Newcomer Scott Tollefson Tops Field at Tiger Planet Pool Event

The Tiger Planet Pool Tour has consistently seen some of the regions top talent make their way into the slated events and this weekend was no exception. Scott Tollefson recently moved to the area and has found himself in the thick of things already. Although new to the area, he is not new to the pool scene and this weekend he reminded folks of that very fact.

The stage was set at Blue Fox Billiards in Winchester, Virginia this weekend (July 19th-20th) for the tour's most recent $2500 total added open/ladies tour stop. The main division drew a total field of fifty-one of the regions most well-known players which included a few of the ladies working on their stroke for the Sunday WPBA Qualifier – one of which, WPBA player, Janet Atwell. Although Atwell was not eligible for the qualifier, her play in the main event showed she was ready to contend for the prize fund. Atwell was the only woman to make it into the final twelve remaining players on Sunday morning with wins over Leo McDaniel, Alan Duty, and Saif Muhsen – her first loss came at the hands of Danny Green late Saturday night.

A few other matches of interest on Saturday in the main event included Iron Mike Davis being knocked out of the event early by Brandon Shuff and Phil Kerns; and tour favorite Manuel Chau met up with prior U.S. Open Champion John Schmidt in the second round and was sent to the one-loss side. But to start the day on Sunday, the initial match-ups saw on the winner's side of the brackets: John Schmidt v. Danny Green; and Scott Tollefson v. Larry Kressel. Schmidt and Tollefson moved on into the hot-seat match, where Tollefson continued his winning ways and pounded Schmidt 9-0, sending Schmidt west.

The one-loss side started with Manny Chau v. Brandon Shuff; Joey Ryan v. Matt Clatterbuck; Kevin West v. Phil Kerns; and Janet Atwell v. Shaun Wilkie. Moving forward were Shuff, Ryan, West and Wilkie. With the one-loss side dwindling down, additional movement came from Danny Green sending Joey Ryan home and Shaun Wilkie besting Kevin West.

Behind Tollefson, Wilkie held his ground this weekend and finished out the one-loss brackets with wins over Larry Kressel and ultimately Danny Green before running into Schmidt in the semis. Wilkie was not star struck in the least as he walked right past Schmidt by a score of 7-3 to reach Tollefson in the finals. Unfortunately for Wilkie, Tollefson had all the momentum already running in his favor. After beating Schmidt 9-0 for the hot-seat, he finished out the weekend in one-set fashion 11-2.

On the women's side of the room, the WPBA qualifier drew a group of twenty-four competitive women this weekend and many onlookers. Included in the field were top names Sueyen Rhee, Ming Ng, and recent qualifier taker Katie Cowan. In the end, Ming Ng settled into the hot-seat match against Buffy Jolie and held on to ensure her spot in the final arena 7-5; with the semis coming down to Sueyen Rhee and Jolie. Playing well into the morning, Buffy Jolie finally ended her long day with a loss of 7-0. The finals saw Sueyen Rhee meet up with hot-seat winner Ming Ng. Ng jumped out with the first few racks only to fall after missed opportunities to Rhee by a final score of 9-3.

Thanks to Cecilia Strain for a great tournament and all of her hard work; to the management and staff at Blue Fox Billiards for having us; to Monster Energy Drink for providing the opportunity for a WPBA qualifier which ultimately went to Sueyen Rhee; and on a personal note to Rick and Cindy Molineiro of Big Daddy's Billiards and Rick Fischer for sponsoring both myself and Cheryl Squire this weekend – we had a blast! For more information on the tour and the remaining season schedule, go to www.planet-pool.com

Results (open):
1st$1000 Scott Tollefson
2nd $650 Shaun Wilkie
3rd $450 John Schmidt
4th $325 Danny Green
5th/6th $220 Larry Kressel/Joey Ryan
7th/8th $150 Brandon Shuff/Kevin West
9th-12th $100 Manuel Chau/Phil Kerns /Matt Clatterbuck/Janet Atwell
13th-16th $65 Rick Ross/Chris Adams/Danny Mastermaker/Saif Muhsen

Results (women):
1st $475 Sueyen Rhee + WPBA Qualifier
2nd $315 Ming Ng
3rd $210 Buffy Jolie
4th $140 Mirjuana Grujiacic
5th/6th $100 Katie Cowan/Karen Webb
7th/8th $60 Sherry Pouncey/Cheryl Squire