Zuglan Stays Hot o­n the Joss Tour

By Bill Rosenberger 

For the second straight week, Joss tournament director Mike Zuglan found himself standing in the winner's circle.  This time he walked away with first place at Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ.

The event, held January 15-16, drew a strong field of 48 players that included Allen Hopkins, Frankie Hernandez, Tony Robles, and Joe DiPietro.  Also competing over the weekend was UPA Pro Nick Mannino, which was his first major event since he suffered a heart attack at the North American Tour Opener in early December.

While the field was strong, Zuglan managed to stay alive and reach the hot seat match against DiPietro, but he o­nly managed to win a few matches after DiPietro had already taken over the match.  After the 9-5 defeat, Zuglan headed to the semifinals to play Hernandez, who may have been the hottest player left in the field.  After suffering an early-round defeat, Hernandez scorched through the o­ne-loss side with impressive wins over Keith McCready and Robles, to name a few.  Hernandez remained hot for most of the match, gaining a 6-5 lead, but Zuglan battled back and took the win 9-6.

In the finals, Zuglan would have to take two straight sets to oust DiPietro, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy.  "Joe was playing good all weekend long," said Zuglan.  "I don't think I played as well as he did."

In the first set, DiPietro jumped out to a 6-2 lead but watched as Zuglan crept back to get within o­ne game.  DiPietro then went o­n a roll of his own to get to he hill first.  But down 8-6, Zuglan rallied to win the final three to force a second set. 

The second set was extremely similar to the first.  DiPietro again jumped to a 6-2 o­nly to watch Zuglan come back.  They battled to reach hill-hill, and it was Zuglan's break in the decisive rack.  The exciting conclusion came when Zuglan drew his cue back, let it fly, and watched as the 9 ball rolled into the pocket to give him the 9-8 win. 

Results:

1st Mike Zuglan $1,500

2nd Joe DiPietro $1,040

3rd Frankie Hernandez $800

4th Tony Robles $600

5th Jerry Slivka, Rich Kravetz $400

7th Shaun Wilkie, Joe Tucker $250

9th Greg Antonakos, Keith McCready, Lester Smulowitz, Jonathan Smith $150

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