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Ken Ludy Takes Home Field Advantage and Goes Undefeated at Boston Billiard Club [2/15/2004]  The Killer B’s Series visited a new venue at Boston Billiard Club in Worcester, MA. The poolroom is a director’s dream with 27 top of the line Brunswick Gold Crown IIIs. The club’s staff was well prepared to spoil the players with great food, drink and service. Their generosity was well received when they offered all their tables for the tournament. This allowed the tournament director to hold to the standard format of races to 7.
The largest Killer B field of the season assembled from all over New England for this event with 63 players and $2,500 on the line. Large fields usually feature several upsets and this event was no different with Tony Masi, Ed Fortin, Norm Pincince, and Rich Senna losing in the first round. Mike Keith and Mike Dechaine, who have had some success in recent Killer B and Joss Tour events, tripped and placed 33rd.
Long time Killer B player, Ken Ludy, facilitated the introduction of Boston Billiard Club in Worcester to the Killer B’s Series. It was only fitting to see him travel through the right side of the chart to reach the finals. Ken defeated Ty Speedwell, who has been on a hot streak with a 4th place finish at Rhode Island Billiards and just missing the cash at the 15th Ocean State Championships. Ken went on to introduce Jason Michas, Tim Perry and Eric Firkey to the one-loss side of the chart as he took his place in the hot-seat.
Early on in the day, Dan Cintron lost his second round match to Tim Perry. He then went on to win his next nine matches to reach the finals. He knocked a number of notable players out of the tournament like Scott Reynolds, Steve Therrien of New Hampshire, last year’s Connecticut Tour ‘B’ Player of the Year, Kevin Guimond and the current Killer B’s points leader, Alex Morin.
Corey Payer started the event well, but once he reached the cash line Eric Firkey held him to only 3 games. Corey escaped his next three left side matches against Tony Masi, Shayne Cote and Tim Perry at hill-hill. The heart breaker of the event was when Perry was running out the case game against Corey. With only the 6, 7 and 9-ball left on the table, Tim cut the 6-ball in the top left-hand corner and watched the cue ball drift ever so slowly into the opposite table-length pocket. This left Corey an easy two-ball out for the win. But his luck ran out against the Iron-man player of the tournament, Dan Cintron.
Eric Firkey proved to be a top player by taking out James Brumbaugh, Payer and Morin on the winner’s side. After his lose to Ludy, Eric met Cintron, who was in dead stroke winning his last eight matches. Eric fell short and lost his hill-hill semi-final match and could only watch as Cintron went on to meet Ludy in the finals.
It seemed to be destiny for these two players to meet in the finals - Ken, the homeroom favorite and Dan, the Iron-man player of the event. The match started off with Ken taking a 1-0 lead, but he would soon find that Dan was not easy to shake loose. Every time Ken got a one-game lead, Dan came back to tie it up. When the score was 4-4, Dan finally took the lead with a break and run. In the next game, Dan seemed on his way to reaching the hill, but missed the 7-ball and watched Ken tie the score at 5-5. Dan was the first to reach the hill by winning the next game, but Ken once again tied the score.
It was important for Dan to win the next game to force a second match and have an opportunity to win the event. Ken’s break came up dry, but Dan could not convert a 1-ball bank. Ken pocketed the 1-ball, but missed a tough 2-ball. This was Dan’s chance and he seemed on his way to force another match until he left himself a seven-foot straight in shot on the 8-ball that was on the side rail. He hit the 8-ball too full and two-railed it out to the middle of the table. Ken backward cut the 8-ball into the side pocket and gained a straight in shot on the 9-ball for the win. Once it dropped into the corner pocket, Ken secured $665, which included the $180 side pool. And he pulled into second place in the Player of the Year race.
Dan was relegated to second place after a long hard day, but proved to be a true competitor. He walked away with $420, which included $110 from the side pool.
Both Eric Firkey and Corey Payer were in the side pool, taking $270 and $180 respectively for 3rd and 4th place.
The Killer B’s Series extends a special thanks to Webb Custom Cues, www.TotalPool.info, InsidePool magazine, and Boston Billiard Club for their valued support. The Killer B’s Series looks forward to the Worcester Boston Billiard Club hosting future Killer B events.
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