by Skip Maloney

Mika “Iceman” Immonen started and finished strong at the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop the weekend of April 4-5, winning his first two matches and the final against Dave Grau by a combined score of 27-8. The $2,000-added event, with a total purse of $5,200, drew 40 entrants to Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY.

Immonen and Grau faced each other first among the winners’ side final four. They’d each survived a hill-hill struggle in earlier rounds and defeated two opponents by identical 9-2, 9-3 scores to get there. Immonen defeated Grau 9-7 and moved into the hot seat match versus Joe Korsiak, who’d just sent George San Souci west 9-6. Immonen struggled again but gained the hot seat with a second straight 9-7 win.

On the one-loss side, perennial tour winner Dennis Hatch was on a quarterfinal collision course with Grau, who’d sent him left 9-2 in the second round. Hatch got by Tom McGonagle 9-1 and defeated Pete Tascarella, Sr. 9-3 to face San Souci. It was Matt Krah, who’d advanced past Mhet Vergara and Shaun Wilkie, who was there to meet Grau. Grau survived his second hill-hill battle of the weekend in a win over Krah, as Hatch was busy defeating Sansouci 9-7.

Grau then dropped Hatch into fourth place 9-7 and seemed to be picking up speed. He moved past Korsiak in a 9-3 semifinal match and got a second chance versus Immonen. “Iceman” lived up to his name, though, finishing his undefeated weekend with a strong 9-3 win over Grau that earned him top honors.

Mika “Iceman” Immonen started and finished strong at the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop the weekend of April 4-5, winning his first two matches and the final against Dave Grau by a combined score of 27-8.

Results:
1st Mika Immonen $1,350
2nd Dave Grau $950
3rd Joe Korsiak $750
4th Dennis Hatch $550
5th Matt Krah $400
George Sansouci
7th Shaun Wilkie $200
Pete Tascarella, Sr.
9th Mhet Vergara $100
Chris Lazarovitch
Tom McGonagle
Carmen Lombardo