Florida Diary

By Kim Shaw,WPBA Touring Pro

Sorry for the absence of the Vegas diary. I was sulking, but I'm all better now.

Anyway.

We all went on a road trip to Florida. We being, Tiffany Nelson, Kelly Fisher, Val Finnie and I. We laughed our heads off all the way down I-95. I suppose you had to be there.

After a 9-1 win over Jeri Engh in the first round, I was looking forward to my next match. Round two was a match against my friend and fellow former snooker player, Wendy Jans. On the table Wendy is quite the tiger, but off the table she is very droll and funny.

The match went back and forth, until a missed 9-ball by Wendy, allowed me to get a lead and win the match 9-7. I made too many errors to be happy with my game. I knew I was hitting the ball well, but I was lacking confidence. Mentally I'm not 100% and haven't been for a while, but I'm working on it.

Monica Webb was next on my hit list. I had to take out the "Assassin". Unfortunately, she had the same idea, and her draw was quicker than mine. Again, I made some crucial mistakes at key moments, and I'm sure Monica won't mind me mentioning how unlucky I was on one particular 8-ball. But all in all Monica made less mistakes to beat me 9-6 .

So, over to the loser's side I go. One match away from the cut. 16 players make the cut and get re-drawn.

A re-match with Dawn Hopkins, and a chance for revenge for the 9-8 loss to her in San Diego. I felt more confident in this match, and I missed less balls. Dawn seemed to be struggling a bit with her cue ball, and after the match, she admitted to not adapting quick enough to the change in climate. I closed out the match 9-5 to go through to the re-draw.

I drew Jeanette Lee in the last 16 and was very disappointed with my performance. I lost 9-2 and deserved it.

All in all, l made far too many mistakes. I need to get my confidence back if I expect to play well.

Now I can look forward to laughing my way home. It's only a game.

Peoria, here we come.

Kim Shaw
www.kimshaw.com

All copyrights are owned by Kim Shaw. No duplication is allowed without her permission.