by Skip Maloney

Mika “Iceman” Immonen came from the one-loss side to defeat Marc Vidal in the finals of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop the weekend of January 10-11. In the midst of a snowstorm, 37 entrants were on hand for the $2,000-added event, hosted by Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ.

From among the winners’ side final four, Vidal bested Dave Grau 9-6 to face Tom McGonagle in the hot seat match. McGonagle, who’d sent Peter Nielsen west in a double-hill battle, followed him over on the heels of a 9-4 win by Vidal.

Immonen, in the meantime, was working his way back to the finals. He got by Mike Miller 9-5 and Mike Badsteubner 9-4 to face Nielsen. Bucky Souvanthong defeated Jason Michas and Bob Blackmore for the right to meet Grau. Immonen moved into the quarterfinals with a 9-5 win over Nielsen, as Grau advanced to meet him on the heels of a 9-7 victory over Souvanthong. Immonen dropped Grau into fourth place and then defeated McGonagle in the semifinals 9-3.

In the true double-elimination finals, Immonen was forced to win two. He took both sets 9-3 to take top honors in the tour’s first stop of the year.

Mika “Iceman” Immonen came from the one-loss side to defeat Marc Vidal in the finals of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop the weekend of January 10-11.

Results:
1st Mika Immonen $1,400
2nd Marc Vidal $980
3rd Tom McGonagle $780
4th Dave Grau $600
5th Peter Nielsen $400
Bucky Souvanthong
7th Mike Badsteubner $200
Bob Blackmore
9th Tony Robles
Mike Miller
Brandon Shuff
Jason Michas