by Skip Maloney, Inside POOL Magazine

Saez outlasted Marc Vidal to take down the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop at TJ's Billiards in Waterville, ME.

Robb Saez withstood a double challenge from Marc Vidal and took home the first-place prize on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop September 27-28. The $2,000-added event drew 28 entrants to TJ’s Classic Billiards in Waterville, ME.

Among the winners’ side final four, Saez and Billy “the Kid” Lanna sent Vidal and Ivaylo Petrov, respectively, to the one-loss side of the bracket with identical 9-6 victories. Saez then grabbed the hot seat, sending Lanna over with a 9-7 win.

On the one-loss side, Ray McNamara and Tom McGonagle dropped Chris Leal and David Hall into a tie for seventh before meeting up with Vidal and Petrov. The latter two dropped McNamara and McGonagle into a tie for fifth place and squared off to face each other in the quarterfinals. Vidal and Petrov battled to a 9-7 win for Vidal, who went on to defeat Lanna in the semifinals 9-6.

In what turned out to be only the third match among the tournament’s final ten to conclude with a score differential higher than four racks, Saez concluded his first journey of the year to first place with a commanding 9-3 victory over Vidal.

Results:
1st Robb Saez
2nd Marc Vidal
3rd Billy Lanna
4th Ivaylo Petrov
5/6th Ray McNamara
5/6th Tom McGonagle
7/8th Chris Leal
7/8th David Hall