KAREN ARMSTRONG TAKES MARYLAND STATE TITLE

A field of 34 women met at Champion Billiards Café October 21st and 22nd in Laurel, MD for the 11th stop of the NorthEastern Women’s Tour and the Maryland State Women’s 9-Ball Championships. Champion Billiards Café, Cues ‘N Things, Joss Cues, and APA’s Lee Tiani were the generous sponsors of this event and contributed $700 towards the prize fund of $2400. Since there was a conflicting WPBA pro event in LA, the winner of this event not only won the state championship title, but also a qualifying spot of player’s choice.

Sunday brought back the final eight players. The winner’s side semi final was a match-up between Carol Clark and Gina Kim. Gina left Carol hardly any opportunities at the table and won, 7-1, to gain the hot seat. Gina also posted wins over Lois Scafone, Debbie Messisca, Kristen Perkins, and SueYen Rhee. The 1-loss finals match was between Carol and Karen Armstrong. Despite having lost her first match, Karen battled through the 1-loss side to with 7 match wins over Carol Whiteside, Debbie Messisca, Amy Rodgers, Micaela Dames, Tina Meraglio, SueYen Rhee, and Kim Smith. Carol tried to overcome a seemingly insurmountable lead that Karen had with a late rally, but fell short and lost, 7-4. In the finals between Karen and Gina, Karen jumped out to a 3-1 lead. Gina tied her at 5, but that was all the games Karen would allow Gina as Karen went ahead and won, 9-5. Congratulations to Karen on winning her first qualifier, and to Gina and Carol for their highest NEWT event finishes of the year! The NEWT tour would also like to thank the staff at Champion Billiards Café, Kenny Denham for hosting us, LeeTiani for his tireless help at running the tournament chart, and Pechauer Cues for their continued support as sponsors.

Tournament Results:

1st $600 + qualifier + trophy - Karen Armstrong
2nd $400 + trophy - Gina Kim
3rd $300 + trophy - Carol Clark
4th $250 - Kim Smith
5th/6th $200 - SueYen Rhee/Betty Dougherty
7th/8th $125 - Tina Meraglio/Kristen Perkins
9th/12th $50 - Malea Haacke/Micaela Dames/Barbara Stock/Ellen Stutz

by Barbara Stock