Jeremy Sossei, Manny Chau, Brandon Shuff and Daniel Smith
In an intense four-day, three-event tour stop, The Ozone - Olhausen Billiards Tour headed to the newly-remodeled Cue Nine (formerly Leisure Time Billiards) in Levittown, NY on Long Island. Alongside standard 9? tournament tables, Cue Nine also features two heated 3-cushion billiards, as well a wide menu of great food and a full bar in their unique upscale atmosphere.
The event streamed live via PoolActionTV.com, hosted by Ray Hansen aka BigTruck, and pool fans around the world got to see great action on the Olhausen feature table, which included players such as Mike Dechaine, George "Ginky" SanSouci, Shaun Wilkie, Manny Chau, Jeremy Sossei, Brandon Shuff, and Daniel Smith, among many others.
In the headlining double-elimination 9-ball event, thirty-three players competed over Saturday and Sunday. Featured on the streaming table in the first round, Brandon Shuff was defeated by Ginky SanSouci by an 11-7 scoreline. As a favorite of many New York pool fans, Ginky was one of the prominent figures in this event. but two rounds later was sent to the one-loss side by "Fireball" Mike Dechaine.
One of the interesting match-ups on Day 1 came in the first round of the one-loss side. As the only two females competing in this event, two members of the "Kiss of Death" team (sponsored by Olhausen Billiards), Michele Li and myself ("The Other" Alison Fischer) both lost our first round matches to Shaun Wilkie and Scott Murphy respectively, and were lined up to play in our first one-loss side match on the feature streaming table. Playing a race to nine, our set started out close at 3-3. Both of us were fending off nerves, but I managed to pull away to eventually win at 9-5. Following up that match, I played top NYC open player Mhet Vergara, exiting the tournament at 11-6.
Meanwhile in the winner's bracket four of the tournament favorites came through to the winner's side final four. Maryland's-based Peruvian player Manny Chau faced off against Connecticut pro Jeremy Sossei. Here Jeremy took a major lead on Manny, but this did not deter him from fighting back to test Jeremy. After a few critical errors in the final games, Manny came back to win double-hill, 11-10. In the other final four match-up, Mike Dechaine kept control over his match against Shaun Wilkie, to win with a final score of 11-7. Mike Dechaine and Manny Chau then faced off in the hot seat match, where the two had a close battle until Manny pulled away to win 11-7.
In the comeback bracket, Ginky SanSouci got busy grinding through a number of close-call matches. he took wins over Mhet Vergara (11-10), Brandon Shuff (11-8), Jeremy Sossei (11-9), and finally Shaun Wilkie (11-7). These four wins earned Ginky a rematch against Mike Dechaine in the live-streamed semifinal.
Mike Dechaine, who is well-seasoned in high-level competition looked to run away with this match, taking a 6-1 lead against Ginky. The odds may have been against Ginky at this point, but while trailing by a big margin, he grinded back to win 8 straight games to take the lead at 9-6. Mike and Ginky traded racks and Ginky wen to the hill first at 10-8. Mike countered by winning two more after Ginky gave in a few errors, to make it double-hill at 10-10.
The crowd around the feature table was electrified as Mike Dechaine broke in the case game. and then were stunned as three balls dropped, along with the cue ball-leaving Ginky a near-dead combination on the two ball and the nine. The sweaters were still in disbelief as Ginky sank the nine after Dechaine's deadly break, moving Ginky into the true double-elimination finals against Manny Chau.
In the first set of the finals in a race to 11, both players took some time to get comfortable. Ginky and Manny traded taking the lead a couple times, but Ginky found a groove to win the set at 11-10. Moving onto the second set of the finals, late Sunday night, the momentum shifted. Manny Chau, who didn't seem to get the pieces to fall into place in the previous set, found his high gear in the second set of the finals, and would win by a final score of 11-4.
Congratulations to both players for putting on great performances in this event.
9-BALL EVENT PAYOUTS
1 MANNY CHAU $2,250
2 GINKY SANCOUCE 1400
3 MIKE DECHAINE 885
4 SHAUN WILKIE 550
5 JEREMY SOSSEI 300
6 GREG ANTONNOKOS 300
7 Bobby Blackmore 200
8 BRANDON SHUFF 200
The Ozone Olhausen Classic Billiard Tours $1000 added 1 pocket event kicked off on Thursday night and finished up Friday night. The event's format was a race to 3 on both sides of the chart and drew in 15 players. Daniel Smith would go undefeated thru the bottom half of the bracket sending Brandon Shuff 3-2 to the one loss side followed by John Fargo 3-2; Manny Chua 3-2; Mike Dechaine3-0 in the match for the hot seat.
Smith would claim the win with a 5-3 finish against Mike Dechaine in the finals.
PAYOUTS
1ST DANIEL SMITH $825
2ND MIKE DECHAINE $500
3RD MANNY CHAU $300
4TH MICHEAL PANZARELLA $200
Brandon Shuff would take home 1st place in Sunday's $500 9-Ball by defeating Greg McAndrews 5-1 in set #1 and 5-3 on set#2. Shuff would work his way thru the top half of the bracket defeating Tony Sinacore 5-2; John Carioti 5-2; Gordan Rudelich 5-2; and Greg McAndrews in the match for the hot seat.
PAYOUTS
1ST BRANDON SHUFF $500
2ND GREG MCANDREWS $250
3RD Nick Brucato $100
4TH BOBBY BLACKMORE $30
The Ozone Olhausen Classic Billiards Tour staff would like to thank John Brendle the owner of Cue Nine Billiards for hosting the event as well as the players that support our sport for their continued support.
The Ozone Olhausen Classic Billiard Tours 10 Ball event kicked off on Friday night the event format was a race to 4 single elmination. Jeremy Sossei would come through the bottom of the bracket to take the win. Sossei defeated Robert Gassmann 4-0; Daniel Smith 4-1; Mike DeChaine 4-3; and Mike Janis 4-0.
Payouts
1st Jeremy Sossei $500
2nd Mike Janis $300
3rd Mike Panzarella $120
