Clyde Matta and Joe Dupuis battled only once, in the finals, of the April 29 stop on the Lucasi Hybrid New England 9-Ball Tour. Matta was sitting in the hot seat and Dupuis was coming off of a 28-7, three-match winning streak on the loss side. They battled to a handicapped double hill (4-9; advantage, Matta) before Matta prevailed to take the event title. The event drew 20 entrants to Stix and Stones in Abington, MA.
Matta got into the hot seat match with a 5-5 victory over Mike Nicaloro (Nicaloro going to 7), as Dupuis was being sent west by Dan Tankerly 4-5 (Dupuis going to 10). Matta gained the hot seat 6-4 over Tankerly, and watched as Dupuis gave up only three racks over his last 19 games to meet him in the finals.
Dupuis moved over to begin his loss-side journey against Scott Chrizzo, who'd survived a double hill match against Jim Prather, and won a 7-2 decision over Peter Sword to reach him. Nicaloro drew Andy Maynard, who'd gotten by Ed Loring 6-2 and Paul Dozer 6-3. In the toughest battle of the three he faced on the loss side, Dupuis survived a double hill match against Chrizzo, as Maynard downed Nicaloro 9-5.
Dupuis gave up only a single rack against Maynard in the quarterfinals that followed, and only two in his semifinal re-match against Tankerly. Matta, though, completed an undefeated day with a 5-9 victory in the finals that secured the event title.
