by Carl Miller

In late March, 63 women gathered at Bogies Billiards in Houston, TX, to compete in the annual four-day WPBA Regional Tour Championship. This invitation-only, pro tour qualifier was sanctioned by the WPBA and offered more than $13,000 in total prize money, plus the opportunity for eight women to earn the final eight WPBA tour cards available for 2011. The field, which included WPBA players who had finished out of the top 40 at the close of 2010 and top players from the nine regional tours, was topped by Yu-Ram Cha, who took home first place.

In late March, 63 women gathered at Bogies Billiards in Houston, TX, to compete in the annual four-day WPBA Regional Tour Championship. Pictured L-R: Williams, Ashton, Cha, Miller, White

Cha was at the top of her game, rolling over Becky Jones 9-1, Jana Montour 9-0, and Lisa Marr 9-3. At the same time, Briana Miller showed she was quite capable of making the move up from junior events by defeating Ashley Nandrasy 9-7, Monica Anderson 9-1, and Jacqui Herrera 9-4. Then, matched against Cha, the unflappable teenager fought gamely but succumbed 9-4.

Meanwhile, Susan Williams opened by winning her first three matches before dropping a hill-hill set to Janet Atwell 9-8. Canadian Joanne Ashton won her first four matches but relinquished the hot seat to Cha 9-4.

By the final afternoon, the field was down to eight, and the question of tour cards had been settled. Miller eliminated Veronique Menard 7-1 and Atwell 7-3, while Williams defeated Kim Benson 7-5 and Sharon O’Hanlon 7-3. Williams then went on to eliminate Miller 7-4, leaving the teenager with a respectable fourth-place finish. Williams then prevailed over Ashton in a tense hill-hill battle and earned a final match-up with Cha.

In the championship match, Cha and Williams each won a game, then Cha stepped out to a three-game lead. Williams fought hard to the end but had to settle for a second-place finish by a score of 9-4.

Results:
1st Yu-Ram Cha $3,250
2nd Susan Williams $1,930
3rd Joanne Ashton $1,320
4th Briana Miller $1,056
5th Sharon O’Hanlon $792
Janet Atwell
7th Veronique Menard $660
Kim Benson
9th Shelby Locati $396
Hiroko Makiyama
Suzanne Smith
Helen Laiche
13th Jana Montour $264
Marianne Merrill
Lisa Marr
Julie Comitini

Lisa Marr went head to head with Kraber for the hot seat, and the hard-fought win went to Kraber in a hill-hill finish. Angela Garza and Julie Comitini finished seventh, Michelle Cortez and Lisa Henderson-Major tied for fifth, Orietta Strickland took fourth, and Julie Stephenson finished in third place.

Kraber, who just this year has been in the finals three additional times, considered herself “always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” This day, though, she defeated Marr in the finals with a score of 7-3. Kraber has been a consistent player on the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour, and with her first tour win ever, she is at the top of the rankings.

Results:
1st Jennifer Kraber $750
2nd Lisa Marr $550
3rd Julie Stephenson $400
4th Orietta Strickland $280
5th Lisa Henderson-Major $160
Michelle Cortez
7th Angela Garza $110
Julie Comitini
9th Monica Anderson $60
Kim Pierce
Melinda Bailey
Corina Campbell
13th Michelle Prince $35
Rebecca Riley
Annie Doyle
Tara Williams

by InsidePOOL Staff

Lisa Marr took on all comers at the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour’s June 12-13 event, defeating Jennifer Kraber in the finals. Click’s Billiards in Carrollton, TX, was a first-time host to 41 ladies who came out for the festivities.

On the winners’ side final four, Kraber met Kim Pierce while Marr matched up with Corina Campbell. The hot seat match turned out to be between Kraber and Marr, and in their first meeting of the tournament, Marr secured her spot in the finals 7-1.

Pierce and Campbell tied for fifth place, while Orietta Strickland attained the fourth-place position. Tara Williams, who had a bye the first round and then lost to Julie Comitini, was on a hot streak—she won her next eight matches to play in the semifinals against Kraber. Both players were in stroke as their match saw back-to-back break and runs, but ultimately Kraber ended up the 7-5 victor.

As the final match commenced, it looked like Marr would walk away with the win at a score of 6-1. But Kraber, never one to say die, pulled out all the stops and fought back to close in with a 5-6 score. Unfortunately for Kraber a long bank on the 9 ball fell short and provided Marr an easy shot in the corner pocket for her second tour win for this year.

Marr took on all comers at the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour’s June 12-13 event, defeating Jennifer Kraber in the finals. Click’s Billiards in Carrollton, TX, was a first-time host to 41 ladies who came out for the festivities. Pictured (L-R) Jennifer Kraber, Royce Brunnel, Lisa Marr

by InsidePOOL Staff

Lisa Marr defeated Jennifer Kraber in the finals of the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour’s March 6-7 event, winning the title and the lion’s share of the $2,000-added prize purse. The event was hosted by Casper’s Billiards in San Leon, TX.

Marr and Kraber met first in the hot seat match, and it was Kraber who handed Marr her first loss with a 7-4 win. But Marr was not down for the count just yet. Peters, who had just won a hill-hill struggle against Ming Ng, faced Marr in the semifinals. A motivated Marr defeated Peters 7-1 for another chance at Kraber.

As the double-elimination finals began, Marr had to beat Kraber twice. With a first set score of 7-5 and a second set score of 7-3, Marr captured the first-place spot and the guaranteed $750. Kraber finished her highest tour finish to date in second place and earned $550.

A second chance tournament was held with 21 players competing on Sunday for the $310 payout. Belinda Lee went undefeated to take first place, and board member Monica Anderson finished second.

Marr defeated Jennifer Kraber in the finals of the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour’s March 6-7 event, winning the title and the lion’s share of the $2,000-added prize purse.

Results:
1st Lisa Marr $750
2nd Jennifer Kraber $550
3rd Courtney Peters $400
4th Ming Ng 270
5th Amanda Lampert $155
Helen Laiche
7th Ashley Nandrasy $100
Melinda Bailey
9th Terry Petrosino $70
Kyu Yi
Tara Williams
Julia Rapp

(From left to right: Jennifer Kraber, Courtney Peters, Roy Robinson, Lisa Marr, and Ming Ng)

by InsidePOOL Staff

The OB Cues Ladies’ 9-Ball Tour held its seventh stop of the 2009 season at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX, the weekend of October 24-25. Forty-one players arrived on Saturday morning to compete in the $2,000-added event, with Lisa Marr going all the way through to the finish.

After late play on Saturday night, only 8 ladies returned in the main event on Sunday morning. On the winners’ side matches, Amanda Lampert defeated Melinda Bailey, while Marr bested defeated Deanna Henson. Finishing in seventh were Cristina De La Garza and Kim Pierce, both out of Austin, TX, while local area players Melinda Bailey and Ashley Nandrasy finished in a fifth-place tie. Henson finished fourth, while Orietta Strickland moved up one spot from her last event to capture third place.

For the hot seat match, Marr sent Lampert to the west side of the bracket 7-3, which she captured over Strickland to earn a rematch. Marr was trying to avoid a repeat of the last stop, when Lampert took the win against her in a two-set finals. Marr managed to stay in control and won by a margin of 7-4. With this win, she not only took home $750 for her efforts, but she also clenched the tour champion spot for the second year in a row.

In the second chance event, 21 players competed on Sunday morning. Tara Williams took the top honors, finishing just after the main event. Michelle Cortez finished second, while Borana Andoni finished third.

From left to right: Marr, Strickland, and Lampert

April 4th and 5th weekend the Billiard Den, Richardson, TX hosted the third stop of the OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour. Billiard Den is always a favorite stop of the OB Cues tour as hosts Larry and Marci Rothberg and the staff provide hospitality, service and friendly faces throughout the whole weekend.

This stop also marked some major firsts for some of the players by overcoming some of their personal bests since playing on the tour. Fifty-six ladies were ready to do battle and even though several of our regular tour players were playing at the WPBA San Diego Classic, there were plenty of fan favorites amongst the crowd. Favorites at this event were Amanda Lampert, Tara Williams, Lisa Marr, and Kyu Yi just to name a few. After all the dust was settled, it would be Tara Williams and Ashley Nandrasy competing for the first place guaranteed $750.

Tara had the toughest bracket to get through and it was predicted if she could get all the way through to the winner’s bracket, she would more than likely take it all. Her first match of the day was against Lisa Marr—always a force to be reckoned with on the tour. Tara soundly defeated Lisa with a 7-1 victory. Then she faced Tori Jones, Shayla Neris, Melinda Bailey, Amanda Lampert, and Ashley Nandrasy for the hot seat. Tara made it all the way to win the winner’s bracket, took a deep breath and awaited her opponent in the finals.

Ashley Nandrasy overcame her previous high 13-16th place finishes in four previous OB Cues tour stops throughout the years, by gaining a spot in the finals. Ashley defeated Robyn Petrosino, Linda Long, Julie Stephenson, Elissa Jordan and then lost her 1st match to Tara 2-7 when playing for the hot seat. She then secured a spot in the finals by defeating Lisa Henderson-Major, 7-1 and would have a rematch with Tara for the whole kit and caboodle.

Tara Williams picked up the win on the April 4th and 5th weekend at the Billiard Den, Richardson, TX which hosted the third stop of the OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour.

Lisa Henderson-Major from Little Rock, Arkansas and a regular tour player and traveling buddy of Lisa Marr scored her all-time personal best on the OB Cues Tour. In the battle of the Lisa’s and travel partners on Sunday afternoon, Lisa Henderson-Major defeated Lisa Marr 7-6 to get to play for 3rd place. Lisa lost to Ashley next match and placed 3rd in the tournament, but earned her highest finish yet.

Lisa Marr, after losing her 1st round match to Tara, was not going to go out easily. She won 9 matches before losing to her road partner, Lisa and finishing 4th place.

Additionally, we would like to mention that Elissa Jordan from Houston, Texas scored her highest finish ever by placing 5th/6th.

As the finals were set with Tara vs. Ashley, it was more of a battle with the tables and rolls for both players in the first set. As both players tried to get something started, Ashley had several 9-ball combinations and fared better with the tables as she would win the first set 7-5. Tara, with a look of frustration, was not out for the count. She dug deep down and pulled it into high gear and controlled the final match 7-2.

Sponsors for the OB Ladies Tour include OB Cues. The next stop is Bogie’s Billiard in Houston, Texas, June 13th and 14th.

Tournament Results:

Main Event – 56 players – $2,000 added

1st – Tara Williams – $750
2nd – Ashley Nandrasy – $580
3rd – Lisa Henderson-Major – $415
4th – Lisa Marr – $285
5th/6th – Elissa Jordan, Amanda Lampert – $165
7th/8th – Kyu Yi, Tracie Voelkering – $120
9th/12th – Melinda Bailey, Deanna Henson, Julie Stephenson, Trinh Lu – $80
13th/16h – Michelle Abernathy, Jennifer Pavlovick, Terry Petrosino, Shayla Neris – $50
17th/24th – Kathy Knuth, Monica Anderson, Jessica Massey, Linda Long, Helen Hayes, Rosa Rios, Rebecca Riley, Tina Lehrmann – $25
25th/32nd – Christy Powell, Kelley Vaughn, Suzanne Murray, Tori Jones, Julie Comitini, Ophelia Charleston, Snowy Belt, Milica Kozomara – $10

Ashley Nandrasy (2nd place) and Tara Williams (1st place)

Numerous Tournament Winners:

$30 Free Entry – Suzanne Murray
Tiger Products – Towel – Ophelia Charleston
Tiger Products – Bridge – Linda Long
Tiger Products – Burnisher – Milica Kozomara
Tiger Products – Hat – Amy Hall
Starbucks – Tara Williams
Starbucks – Becky Jones
OB Cues Tour Button – Robyn Petrosino
OB Cues Tour Key Chain – Ann Malone
OB Cues Tour Key Chain – Kathy Knuth
OB Cues Bumper Sticker – Bobbie Davis
Glove – Ashley Nandrasy

OB Cues Raffle Winners:
Vietmy (Samiel) Nguyen – OB Cues Ladies Tour fan and loyal supporter
Mike Kiernan – Billiard Den customer

Second Chance Event – 25 players – $167 monies added

1st – Helen Hayes – $135 – This is Helen’s 4th Second Chance 1st place finish—Helen, the Second Chance Queen
2nd – Deann Bray-Warner – $102
3rd – Snowy Belt – $70
4th – Milica Kozomara – $50
5th/6th – Kim Pierce, Amy Hall – $20
7th/8th – Corina Campbell, Tina Lehrmann – $10

The Hunter Classics Amateur Women’s Tour will have a new name in 2008. Wes Hunter, well-known cue maker out of Alamogordo, New Mexico, has been the sponsor of the tour for a record-breaking 15 years. After much discussion and inner-turmoil, Wes and his lovely wife Cindy have decided to focus their energies and pool cue-making activities toward enhancing their businesses. The Hunter Classics Amateur Women’s Tour held their last official “Hunter Classics Tour event” in February.
Board Member Melinda Bailey said, “the partnership that Wes has built with his name, custom cues, and all the women that participated in each and every Hunter Classics Tour event is without a doubt the best partnership we could have ever asked for.” Wes Hunter helped amateur women players to achieve their dreams and without Wes, this could not have been possible. Board Member Monica Anderson, added, “we applaud you for all you have done for us and wish you all the best in all your future endeavors. Thank You, Wes!”
It is with much excitement and honor that the tour still lives on. It has a new name, but the tour remains the longest-running, largest regional women’s tour in the country. In addition, no changes will be made – no fee increases or tour structure changes. Special thanks go to our new sponsor OB Cues. The new tour name is OB Cues 9-Ball Ladies Tour and the Owen-Bunnell organization will pick up the torch and carry on a 15 year tradition. OB Cues is best known for their OB-1 cue shaft – the vibration-damping core, radial consistency and low cue ball deflection gives you a cue shaft like you’ve never felt before. Board Member Julie Stephenson stated, “all the past, present and future amateur lady pool players appreciate what you are going to do for the tour and we welcome your sponsorship with open arms. Thank You, Don Owen and Royce Bunnell!”
Wes Hunter donated a Hunter Classics Custom Cue to every stop for the last 15 years. The custom cues were valued from $1,600 to $2,200 through the years, which helped raise raffle money for the host sites who adds $2,000 guaranteed to each event. Royce and Don will donate two to three OB Cues per stop – the total value will also be from $1,600 to $2,200. The tour will continue to have $2,000 added and the cues will help raise that money for the host sites. In addition to the $2,000 added, each OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour stop will continue to be a WPBA Qualifier.
Royce Bunnell of OB Cues stated from his Plano, Texas shop, “The ladies of the Tour are very professional and the tour is run so well – we were very impressed with their tournaments. The experience we had at the events led to a quick decision for us to be a part of history and to help the women continue to reach their dreams. “
You can find the OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour on the web at obcuestour.com. Wes Hunter can be found at hunterclassics.com and OB Cues can be found at obcues.com.
For more information contact:
Melinda Bailey – OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour
mellbers[at]gmail.com
or
Royce Bunnell – OB Cues
rbunnell[at]obcues.com

by InsidePOOL Staff

Tropical Storm Erin moved away from the Texas coastline just in time for the Hunter Classics Amateur Women’s Tour to descend at Paradise Billiards in Corpus Christi, TX, August 18-19. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and there was no bad water to be found, despite media reports earlier in the week.

Climbing through the brackets to meet in the hot seat match were Amanda Lampert and Heather Lloyd, with Lampert advancing with a 7-4 win. On the one-loss side, an over-two-hour match with numerous safeties ended with Leslie Anne Rogers over Terry Petrosino 7-4. Rogers went on to play Lloyd for third place, and it came down to one game. At 6-6, Lloyd was down to the 9 ball and was ready to bank it in the corner when someone got in her line of sight. She stood back up, readdressed the shot, and decided to shoot a thin cut instead of the bank, which she made.

This led to a rematch between Lloyd and Lampert in the double-elimination finals. Lloyd started off strong, sailing through the first set 7-3. The opposite result happened in the next set, though, as Lampert prevailed with some strong shooting to win 7-2 to capture her first Hunter Tour win of the year and the WPBA qualifier as well.

Results:

1st
Amanda Lampert

2nd
Heather Lloyd

3rd
Leslie Anne Rogers

4th
Terry Petrosino

5th
Melinda Hinojosa

Jennifer Kraber

7th
Michelle Yim

Shayla Neris

9th
Maria Rodriguez

Kyu Yi

Samm Diep

Monica Anderson