The 2007/2008 New England 9-Ball Series Season Finale took place the weekend of August 2nd-3rd at Buster's Billiards in Somersworth, New Hampshire. The finale drew a total field of thirty-two players to vie for the $3700 total purse. Included in the field were some of the regions most notable players such as Tom McGonagle, Cleiton Rocha, Mike Nicoloro, Mike Dechaine, Ivaylo Petrov, Billy Lanna, Ray MacNamara, Chris Leal, Tim Perry, Dave Hall, and Dave Fernandez.
The tour's director Marc Dionne presented the season awards during the event, which included Player of the Year – Dave Fernandez; Most Improved Player, Ivaylo Petrov; and Sportsman of the Year, Cleiton Rocha.
Fernandez, who is sponsored by Samsara Custom Cues and MD Promotions Inc., won this prestigious title for the second year in a row. Ivaylo Petrov has continuously shown great determination and a strong competitive spirit – the last three tour events were won by Petrov, plus he recently took second place to WPBA superstar Karen Corr in the May 3rd-4th Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour event at Snookers in Providence, Rhode Island. We look forward to seeing plenty more from Petrov. This leads us to the Sportsman of the Year – Cleiton Rocha, sponsored by MD Promotions Inc. This distinction is determined and presented to the player on the tour who shows grace in both winning/losing and in general is a great ambassador of the game – Rocha has been a great addition to the tour.
But, in addition to the awards, there was a tournament to be played and this weekend went to one that has been making a splash of his own recently, Mike Dechaine. Dechaine went undefeated - included in his wins were Cleiton Rocha 9-4, Dave Hall 9-7, and he snuck by a determined Ray Macnamara in the hot-seat match to await his opponent in the finals.
On the one-loss side, the competition was fierce and eventual second place finisher Tom McGonagle had plenty of tough players to work through to get to the final round including a 9-6 win over Ivaylo Petrov; 9-7 over Billy Lanna; and then a 9-6 ending with Ray Macnamara.
The finals were a single race to thirteen games, alternating break format. When the set started, Dechaine came out of the gate firing on all cylinders as he won the first five games before McGonagle new what had occurred. McGonagle had an opportunity at that point to post two games making the score 5-2 (Dechaine) but the next four games all went to Dechaine. Although the 9-2 score was daunting, McGonagle dug deep and added a few more games under his belt boosting the score to 9-5 before Dechaine hopped back up with the next three. At 12-5, Dechaine had a straight in nine-ball for the championship win, but missed the shot. McGonagle had new life and pushed the set score to 9-6, then eventually the next four games making the score a tight 12-10. As McGonagle was running out the next rack, he missed an easy eight ball and left Dechaine the two ball out for the win and the title – Dechaine could not finish out the game though – McGonagle did so and posted yet another game taking the set to a hill-hill status. Dechaine held full advantage on the last rack as he had the break and although the last few racks were brutal, he was able to muster up the desire and proceeded to break and run the rack for the victory.
The tour would like to thank all in attendance and the Busters Billiards Owner Frank Gravel and Manager Stewart Rainey for their support. In addition, special thanks to the tour sponsors including Predator Cues, Uniloc Corp, AZBilliards.com, Iwan Simonis, and Inside Pool. For more information on the tour, visit www.mdpromotions.com or contact Marc Dionne at (978) 836-6818 or email madion9@aol.com
File photo courtesy of Mitch Heydt
