Mary Hopkin picked up her second victory on the 2013 Northwest Women's Pool Association Tour by going undefeated on the tour's fourth stop. She had won the tour's second stop in April. The win moved her into the #1 slot in the tour's standings, replacing Liz Cole, who has won the other two stops on the tour, but was absent for this most recent event. The $500-added, June 22-23 event drew 22 entrants to Black Diamond Billiards in Spokane, WA.
It was a five-match journey for Hopkin that was almost derailed in the battle for the hot seat. She had defeated Adrianne Beach 7-1, Amber Foster 7-5, and among the winners' side final four, Alicia Kvasnicka 7-3, when she met up with Natalie Seal in that hot seat match. Seal had survived a double hill, opening match against Sheila Clark, defeated Joyce Robinson 7-2, and Elaine Eberly 7-5, before meeting and defeating Alisha Rogers 7-5 in the other winners' side semifinal. Hopkin and Seal, in their first of two, battled to double hill before Hopkin prevailed to sit in the hot seat, awaiting her return.
On the loss side, Kvasnicka ran into Elaine Eberly, who, after being sent west by Seal, had shut out Sharon Bledsoe and defeated Suzanne Smith 6-4. Rogers drew Suwanna Matarazzo, whom she'd sent to the loss side in the second round, and was on a four-match, loss side streak that included victories over Julie Valdez 6-1 and Amber Foster 6-4. Kvasnicka defeated Eberly 6-2, and in the quarterfinals, faced Rogers, who'd successfully defeated Matarazzo a second time 6-4.
Kvasnicka dropped Rogers into the fourth place slot 6-4, earning herself a shot against Seal in the semifinals. Both were looking for a second chance against Hopkin, but it was Seal who earned it, allowing Kvasnicka only a single rack in their semifinal match.
Seal got her second chance against Hopkin, with thoughts of their double hill hot seat match relatively fresh on her mind. Hopkin, though, had those thoughts in her head as well, and left little to chance. She defeated Seal 9-4 to claim the event title, as well as first place in the tour rankings.
Liz Cole went undefeated to win the third stop on the Northwest Women's Pool Association Tour, held on the weekend of May 18-19. The victory also qualified the winner for the Ultimate 10-Ball Championships in Tunica, MS next month, but because Cole was already qualified, that slot went to Shelby Locati, who'd won three on the loss side to meet her in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 23 entrants to Ballad Town Billiards in Forest Grove, OR, with selected matches streamed live by Rail2Rail Productions via Ustream.
Cole opened her five-match winning campaign by giving up only two racks in her first two matches; one each to Stacy Eilts and Mary Hopkin. Then, among the winners' side final four, she met up with Tamre Rogers, who battled her to double hill, before giving way. Joining Cole in the hot seat match was Suzanne Smith, who'd gotten by Rebecca Slyter, Robin Adams, and Sharon Bledsoe, before meeting and defeating Locati in the other winners' side semifinal 6-3. Cole moved into the hot seat with a 6-2 win over Smith and waited for what turned out to be the return of Locati.
Locati moved west and picked up Hopkin, who'd defeated Alisha Rogers and Cristy Barsky, both 6-4. Rogers drew Andrena Brown, who'd defeated Tammy Holcomb 6-2 and shut out Elaine Eberly. Rogers eliminated Brown 6-4 and in the quarterfinals, faced Locati, who just did survive a double hill match against Hopkin. Locati picked up her second straight, double hill win, ending Rogers' bid in the quarterfinals, and then shut out Smith in the semifinals.
In the single race-to-9 finals that followed, Cole and Locati traded racks back and forth, right from the start. They did so right through to double hill. Knotted at seven games apiece, Cole missed an easy shot on the 9-ball, and Locati reached the hill first. Cole missed an easy shot on the 4-ball in the next rack, but Locati couldn't take advantage. Cole finished to knot things at double hill and then won the final game to claim the event title.
Kim Jones and Jana Montour have been trading victories on the Northwest Women’s Pool Association Tour since March. Montour opened the season with a win in March. Jones chalked one up in April, and then went on to win the Regional Tour Championships in May. Montour won the tour’s third stop in June. On the weekend of July 14-15, Jones won five on the loss side, including a victory over Montour in the semifinals, before defeating local favorite, Phyllis Fernandez in the finals. The $500-added event drew 27 entrants to Black Diamond Billiards in Spokane, WA.
Jones won her first two matches, against Alisha Rogers and Tayla Makus, before running into Mary Hopkin. They battled to double hill before Hopkin prevailed, moving among the winners’ side final four to face Montour. Fernandez, in the meantime, had opened her bid by surviving a double hill match against Adrianne Beach (double hill). She then defeated Alicia Kvasnicka and Joyce Robinson to move among the winners’ side final four and a match versus Shelby Locati.
Montour sent Hopkin west double hill, as Fernandez was busy sending Locati over 7-2. The battle for the hot seat went double hill, with Fernandez coming out on top of Montour, and waiting in the hot seat for the return of Jones. Montour’s appearance in the hot seat match allowed her to maintain her top spot in the NWPA tour rankings (just ahead of Jones) no matter what the outcome from that point on.
On the loss side, Jones defeated Fran Johnson 6-1 and Sandra Badger 6-3 to pick up Locati. Hopkin drew Kimberly Kirk, who’d gotten by Trinh Lu in a double hill match and Julie Valdez 6-4. Kirk prevented a Jones/Hopkin re-match with a 6-2 win over Hopkin, as Jones downed Badger 6-3.
Jones survived a double hill battle against Kirk in the quarterfinals, and turned to face Montour. A win for Montour would have guaranteed an extension of the point lead for her in tour standings, but Jones won it 6-3 for a chance to meet Fernandez and narrow that tour-leading gap to 45 points.
In the single race-to-9 finals that followed, Jones reached the hill, three games ahead, which is when it got interesting. Fernandez won the 14th and 15th rack to pull within one. In the 16th rack, Fernandez rattled the 8-ball in a corner pocket, leaving it right there for Jones. Jones, from up-table, put it in, but came back straight, up and down-table square on the 9-ball. She tried to poke it into the corner pocket, but not only did it rattle in that pocket, the cue ball came around the table and dropped into a hole.
“I tried to put bottom on it to avoid the scratch,” said Jones, “but when the 9-ball rattled in the pocket, the cue ball came around and headed to that other pocket.”
With ball in hand, Fernandez sunk the 9-ball to knot things at double hill.
Fernandez scratched on her subsequent break. Jones stepped to the table and forced a first foul on Fernandez. When Jones got the ball back, she did it a second time. With ball in hand for the third time, she forced Fernandez to kick long at the 1-ball. Fernandez shot at the short rail, and not only safely touched the 1-ball, but put it in. Jones would regain control of the table, and stepped up later, shooting at the 9-ball. It dropped readily, but the entire room went silent, as the travelling cue ball worked its way down (very slowly) toward a diagonal corner. It just did touch the long rail and bounce away safely, securing the event victory for Jones.
“I’d played it so it wouldn’t scratch,” she said of that final shot, “but in that moment (as the cue ball drifted toward the corner), I couldn’t celebrate the win until I was sure.”
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Black Diamond Billiards, as well as sponsors Billiards 911, Cue Tracker, and Horizon Rentals. They also thanked Rail2Rail Productions for their live stream of the event. Next stop on the NWPA Tour is scheduled for August 11-12 at The Parlor in Bellevue, WA.
T.D. Ford, Jana Montour, Kim Jones and Jim Lebold owner of The Cue Ball
On April 28-29, 2012, The Cue Ball in Salem, OR hosted the 2nd Annual Martha Hartsell Memorial for the NWPA’s second tour stop of the season. The tournament was held on twenty-two 9 foot Brunswick Centennial and Anniversary tables. Rail2Rail Productions hosted a free live stream all weekend. We would love to thank our title sponsor Mueller for continuing their support of the NWPA. Please check out their website at www.mueller.com. Billiards 911 sponsored the Trivia Challenge on the live stream, donating a prize package of a cue maintenance bundle including Undo the Blue, shaft smoother and burnisher, Prickster Tip Tool, Shaft Magic with Cue Cloth, and a talcum powder pouch. Congratulations to the winner, James Doyle of Roswell, GA.
The event drew 33 players, most of them tour regulars. However, several new and returning players entered including Julie Stallings (Junction City, OR), Angela Higgins (Portland, OR), Jennifer Windell (Oregon City, OR), Andrena Browne (Springfield, OR), Laura Hardie (Portland, OR), Tina Tillett (Coos Bay, OR), and Kim Allen (Oregon City, OR.) Remaining funds from the Johnny Archer/Nick Varner raffle in early April resulted in an additional $250 added to the main event payout, to bring the total to $1000 added. Player rewards included autographed photos of Johnny/Nick, coffee from local Portland company Coava Coffee Roasters (www.coavacoffee.com), QClip donation , and instructional video Point The Way by well-known road player/guru Timothy Miller (The Monk). We would love to thank all parties that made donations to the NWPA. In addition to the player raffle, scratch tickets were awarded for 9 ball breaks and break & runs.
With 33 players, the tournament format was a race to 7 on the A side and a race to 6 on the B side. Saturday was action packed and only eight players returned on Sunday in the main event. On the A side, it was Jana Montour vs. Kris Robbins and Liz Cole vs. Shelby Locati and on the B side it was Eve Stockstill vs. Sheila Clark and Kim Jones vs. Suzanne Smith. Jana and Liz both advanced through their morning matches, 7-6 and 7-3, to force a repeat of our first stop’s hotseat (and final) match which had a similar result, Jana advancing by a score of 7-5. On the B side, Eve and Kim both defeated their opponents by similar score of 6-4. During Sunday’s second round, Kris and Kim defeated Eve and Shelby by identical 6-2 scores. Kim just seemed to pick up speed from there, going on to defeat Kris (6-0). Kim then defeated Liz, in a hill-hill nail biter where a scratch on the break by Liz, resulted in Kim taking a 1-9 combo for the win.
THE FINAL- Jana Montour vs. Kim Jones was one race to 9, alternating break.
Path to the final- Jana M: Elaine E (0), Talya M (4), Kim J (3), Kris R (6), Liz C (5)
Path to the final- Kim J: Julie S (6), Angela H (3), loss to Jana (3), Tamre R (2), Suzanne S (4), Shelby L (2), Kris R (0), Liz C (5)
Jana won the lag, but right from the beginning did not appear comfortable at the table. She was somewhat inconsistent with her position play and shot making, which appeared to associated with indecision in her pattern play. Kim took advantage of every opportunity with superb run out patterns and safeties, jumping out to a 7-0 lead before an accidental hook left Kim attempting a jump over the 8 ball resulting in a bad hit. Jana ran the 7, 8, 9 to win her first rack. Kim bounced right back with the next rack to reach the hill first. With her back against the wall, Jana fought through the next two racks to make the score 8-3 before a safety on the 2 ball resulted in an opportunity for Kim to pocket an off angle 2-9 carom to win her first event of 2012.
Congratulations ladies! Our next event will be June 16-17 at Malarkey’s Pool & Brew in Tacoma, WA.
Main Event Payouts
1st600Kim Jones
2nd400Jana Montour
3rd275Liz Cole
4th200Kris Robbins
5/6th125Eve Stockstill/Shelby Locati
7/8th95Sheila Clark/Suzanne Smith
Seven players returned for the $175 added Second Chance Event. The tournament ended up being a Race to three on both sides, the final being one race to four. Sandy Badger defeated Debbie Cicchiti in the final
On November 19-20th The Parlor in Bellevue, WA hosted the NWPA’s 7th and final tour stop of the 2011 Season. The tournament was ran on 10 9 foot Brunswicks and Rail2Rail Productions provided live streaming throughout the event. As always, The Parlor was a gracious host and even provided comedy club tickets to several of the entrants after the NWPA banquet hosted as a buffet style dinner at The Ultra Lounge. Some of the The Parlor’s upcoming events include The Vixen Gauntlet and Country Line Dancing on Wednesdays, Thursday/Saturday football specials with 16 HD TVs and all kinds of door prizes and giveaways, DL Hughley on December 8-10, and Comic Search open auditions on December 15-17.
We would like to give special thanks to our title sponsor MUELLER for their continued support of the NWPA, please show your support to the NWPA by supporting Mueller (www.mueller.com). We would also like to extend a warm welcome to two new players: Clodagh Lancaster from Redmond, WA and Sara Mullenniex from Bellingham, WA.
2011 NWPA Awards were given at the banquet Saturday night and included:
Also at the banquet, conclusion of our annual raffle took place. Ed & Shelby Locati, Phyllis Fernandez, and Liz Cole all won cues and cases donated by Mueller, Brian Johnson and Alisha Rogers both won NWPA merchandise, and Shawn Graves won the coveted Passion Party basket, donated by Liz Cole’s sister.
Fresh off her first top 16 performance at the WPBA’s Tour Championship event Liz Cole was the favorite to win. With that performance, Liz earned her 2012 exemption on the WPBA, so whoever earned second in the NWPA’s overall standings would prove to be the NWPA representative, along with Liz, on the WPBA for 2012. In contention were Kimberly Kirk and Deby Welfringer, both players would have to have their best tournament of the year to have an opportunity. Kimberly would need to win the event, while Deby would need to finish 3rd.
Twenty ladies came to play on Saturday morning, and unfortunately due to snow, a few of the tours’ top players were not in attendance. Matches started at 10 am, and the field was whittled down to 8 players who returned on Sunday. On the A side, Liz Cole squared off against Michelle Hughes (her first Sunday appearance), while Shelby Locati battled against recently crowned 2011 US Amateur Champion, Suzanne Smith. Liz and Suzanne both won their matches 7-4 and 7-2. Liz then defeated Suzanne 7-4 to secure her 6th final appearance of the season. On the B side, Kimberly Kirk played Jessica Orth and Deby Welfringer played Clodagh Lancaster. Both Kimberly and Deby defeated their opponents 7-5, and momentum from their morning wins propelled them through their second rounds where Kimberly defeated Shelby 7-6 and Deby defeated Michelle 7-3.
The next match would prove to be a true test, for if Deby were to advance she would be guaranteed a 3rd place finish and take over 2nd place in the standings. Kimberly had different plans, as she was also in contention for that 2nd place spot, and ended up defeating Deby 7-2. Kimberly continued her superb play and defeated Suzanne 7-4 to secure her spot in the final against Liz.
Path to the Final
Liz Cole: Andy R (6), Shari R (5), Kathy S (2), Michelle H (5), Suzanne S (4)
Kimberly Kirk: Bye, Sara M (0), loss to Michelle H (5), Andy R (3), Jessica O (5), Shelby L (6), Suzanne S (4)
Kimberly won the lag. Straight out of the gate, Kimberly continued stroking the ball well to take a 3-0 lead, forcing Liz to take her break early to regain her composure. After Liz’s break, a couple untimely errors by Kimberly allowed Liz to tie up the match at 3 games each. Both ladies were shooting great and the match was alos tied at 4-4, 5-5, and 6-6, however in game 14, with an opportunity to tie the match again at 7, a hung 8 ball by Kimberly allowed Liz to take a two game lead 8-6. Kimberly then scratched on the break for the first time of the set in the next rack and Liz methodically ran out the rack to end Kimberly’s hopes of securing 2nd place in the standings. Congratulations Ladies, Great Tournament for you both. Congratulations to Jana Montour as well, who with her 2nd place position in the NWPA’s overall standings has earned her tour card. Thanks to all who came out to support the NWPA. It was a great season and we will see everyone (and hopefully more of us) in 2012.
Five ladies returned on Sunday for a $100 Added Second Chance Tournament. A round robin format was used, so each lady played the others five games. Alisha Rogers won the most games to claim top prize, while only 1 game separated 2nd and 3rd places. Sara and Talya ended up tied for fourth position, but since Sara had defeated Talya in their match, Sara received 4th place prize.
