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

Janet Atwell escaped a close call in her double-elimination final match with Ashley Nandrasy to claim the title of Oklahoma State champion at the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour’s July 24-25 stop. Hosted by Magoo’s Billiards in Tulsa, OK, the $750-added tournament attracted 28 ladies to play, including three current WPBA pros.

Atwell (pictured left) escaped a close call in her double-elimination final match with Ashley Nandrasy (pictured right) to claim the title of Oklahoma State champion at the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour’s July 24-25 stop. Hosted by Magoo’s Billiards in Tulsa, OK, the $750-added tournament attracted 28 ladies to play, including three current WPBA pros.

But Nandrasy had managed a tough bracket and had come too far to back down. After ousting Williams at third place 7-3, she went up against Atwell in the double-elimination final match. As the first set commenced, Atwell missed critical shots while Nandrasy finished games to win 7-2 and force a second set. The second set was a back-and-forth battle that saw the score ultimately reach hill-hill. It all came down to Atwell’s kick at an 8 ball—with a little nudge off the 9 ball, the 8 went in, leaving a straight-in shot on the 9 for the win.

Results:
1st Janet Atwell $750
2nd Ashley Nandrasy $550
3rd Tara Williams $335
4th Melinda Bailey $235
5th Belinda Calhoun $150
Lisa Marr
7th Jennifer Kraber $100
Tracie Voelkering
9th Lisa Henderson-Major $50
Cindy Parvala
Julie Comitini
Amanda Lampert
13th Michelle McDermott $30
Kathy Knuth
Theresa Wilson
Veronica Perez

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 their championship stop November 21-22 at Legend’s Billiards in League City, TX. Of the 49 players who came out for the event, it was Orietta Strickland who ended up in the winner’s circle, taking her first tour title.

Before the tournament started, the year-end awards were given out. The 2009 OB Cues Ladies’ Tour Champion was awarded to Lisa Marr, while the Most Improved Player award was given to Lisa Henderson-Major.

As the main event commenced, there were many strong matches right out of the chute, and there were some early favorites who found themselves on the left side of the bracket sooner than expected. On Sunday, Strickland was on a winning mission and was taking no prisoners. For the hot seat match, it was Amanda “The Natural” Lampert versus Strickland, and at first it was looking like Lampert, who was ahead 5-3, was going take the hot seat. But Strickland knotted the score at 5-all and won the next two for a 7-5 victory to wait for her finals contender.

Lampert was not done yet and wanted a rematch. After soundly defeating Tara Williams 7-1, she beckoned for Strickland to bring it on again. But Lampert sat out most of the finals match, as Strickland kept control of the match with some superb play, finishing off the set at 7-1.

Of the 49 players who came out for the event, it was Orietta Strickland who ended up in the winner’s circle, taking her first tour title. Left to Right: Orietta Strickland, Mindy Cohen, and Amanda Lampert

Results:
1st Orietta Strickland $750
2nd Amanda Lampert $560
3rd Tara Williams $405
4th Julie Comitini $270
5th Lisa Henderson-Major $155
Leslie Anne Rogers
7th Jennifer Kraber $105
Terry Petrosino
9th Jennifer Pavlovick $80
Michelle Cortez
Deanna Henson
Courtney Peters
13th Lisa Marr $50
Ming Ng
Kim Pierce
Rebecca Riley

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

by InsidePOOL Staff

There was a lot of sweating going on June 13-14 in Houston, TX, at Bogie’s Billiards, as the action rolled in from the 44 players who signed up for the fourth stop on the OB Cues Ladies Tour tournament trail. There were a lot of top-ranking tour favorites in the house, including Tara Williams, Amanda Lampert, Lisa Henderson-Major, and Kyu Yi, but Lisa Marr was the one who walked away with her first tour win.

Right out of the shoot Saturday, Marr had a tough draw against Amanda Lampert. Marr won 7-4, and after that match, it was pretty evident that she was going to be pretty tough to take down. Marr then defeated Kim Pierce 7-0, Cristina De La Garza 7-4, and Melinda Bailey 7-3. Sunday saw Marr come back to play Deanna Henson, whom she bested 7-5, and then play Yi for the hot seat, winning 7-5.

In the semifinals, Kyu relegated Henderson-Major 7-3 to advance to the finals and attempt to avenge her earlier loss to Marr. But Marr hadn’t lost a match yet and didn’t plan to start then. She completed her tour win with a score of 7-3. Yi earned the qualifier spot at the WPBA Pacific Coast Classic in Lincoln City, OR.

There was a lot of sweating going on June 13-14 in Houston, TX, at Bogie’s Billiards, as the action rolled in from the 44 players who signed up for the fourth stop on the OB Cues Ladies Tour tournament trail.

Results:
1st Lisa Marr $750
2nd Kyu Yi $550
3rd Lisa Henderson-Major $400
4th Michelle Cortez $260
5th Deanna Henson $160
Kim Pierce
7th Melinda Bailey $100
Julie Comitini
9th Cristina De La Garza $75
Amanda Lampert
Ashley Nandrasy
Elissa Jordan
13th Sherri Palma $40
Michelle Abernathy
Shayla Neris
Sherri Smith

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

by InsidePOOL Staff

The OB Cues Ladies’ Tour held their second tour stop of the year at Fast Eddie’s in Austin, TX, the weekend of February 28-March 1. A total of 55 players signed up for the main event, but Bonnie Plowman ended up taking home top honors.

Sunday Plowman and Kyu Yi found themselves matched up for the hot seat, and it was Plowman who came out the victor. On the other side of the bracket, there was a marquee matchup between Julie Comitini and Cristina DeLaGarza fighting to stay alive, with the winner of this match-up winning the WPBA qualifier for the Great Lakes Classic event in June. Comitini won the match and the qualifier.

The semifinal match between Lisa Marr and Yi was another hard-fought battle. Marr and Yi matched up earlier on Sunday. Yi won that match, and Marr did not want to let it happen again. It looked like Yi was on her way, though, to win the second match-up when the score was 6-5. With perfect shape from the 8 ball to the 9 ball, Yi fell short of the pocket and missed, leaving an easy 9 ball out for Marr. In the deciding game, Marr made the 1-2 and 3-9 combo for the match and a bid in the finals against Plowman.

Plowman had other things in mind for Marr, though. She was not playing as well as she is known to play, and Plowman was relentless, taking home first place and the prize money of $750.

The OB Cues Ladies’ Tour held their second tour stop of the year at Fast Eddie’s in Austin, TX, the weekend of February 28-March 1.

Results:
1st – Bonnie Plowman – $750
2nd – Lisa Marr – $590
3rd – Kyu Yi – $420
4th – Tara Williams – $295
5th – Helen Hayes $170
Julie Comitini
7th – Terry Petrosino $120
Cristina DeLaGarza
9th – Lisa Henderson-Major $85
Sophia Lopez
Catherine Naes
Heather Pulford
13th – Melinda Bailey $50
Amanda Lampert
Orietta Strickland
Michelle Cortez
17th – Sue Chong $25
Angie Nutall-Garrison
Deanna Henson
Jennifer Kraber
Michelle Yim
Stephanie Reyes
Kim Sanders
Michelle Abernathy

by InsidePOOL Staff

Players and fans alike came out to support the first stop of the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour the weekend of January 31-February 1. Sixty-three players were ready to hit the tables at Rusty’s in Arlington, TX, and by the day’s end, there were sixteen returning Sunday. Amanda Lampert was the one left standing at the end, having won in the finals over Heather Pulford.

On the winners’ side returning Sunday, it was Melinda Bailey versus Bonnie Plowman, Pulford versus Michelle Abernathy, Orietta Strickland versus Terry Petrosino, and Lampert versus Tori Jones. On the one-loss side, it was Lisa Henderson-Major versus Alicia Teskey, Tara Williams (formerly McCracken) versus Michelle Cortez, Julie Stephenson versus Shayla Neris, and Lisa Marr versus Nancy French. 

After the winners’ side battling was all over, the hot seat match came down to Lampert meeting Pulford, with Lampert rising as the victor 7-6 and waiting patiently for her final opponent. 

Although Strickland had not played on the tour since 2006, she was on a quest to win the WPBA San Diego Classic qualifier, and win it she did.  After her 7-4 loss to Petrosino, she continued to score wins over Marr and Bailey before her final loss against Pulford, going home with third place.

Lampert and Pulford are always top seeds on the tour, and their play gave the crowd their moneyʼs worth.  In true double-elimination format, Pulford needed to score two wins over Lampert, but Lampert, with a look of determination and confidence, scored her first win of this tour year with a 7-4 victory. 

Lampert outlasted Pulford in the finals of the OBCues tour stop.

Results:
1st Amanda Lampert $750
2nd Heather Pulford $600
3rd Orietta Strickland $420
4th Bonnie Plowman $305
5th Melinda Bailey $170
Terry Petrosino
7th Michelle Abernathy $120
Lisa Henderson-Major
9th Tori Jones $80
Julie Stephenson
Michelle Cortez
Lisa Marr
13th Alicia Teskey $50
Nancy French
Shayla Neris
Tara Williams