In her first appearance on the 2019 J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour on the weekend of May 18-19, Karen Corr went undefeated to claim her first 2019 JPNEWT title. The $500-added (by Coins of the Realm) event drew 23 entrants to First Break Bar & Grill in Sterling, VA.
As usual, in a way that makes other competitors think in terms of ‘second place,’ Corr not only went undefeated, but until the final match, didn’t give up more than a single rack in each of the four matches that put her in the hot seat. After being awarded an opening round bye, Corr chalked up 7-1 victories over Jenn Sylvester and Elaine Wilson to draw Bethany Sykes in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Nicole King, in the meantime, had to do some work to get to the same place. King defeated Leslie Furr and Ceci Strain 7-5, and gave up only three racks to Kathleen Lawless, to draw Kia Sidbury in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Corr chalked up her third straight 7-1 victory, over Sykes, while King and Sidbury locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent King to the hot seat match versus Corr. Corr then chalked up her fourth 7-1 victory, over King, to claim the hot seat and await her return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Sidbury picked up Elaine Wilson, who, following her defeat at the hands of Corr in a winners’ side quarterfinal, defeated Sharon O’Hanlon 7-5 and Anita Sowers 7-4. Sykes drew a re-match against tour director Linda Shea, last month’s winner at Markley Billiards in PA, who had been sent to the loss side by Sykes in the 2nd round and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take her as far as the semifinals. She had most recently eliminated Kathleen Lawless 7-4 and Lai Li 7-3.
Wilson downed Sidbury 7-4 and in the quarterfinals, met Shea, who’d advanced in a successful 7-3 rematch against Sykes. Shea then chalked up what proved to be her final loss-side win with a 7-4 victory over Wilson in those quarterfinals.
From the standpoint of what was expected to happen after the semifinals (although no guarantees), it was no surprise that the semifinals became a struggle for (however it turned out) second place. It was thus, a predictable double hill fight that eventually ended Shea’s loss-side winning streak and gave King a second shot at Corr in the hot seat. Although King would chalk up as many racks in the finals as all four of Corr’s previous opponents combined (herself included), to no one’s surprise, Corr won 7-4 to claim the title.
Tour director Linda Shea thanked the ownership and staff at First Break Bar & Grill, as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, event sponsor Coins of the Realm, angle aim Art (Britanya E Rapp), The Turtle Rack Combo (Mezzusa.com), Baltimore City Cues and Billy Ray Bunn Cue Repair. The next stop (#4) on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of July 27-28, will be hosted by Champion Billiards Sports Bar in Frederick, MD.
