty double-elimination finals at the November 19-20 stop of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour to claim the title.

Results:
1st Tom D’Alfonso $2,500
2nd Mike Dechaine $1,800
3rd Matt Tetreault $1,300
4th Mike Davis $1,000
5th Stevie Moore $750
Ivaylo Petrov
7th Bucky Souvanthong $550
Brittany Bryant
9th Ray McNamara $350
Jennifer Barretta
Greg Antonakos
Ron Casanzio

by InsidePOOL Staff

Darren Appleton joined an elite group the eve of October 22—a group of only three 9-ball players, in fact. The players who have pulled off consecutive wins at the prestigious U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships now include Nick Varner (1989, 1990), Mika Immonen (2008, 2009) and now Appleton (2010, 2011).

At 1 p.m. Appleton faced off with the other undefeated player, Alex Pagulayan, in the hot seat match. Pagulayan, who won the Open in 2005 and was in the finals in 2002, staved off Appleton and held the lead at 6-4. But Appleton’s break was working, and so were his defensive moves. Though he had his chances, Pagulayan never won another rack in that match, as Appleton steamrolled through to an 11-6 win.

In the concurrent quarterfinal match, Dennis Hatch, who had played and won six matches Friday on the one-loss side to reach Saturday alive, and Shawn Putnam went up against each other. “Big Bubba” opened up the set with a four-pack and kept Hatch in his chair for most of the match. Finally Hatch won the eighth rack and raised his arms in the air to celebrate. Putnam took the next two and only allowed “The Hatchetman” one more game before breezing past him 11-2.

The Diamond Open 10-Ball Professional Players Championship kicked off Thursday morning with a field that was expanded to 72 players.

Putnam went on to meet Pagulayan in the semifinal match, where the score remained even for the first few games, but it didn’t take long for Pagulayan’s little mistakes to catch up to him. Putnam reached a 6-2 lead, but Pagulayan fought back to 6-4. A scratch by “The Lion” gave Putnam the next rack, and then he broke and ran the following one. However, Pagulayan wasn’t done—he took the next four racks to knot the score at 8.

Live real time scoring and tournament brackets were provided by Propool.com at Inside POOL TV.

An empty break, though, spelled doom for him as Putnam was gifted a 4-9 combo to go up one and then employed his jump cue to win the next rack to reach the hill 10-8. The last rack was pure heartbreak for Pagulayan fans: A safety battle led to Pagulayan kicking in the 3 ball and hanging the 9 at the same time. He got out of line for the 6 and even worse position on the 8, which he and Jimmy Wych attributed to the balls skidding. A long sharp cut shot on the 8 ball was missed, giving Putnam the table with two balls left and the match 11-8.

The final match was a reversal for Putnam and his match with Hatch, as Appleton raced to a 6-0 lead in the extended race to 13. His break was dialed in, and Putnam really wasn’t allowed to the table too often. In the seventh rack Appleton scratched on the 4, and Putnam got on the board and won the next two as well. But when Putnam scratched on his next break, Appleton cleared that table and then broke and ran the next … and the next, with a long-rail bank on the 9 to top things off and bring the score to 9-3 in his favor.

They traded the next four racks, with a great deal of defensive play occurring. Appleton made three balls on his next break, and though they both missed the 3 ball, Putnam lucked in the 7 ball and ran out. But again, his problems with the break came up again and he scratched, and Appleton cleared the table to reach the hill 12-6. In the last rack, Appleton made one ball on the break—but it was all he needed. He broke apart the 2-8 cluster when he shot the 2, and as sparkling wine corks popped in the background, he coolly pocketed the remaining balls to take his second U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in a row.

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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.

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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

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

It was an epic battle between two Southern super powers at the August 13-14 stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour when B.J. Ussery and Sam Monday went head to head in the finals, with Ussery taking the win 11-8. The $1,500-added, 9-ball event was held at Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC, where a field of 58 amateurs came out to play.

Monday and Ussery first collided in the winners’ side final, after Monday had sent Norris Brady to the one-loss side 11-6 and Ussery had routed Mike Fuller 11-1. Monday and Ussery struggled to hill-hill before Ussery claimed the final game and the hot seat 11-10.

It was an epic battle between two Southern super powers at the August 13-14 stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour when Ussery and Monday went head to head in the finals, with Ussery taking the win 11-8.

Mike Fuller and George Crawford, meanwhile, were making their move on the west side of the chart. Fuller eliminated Tommy Cook at fifth place 11-4, while Crawford ended Brady’s event in the same spot with a 9-8 win. In the quarterfinal match, Crawford was the one to advance by virtue of a 9-10 victory over Fuller in the handicapped match.

Monday awaited Crawford in the semifinals, and it was a hill-hill battle, with Monday eking out an 11-8 score to try for revenge in the finals against Ussery. But Ussery was determined to take home the title, and he did so by besting Monday 11-8.

Results:
1st B.J. Ussery $1,000
2nd Sam Monday $650
3rd George Crawford $450
4th Mike Fuller $275
5th Tommy Cook $145
Norris Brady
7th Ian Holt $95
Dylan Letchworth