Texas is a big state, all 268,820 square miles of it. Female Texas pool players who’ve been competing against each other for any number of years might argue that while it may be a big state, it’s a small world after all.
This past weekend (Nov. 20-21), Jennifer Kraber, whose been making entries into her AZBilliards’ profile since the turn of the century, came from the loss side in the second stop of the 2021 On the Ball Ladies Tour and double dipped Courtney Peters to claim the event title. The last time these two met, pre-pandemic in February 2020, in the Ladies division of the 6th Texas Open 10-Ball event, Kraber got into the hot seat with a victory over Peters and downed her again in the finals. Kraber and Ming Ng, who met in the battles for 5th/6th at this event, had battled in the finals of the inaugural stop of the On The Ball Ladies Tour last month (Oct. 16-17), at which Ng claimed the title. They’d also squared off in the finals of the 2018 Texas Open 10-Ball, won by Kraber. Ng had defeated Kraber in the finals of the 45th Texas Open that same year. Kraber had defeated Ng in the finals of the Houston Open in 2015, while five years earlier, in the same event, they’d finished as runner-up (Ng) and 3rd (Kraber) to Amanda Lampert.
Small world. The $3,000-added 9-Ball event that drew 34 women this past weekend, was hosted by perennial big state, small world host, Skinny Bob’s in Round Rock, TX.
Kraber’s path to the winners’ circle ran through a bye, Darcy Durham 7-4 and Natalie Rocha 7-2, before coming up against Kim Pierce in a winners’ side quarterfinal. They battled to double hill before Pierce prevailed to draw Courtney Peters in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Peters had arrived after downing Michelle Cortez 7-5, shutting out Erica Hanlon, surviving a double hill fight versus Nicole McDaniel and in a winners’ side quarterfinal, sending Cristina Schneider west 7-4.
Meanwhile, Ming Ng was working her way through the lower portion of the bracket against Mary Grigsby 7-2, Teresa Garland 7-1 and Mille Almaraz 7-5 to draw Kim Sanders in the other winners’ side semifinal. Sanders had sent Carmel Luttrell 7-1, Jenna Bishoff, double hill, and Christine McClamma 7-2 to the loss side.
Sanders sent Ng over 7-5 for what turned out to be a match versus Kraber. Peters shut out Pierce to join Sanders in the hot seat match. Peters gave up only a single rack to Sanders to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Ng ran right into Kraber, who, following her defeat at the hands of Pierce, had eliminated Michelle Yim 7-1 and Jenna Bishoff, double hill. Pierce drew Nicole McDaniel, who was working on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had recently included elimination wins over McLamma 7-3 and Michelle Cortez, double hill.
Kraber and Ng battled to a predictable double hill juncture, before Kraber advanced to a rematch against Pierce in the quarterfinals. Pierce had won her second straight double hill match, versus McDaniel to advance.
They’d battled to double hill in their winners’ side match and apparently Kraber wanted nothing to do with that a second time, in the quarterfinals. She gave up only a single rack to Pierce and advanced to a semifinal match against another Kim, Sanders. Kraber won that 7-4 to earn herself a double-elimination shot against Peters in the finals.
Kraber took the opening set 7-5. She followed it with a 7-4 win in the second set to claim the second stop of the On The Ball Ladies Tour.
A $100-added Best of the Rest Tournament drew 16 players on Sunday. Autumn Duncan downed Mille Almaraz in the finals. The tour also announced three End of Year award winners: Ming Ng – Tour Champion, Most Improved Player – Courtney Peters and a Best Sportsmanship award to Michelle Cortez.
Tour representatives thanked Kim and Tracy Sanders and their staff at Skinny Bob’s for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor On the Ball Co., and Draw Nation Streaming for providing the live stream. The next stop of the On the Ball Ladies Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 29-30, will be hosted by Big Tyme Billiards in Spring, TX.
Jenna Bishoff, Ming Ng and Autumn Duncan (Shayla Neris)
In what was only their second ‘big’ event at Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, TX, which they purchased last May, the Sanders (Kim and Tracey) held one of the missing events from the 47th Annual Texas Open that had acted as something of a ‘soft opening’ to the renovated facility a few weeks ago. On the weekend of November 21-22, they held the (missing) $5,000-added, 47th Annual Texas Ladies Open, which drew 46 entrants to their location.
Ming Ng went undefeated through that field to defend the title she’d won last year, facing separate opponents in the hot seat and finals. Autumn Duncan navigated through the winners’ side to face Ng in the hot seat match, while Jenna Bishoff, sent to the loss side by Duncan, won six on the loss side to face her in the finals.
While the Sanders concur with the general idea that there’s something to be said for the calmer atmosphere inherent with reduced numbers and (arguably) an all-female crowd, Kim Sanders, for one, prefers the way it was before. She’s hoping that it will be that way again.
“Most of the women are like me,” she said. “They prefer to have it along with the rest of the tournaments. Before, when you had the Ladies event with the Open, the men and women came together and played pool together.”
“The combination makes them feel like they’re part of something bigger,” she added. “It’s just a different atmosphere.”
As pleased with the outcome of the Ladies event as they were with the earlier, larger pair of events, they continue to look forward to a planned week-long 48th Annual Texas Open in 2021.
“It went really well,” said Kim of the Ladies event. “We had a hiccup the first day when one of the matches went a little long, but after that, everything went smoothly.”
Ming Ng’s path to the winners’ circle, after an opening round bye, went through Gigi Callejas 7-1, Jennifer Kraber 7-3 and Kim Pierce, also 7-3, before arriving at a winners’ side semifinal match versus Bernie Store. Autumn Duncan, in the meantime, was also awarded an opening round bye and then downed Cari Balusek 7-2. She sent Bishoff to the loss side and defeated Jackie Karol, both 7-5, before squaring off against Ellen Couvillion in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Ng downed Store 7-2 and hooked up with Duncan, who’d survived a double hill battle versus Couvillion. Ng claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Duncan and waited for Bishoff to complete her loss-side run.
It was Couvillion who ran into Bishoff on the loss side, four matches into her winning streak that had most recently included wins over Michelle Yim 7-1 and Courtney Peters 7-3. Store drew Jennifer Kraber, who, after her defeat at the hands of Ng, went on a four-match winning streak that was about to end and had recently resulted in a shutout over Ricki Casper and a double hill win over Jackie Karol.
Store ended Kraber’s streak 7-2, as Bishoff downed Couvillion 7-4. Bishoff ended Store’s brief time on the loss side 7-1 in the quarterfinals, and then, downed Duncan in the semifinals 7-5.
Ng closed out her undefeated run with a 7-3 victory over Bishoff in the finals.
The Sanders thanked their staff for their hard work as well as sponsors Sanders Roofing & Exterminating, LLC, MinTS Amusements, Hanshew Custom Cues, ABC Supply Co. and GAF.
(l to r): Winner Jenna Bishoff & Tour Champion Kim Pierce
Looking for her second 2019 tour victory, her first having come on the North Central Pool Tour in Illinois (August), Jenna Bishoff shifted south a bit to join the Jerry Olivier Ladies Tour in League City, TX for its 7th tour stop and season finale, where she met up with Jennifer Kraber three times. The last two meetings were in the finals where Bishoff double-dipped Kraber to claim the event title. The $3,000-added event drew 45 entrants to Legends Billiards in League City.
Kraber won the first of three versus Bishoff 7-5 and in the hot seat match, faced Sanders who’d sent Garland west 7-4. Kraber gave up only a single rack to Sanders in the match that followed, winning what proved to be her last match and claiming the hot seat.
Over on the loss side, Bishoff picked up Autumn Duncan, who’d been sent to the loss side in the second round by Michelle Cortez in a double hill fight and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that included recent victories over Belinda Lee 7-1 and Kim Pierce 7-2, and was about to come to an end. Garland drew Janeen Lee, who’d recently eliminated Calaia Jackson and Michelle Cortez, both 7-5.
Bishoff’s bid for a rematch against Kraber in the hot seat was almost stopped by Duncan, who battled her to double hill before giving way and settling for the two-way tie for 5th place. Lee, in the meantime, defeated Garland 7-5 to join Bishoff in the quarterfinals.
Bishoff then chalked up three straight 7-2 wins; against Lee in the quarterfinals, Sanders in the semifinals and Kraber in the opening set of the true double elimination finals. Bishoff punctuated her run with a shutout over Kraber in the second set of the finals to claim the tour’s season finale title.
In what was described as a “battle to the (tour) finish line,” Kim Pierce was announced as the 2019 Jerry Olivier Ladies Tour Champion. Kelly Jones was identified as the tour’s Most Improved Player, while Calaia Jackson picked up the Best Sportsmanship Award; all were awarded trophies for the accomplishment. Pierce and Jones received free entries for 2020. Jackson will receive one free entry. Jennifer Kraber received a $50 scratch-off ticket at the tour’s player with the most break-and-runs. Jackson was identified as the competitor with the season’s most 9-on-the-breaks.
Tour representatives thanked Mindy and Craig Cohen and their Legends staff, as well as title sponsor Jerry Olivier Custom Cues and tour affiliates Mz Tam and Strokin’ Billiards.
Crowning achievements for (l to r) Kyoko Sone & Brittany Bryant with Janet Atwell
It began on Thursday, May 30 with a preliminary tournament made up of 30 lower-ranked players from the Women’s Professional Billiards Association (WPBA) and ended on Sunday night, June 2 with the crowning of defending champion Brittany Bryant, who had to come from the loss side (five matches) to meet Kyoko Sone in the finals of the WPBA’s Signature Tour Stop, the Blue-Emu Southern Open. The $10,000-added event drew a total of 62 entrants, including Janet Atwell to her venue, Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
The event was not exactly a proverbial ‘walk in the park’ for the WPBA’s #4-ranked player. Bryant won the event, having won less than 60% of the games she played in it (70-49; 58.8%). The seven opponents she faced in races-to-8 chalked up an average of five racks against her. She got by Kelly Cavanaugh, Jessica Barnes and Mary Rakin by an aggregate score of 24-7, but against her other four race-to-8 opponents (LoreeJon Hasson, Allison Fisher, Melissa Little & Jennifer Baretta) she chalked up an aggregate of 32-26, or 55%. Not surprising necessarily, given the upgrade in the competition over those four matches. And then, of course, there was the third-round, 4-8 loss to Gail Eaton, which really did a job on the ‘numbers.’ Without that loss, Bryant would have finished with an overall game-winning average of just over 60% (62.8), rather than less.
“I go to every event to win it,” said Bryant, “but I didn’t go with any expectations this year. “There were actually a few more players who were higher up (in rankings) than there were last year when I won it.”
The ‘First Stage’ double elimination bracket yielded 16 players who advanced to the Final Stage; eight from the winners’ side and eight from the loss side of that bracket. Among those who emerged from that bracket was runner-up Kyoko Sone, who lost her opening round match, double hill to Mary Rakin. Rakin advanced to defeat Kelly Isaac 7-5 and become one of the eight winners’ side competitors to advance to the Final Stage. Sone moved to the loss side, where she defeated Toni Esteves and Janet Ritcey, both 7-2, to become one of the eight loss-side competitors to advance to the final stage.
Moving into the Final Stage, beginning on Friday, May 31, the 16 arrivals from the preliminary bracket faced 16 players more or less in the middle of the WPBA rankings (approximately #17-#32). The winners in this opening round of Final Stage play advanced to meet the WPBA’s top 16 players, who had been awarded opening round byes.
Of the WPBA’s top 16 players who waited until Friday evening to begin competing, only three failed to advance on the winners’ side past their opening match; Jessica Barnes (WPBA-ranked #16) was defeated 8-2 by Kyoko Sone, Gerda Gregerson (#8) lost to Mary Rakin 8-6 and Emily Duddy (#10) joined them on the loss side following an 8-3 defeat at the hands of Naomi Williams. Among the more notable matches in this round of play, and the only one to go double hill was the battle between Allison Fisher and Russian teenager Kristina Tkach, who, a week earlier, had been the only female to compete in the Open/Pro event of the 9th Annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial in New York City (she finished in the tie for 5th place). She was defeated by Fisher here and went on to win two loss-side matches before being eliminated by Line Kjorsvik.
A final round on Friday night brought the field down to the winners’ side quarterfinals. Kyoko Sone had sent Line Kjorsvik to the loss side and on Saturday night, faced Mary Rakin, who, after her victory over Gregerson, had sent hostess and WPBA-ranked #9 Janet Atwell over. Brittany Bryant, who’d defeated Loree Jon Hasson was to meet up with Gail Eaton, who’d gotten by Melissa Little. Fisher followed up her win over Tkach with a victory over Jia Li and on Saturday night, faced Naomi Williams, who had just survived a double hill battle against Helena Thornfeldt. The last of the winners’ side quarterfinals pitted Jennifer Baretta against Monica Webb.
These matches elicited the winners’ side semifinals, which began immediately afterwards. Sone, who’d downed Rakin 8-5 met Eaton, who’d sent Bryant to the loss side 8-4, as Fisher, who’d defeated Williams 8-3 met Baretta, who’d gotten by Webb 8-5.
“I have to give Gail so much credit,” said Bryant of her only loss in the tournament. “I have never seen her play that well. I was down 7-1, took a break, composed myself and got it to 7-4.”
“I wasn’t disappointed,” she added. “I didn’t play poorly and Gail took control when she needed to.”
Sone advanced to the hot seat match 8-3 over Eaton. Fisher and Baretta, almost predictably, fought to double hill before Baretta prevailed to join Sone in the hot seat match. Sone downed Baretta 8-4 to claim the hot seat and waited on what turned out to be Bryant’s fateful return.
Meanwhile, back at the loss-side ranch, Bryant and Melissa Little were laying in wait for Fisher and Eaton, respectively. Bryant had defeated Jessica Barnes 8-2 and Mary Rakin 8-3 to draw Fisher. Little had won four loss-side matches, including a double hill win over Naomi Williams and an 8-4 victory over Kjorsvik to draw Eaton. Little made it five in a row with an 8-5 win over Eaton and advanced to the quarterfinals. Bryant joined her after surviving a double hill fight against Fisher.
“I expected to go back and forth with Allison,” she said. “It was actually the first time I had ever beaten her. I ended up breaking and running at double hill to win it.”
Bryant followed her double hill win over Fisher with a double hill win over Little in the quarterfinals and for the second time, she finished with a break and run. In the semifinals, Jennifer Baretta came within a game of giving Bryant a third straight, double hill challenge, but Bryant edged out in front at the end to win it 8-6.
“I was up 6-2 in that match and she came back (to almost tie it),” Bryant said. “And then, there was a big game swinger, when she could have tied it at 6-6, but I won to go up 7-5. She won a game and I won the next game to win the match.”
The finals between defending champion Bryant and Sone came within a game of going double hill, as well, but for the second time in a row, Bryant edged out in front at the end to win it 10-8 and claim the 2019 Blu-Emu Southern Open.
“We didn’t make a lot of mistakes,” said Bryant of the final match. “She broke and ran the opening game and we had a few safety battles. I was up 6-2 and she started to make a comeback.”
As with the semifinal match against Baretta, Sone had the opportunity to tie things up at 6-6.
“She missed a key 8-ball to tie it up (at 6-6),” she said, “so it was 7-5 and I won the next three.”
WPBA representatives thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards staff for hosting the event, as well as sponsors Simonis Cloth, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products and Outsville.com. The next WPBA event, scheduled for August 8-11, will be a $10,000-added Signature Event, to be held in Fairfield, IL. Further details will be available soon. Bryant said that she plans to be in attendance.
Brittany Bryant, Janet Atwell and Mary Rakin (Photo courtesy of Barbara Lee)
It’s hard to know just how exactly the proverbial ‘luck of the draw’ can impact a tournament field. Is there ever an easy path through a strong field? Does early ‘luck of the draw’ influence a player’s ability to face increasingly difficult competition? With ‘no’ as the answer to the ‘easy path’ question, one would think that getting a few relatively ‘easy’ matches under your belt before facing any heavy hitters would have to be of benefit. On the weekend of October 18-21, Canada’s Brittany Bryant went undefeated through a field of strong opponents to win the WPBA BLU-EMU Southern Open Signature Tour Stop.
With a Fargo Rate of 663, Bryant opened the tournament with matches against opponents whose ratings were in the 500 range, slowly graduating to matches against higher ranked opponents, and then, in the finals, squaring off against Mary Rakin with exactly the same rating of 663. The $10,000-added event drew 64 entrants to Janet Atwell’s Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
That said, it didn’t take Bryant long to get into the thick of things. Following victories over Autumn Duncan (Fargo Rating 585) 7-2 and Bonnie Arnold (553) 7-3, Bryant faced the Texas Tornado, Vivian Villarreal, sporting a higher Fargo rate of 685 (the top Fargo-rated female in the US). They locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Bryant against Jia Li (654) and a second double hill fight, which Bryant won, advancing to a winners’ side semifinal match against Karen Corr (722; as an Irish competitor, Corr is not on the US Top 10 list, and doesn’t appear among the top 10 World List, dominated by seven Chinese women, whose ratings range from 782 to 744).
Meanwhile, Line Kjorsvik (675) was running her own gauntlet of top-notch talent. She defeated Ji-Hyun Park, Jeannette Lee, Ashley Rice and Helena Thornfeldt to draw (out of the frying pan into the fire, so to speak) Allison Fisher (724). Fisher had sent Bryant’s eventual finals opponent, Mary Rakin, to the loss side in the second round.
Bryant downed Corr 7-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Kjorsvik, who’d survived a somewhat predictable double hill match against Fisher. Bryant claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Kjorsvik and waited for Rakin to complete her nine-match, loss-side winning streak that would bring her into the final match.
Six matches had put Bryant in the hot seat, and while they included those back-to-back wins over Villareal, Li, Corr and Kjorsvik, the run paled (somewhat) in the face of what Rakin accomplished to meet her in the finals. Wins over Kaylin Wykoff and Maureen Seto put Rakin into the first money round (17th-24th) against Gerda (Hofstatter) Gregerson. A subsequent win over Dawn Hopkins led to five straight wins over Thornfeldt, Jennifer Baretta, Corr, Fisher and Kjorsvik.
She defeated Thornfeldt 7-4 and Baretta 7-3 to pick up Corr, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Fisher drew Jia Li, who’d defeated LoreeJon Hasson 7-5 and Melissa Little 7-4 to reach her.
Rakin defeated Corr 7-5 and in the quarterfinals, faced Fisher, who’d eliminated Li 7-2. Rakin and Fisher locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Rakin to the semifinals against Kjorsvik. A second straight double hill fight, won by Rakin, gave Rakin her shot at Bryant in the finals.
The finals, according to FargoRate, was a 50/50 proposition. Rakin had the intangible of momentum and recent wins over higher ranked competitors going for her, though two straight double hill wins over quality opponents might have taken a little out of her. Bryant had the wait, which can sometimes work for you with a little rest or against you, in terms of going a little cold at the table. By the same token, her own list of recently defeated quality opponents suggested that either way, it was going to be a good match between two quality opponents who had more than earned their way into the finals. Bryant won it 7-4 to claim the event title.
Mary Rakin, Molly Bontrager, Allison Fisher and Helena Thornfeldt (Photo – Tony Fox)
Allison Fisher went undefeated through a field of 52 entrants to win the 3rd Annual North American Pool Tour’s Summer 10-Ball Classic on the long weekend of August 16-19. And for the second year in a row, the winner of this tournament had to go through relative newcomer, Molly Bontrager. Bontrager battled for the hot seat against Karen Corr last year, then, was defeated in the semifinals by Eleanor Callado. This year, she finished as runner-up to Fisher, whom she faced twice, in the hot seat and finals. The 3rd Annual $5,000-added event drew its 52 entrants to Shooter’s Sports Bar & Billiards in Grayslake, IL.
Though the annual event’s defending champion, Corr, was not in attendance, the event’s debut champion, April Larson, did compete. When Larson won in 2016 (at the age of 16), it was her first professional win, which had followed on the heels of five straight victories at the BEF Junior Nationals; three in the 14-and-under Girls Division and two in the 18-and-under Girls Division. She was so excited to have actually won the event, that while she collected the trophy, she forgot to collect the $3,400 check that went with it (later hand-delivered by NAPT President Adrianne Beach). In this year’s event, Larson was moved to the loss side in a tightly-contested, double hill match against Teruko Cuccelelli, and after winning five on the loss side, was eliminated by Canada’s Brittany Bryant.
In something of a prescient move, CueSportsLive’s first two streamed matches featured the eventual winner (Fisher) and runner-up (Bontrager). Bontrager played first at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 16 and made something of an opening statement by shutting out Darlene Dantes. She went on to defeat Laura Semko (double hill), Farla Salmanovitch 7-3, and Taylor Hansen (double hill) to draw JPNEWT veteran Jia Li in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Fisher, in the meantime, who stepped up to the streaming table at noon on Friday, downed Rae Noregard 7-1, and then defeated Autumn Duncan 7-3, shut out Krista Walsh, and then survived a double hill fight against last year’s runner-up Eleanor Callado, to draw Helena Thornfeldt in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Fisher and Thornfeldt locked up in something of a predictable double hill fight to determine advancement to the hot seat match. Fisher won it. Bontrager joined her with a 7-3 win over Li. Fisher claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Bontrager and waited on her return.
On the loss side, Thornfeldt picked up Bryant, who was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side winning streak that included a 7-5 win over Kaylin Wikoff and the aforementioned double hill win over Larson. Jia Li drew Mary Rakin, who, following her defeat at the hands of Thornfeldt, had defeated Cuculelli 7-2 and survived a double hill fight against Callado.
Rakin eliminated Li 7-2 and in the quarterfinals faced Thornfeldt, who’d defeated Bryant 7-4. Rakin chalked up a commanding victory, 7-1, over Thornfeldt in those quarterfinals, only to run into an obviously determined Molly Bontrager in the semifinals. Though Rakin would score 5, Bontrager scored the requisite 7 to earn her re-match against Fisher.
Last year, Bontrager admitted to being in awe of the woman she faced in the hot seat (Corr), whom she’d been watching play since she (Bontrager) was in her 20s. In much the same situation, Bontrager was going into a match against someone she’d been aware of before she’d begun her still-new pool career. But this time, Bontrager was a little more seasoned than she’d been the year before. She had mentioned in an interview for Billiards Digest that she expected her “newbie attitude” to have worn off by the time she arrived to compete this year. And it did, to a certain extent.
“I talked to Allison on and off a couple of times before we played,” she said. “I tried to get to know her a little to break the ice, which makes it a lot easier when you’re playing a match.
“She’s a really fun, bubbly person,” she added, “the complete opposite of her demeanor at the table.”
While the seasoning that the year provided served her well in this tournament and brought her a step closer to winning the event, she was still somewhat plagued by a lack of practice on 9-ft tables (something she hopes to correct in the year to come) and just a lingering touch of the awe she experienced last year.
“I was pleased with the tournament overall,” she said, “and pleased with the results. As far as critiquing myself, I did OK, but not what I’m capable of.”
She needed to win two against Fisher in the double elimination final format of the event, but Fisher completed her undefeated run in the opening set. She duplicated her score in the hot seat against Bontrager (7-3) and captured the title.
Almost to the day, one year ago, Jeannie Seaver, after 17 years as a competing professional, won her first Women’s Professional Billiards Association Regional Tour Championship. It had taken her just over 17 years and competition in 30+ WPBA events to reach that pinnacle. On the weekend of January 11-14, Seaver defended her 2017 RTC title with an undefeated run through a field of 52 entrants, downing Autumn Duncan twice (hot seat and finals) to earn the title. The $5,000-added event was hosted, as it was the previous year, by Zingale’s Billiard Room and Sports Bar in Tallahassee, FL.
Commencing with eight, round-robin ‘flights’ on Thursday and Friday, the 2017 RTC advanced to a final, double elimination bracket of 32 on Saturday, January 13. Seaver got by Terry Petrosino, Roe Guarnero and Ashley Rice to draw Kaylin Wikoff in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Duncan, who’d defeated Vanessa Hood, Kristy Ranalli, and Jenna Bishoff faced Lisa Cosette in the other one.
As Saturday turned into Sunday, Seaver got into the hot seat match with a 7-1 victory over Wikoff. Duncan joined her after sending Cosette to the loss side 7-5. Seaver sent Duncan to the semifinals with a 7-3 win that left her in the hot seat.
On the loss side, Cosette picked up Kim Pierce, who’d lost her opening round to Jessica Human, and was in the midst of a six-match winning streak that would propel her as far as the quarterfinals. She’d most recently won two straight double hill battles against Ashley Rice and Tam Trinh (loss-side wins #4 & #5) to face Pierce. Wikoff drew Jenna Bishoff, who’d been sent to the loss side by Duncan in a winners’ side quarterfinal, and defeated Guarnero 7-5 and Human 7-3.
Pierce advanced to her final match in the quarterfinals with a 7-4 victory over Cossette. Wikoff downed Bishoff 7-3 to join her. Wikoff advanced to what would prove to be her last match with a 7-1 victory over Pierce in those quarterfinals.
Duncan and Wikoff locked up in a double hill battle that ended Wikoff’s short, loss-side run, giving Duncan a second shot at Seaver. In a race to 9, Seaver completed her undefeated run with a 9-7 victory to capture her second RCT title.
WPBA representatives thanked Michael Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Simonis, Aramith and Predator Cues.
You can’t be everywhere at once, so candidates vying to be among the top 10 players in the running for selection as a member of the 2017 Mosconi Cup team, had to choose where they’d spend this past Labor Day weekend; at Turning Stone XXVIII in Verona, NY or Round Rock, TX at the 44th Annual Texas Open, both of which were awarding a range of Mosconi Cup points to competitors.
Sitting atop the current list of contenders for selection to the US team, Shane Van Boening picked Turning Stone XXVIII to attend (separate story), and stayed on top of that list by defeating Jayson Shaw in the finals of that event (Shaw is a likely member of the European Mosconi Cup team). At the $8,000-added, 44th Annual Texas Open, the defending champion, Canadian John Morra, with no known interest in the acquisition of Mosconi Cup points, went undefeated through a full field of 128 to claim the title a second straight time. Morra became the first person to go back-to-back at this tournament since Jeremy Jones accomplished the feat in 2002/2003. Morra faced Devin Poteet twice in this one, in the hot seat and finals. Like Morra, Poteet had no ‘dog in the hunt’ for Mosconi Cup points.
In addition to the Open event, the Ladies had a tournament, as well; a $2,000-added event that commenced on Saturday, September 2, drew 32 entrants and was won by Vivian Villareal. Other features of this long-Labor Day weekend event included a Jack and Jill Scotch Doubles tournament (won by the veteran team of James Davis, Sr. and Jennifer Kraber), a race-to-three 9-ball event, and a Ring Game on Friday night.
Sky Woodward and Justin Bergman were the two Mosconi Cup contenders in attendance who were hoping to add points to their total. Woodward (who won this event in 2015) entered the Texas Open in fourth place among the Mosconi Cup contenders, while Bergman entered at a distant 15th place. They were both sent to the loss side in the early going of this event; Woodward, by Ryan Lane in the fourth round of play, and Bergman, by Morra, in the third round. They ran into each other in the sixth, loss-side round and fought a predictable double hill fight that eventually advanced Woodward to meet Shane McMinn. McMinn defeated him to end his run. Woodward did add 14 points to his Mosconi Cup total with his finish in the tie for 9th place. Bergman’s finish in the tie for 13th awarded him 10 points.
Morra and Poteet, in the meantime, advanced to winners’ side semifinal matches against James Davis, Sr. and Ryan Lane, respectively. Morra downed Davis 9-6, advancing to the hot seat match, where he was joined by Poteet, who’d survived a double hill match against Lane. The hot seat match was a battle of the former ‘young gun’ (Morra, who’s now 28) and the up and coming ‘young gun’ (Poteet, who’s 20). It went double hill before Morra was sent to the semifinals.
On the loss side, Davis, Sr. picked up Sharik Sayed, who'd defeated Justin Espinoza 9-7 and Jeff Melton 9-5 to reach him. Lane had what proved to be the misfortune of drawing long-time Texas adversary and two-time winner of this tournament, Jeremy Jones, who was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak, to include recent wins over
Davis, Sr. moved into the quarterfinals after a 9-6 win over Sayed. Jones joined him after shutting out Lane. Davis stopped Jones’ run 9-6 in those quarterfinals, and then had his run stopped 9-1 by Morra in the semifinals (“Not bad for an old guy,” said the 65-year-old Davis of his third place finish).
Morra and Poteet had fought to double hill in the hot seat match, but neither of the two, true double elimination matches came close to that. Morra took the opening set 9-3, and went one better (9-2) in the second set to complete his run and claim the 44th Annual Texas Open title for the second year in a row.
Villareal goes undefeated to claim Ladies title
Vivian Villareal did not compete in the 2016 Texas Open, which, some would argue, left the door open for Ricki Casper to claim the 2016 title. The Texas Tornado signed on to the 2017 Texas Open and competed in both the Open event and the Ladies event, which she won, undefeated. She chalked up three wins in the Open event, before the eventual winner, John Morra, sent her to the loss side. She won a single match there, against Jon Demet, before Alex Calderon eliminated her in the 7th losers’ side round.
She advanced through the 32-entrant Ladies field to meet Jennifer Kraber (winner, with Davis, Sr. of the Scotch Doubles tournament) in a winners’ side semifinal. Jennifer Yo and Michelle Abernathy met in the other winners’ side semifinal. Villareal got into the hot seat 7-3 over Kraber. Yo joined her in the hot seat match after sending Abernathy west 7-5. Villareal gave up only a single rack to Yo, claiming the hot seat 7-1.
On the loss side, Kraber picked up defending champion Ricki Casper, while Abernathy drew Autumn Duncan. Kraber and Duncan advanced to the quarterfinals; Kraber, double hill over Casper, and Duncan 7-4 over Abernathy.
Two double hill matches followed. The first, in the quarterfinals, went to Duncan over Kraber. The second, in the semifinals, left Duncan in third place and sent Yo back for a second shot at Villareal in the hot seat. Villareal completed her undefeated run in a single set, duplicating her 7-1 hot seat match effort against Yo.
After 17 years as a recognized pro, and a long string of victories that began about three years after she'd picked up a pool cue for the first time, Jeannie Seaver has chalked up a win on the WPBA's annual Regional Tour Championships (RTC). Held on the weekend of January 12-15, the event was the first of three RTC's to be hosted by Zingale's Billiards in Tallahassee, FL, who hosted the 2016 RTC, as well. The event drew 64 entrants, who competed in a combination of round robin and double elimination brackets for $11,000 in prize money.
"I don't know what made it different this year," said Seaver, who competed in her first WPBA event, the WPBA US Open, in 1999 (finishing 17th), and finished fifth in last year's RTC. "I ran out when I could and played safe when I could.
"I never think I'm going to win," she added. "I just go in trying. I know when I hit a gear, though, and when it happens, it happens."
It happened for her at this year's RTC. By the time the field of 64 completed the round robin phase of the event, half of the competitors were gone, leaving a field of in-the-money 32, Seaver among them, to compete in the double elimination phase. Seaver got by Tam Trinh, Kimberly Pierce, and Ricki Casper to move into a winners' side semifinal match against Betty Lea. Gail Eaton, whose career goes back as far as Seaver's, with a number of previous head-to-head matchups, had defeated Angela Garza, Denise Berlanger (double hill), and Michell Monk, and faced Leslee Blaikie in the other winners' side semifinal.
Seaver and Eaton moved into the hot seat match with identical 7-3 scores over Lea and Blaikie. Seaver's 'gear' slipped a little in the winners' side final, as she managed only a single rack against Eaton and with Eaton in the hot seat, moved west to the semifinals.
On the loss side, Autumn Duncan, who'd lost her opening round match, double hill, to Debbie Teichert, was in the midst of a six-match winning streak that would take her as far as the quarterfinals. She downed Michell Monk 7-3 and Windy Tang 7-4 (loss-side wins # 4 and #5) to face Betty Lea. Ricki Casper, who'd been sent to the loss side by Seaver in a winners' side quarterfinal, defeated Krista Walsh 5-4 and Jessica Human 7-1, to draw Blaikie.
Duncan and Casper advanced to the quarterfinals; Casper with a double hill win over Blaikie, and Duncan 7-4 over Lea. Casper ended Duncan's loss-side streak 7-5, and then had her own four-match, loss-side effort ended by Seaver 7-4 in the semifinals.
Eaton jumped out to an early, slim lead in the finals, taking a 2-0 lead, before Seaver responded with two racks to create the first of four ties in the match. They traded racks to a 3-3 tie, before Eaton chalked up three in a row. Seaver came right back with three to tie it again. They traded racks to the last tie of the match at 7-7, but Seaver's 7th win was the first of three in a row that gave her the 9-7 win and her first RTC title.
Back in January, when the Tiger Florida Tour was the Flamingo Tour, Dana Aft, from Atlanta, GA, made a trip south to compete in that tour's debut event. She went undefeated through a field of 39, and later, on her Facebook fan page, made a casual comment about the girls from Florida getting together sometime with the girls from Atlanta.
" I was really impressed with the level of play of all the Florida girls!!," is what Aft actually wrote. "I think they should take a road trip and meet the rest of the Atlanta girls sometime."
Betty (Sessions) Lea, from Atlanta, a long-time tour director read the comment and got the ball rolling, eventually communicating with Mike Zingale of Zingale's Billiards in Tallahassee to create the Zingale's Amateur Ladies Tournament, held on the weekend of June 21-22. Tom Gedris of Triple Cross Cues contributed a cue to the event, while Mike Zingale added a Predator Cue, and cookies from his mother, Linda. The $1,000-added (plus two cues and cookies) event drew 18 women from a variety of locations to Zingale's and was won by Ohio's Liz Lovely, who got by Atlanta's Dana Aft twice to claim the title. Betty Lea ended up winning the event's $250-added Second Chance Tournament, which drew 9 entrants.
In the main event, the two former junior champions, Lovely and Aft, advanced to the hot seat match, once Lovely had downed Autumn Duncan 9-5 and Aft had survived a double hill fight versus Nicole Keeney. Lovely took the first of two against Aft and waited in the hot seat.
Keeney and Duncan moved to the loss side, where they were met by Jeannie Seaver (one of the co-tour directors/creators of the event) and Roe Guarnero. Seaver had defeated Cheryl Pritchard 7-1 and Samantha Kikuchi, double hill. Guarnero had eliminated Betty Lea 7-5 and Jeannie Seaver's sister, Vanessa, double hill. Keeney and Duncan got right back to work; Keeney defeating Jeannie Seaver 7-4 and Duncan downing Guarnero 7-5.
Keeney took the quarterfinal match versus Duncan 7-2, to earn a re-match versus Aft in the semifinals. Aft, though, earned her second shot against Lovely with a 7-5 win in those semifinals. Lovely earned her $715, first-place prize, and a Predator Cue with a 9-6 win over Aft in the finals. Lea, in the second chance event, took home the $170 first-place prize and the Triple Cross Cue. In addition to $120 for her second-place finish in the Second Chance event, Samantha Kikuchi picked up a $50 gift certificate for Pool Dawg.
