Ernest Perell, a C+ handicap player, defeated an A+ opponent – Randy Labonte – twice to go undefeated and capture the New England 9-Ball Championships on Sunday, April 18. The $1,000-added, New England 9-Ball Series event, with a total purse of $2,920, drew 64 players to Legends Billiards in Portsmouth, NH.
Perell took out a B+ player, Rich Senna, with a 4-4 win among the winners' side final four to get into the hot seat match versus Labonte, who'd just sent Paul Linteras west 6-1. Perell gained the hot seat with a 4-5 win over Labonte.
On the one-loss side, Senna drew Greg Murry, who'd defeated Rich Minichello 5-3 and Kevin Sun 5-2. Nick Connor, who'd shutout John Smith and defeated Andy Maynard 5-2 squared off against Linteras. Murry made Senna's journey west a one-stop operation, defeating him 5-3, while Linteras dropped Connor into the tie for fifth place 4-3. In the quarterfinals that followed, Linteras defeated Murry 4-2.
Labonte had allowed Linteras only a single rack in the earlier meeting among the winners' side final four. In the semifinals, he gave up even less, shutting Linteras out 6-0 for a second chance against Perell.
Their second meeting was a duplicate of their first in the hot seat match. Perell defeated Labonte 4-5 again to take home the first place prize.
