Nevel Wins First Annual Cole Muffler Event

Nevel Wins First Annual Cole Muffler Event Skip Maloney, InsidePOOL Staff Larry Nevel from Madison, WI, took home the $2,600 top prize in the First Annual Cole Muffler Open 9-Ball Tournament held at Michelle’s Billiard Café in Syracuse, NY, this past weekend. Nevel, squaring off against Bridgeport, CT’s Robb Saez for the second time in the tournament, defeated him 9-5 to capture the top spot. Saez took home the second place trophy and his $1,500 share of the $5,000-added event.
In the battle for third place, Tom D’Alfonso, fresh off his first loss of the tournament to Nevel, faced Rob Saez in a 17-game match-up. D’Alfonso took an early 6-1 lead, before Saez, taking advantage of a scratch by D’Alfonso, reduced the lead to 6-4. A few back and forth games led to an 8-6 advantage for D’Alfonso and the opportunity to close it out. D’Alfonso sunk four balls off the break but scratched shooting at the 5 ball. Saez closed out, making it 8-7. He tied it up in spite of rattling the 8-ball in a corner pocket. D’Alfonso had to attempt a rail-first bank to get around the 9 ball, which sat between the cue and the 8. He missed it, and the “hill-hill” match was on. Saez put four balls in on the final break but snookered himself behind the 5 ball. He played safe, and when D’Alfonso missed a bank shot on the 5, Saez ran the table, sending his opponent home with third place.Saez attempted to keep Nevel sitting down for their match in the finals, but when the score reached 5-2 Saez, Game 8, was the turning point. Saez scratched on the break, which started a killer, no-loss series for Nevel. He ran the table off Saez’s scratch, broke and ran two tables after that, and put the 9 ball in off the break in Game 11. He was ahead now for the first time (6-5) and never looked back, winning the next 3 and sailing home with the first-place trophy and cash.Results1st Larry Nevel2nd Robb Saez3rd Tom D’Alfonso4th Seth Del Villano5th Ryan McCreesh, Bob Chaperon7th Rich Ditulio, Harry Chaggaris9th Mike Davis, Jim Forsythe, Jason Brown, Cliff Thorburn Visit InsidePOOL for the latest from the sport of billiards and pool.

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