Sweet Sweep for Parica

By Bill Rosenberger

Ultimate Billiards Club in Berlin, CT, boasted 64-player field o­n November 20-21, highlighted by Jose Parica, who came back from a quarterfinal setback to sweep the two-set finals and earn the Joss Tour victory. 

Parica fell to Tom D'Alfonso in the winners' bracket quarterfinals 9-6 but went o­n to the o­ne-loss side and ousted Tony Robles 9-7 to advance to the semifinals.  His opponent would either be D'Alfonso, or Ryan McCreesh, both of whom had earned spots in the hot seat.

McCreesh and D'Alfonso both played tough throughout the weekend, and it escalated even more in the hot seat match.  Up 8-6, McCreesh was unable to close out the match.  D'Alfonso battled back to put the match o­n the hill to force a decisive game.  After the break, McCreesh played a good safety o­n the 2 ball, leaving D'Alfonso a long kick off the rail just to hit the 2.  But the 2 kicked out and hit the 9 ball into the pocket, giving D'Alfonso the 9-8 win. 

A shocked and disappointed McCreesh headed to the semifinals to face Parica, who had advanced with the win over Robles.  Parica, sensing McCreesh's disturbance, quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead.  But McCreesh composed himself and won seven straight games for a 7-5 lead.  However, with an 8-6 lead, McCreesh watched as Parica came back and put the match o­n the hill.  Then Parica sank the 9 o­n the break to advance to the finals.  "I've never lost two straight matches like that before," said a stunned McCreesh.  "It's just unbelievable."

In the finals, D'Alfonso faced Parica, who had to win two sets to take the top spot.  The first set belonged to Parica, who won 9-3, and his momentum carried over to the second set as well.  He jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but D'Alfonso battled back to get the score at 7 apiece.  But Parica couldn't be stopped, and he completed his comeback with a 9-7 victory.

Results:
1st Jose Parica $2,700
2nd Tom D'Alfonso $1,800
3rd Ryan McCreesh $1,400
4th Tony Robles $1,000
5th Joey Korsiak, Mike Zuglan $750
7th Randy Labonte, Pete Genovese $500
9th Mike Minichello, Frankie Hernandez, Teddy Garrahan, Karen Corr $300
13th Marc Vidal, Bruce Carroll, Tony Ruberto, Tom Walter $200