Park Earns First Joss Billiard Tour Win
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Latham, NY
By Rick Davis
The first Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop of the new year took place over the January 19-20 weekend at Diamond Eight Billiards in Latham, NY, where a 45-player field tried in vain to deny Shin Park his first tour win.
Late action on the winners’ side had Park slip past Joey Korsiak double-hill, while Tony Chohan drilled Norm Pomainville 9-2. This set up the hot seat match between Park and Chohan, and after the back-and-forth struggle it was Park who was victorious with the 9-7 win.
On the one-loss side Korsiak was ousted by tournament promoter and director Mike Zuglan, who ousted him 9-2. In that same round Marc Vidal eliminated Pomainville to face Zuglan in the quarterfinals.
Now down to the top four, Zuglan looked to avenge his opening-round loss to Vidal while inching closer to the finals. After a slow start Zuglan surged ahead to take the match 9-5 then kept his momentum while he eliminated Chohan 9-7 in the semifinals.
This brought Zuglan to face Park in the finals to determine who would be crowned champion, and after taking the first set 9-7, Zuglan made it anyone’s game in the final set. Park, however, got his wakeup call early in the set and shot out to a 5-0 lead, and after a great fight from Zuglan, Park took the match 9-5 to earn his first-ever Joss Tour win.
Next, the Joss Tour visits Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ, on January 26. Following that the Joss Tour will have Turning Stone Classic X at the Turning Stone Hotel and Casino in Verona, NY. With less than 20 open spots available anyone interested should contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163.
Results:
1st Shin Park
2nd Mike Zuglan
3rd Tony Chohan
4th Marc Vidal
5th Joey Korsiak
Norm Pomainville