Mike Dechaine
With both Dennis Hatch and Bucky Souvanthong not making the trip to TJ's Classic Billiards in Waterville, ME for the Joss Tour stop, that left the field wide open for someone like Mike Dechaine to swoop in and take the tournament win.
Dechaine didn't just waltz through the field though. He was tested by both Cody Francis (9-8) and Ivaylo Petrov (9-7) on Saturday, but Dechaine rose to the occasion both times. Sunday was a different story altogether though. Dechaine took the hot-seat with a lopsided 9-1 win over Mike Renshaw. Ashley Nowlan then finished off Renshaw 9-4 on the one loss side.
The race to 9 double elimination finals of the main event (between Dechaine and Nowlan) started at the same time as the race to three second chance tournament finals; and Dechaine won the main event 9-1 before the second chance event was decided. That was how dominating Dechaine was on day two of the event.
Dechaine picked up $1000 for first place, while Nowlan settled for $725 in second place prize money.
When the second chance tournament finished, it was Jeff LaFlamme (brother of former room owner TJ LaFlamme) who earned the victory over Mike Bradford for first place.
LaFlamme collected $280, while Bradford took home $180.
The Joss Tour will be at Trick Shot Billiards near Albany, NY next weekend and tour director Mike Zuglan says that the upcoming Turning Stone Classic XVIII is filling up fast. Interested players are urged to contact Zuglan to cement their spot in the tournament.
