Tucker Clears His Path to Rhode Island Championship

By Tori Hilty, InsidePOOL staff

Dethroning last year's winner, Joe Tucker can now claim the bragging rights of being the Rhode Island State 9-Ball champ for this year.  He came all the way through the west side of the chart after Ray McNamara defeated him in his first match of the o­ne-day event held at The Rhode Island Billiard Bar & Bistro o­n June 26, 2004.

Tucker, a many-time past champion, was in stroke when he faced Rich Senna in the quarterfinals, which may explain how he got out to such a big lead.  Allowing Senna to get o­n the board with two games, Tucker wrapped the match up with a tidy win of 7-2.

It was a pleasant surprise for some when Tom D'Alfonso made it far enough o­n the winners' side to battle reigning champ Steve Tavernier to determine king of the hill.  Since the tournament is limited to Rhode Island residents, there are some usual suspects who take the top spots: Tavernier, Tucker, and McNamara.  Although D'Alfonso played well, he couldn't catch Tavernier before he took the win.

Going to the o­ne-loss side to face Tucker in the semifinals, D'Alfonso was sure to infiltrate the ranks of established winners even if he was defeated. Again, Tucker shot out to the lead, leaving D'Alfonso comfortably in third place with a 7-3 win.

Tucker and Tavernier would face off in the finals in a battle of champions, having nearly 10 Rhode Island championships between them.  Since this was a true double-elimination tournament, Tucker would have to defeat Tavernier twice in order to be crowned the champ.  Still zoning, Tucker took the first set 9-2.  Tavernier improved in the second set, managing to claim four racks, but it just was not enough to knock Tucker off his game.  Winning the second set 9-4, Tucker claimed the state championship yet again.

Results:

1st Joe Tucker

2nd Steve Tavernier

3rd Tom D'Alfonso

4th Rich Senna

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