Stop eight on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour went basically as expected with Jeremy Sossei (ranked #1 on tour) defeating Ron Casanzio (ranked #2 on tour) twice to complete an undefeated run and capture first place at Sharpshooters Billiards in Amsterdam, NY.
The latter stages of the event couldn't have been closer with all four of the matches between the final eight players on the winners side going hill-hill before a victor was determined. Sossei would defeat Willie Oney in that round of play, before scoring a 9-7 win over Casanzio for the hot-seat.
Casanzio wouldn't stay on the left side of the brackets for long though, as he cruised through his match with Danny Hewitt and won 9-4.
Sossei looked like he would run away with the first set of the finals as he led the match 8-2 before Casanzio made one more push. Down by six racks, Casanzio broke and ran four straight racks to get back within two games at 8-6, but his run would end when he broke dry in the 15th rack and Sossei ran out for the 9-6 victory.
Twelve players came back on Sunday to compete in the second chance tournament that saw Bruce Carroll hold off a late charge from Jorge Teixeira in the finals. Carroll defeated Phil Davis 3-0 for the hot-seat, and Davis then lost 3-2 to Teixeira. Teixeira defeated Carroll 3-1 in the first set of the double elimination finals, but Carroll would come back to win the second set by the same 3-1 scoreline.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action on Feb 21st and 22nd at Trick Shot Billiards in Clifton Park, NY.
