Kirkwood Snaps Off Joss Tour Event

Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / West Hempstead, NY

by Skip Maloney

Jason Kirkwood

Early Sunday on the winners’ side of the bracket, Blackmore and tour director Mike Zuglan had moved past Tony Robles and Andonis Brastos, respectively. Blackmore scored a 9-4 win, while Zuglan shut out Brastos 9-0 before falling to Blackmore 9-3 in the winners’-side finals.

On the one-loss side of the bracket, Kirkwood had stayed alive to reach a Sunday morning match against Chuck Altomare, who’d sent him to the one-loss bracket on Saturday in the first place with a 9-5 defeat. Tom Walter, in the meantime, defeated Ariel Rivera by the same score.

Kirkwood and Walter then faced recent arrivals from the winners’ side, Robles and Brastos, defeating them by identical 9-5 scores. They then squared off against each other, with Kirkwood winning 9-4 and moving on to face Zuglan in the semifinals. Zuglan fell to Kirkwood by the same score that had eliminated him in the hot seat match 9-3, setting up the double-elimination final between Kirkwood and Blackmore.

Kirkwood took the first match handily 9-3, and though he jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the second match, Blackmore flexed a little muscle to struggle back within two at 6-4. Kirkwood surged to reach the hill at 8-4, and despite Blackmore taking the next three racks, Kirkwood sealed the deal with a 9-7 victory.

Results:
1st Jason Kirkwood
2nd Bob Blackmore
3rd Mike Zuglan
4th Tom Walter
5th Tony Robles
Andonis Brastos
7th Ariel Rivera
Chuck Altomare