Soel Quinones, Ambriory Minyety, Kerry Mcauliffe, Scott Reynolds, Alvin Lam and Ricardo Diaz
Ambriori Minyety and Soel Quinones went undefeated through a field of 32 teams to claim the New England 9-Ball Series title on the eighth stop of the 2020-2021 tour. The $500-added event, held on Sunday, April 11, was hosted by Snooker’s in Providence, RI.
Minyety & Quinones began their day in the lower bracket, getting by two teams (one shutout and one double hill match) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Casey Olivieri and Joe Watt. From the upper bracket, Kerry McAuliffe and Scott Reynolds got by two team opponents (identical 5-1 scores) to arrive at their winners’ side semifinal against Kevin Bauccio and Matt Rezendes.
Two double hill matches advanced Minyety/Quinones (4-3) to the hot seat match versus McAuliffe/Reynolds (5-4). Minyety/Quinones went on to claim the hot seat 5-2 over McAuliffe/Reynolds and waited on their return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Bauccio/Rezendes drew a re-match against the mixed gender team of Stacie Bourbeau and Mark Morgan, whom they’d defeated in a winners’ side quarterfinal 5-3. Bourbeau/Morgan then defeated the teams of Jose Concepcion and Derek Cunningham and Dominick Sousa and Brandon Coley, both 5-3. Olivieri/Watt picked up Ricardo Diaz and Alvin Lam, who were working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently included a double hill victory over Steve Downs and Melissa Austin, and a 4-2 win over Rich Senna and Ryan McCrum.
Bauccio/Rezendes defeated Bourbeau/Morgan 5-2 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Diaz/Lam, who’d chalked up loss-side win #5, eliminating Olivieri/Watt 4-2. Diaz/Lam advanced one more step, defeating Bauccio/Rezendes 4-3 in those quarterfinals (Bauccio/Rezendes racing to 5).
McAuliffe/Reynolds ended the Diaz/Lam loss-side streak with a 5-2 win in the semifinals and got a second shot at Minyety/Quinones waiting on them in the hot seat.
McAuliffe/Reynolds were able to improve their score from the hot seat match, but only by a single rack. Minyety/Quinones completed their undefeated run with a 5-3 victory in the finals.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Snooker’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator, Poison, Arcos II, BCAPL, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, AZBilliards, Salotto, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, MJS Construction, Master Billiards, OTLVISE, Piku Tips and Just The Tip Cue Repair and Custom Accessories.
The next stop on the NE 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Sunday, April 25, will be a $500-added, 8-Ball event, hosted by Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
