Allison Fisher (File photo courtesy of Alison Chang)
Allison Fisher, sent to the loss side by Monica Webb in the final winners' side round of the WPBA Masters tournament, came back from the loss side to eventually meet and defeat Webb in the finals. The event, held on the weekend of February 4-7, drew 48 entrants to the Soaring Eagle Resort and Casino in Mount Pleasant, MI.
A preliminary round of 32 advanced 16 competitors to face 16 seeded opponents, including the #1-ranked Ga Young Kim, Fisher (#2), Webb (#5), Jennifer Baretta (#9), and Brittany Bryant (#12). Double elimination play continued until there were two opponents left on each side of the bracket. Following two, 9-2 wins in her opening rounds, Kim was sent to the loss side by Bryant 9-6, where, after another 9-2 win, she locked up in a double hill battle against Ewa Laurance. Kim won that match, only to be eliminated from play by Fisher, 9-6, in the match that put Fisher into the re-seeded semifinals against Baretta.
Webb's winners' side path to the semifinals went through Laurance 9-3 and Teruko Cucculelli 9-6 before finishing up with the 9-4 win that sent Fisher to the loss side. Baretta's path to the semifinals went through two double hill tests (against Kathy Friend and Line Kjorsvik) before defeating Bryant 9-4 to secure the other winners' side slot in the semifinals.
Bryant and Fisher played one match on the loss side to earn their loss-side seed into the semifinal. Bryant defeated Cucculelli and Fisher downed Kim, by the same 9-6 score.
The re-seeded semifinal pitted Fisher against Baretta, and Bryant against Webb, in two, race-to-4 sets. Fisher and Webb took both semifinal sets 2-0 and squared off in the championship. With the same format, Fisher completed her WPBA Masters' run with a 2-0 set victory in the finals.
