Souvanthong Scores on Joss Tour

Souvanthong Scores on Joss Tour
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Rochester, NY

by Rick Davis
Bucky Souvanthong topped a field of 37 billiard players at the March 29-30 stop of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour. The event was hosted by Classic Billiards in Rochester, NY, and offered some of the best 9-ball action around for the weekend.
Late on the winners’ side Dan Heidrich sent Jason “The Dark Horse” Kirkwood west 9-6 but then fell to Souvanthong 9-7 in the hot seat match. On the one-loss side Ron Casanzio was working on a comeback, eliminating Jim Behringer 9-4 to reach the quarterfinal round. Kirkwood was also still fighting, and after ousting Pat Howey 9-5, he knocked out Casanzio 9-4. In the quarterfinals Kirkwood went on to get revenge against Heidrich, whom he eliminated with a 9-5 score.
In the final the true double-elimination format made it an interesting fight, and after Kirkwood owned the opening set 9-3 it looked to be anyone’s game. With the last set running, neither player could get an edge and finally, with the match at 8-all, both players had the opportunity to close out the set. After each had failed to claim it Souvanthong managed to capture the final rack for the 9-8 win.
Results:
1st Bucky Souvanthong
2nd Jason Kirkwood
3rd Dan Heidrich
4th Ron Casanzio
5th Jim Behringer
Pat Howey
7th Dan Smith
Chris Orme