Karen Corr not only went undefeated at the North American Pool Tour’s (NAPT) Coupe du Quebec, she damn near went unscored upon. Through seven round robin flights and five rounds in a double elimination final bracket, she gave up only 11 games of the 88 she played to claim the event title. She shut out four of her round robin opponents and three of the five she faced in the final double elimination phase. She was the only player to go undefeated in both phases of the event. The Division 1 Pro event drew 32 entrants to Dooly’s in Quebec, Canada on the long weekend of October 24-27.
The Round Robin phase of the event split the field of 32 into four flights of eight players each. At the end of seven rounds in each of the four flights, the top four in each flight (based on win/loss records and point differentials for ties) advanced to the double elimination bracket of 16.
Corr’s flight in the round robin phase pitted her against (among others) fellow J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour player, Nicole King, as well as Nathalie Chabot, and Chantal Bergeron, all of whom finished with 4-3 records to advance to the final 16.
California’s Callado sisters played in separate round robin flights. Eleanor finished with a 5-2 record, as did Nathalie Jacob, Amanda Soucy and Marie-France Blanchette; all advancing to the double elimination bracket. Sister Emilyn finished with a 6-1 record and was joined in the double elimination bracket by Toni Sakamoto, Farla Salmonovitch and Judie Wilson. The woman who’d defeated Emily Callado, Dorah Cornell, did not advance; Emilyn being the only opponent she defeated.
Veronique Menard was at the top of her round robin group and finished with a 6-1 record. Joining her in advancing were Roxanne Ryan Aucoin, Fanny Giroux (Menard’s only loss), and Sandra-Line Michel.
Corr wasn’t scored upon until she reached the hot seat match, downing Sandra-Line Michel, Nathalie Jacob and in the winners’ side semifinal, Emilyn Callado by shutout; thus spoiling any hope for a Callado sister hot seat match. Eleanor Callado’s path to the hot seat match went through Farla Salmonovitch 7-4, Marie-France Blanchette 7-3 and in the other winners’ side semifinal, Veronique Menard 7-4. Corr gave up her first rack of the double elimination phase defeating Callado 7-1 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Emilyn Callado picked up Blanchette, who, after her winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Eleanor Callado, had defeated Judie Wilson 7-5 and Fanny Giroux 7-2. Menard drew Nathalie Jacob, who, after her quarterfinal loss to Corr, had defeated Toni Sakamoto 7-5 and shut out Roxanne Aucoin.
Emilyn Callado and Blanchette locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Callado to the quarterfinals. She was joined by Menard, who’d defeated Jacob 7-1.
With the hope of a Callado sister semifinal looming, Menard spoiled that with a 7-3 win over Emilyn in the quarterfinals and turned for a second shot against her sister, Eleanor in the semifinals. Menard downed her 7-4 and got a shot at Corr in the hot seat.
To her credit, Menard chalked up more racks against Corr in the finals than all four of Corr’s previous opponents, or any one opponent in both the round robin and double elimination phases. But it wasn’t nearly enough, as Corr finished the proceedings with a 7-4 win.
NAPT President Adrianne Beach thanked Elvis Joubert and his staff for their hospitality, as well as event sponsor, Turtle Rack.
Jia Li made her second appearance on the 2017 J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) on the weekend of October 14-15, and as she did in her first appearance in August, she won the event. In August, she had to negotiate three matches on the loss side before meeting and defeating hot seat occupant, Caroline Pao. At this most recent stop, she went undefeated, downing separate opponents in the hot seat match and finals. The $1,000-added event drew 16 entrants to Eagle Billiards in Dickson City, PA.
Following victories over Amanda Soucy 7-3, and Chari Slater 7-1, Jia Li moved into a winners’ side semifinal against the tour’s #1-ranked player, Linda Shea. Kia Sidbury, in the meantime, having defeated Morgan Steinman 7-3 and Colleen Shoop 7-2, moved on to face Melissa Jenkins in the other winners’ side semifinal. Li gave up only a single rack to Shea and advanced to the hot seat match. She was joined by Sidbury, who’d sent Jenkins to the loss side 7-4. Li claimed the hot seat 7-2 over Sidbury and waited for Shea to get back from her three-match trek on the loss side.
Shea opened her loss side campaign against Soucy, who, after being sent over by Li, defeated Judie Wilson 7-5, Shoop 7-4, and Elaine Wilson 7-2. Jenkins picked up Erica Testa, who’d been sent to the loss side by Shea and defeated Carol V. Clark 7-1 and Morgan Steinman 7-5.
Shea defeated Soucy 7-1, as Jenkins was eliminating Testa 7-3. Shea took the quarterfinal match over Jenkins 7-2, and then earned her re-match against Li, while denying Sidbury hers, with a 7-4 win in the semifinals. Li, though, completed her undefeated run with a 7-2 win over Shea in the finals.
The next stop on the JPNEWT will be the tour’s season finale. Scheduled for November 18-19, it will be hosted by Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
Six years ago, Borana Andoni became the first female to record a victory on the 2008/2009 Tri-State Tour. Two months later, she became the first female to record a victory on the 2009/2010 Tri-State tour. In 2013, her best recorded earnings year to date, though she failed to chalk up an event victory, she cashed in nine events, including stops on the Planet Pool, Predator, Tri-State, and JPNEWT tours, as well as the WPBA Masters and the Women's Division of the Ultimate 10-Ball Championships in Tunica, MS. Producers of the recent TRUtv series, The Hustlers, failed to take any of this into account, when throughout the 10 episodes of the series, she was referred to only as the girlfriend of Scott Simonetti.
On the weekend of November 7-8, in the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour's season finale, Andoni once again proved that she has independent pool credibility by taking the $1,000-added ($500 from Coins of the Realm) event that drew 28 entrants to Triple Nines in Elkridge, MD. She worked her way through a field intent on maintaining their position within the tour's rankings for a chance to compete in the WPBA's Regional Tour Championships in January. Andoni entered the event at #19, and before it was over, she'd defeated numbers 1 (Karen Corr), 2 (Linda Shea), and 3 (Nicole Monaco).
Andoni opened her winning campaign with double hill wins over #11, Dawn Fox, and #2, Shea. She then sent Corr to the loss side 7-2, from whence she would not return, making it the first 2015 JPNEWT event in which Corr competed that she failed to win. The win over Corr set Andoni up in a winners' side semifinal versus #14, Meredith Lynch. In the meantime, Kia Sidbury (#6) squared off against Lai Li. Andoni advanced to the hot seat match 7-3 over Lynch, and faced Sidbury, who'd sent Lai Li west 7-4. Just being in the hot seat match guaranteed Andoni her best finish, of six attempts, on the 2015 JPNEWT tour. Sidbury took the hot seat match 7-5 and waited on Andoni's return.
On the loss side, Lynch drew Kim Whitman, who'd defeated Kathy Friend 7-4 and Nicole Fleming 7-3 to reach her. Li picked up Monaco, who'd survived a double hill battle against Amanda Soucy and defeated Sharon O'Hanlon 7-2. Whitman and Monaco advanced to the quarterfinals; both 7-4, over Lynch and Li.
Monaco took the quarterfinal match over Whitman 7-2, before having her four-match, loss-side streak ended by Andoni 7-5 in the semifinals. Andoni took the extended race-to-9 finals over Sidbury 9-4 to claim the title. The victory moved Andoni to among the 2015 tour's top 10 players; from #19 to #9.
