Zion Zvi (File photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe)
Zion Zvi held off Tom D'Alfonso to win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop at Raxx Pool Room and Grill in West Hempstead NY over the weekend of October 30 - 31.
With a total of 32 players competing for the $3500 in prize money, smart money would have been on Mika Immonen as the favorite in this event, but Tom D'Alfonso sent tremors through the tournament chart on Saturday with is 9-7 victory over Immonen. D'Alfonso rode the momentum of that win all the way to the hot-seat match on Sunday, but ran out of steam as Zion Zvi scored a lopsided 9-1 win for the hot-seat.
On the one loss side, D'Alfonso found Immonen waiting for a rematch but that suited D'Alfonso just fine as he burned The Iceman yet again; this time by the score of 9-5.
D'Alfonso won the first match in the true double elimination finals 9-4, but Zvi recovered from that loss and defeated D'Alfonso 9-6 in the second set for the tournament win.
Zvi pocketed $1100 for first, while D'Alfonso took home $750 for second.
In the Sunday Second Chance Event, Bobby Blackmore bounced back from a first round loss to Mike Tanzarella to win six matches in a row to take first place. Mhet Vergara took the hot-seat in the event with a win over Brent Boemmels, but Blackmore cruised through both Boemmels and Vergara in his way to the win.
Blackmore earned $320, while Vergara settled for $200.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Hippo's House of Billiards in Yorkville, NY next weekend for the 2nd Annual Al Conte Memorial. Players who are interested in competing in the Turning Stone Classic XVI need to get their entries in asap. The event is limited to 128 players and is filling fast.
