Ambriory Minyeti, Jesus Garcia, and Beau Powers
In something of a break from tradition which, on the New England 9-Ball Series, has normally dictated the use of two brackets to separate higher and lower-ranked competitors until near the end of a given tournament, Stop #4 on the Series, held this past weekend (Sat. Jan 13) opted for a single bracket. The event was limited to competitors with a 685 Fargo Rate or lower, and as it turned out, the closest anyone came to that threshold was Beau Powers (649), who competed in both the hot seat and finals.
By Fargo Rate ‘odds’ calculations, Powers was given a 63.5% chance of winning the hot seat match, which he did, over the lower-rated (553) Jesus Garcia. Powers’ odds were even better in the reduced-race final (66.8%), but Garcia limited him to two racks of the four he needed, as Garcia went on to win and claim the event title.
Garcia beat the ‘odds’ in four of his six matches, to include the two he played against Powers. He opened with 5-1 victories over Zack Wells (525) and Andy Downs (559). He followed that up with another 5-1 victory over Phil Russo, which set him up to face Dominick Souza (629) in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Powers, in the meantime, began by defeating four opponents, all of whom were rated lower. In his only straight-up race to 5, he defeated Freddy Monteagudo (609) 5-1 and then shut out both Dawn Luz (488) and Bob Campbell (511) to draw Justin Grant (541) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Garcia got into the hot seat match with a 4-1 victory over Souza (racing to 5). Powers joined him, sending Grant to the loss side 6-2. Powers, the odds-on favorite to claim the seat, did so 6-2 over Garcia.
On the loss side, Steve Smith (574), who’d lost his opening-round match, double hill, to Brandon Neal, went to work on a five-match winning streak that had recently eliminated Bob Cambell and in a successful rematch, Neal, both 4-1. Smith drew Souza, coming into his ‘lane’ from the winners’ side semifinal. Ambriory Minyety (598), who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal match, double hill, to Souza, chalked up two straight shutouts over Jeffrey Sheehan and Phil Russo to pick up Grant.
In a straight up race to 4, Minyety and Grant battled to double hill, before Minyety, once again, advanced, this time into the quarterfinals. Minyety’s third straight race to 4 didn’t end as well. Powers took him out 4-1 in the semifinals for a second shot at Garcia.
Garcia had gone into the hot seat match with two ‘beads on the wire’ in a race to 6 and lost 6-2. In the finals, Garcia had only a single ‘bead on the wire’ in a race to 4 (thus, increasing Powers’ Fargo ‘odds’ at winning the match). Garcia beat the odds, downing Powers 3-2 to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Strokers Billiards for their hospitality, along with sponsors USAPL New England, BEF, Fargo Rate, AZBilliards, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, MJS Construction, OTLVISE, Outsville, Cue Pocket LLC, and Just The Tip Cue Repair and Custom Accessories.
The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, which is being billed as Stop #4.5, is scheduled for Sunday, January 28 and will be another single-bracket, 685 and Under Fargo-rated tournament, hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
0 comments