Over his final seven matches on the J.Pechauer Ride the 9 Tour stop on Sunday, February 12, David Wright won (on average) over three out of every four games he played. All but two of those matches were recorded on the loss-side of the tournament bracket. The final two were the two sets of a double elimination final, in which he defeated Mike Selig to capture the event title. The $600-added event, named in the honor of Cleiton Rocha, drew 54 entrants (including Rocha) to Snookers, in Providence, RI.
Wright, a C+ player, was moved to the west bracket early in this one; by Dave Bowden, who eventually followed him over, though he managed to dodge Wright's revenge, when he was knocked out during the matches that decided the tie for seventh place. Moving among the winners' side final four were Selig, Jordan Emerson, Rob Ragusa and Billy Lanna. Selig sent Emerson to the loss side with a handicapped 4-4 win, as Ragusa did likewise to Lanna 3-3. Selig got into the hot seat with a shutout over Ragusa.
It was Emerson who moved over and ran into a streaking Wright, already with five notches on his loss-side belt, including wins over Bill Bassi and Josh Lerner, both 5-2. Lanna picked up Ty Speedwell, who'd defeated Josh Gormly 5-1 and shut out Bowden to reach him. Wright shut out Emerson to move into the quarterfinals and was joined by Lanna, who'd downed Speedwell 5-2.
Wright had six, loss-side wins behind him at this point. He chalked up # 7 with a 4-2 victory over Lanna, and completed his trip to the finals with a 5-2 victory over Ragusa in the semifinals. Over the next 13 games, which comprised the two sets of the double elimination final, Wright gave up only two racks (one in each set) over Selig to secure the event victory.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Snookers in Providence for their hospitality, as well as new players who joined the tour for this event. They also offered thanks to Narragansett Beer for sponsorship of the event and their contributions to the prize money, as well as co-sponsors J. Pechauer Cues, CueShark, Muellers, and Magic Rack (CSI).
