Zuglan Reaches the Top of Joss Tour

Zuglan Reaches the Top of Joss Tour
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Albany, NY
by Rick Davis
After a season of top finishes that stopped just shy of first place, the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour was proud to see tournament director Mike Zuglan capture the top spot at their April 15 event at Golden Cue Billiards in Albany, NY.
Early in the event the 54-player field expected to be chasing Dennis Hatch, who had owned the last four tour stops, but after Tim Parisian gave him an early loss it was apparent the tides were changing. Parisian kept in gear throughout the winners’ side and made it to the hot seat match to face Zuglan, but it was Zuglan that was in charge there, defeating Parisian 9-5 to reach the finals.
Over on the one-loss side an early surprise occurred as tournament regular Bucky Souvanthong eliminated Hatch after a 9-0 shutout. Souvanthong fought to reach the quarterfinals but fell just shy, getting eliminated 9-4 by Canada’s Dan Hewitt, who was making a comeback on his own. Meeting Hewitt in the quarterfinals was Kevin Ketz, who had just eliminated Mike Hurley 9-3, bringing the field down to the top four.
The quarterfinal round blazed by as Hewitt scorched Ketz 9-3 and then, not letting up, Hewitt drilled Parisian 9-1, usurping the field to get back to the winners’ side and face Zuglan in the finals. Early on Hewitt looked strong as he shot out to an 8-3 lead, but Zuglan had the first-place title in his sights and claimed the next six racks to win the match and the event.
Results:
1st Mike Zuglan
2nd Dan Hewitt
3rd Tim Parisian
4th Kevin Ketz
5th Mike Hurley
Bucky Souvanthong