Forty-Five top New England players gathered at Country Club USA in Chelmsford, Mass to vie for the $3500 added Pechauer New England 9-Ball Series season closer.
Some of the more notable regional players were Walter Bryksa, Tony Ruberto, Kevin Guimond, Randy Labonte, Dave Fernandez, Jay McCoy, Ken Ludy, Luis Rios, Ray Mack and Joey Dupuis. On Saturday there were few surprises other than Tony Ruberto who was one of the players considered to be a contender uncharacteristically was knocked out in back to back matches. Otherwise it was the gang of usual suspects who found themselves across the table from one another on the last day of play.
Dupuis overcame Mack in the match for the hot-seat 9-5. Perhaps it was the sting from that match, but Mack, after a sea-saw start in his one loss side match against Jay McCoy, took control of the last 4 out of 5 games to march right back into the finals.
The finals between Dupuis and Mack were played on a particularly tight table of which each of the two players found grueling. Again the match went back which saw each with 5 games under their belts going into the 11th game when Ray made an error that allowed Dupuis to soar ahead and capture the next three games. However, Mack is never to be taken for granted as he mounted an assault and fought his way back to tie the match up again this time 8-8. Always the tough competitor, Dupuis responded with his own, oh heck no, and again took a 3 game lead leaving a score now of 11-8 in a race to 13. D?j? vu ensued however and again Mack fired back and spoke with his cue answering by taking the next three games. Would he be ?copy cat Mack? or the ?attack Mack?. The hill-hill game had Mack breaking. He pocked a ball but left himself with a push on the one. Dupuis handed the push back to Mack, where he implemented a wonderful safety. Dupuis made the tough cut, broke a few balls that were packed together apart, all looked wonderful, until he came to the 3-ball. Dupuis needed to come around three rails to get position on the 4-ball when the cue ball gently came to rest blocked by the 9-ball. Left with a kick, Dupuis made contact but also left an open table of which Mack ran with little difficulty and for a $2200 payday.
The tour organizers would like to thank their sponsors, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Mike Webb Cues, Jim Mandingo Cues, Predator Cues, Falcon Cues, Iwan Simonis, Mueller, Tiger Products, Instroke, Moonlight Media, Paul Costain, Uniloc Corporation, PoolDawg.com, and Dana Arkalis for their support this past season. The 2006-2007 season opener will take place September 9-10 at Country Club USA. Please check out the tour website for details.
