Zuglan Pulls Through in Joss Win

By Bill Rosenberger

Mike Zuglan, the owner and tournament director of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, finally cracked through the top, winning the event at Rack N Roll Billiards in Stamford, CT.  The tour stop, held January 8-9, boasted a small but talented field of 29 players that included Zuglan, Joey Korsiak, and Teddy Garrahan. 

For the first day and half, though, Zuglan and Eddie Vazquez owned the tournament, streaking through to the hot seat match held Sunday afternoon.  In what Zuglan called his "toughest match of the tournament," he was able to overcome a three-game deficit to win the match 9-8. 

Zuglan trailed Vazquez 5-2, but a couple 9 balls off the break put him right back in the match.  But Vazquez was relentless, getting to the hill first with an 8-6 lead.  Zuglan recovered and fought back to win the hill-hill match. 

In the o­ne-loss side, Korsiak advanced to the semifinals with a 9-6 win over Garrahan.  Up next for the Korsiak was Vazquez, and he turned the table o­n the young New Yorker, winning 9-6 and setting up the finals rematch with Zuglan.

The finals should have been just as close as the hot seat match, but Vazquez didn't have it in him.  Zuglan built and early 4-1 lead and kept it throughout the match, winning 9-5.  He commented after his victory that he didn't think he had played that well during he tournament.  "I couldn't make a shot over three feet today, but I still won."

Results:

1st Mike Zuglan $1,300

2nd Eddie Vazquez $870

3rd Joey Korsiak $650

4th Teddy Garrahan $450

5th Joe Tucker, Ivaylo Petrov $325

7th Lee French, Mike Dechaine $200 

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