by InsidePOOL Staff

The WPBA San Diego Classic, held this weekend at the Viejas Casino in Alpine, CA, has wound down to its final four players.

Three of the four players survived to the semifinals without a loss; one comes from the one-loss side of the chart. After a second-round loss to Karen Corr, Shu-Han Chang of Chinese Taipei fought her way back, defeating Miyuki Sakai, Lisa Marr, and Helena Thornfeldt to face off against China’s Xiaoting Pan in the semifinals.

Ranked third on the WPBA, Pan has so far had little troubles reaching the semifinal match against Chang. She has delivered losses to Kim Benson, Morgan Steinman, Tracie Hines, Melissa Little, and Sarah Rousey.

Hofstatter eliminated Kim in fifth place and now will play Corr to see who will move on to the finals.

Hofstatter also enjoyed an undefeated run to the semifinals. She bested Lisa Davids, Angelina Paglia, Sone, and Monica Webb to reach the quarterfinals. Her opponent there was top-ranked Ga Young Kim, who had already suffered one loss. Hofstatter eliminated Kim in fifth place and now will play Corr to see who will move on to the finals.

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by InsidePOOL Staff

The WPBA San Diego Classic kicked off March 11 at the Viejas Casino in Alpine, CA, with a full field of 64 of the top women players. The winners’ bracket is down to 32, while the other half of the field is making the uphill battle through the one-loss side.

The tour’s number-one-ranked player, Ga Young Kim, is at the top of the bracket and has won her first two matches. Her first victim was Stacy Novack, and her second was recent U.S. Open Bar Table Championship winner Melissa Little. Kim’s next match will be against Line Kjorsvik. The tour’s number-two player, Jasmin Ouschan, is also undefeated, having bested first Jennifer Chen and then Julie Kelly to face Helena Thornfeldt in the next round.

The WPBA San Diego Classic kicked off March 11 at the Viejas Casino in Alpine, CA, with a full field of 64 of the top women players.

Number three on the tour, Xiaoting Pan is set for her third-round match against Tracie Hines, having bested Kim Benson and then Morgan Steinman. Hines was responsible for sending Veronique Menard and Erin McManus to the left side of the chart. The tour’s fourth-ranked player, Karen Corr, will play Sarah Rousey in the third round of this event. Corr earlier bested Cristina De La Garza and Shu-Han Chang, while Rousey defeated Dana Aft and Lisa Marr.

A featured third-round match will be between recent Hall of Fame addition Allison Fisher and Jeanette “The Black Widow” Lee, who just won the St. Louis Louie Award at the Derby City Classic. In the first two rounds Fisher sent Mary Rakin and Jennifer Barretta to the west side of the chart, while Lee defeated Amy Chen and Nicole Keeney.

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by Lea Andrews

John “Mr. 403” Schmidt spent a little time over the weekend of February 20-21 to show that the South still belongs to him. As proof, he took down Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam twice at the $1,000-added Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, which drew 42 players to Pockets Billiards in Dothan, AL.

Schmidt breezed past Billy “Cecil” Paye 9-3 to meet up with Putnam for the first time in the hot seat match. Putnam, who’d just sent Stoney Stone west 9-6, found himself on the wrong end of another 9-6 match, and he moved over to the semifinals to vie for his rematch.

On the left side of the bracket, Scotty Townsend was plowing a steady path through the field after taking an early loss to Putnam. Ousting WPBA pro Tracie Hines 9-2, he moved on to Denny Singletary, who’d advanced 9-5 over Eugene Browning. Meanwhile, JR Rossman won 9-5 over Clay Medlock to meet up with Tracy Guernsey, who’d had his own 9-5 victory over Mark Shimmelman. In the hill-hill match that ensued, Rossman marked up the final game to face Stone and another hill-hill match. This time, though, it was his opponent who took the final rack, and Rossman landed in fifth while Stone advanced to the quarterfinals against Townsend, who’d edged out Paye 9-8. Both Stone and Townsend were looking for the rematch against Putnam in the semifinals, but Townsend earned it with a strong 9-6 victory. The rematch was the same story as the original, though, and Townsend finished in third 9-7, sending Putnam on to his own rematch with Schmidt.

The single race-to-11 final match erased Putnam’s earlier loss, and though he and Schmidt stayed tight through the first part of the set, Schmidt started to pull away after they tied up at five apiece. Hardly allowing Putnam any chances at the table, Schmidt dominated the rest of the match to earn his second consecutive Southeast Open win 11-5.

Other winners over the weekend were Vicky Rybik, who earned $50 as highest-finishing amateur lady; Joe Davis, who took home $50 as highest-finishing senior; and Scotty Townsend’s son, Mike, who pocketed $25 as highest-finishing junior.

Schmidt spent a little time over the weekend of February 20-21 to show that the South still belongs to him.

by InsidePOOL Staff

The tension was high at the beginning of the one-loss side of the WPBA Championships, as the full 64-player field met at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. There was a lot at stake for many of these players on the one-loss side, several of whom are “on the bubble” on the 2009 WPBA Rankings. Only the top 48 ranked players after this event will earn their exemption for 2010.

The first web match of the day featured four-time collegiate champion Eleanor Callado shooting against Canada’s Cathy Metzinger. Callado played strong and won convincingly 9-3. Next up was crowd favorite Sarah Rousey versus veteran player Liz Taylor, who had a fantastic fifth-place finish at the WPBA Colorado Classic in September. Rousey had lost her first-round match to veteran Vicki Paski hill-hill and could not shake the tenacious Taylor off track. Taylor took advantage of the opportunities she received and defeated Rousey hill-hill.

The WPBA’s Most Improved Player 2009, Denise Belanger, played a tough match against Borderline Billiards co-owner Janet Atwell but in the end, she defeated Atwell 9-7. Meanwhile, Ga Young Kim played against Anna Kostanian in the second round one-loss side. Kim had lost to Kyoko Sone on Thursday but wasn’t about to make an early exit, besting Kostanian 9-4. Back at the web table, Barretta matched up against the 2008 APA U.S. Amateur National Champion Amy Chen and defeated her 9-5.

The 8:00 p.m. winners’ bracket third round saw Karen Corr run her way to the final 16, defeating Liz Ford 9-3, while Kelly Fisher and Jeanette Lee played an exciting match. Fisher was focused though and defeated Lee 9-6. Meanwhile, Gerda Hofstatter matched up against Tracie Hines and looked to run away with the match, taking a 5-0 lead, but Hines fought back to tie things up at 5-all, and the two proceeded to trade games until Hines closed out the match 9-7. Xiaoting Pan and Monica Webb played the feature web stream match for the round and also fought tooth and nail, trading games all the way to 7-all, but Pan pulled away to win 9-7.

The tension was high at the beginning of the one-loss side of the WPBA Championships, as the full 64-player field met at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL.

The final round of the day began in earnest with the web stream feature matchup between the hometown favorite Vivian Villarreal versus Kim Shaw, who were vying for a top 16 spot. The other three winners’ bracket matchups were Kyoko Sone against Melissa Herndon; two-time winner this year Jasmin Ouschan played against Holland’s Tamara Rademaker, who had already locked up her exemption for 2010 alongside Angel Paglia, who matched up versus Allison Fisher; and Kyoko Sone, who had defeated Ga Young Kim in her second-round match, continued to impress by knocking Melissa Herndon into the one-loss side and reach the final 16.

WPBA Tour Championship Tournament Brackets

On the one-loss side, Laura Smith continued her strong play this season, defeating the 2000 World 9-Ball champion Julie Kelly 9-5. Ewa Laurance couldn’t fend off Line Kjorsvik, who had finished in the top eight at the Pacific Coast Classic. Melissa Morris moved on into the top 24 round after defeating Joanne Ashton in a grinding hill-hill match, while Jennifer Barretta and Holly Sholes battled back and forth. After an hour and fifty minutes, the score was tied up at 7-all. After Barretta scratched on the 4 ball in game 15, Sholes ran out to reach the hill first. That same 4 ball proved to be Barretta’s thorn in the side as she jawed it in game 16, but Sholes returned the favor on the 6 ball, and Barretta ran out to go hill-hill. Sholes earned an open shot in the final game but missed the 6 in the side, leaving Barretta a long shot on the 6, which she pocketed and continued to run out to win the match 9-8 and advance into Saturday’s rounds.

In the winners’ bracket, Ouschan moved on to the final 16 by defeating Radermaker soundly 9-1. Sone also advanced to another final 16 berth by winning 9-3 against veteran Herndon. Paglia was not going to let Fisher roll over her and took the lead 6-5 midway while Villiareal and Shaw were knotted up at 8. Villareal certainly felt pressure to perform since this is her home turf; The Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Hard Rock are her sponsors. She went into the final game with the break advantage. Vivian had no shot on the 1 and was forced to play a safe. The game progressed slowly but Shaw came to the table with an open shot on the 2 and began the task of running out. She was stopped cold as her position play to the 5 came up short forcing her to play safe, leaving Villareal to ponder the dilemma for several minutes as she faced a long, difficult 5-7 combination. She nailed the shot and ran out to advance to the final 16. Paglia and Fisher spent 20 minutes in game 15 going back and forth until Paglie had an open shot, ran out to the 9 but hung the ball in the pocket, allowing Fisher to go up a game 7-6. Fisher never looked back and finished off the match at 9-6 for the last of the final 16 spots.

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by InsidePOOL Staff

Hill-hill was the way to go in the first round of the WPBA Tour Championships, held this week at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. The 64-player event is the culmination of the tour’s 2009 season, and defending champion Monica Webb is determined to hold onto her title.

Webb escaped a hill-hill nail-biter over New Mexico’s Anna Kostanian in the first round, squeaking by 9-8 to play Nicole Keeney in the next round, who had just defeated Julie Mason-Comitini 9-8. Tracie Hines bested Ireland’s Val Finnie 9-8, while another Irish lass, Julie “Motor Molly” Kelly won her hill-hill match against Cathy Metzinger.

Former junior champion Eleanor Callado fell 9-8 to Kelly Fisher, as Sarah Rousey was bested 9-8 by Vicki Paski. Another Fisher, Allison this time, escaped a hill-hill bout against Belinda Calhoun and advanced to the next round 9-8.

Other tour heavyweights survived the first round unscathed. Helena Thornfeldt sent Liz Lovely to the one-loss side 9-7, Jasmin Ouschan whitewashed newlywed Supadra Geronimo 9-0, Karen “The Irish Invader” Corr bested Michell Monk 9-2, Jeanette Lee dusted Dawn Hopkins 9-1, and Xiaoting Pan demolished Rachel Eliazar 9-0.

Webb is looking to defend her Hard Rock Casino WBPA title this week.

In the second round, Kyone Sone was the winner of her hill-hill match, this time against the tour’s number-one player, Ga Young Kim. Sone had bested Melissa Morris 9-5 in the first round, while Kim dealt Liz Cole a 9-0 donut.

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by Lea Andrews

Karen “The Irish Invader” Corr, who was undefeated after two days of play at Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN, came back from a late loss Sunday to capture first in the WPBA Satellite Tour’s inaugural event. The $10,000-added event, held July 10-12, drew 64 talented ladies, pros and amateurs alike, 12 of whom returned for Sunday’s play.

Corr, who had given up only eight games upon reaching the final four on the winners’ side, allowed Monica Webb only five games, moving on to the hot seat match against Gerda “G-Force” Hofstatter, who on her way had knocked aside Line Kjorsvik, Ewa Laurance, and Julie Kelly. Corr turned out to be the last in the string of pros whom Hofstatter would defeat, and Corr joined the one-loss side with a score of 9-7.

On the left side of the bracket, Kelly Fisher, who on Saturday had gotten up 6-1 on Kelly before falling 9-7, was ousted by Allison Fisher 7-4. A. Fisher, though, was next pitted against BCA Hall of Famer Laurance, who was coming off of a hill-hill victory over Val Finnie. On a roll, Laurance held Fisher to five games, but she couldn’t get past Webb, who was trying to push her way to the finals. Meeting Webb in the one-loss quarterfinals was Kelly, who’d gotten past Kim Shaw 7-3. Kelly managed only two games, though, and it was time for Webb to try to exact her revenge on Corr. Taking the first three racks in the race to 7, Webb seemed Hofstatter’s likely opponent in the finals, but when nothing fell on the break for Webb in the fourth rack, Corr began her comeback. In a seven-game streak that included excellent cue-ball control, great safety play, and three break and runs, Corr moved on to the finals.

Having won seven straight games to get there, it seemed that Corr had adopted the same simple strategy in the single race-to-11 finals: Don’t let an opponent make a 9 ball. And for the first nine racks, she didn’t. In the tenth rack, though, Hofstatter cleared the table with ball in hand on the 1 ball to put herself on the board 9-1. But she’d hit the string for the last time, as Corr, coming out on top of the safety battles that followed in the next two racks, emerged the first-ever winner of a WPBA Satellite Tour event.

WPBA Satellite tournament brackets

Karen “The Irish Invader” Corr, who was undefeated after two days of play at Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN, came back from a late loss Sunday to capture first in the WPBA Satellite Tour’s inaugural event.

Results:
1st Karen Corr $3,000
2nd Gerda Hofstatter $2,050
3rd Monica Webb $1,500
4th Julie Kelly $1,250
5th Kim Shaw $1,000
Ewa Laurance
7th Allison Fisher $800
Iris Ranola
9th Kelly Fisher $600
Val Finnie
Line Kjorsvik
Briana Miller
13th Denise Belanger $450
Morgan Steinman
Chelsea Hardwick
Brittany Bryant
17th Megan Smith $300
Tracie Hines
Janet Atwell
Tiffany Nelson-Crain
Stephanie Mitchell
Liz Ford
Liz Lovely
Belinda Calhoun
25th Liz Taylor $200
Lisa Davids
Sueyen Rhee
Julie Mason-Comitini
Mai Scheick
Tina Larsen
Karen Webb
Emily Duddy

by InsidePOOL Staff

The WPBA’s satellite event, hosted by Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN, kicked off July 10 with a full 64-player field. This event features a $10,000-added prize purse, and the field features some new names to the game.

Many of the higher-ranked players on the WPBA showed up, but of the top ten, only five attended: Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher, Karen Corr, Monica Webb, and Gerda Hofstatter. All five remain in the winners’ bracket after the first round of matches, winning their matches with a combined score of 45-9. Corr, K. Fisher, and Webb whitewashed their opponents, A. Fisher allowed her opponent one game, and Hofstatter went to the hill with Kim Jones.

The WPBA’s satellite event, hosted by Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN, kicked off July 10 with a full 64-player field.

Ewa Laurance, Belinda Calhoun, Janet Atwell, Holly Sholes, Tracie Hines, and Morgan Steinman are all also familiar names on the tour and remain undefeated after the first round. On the one-loss side there are some surprising names, though. Iris Ranola of the Philippines was bested 9-6 by Buffy Jolie in the first round, and Val Finnie lost a hill-hill battle against Steinman. Tina Larsen was sent west 9-8 by Laurance, Sarah Rousey was defeated 9-8 by Atwell, and Melissa Herndon also lost hill-hill to Brianna Miller.

WPBA Satellite tournament brackets

New faces who have survived into the second round include Emily Duddy, who defeated Lana Tauscher 9-6; Chelsea Hardwick, who won 9-6 over Catherine Tshumper; Mai Schieck, who bested Barbara Lee 9-6; Katie Cowam, who defeated Farla Salmanovich 9-3; and Allison Hardwick, who won 9-8 over Veronique Menard.

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by InsidePOOL Staff

Jasmin Ouschan took home only her second title on the WPBA Tour, winning the Great Lakes Classic over Kelly Fisher in the final match. The four-day event was hosted by the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, IN, and brought out a full 64-player field to compete.

With only one of the final four ladies coming through the one-loss side to reach the final four, it was anybody’s guess who would take home the ultimate prize. Both of the semifinals were rather one-sided, though. In the first, former tour number-one Karen Corr went up against Ouschan and had a rather tough time putting anything together. Two misses in the first two racks put Ouschan up, and then a 9 on the break gave the Austrian another rack before Corr was even on the board. Bearing down, Corr took two racks, masséing the 3 ball and then capitalizing after Ouschan missed the 4 ball. In the ninth game, with Ouschan on the hill, Corr ran out after Ouschan missed the 5, but when Corr scratched on the break in the final rack, Ouschan was able to clear the table to advance to the finals.

Fisher came out swinging in her semifinal match against Xiaoting Pan, breaking and running out the first rack and then clearing the next after a dry break by her opponent. Pan came out the winner of two subsequent defensive exchange to even the score, with Fisher taking the fifth rack after Pan failed to execute a safety. But Pan came back to take the next after Fisher missed a jump shot, making it 3-all. Fisher found her stride then, breaking and running the table and then getting control of the table again after a Pan misstep to make it 5-3. When Fisher got out of line on the 8 ball in the following rack, Pan won her final game of the match. She fouled on a jump shot in the next rack and then lost a safety exchange to Fisher in the last, with Fisher winning 7-4.

In the first rack of the final match, it was already apparent that Ouschan would have an edge. She took advantage of a safety battle and ran out the first rack, and then she pocketed a 2-9 combo after a dry break by Fisher to go up 2-0. Ouschan was left a tough shot by Fisher in the next but made it with no problems, clearing that rack. A poor safety by Ouschan, though, in the next rack put Fisher on the board 3-1, but Fisher returned the favor by missing the 2 ball in the following game, allowing Ouschan to run the table. After hooking herself on the 2 ball and jumping, Ouschan handed an open table to Fisher, which she cleared to bring the score to 4-2. But Ouschan had the prize in her sights, breaking and running the following rack. Fisher cemented the deal when she scratched on the break next, handing yet another rack to Ouschan to clear to reach the hill 6-2. The final rack culminated in a lengthy safety battle in which Fisher ultimately was the first to blink, and Ouschan ran out to win the Great Lakes title 7-2.

Ouschan outlasted Kelly "Kwikfire" Fisher in the finals to capture her first WPBA title this year.

Results:
1st Jasmin Ouschan
2nd Kelly Fisher
3rd Xiaoting Pan
Karen Corr
5th Yu Ram Cha
Ga Young Kim
Vivian Villareal
Allison Fisher
9th Julie Kelly
Jeanette Lee
Laura Smith
Kim Shaw
Tracie Hines
Pam Cimarelli
Miyuki Sakai
Gerda Hofstatter
17th Dawn Hopkins
Helena Thornfeldt
Jennifer Barretta
Monica Webb
My-Hanh Lac
Line Kjorsvik
Melissa Herndon
Melissa Little

by InsidePOOL Staff

After a grueling day of elimination and single-elimination rounds, the WPBA’s latest tour stop at the Great Lakes Classic has revealed its final four players. The event is being hosted by the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, IN.

The full 64-player field wound down to its final 16 players Saturday evening before it went into its single-elimination format. There Yu Ram Cha, who had just ousted reigning WPBA points leader Monica Webb 9-6, bested Gerda Hofstatter in a hill-hill bout to advance to play Karen Corr. “The Irish Invader” made a triumphant return from the one-loss side after a third-round loss to Jasmin Ouschan 9-6, since besting Helena Thornfeldt 9-4. Corr managed to keep her momentum going, ousting Cha 9-7 to head off to the semifinals.

Ouschan enjoyed an undefeated run to the semifinals, having gone through opponents such as Cristina De La Garza 9-3, Line Kjorsvik 9-5, Karen Corr 9-6, and Pam Cimarelli 9-8, only to face off against Ga Young Kim in the quarterfinals. Kim had also had an undefeated stretch, going through Ming Ng 9-3, Stacy Novack 9-5, and Jeanette “The Black Widow” Lee 9-4 to reach the final 16. There she bested Tracie Hines 9-6, only to be sent packing by Ouschan by a strong 9-3 score in their quarterfinal match.

Ouschan will face off against Corr while Pan and K. Fisher battle to earn their spots in the finals of the WPBA Great Lakes Classic.

Vivian Villareal went undefeated to the quarterfinals, besting Kathleen Moon 9-5, Liz Cole 9-4, Tracie Hines 9-7, and Kim Shaw 9-7. However, she was turned away by Xiaoting Pan with a whopping 9-2 final score in the quarterfinals. Pan also went through unchallenged, besting Liz Taylor 9-6, Jennifer Barretta 9-4, Melissa Herndon 9-2, and Laura Smith 9-1.

The last quarterfinal match on the bracket was a battle between two Fishers as defending champion Allison Fisher ultimately succumbed to Kelly Fisher. Both players went through the bracket undefeated—A. Fisher defeating Candi Rego 9-3, Angelina Paglia 9-2, Gerda Hofstatter 9-4, and Jeanette Lee in a hill-hill match, while K. Fisher bested Michell Monk 9-2, Megan Smith 9-2, My-Hahn Lac 9-5, and Julie Kelly 9-3. When they finally clashed, K. Fisher was able to send 2009 BCA Hall of Fame inductee A. Fisher home with a 9-4 score.

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by InsidePOOL Staff

The Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA ) Great Lakes Classic has wound down to reveal its final 8 of 16 in the winners’ bracket. The Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, IN, is hosting this 64-player event, which concludes June 21.

Top-ranked player on the tour, Monica Webb fell to Korea’s Yu Ram Cha 9-6 Friday night. Cha advanced to the single-elimination final 16 round to await an opponent from the one-loss side.

Defending champion Allison Fisher is in good shape, though. After winning her first two matches, she ran into Austria’s Gerda Hofstatter and also sent her to the west side 9-4.

Allison "The Duchess of Doom" Fisher is still seeking a successful title defense at the WPBA Great Lakes Classic.

Last year’s top player, Kelly Fisher, is also still in the running, having defeated My-Hanh Lac 9-5 to advance to the final 16. Xiaoting Pan dealt a handy 9-2 defeat to Melissa Herndon 9-2 and is also in the final 16.

Vivian “The Texas Tornado” Villareal joins them there after her latest 9-7 victory over Tracie Hines. Ga Young Kim sent Jeanette Lee west 9-4, and Japan’s Miyuki Sakai is making a surprise appearance in the final 16 after her hill-hill win over Julie Kelly. Roudning out the top eight is Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan, who dealt Karen Corr a 9-6 loss.

Sixteen players remain in the one-loss side, and they will be fighting it out for the remaining eight slots Saturday afternoon. A random draw will place the winners in the single-elimination round of 16, which will commence late Saturday afternoon.

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