Northwest Women’s Pool Association final tour stop & 2022 awards banquet was held at Ox Billiards in Seattle, WA. Thank you to Ox for adding $1500 to this stop.
36 players came out to play on the beautiful 9ft Rassons. (Ox also features snooker and Chinese 8ball tables).
2022 season player awards went to:
Player of the Year: Molina Ortíz
Rookie of the Year: Sue Frisbie
Most Improved: Robin Adams
Presidents Award: Anna Russo
Three-time tour stop winner Molina Ortíz of Portland, OR was knocked to the B-side in a strategically played game by Suzanne Smith of Edgewood, WA.
She was eventually knocked out by Ox regular Frances Tso with a tragic hill-hill 9ball scratch and finished 4th.
Frances Tso of Kirkland, WA had a great first NWPA tournament, finishing in 3rd place. Losing early to Suzanne 6-4, she ground out wins on the B-side, defeating Cindy Sliva, Robin Adams, Liz Cole, Katherine Robertson & Molina Ortíz before falling to Kathie MacDonald 6-3.
Kathie Macdonald of Abbotsford, BC played strong through the A-side but was defeated 6-4 by Suzanne Smith late in the bracket. After downing Frances Tso 6-3, she was back to face Suzanne in the finals, in a straight race to 9. The two battled back and forth keeping the race even until Suzanne pulled away two games in the 9th rack. A gutsy out by Kathie kept her afloat, but Suzanne fired in a 3-9 combo to reach the hill first. Kathie returned the favor with a 4-9 making it 6-8. However, Suzanne bore down and finished out the match 9-7.
NWPA Tour will return next year, follow us on Facebook or visit playnwpa.com and 2023 stops.
Added money sponsors:
Savage Billiard Apparel All American Fire Protection Century21 North Homes Realty
Plates Law Group
Ox Billiards Ford Ford III
E&E Sports
Golden Fleece
Maxi’s Restaurant Players Sports Bar Everett
TD Chris Rogers, Maryann McConnell, Liz Cole, Molina Ortíz, room manager Tammy Culbertson and room owner Vic Albertson.
The 2022 Northwest Women’s Pool Association (NWPA) tour headed to Kennewick, Washington for Stop #2 at Player’s Sports Bar & Grill.
35 players traveled to eastern Washington to compete in this venue’s first Tour Stop. The game was alternate break 10-ball on 7 footers with a race of 6/6. Player turnout ranged from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and even drew British Columbians despite the distance. The tour continues to grow as we counted a few more new players at this stop.
Player’s Sports Bar & Grill proved to be an excellent venue. Room owner Vic Albertson graciously added $1,000 to the tour pot while manager Tammy and staff were very accommodating with setup and service. The players competed on 10 beautiful 7 ft diamonds with freshly cleaned Predator Arcos ballsets. John Scudder Diamond Table Sales was the tour’s livestream equipment sponsor.
Molina Ortíz picked up her second NWPA win in a thrilling final against fellow Portlander and multi-time tour champion Liz Cole. Ortíz came out strong on Day One. She went through the A side undefeated with a 6-1 win over Jeanne Christiansen, 6-0 against tour veteran Suzanne Smith and 6-1 over Andy Camping.
Liz Cole also made it through the first day unscathed. She started by winning 6-1 against Tammy Woollet, secured a tight 6-5 match against Regene Lane and ended with a strong 6-0 win over Celia Curry.
Vancouver WA’s Nicole Donisi stayed on the A side with 6-2 wins over both Joyce Robinson and Julie Fraser. Wapato’s Selena Polk proved stiffer competition with some impressive shotmaking, but Donisi moved on with a 6-5 win.
No stranger to tour stop wins, Tacoma’s Cindy Sliva made it to finals day with decisive 6-2 wins over both Elaine Eberly and Sheila Clark. Jessie Blayden of Puyallup, WA put up some resistance but Sliva prevailed 6-5 to join the others for Day 2.
Over on the B Side, Maryann McConnell of B.C. lost her first match to Idaho’s Sheila Clark. She was not deterred though, as she defeated Elaine Eberly 6-1, Donna Totten 6-1, Julie Fraser 6-1 and Celia Curry 6-3 to secure her Day 2 slot. Her fellow Canadian Kathie MacDonald had a similar path, losing 6-3 to Andy Camping in the first round but grinding out wins to make it through. She defeated Melinda Hoffman 6-3, Tammy Culberston 6-4, Regene Lane 6-5 and Selena Polk 6-1.
Andy Camping was knocked to the B side with a 6-1 loss to Ortíz but was able to defeat Sheila Clark 6-5 and move on. Jessie Blayden was downed 6-4 earlier by Cindy Sliva, but ground out a 6-4 win over Suzanne Smith to stay afloat into finals day.
Spectators at Players’ filtered in on Day 2 as the opening matches got started with Ortíz vs Donisi, Cole vs Sliva, Camping vs MacDonald and McConnell vs Blayden.
On the A side, Donisi and Ortíz started by exchanging racks. Ortíz attempted to gain the upper hand with safety play but Donisi hung on, kicking her way out and providing opportunities to secure herself another rack. However, Donisi wasn’t able to capitalize on further opportunities, giving away a few key racks. Ortíz’s composure and experience provided her a strong 6-2 win. Cole and Sliva met on the winners side as well and battled out a close match. Both players uncharacteristically hung a few game balls but it was Cole who prevailed with a 6-2 win.
Blayden had a gritty showing but was not able to stop seasoned player McConnell from a 6-2 win. Camping had beaten strong players the whole event but was eliminated by Kathie MacDonald, who worked her way to a 6-2 win, playing steady the whole way. Camping and Blayden finished 7-8th in the money.
Ortíz met Liz Cole next and was well warmed up on the stream table. Cole was not able to match Ortíz’s racks though she played well, and fell 6-3 to give Ortíz the hot seat. On the B side, Sliva lost to MacDonald in an excellent match with few mistakes. Playing strong the whole time, only one misstep by Sliva cost her two racks that made the difference. Donisi and McConnell matched up next and fought through several messy racks. However, McConnell had been picking up steam the whole tournament and found her groove. Donisi was eliminated in a 6-2 loss and finished 5/6th along with Sliva.
McConnell and MacDonald faced off next, but a few early 10s gave McConnell the advantage she needed to win 6-2 and leave MacDonald with 4th.
McConnell finally found resistance as Cole played an excellent match, leaving her few opportunities. Though she had won at their last WPBA meeting, this time it was Cole who handed her a 6-2 loss. McConnell finished 3rd and Cole moved on for a rematch with Ortíz.
A good crowd had gathered by now and the finalists provided an intense hill-hill battle for the audience. Both players exchanged racks early and were playing excellently. After a close match the whole way, one of Cole’s safeties went awry and Ortíz was able to gain a rack to make it 7-5. Cole was not done however and when Ortíz challenged her with the leave of a difficult cut shot table length down the rail, she nailed it. They exchanged a few more racks, bringing it to 8-8. The finals match was just one race to 9 and Ortíz broke the last rack well, running out the table for the win in an exciting match.
Robin Adams won the 2nd chance tournament, which had $200 additional added by the venue.
A big thank you to Player’s Sports Bar & Grill.
The next stop will be at Sam’s Billiards in Portland, OR on September 17th-18th. Watch a replay of the final on our youtube channel: “Northwest Women’s Pool Association.” Bracket & tour schedule can be found on our website at playnwpa.com.
Chris Rogers (TD), Molina Ortiz and Stephanie Drakulic (Photo courtesy Sandro Menzel)
Youngest player to ever compete on NWPA Tour, 13-year-old Marissa Du, wins Second Chance
Before this past weekend, the last time the women of the Northwest Women’s Pool Association (NWPA) gathered was this past December when they met for a tournament in Everett, WA to celebrate the tour’s 20th anniversary. It was the one and only stop of what could, only by default, be called a season; in effect, a combination season opener and finale. Prior to that event, they’d held their last stop, at the same location, in February, 2020, in what was the only stop of that season, thanks to the pandemic.
Though plans were afoot last December to get back into stroke for a 2022 season, those plans didn’t reach fruition until this past weekend, July 9-10, when they gathered once again, this time at Legends Billiards in Beaverton, OR, for the first of five events scheduled through December. Attended by competitors from four states (OR, WA, CA and ID) and one Canadian Province (BC), a show of hands yielded information that just a little under one-third of the entrants (15) were brand new players on the tour, including the winner, Molina Ortiz, who moved to Portland, OR two years ago from New York. Her FargoRate of 626 made her the highest-rated competitor in the third season-opening tournament in a row. In the finals, Ortiz downed the NWPA’s current President, Stephanie Drakulic, who was the tour’s runner-up to Liz Cole in standings for the two years prior to the unexpected hiatus. This past weekend’s $1,000-added event drew 47 entrants to Legends Billiards.
Ortiz and Drakulic met twice in this one; hot seat and finals. Though the tour’s two champions over the last five years were on hand – Liz Cole; ’20, ’19, ’18 and ’16 and Suzanne Smith; ’17 – Ortiz didn’t get the opportunity to compete against either of them. Smith was defeated in the opening round of play by Marian Poole, who advanced to meet Ortiz in the third round. Cole was sent to the loss side in the second round by Jeanne Christiansen, who was defeated in a winners’ side quarterfinal by Melissa Rushton, who advanced to meet Ortiz in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Drakulic experienced a kind of roller-coaster trip to the other winners’ side semifinal, winning her opener against Stephanie Lyon by shutout, her second-round match versus Andi Beebe, double hill and a 6-1 victory over Angele Silveira, to draw Kathie MacDonald in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Ortiz and Rushton battled to double hill before Ortiz advanced to the hot seat match. Drakulic downed MacDonald 6-4 to join her. Ortiz claimed the hot seat 6-3 and waited on Drakulic’s return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Smith was working on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would end in the quarterfinals. She chalked up loss-side wins #5 and #6 against Donna Kingsbury 6-4 and Kat Guest 6-1 to draw Rushton. Cindy Sliva was working on a four-match, loss-side streak that had begun with the elimination of Liz Cole 6-4 in the third loss-side round and had recently eliminated Regene Lane and Jeanne Christiansen, both 6-1, to pick up MacDonald.
MacDonald stopped Sliva’s loss-side run 6-1 and, in the quarterfinals, faced Smith, who’d given up only a single rack to Rushton. Smith and MacDonald locked up in a double hill battle in those quarterfinals, eventually won by MacDonald, who advanced to her re-match against Drakunic in the semifinals.
Drakulic defeated MacDonald a second time, 6-3, to advance to her rematch against Ortiz in the finals. The final match came within a game of going double hill, but Ortiz edged out in front of Drakulic near the end to claim the NWPA’s first 2022 title.
As noted, 13-year-old Marissa Du from Seattle, won the event’s 12-entrant Second Chance tournament. Du is one of 16 girls competing in the 13 & Under Girls Division of the Junior International Championships’ second season. She traveled to Aiken, SC in March to compete in the third stop of that season, finishing in the tie for 5th/6th.
NWPA President Stephanie Drakulic and Tour director, Chris Rogers thanked Legends Billiards owner, Michelle Bean and its GM, Dave McDowell for their hospitality, as well as John Scudder, Diamond Pool Tables’ Northwest representative, for payment of the live-streaming equipment, instrumental in NWPA’s live-streaming of events on YouTube. Live stream information can be found at playnwpa.com/livestream. Sandro Menzel is the NWPA’s official photographer.
The next stop on the NWPA Tour, scheduled for the weekend of August 27-28, will be hosted by Players Pub & Grill in Kennewick, WA.
(l to r): Chris Rogers (TD), Liz Cole, Cindy Sliva & Mike Bean (Legends owner)
Under the leadership of a new President, Stephanie Hefner, the Northwest Womens’s Pool Association (NWPA) opened its 2020 season with a $1,000-added, 10-ball stop at Legends Billiards Room in Beaverton, OR last weekend (Feb. 22-23). Hefner, who won the NAPT Division II Championships the previous weekend (Feb.16-17) in Phoenix, AZ, won this most recent event’s Second Chance tournament while finishing in the tie for 17th in the main event. Liz Cole, a long-time competitor on the tour went undefeated through the field of 56 entrants. Cole faced different opponents in the hot seat and finals, but battled another veteran tour competitor, Cindy Sliva, twice to claim the title.
Cole opened up with victories over Claire Lewis 6-1, Stacie Larson 6-2 and shut out Cindy Doty before running into Sliva for the first time in the winners’ side quarterfinal. Cole sent Sliva to the loss side 6-3 and drew Melissa Rushton in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Kira North, in the meantime, squared off against Donna Kingsbury in the other one.
North and Cole advanced to the hot seat match; North, 6-2 over Kingsbury and Cole, 6-3 over Rushton. Cole downed North 6-3 to claim the hot seat.
Cindy Sliva had opened her loss-side campaign with two 6-3 victories over MaryBeth Johnson and Deby Welfringer to pick up Kingsbury. Rushton drew Robin Adams, who’d been defeated by Sliva in the event’s third round and was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side winning streak that had entailed three double hill wins for her. With two of those double hill wins behind her, Adams downed Joyce Robinson 6-3 and then, chalked up her third double hill win, against Shirley Morgan to reach Rushton.
Rushton spoiled Adams’ bid for a rematch against Sliva and ended her streak 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals. She was joined by Sliva, who’d defeated Kingsbury 6-1. Rushton put up a fight in those quarterfinals, falling just a game short of double hill, but Sliva prevailed 6-4 and then, gave up just a single rack to North in the semifinals.
Cole completed her undefeated run with a strong victory in the finals. She gave up only two racks and claimed the title 9-2 over Sliva.
Tour director Chris Rogers thanked the ownership and staff at Legends Billiards for their hospitality. The next stop on the NWPA Tour will be the Martha Harstell Memorial Tournament, a 9-ball event, scheduled for the weekend of March 28-29, to be hosted by The Cue Ball in Salem, OR.
(l to r): Ed Hobbs, Eddie Mataya, Tim Tweedell, Cindy Sliva, Damian Pongpanik & James Davee
In what might me a harbinger of things to come, two pool teams from the northwest corner of the country got together to play a Mosconi-Cup-style team tournament in Auburn, WA last weekend (April 7-8). According to Washington State’s captain, Damian Pongpanik, the event, won by his team 11-5 over Oregon, is likely to be the first of many more to come.
“I’ve played singles pool for a long time, and I’ve never seen an atmosphere like this,” said Pongpanik. “This kind of event is the kind of thing that is eventually going to drive players, fans and sponsors to the game.”
“It creates an exciting atmosphere that people can really rally behind,” he added.
This 1st Northwest Cup competition had a predecessor. Three months ago, a team from Las Vegas faced off against a team from Phoenix, AZ in what was labeled The Desert Cup. Organized by CSI General Manager Ozzy Reynolds, following up on a brainstorming idea generated by CSI staffer Jack Murray and an Arizona friend of his, Junior Flores, they selected teams, “anointed” Reynolds as the Las Vegas team captain and determined at the start that each team’s total FargoRate be capped at 3,900 points (a practice repeated in the Northwest Cup event).
“I actually argued that there shouldn’t be a cap at all,” said Reynolds, “but the guys in Arizona at the time felt that there was no way that they could compete against the quality of players here in Vegas.”
As it turned out, Phoenix didn’t have a lot to worry about, as they went on to defeat the Las Vegas team 11-3 in the 1st Desert Cup. As it also turned out, the defeated Oregon team, the day after the Northwest Cup, reached out to Reynolds to determine interest in an Oregon/Las Vegas matchup sometime in the near future, perhaps within the next month or so. At the end of the live stream of the Northwest Cup, a commentator said “Congratulations to Team Washington,” and then, speaking unofficially for Team Arizona, called the hypothetical toin coss for a future match (Tails). As a CSI Executive, the event model is of interest to Reynolds.
“I’m a huge fan of the concept,” said Reynolds. “I could see it as something that CSI could get behind.”
There are, Reynolds noted, a “few flaws” in the concept as it is playing out at the moment, but he is already working on ways to fine tune it. He describes CSI’s current interest as being at “the concept stage of building a viable model” for such competitions.
The 1st Northwest Cup drew two teams of six players from each of the two states. Oregon had a seventh, non-playing captain, Matthew McInnis, whose company, Big Ern Billiards Productions and Events, along with Pongpanik’s firm, Jam Up Apparel, sponsored the event. An entry fee of $200 per player was supplemented by $1,200 of added money, contributed by Big Ern, Jam Up Apparel and the venue, The 15th St. Grill, in Auburn, WA. The winner-take-all prize purse was $3,600.
Formatted, like the Mosconi Cup, as a race to eleven team wins, with a variety of individual match formats from full-team, to Scotch doubles and singles, the event opened on Saturday with what seemed like an interminable match between all of the players on both of the teams, playing one right after another, in a 9-ball race to 7 (all other matches were races to 5). It was a back-and-forth opening session that stretched beyond two hours of what turned out to be 11 hours of broadcast time by Rail2Rail Productions (available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_BGcDnWPu0). Oregon pulled out ahead at the end to win the opening team match.
The Washington Scotch Doubles Team of Pongpanik and Davee then took the first of three straight for their team 5-2. Davee won a singles match against Dietchman 5-3, before Hobbs and Silva chalked up third straight win 5-3 against Zack/Marquez. Zack won Oregon’s second, 5-2, in a singles match against Mataya.
A Scotch Doubles win for Tweedell/Davee against Oregon’s Gates/Walding was followed by a shutout singles win by Pongpanik over Walding. The Oregon Scotch Doubles team of Marquez/Hefner won that team’s final match of the opening day 5-3 over Washington’s Davee/Mataya. Two straight Scotch Doubles wins for Washington ended the day, with Washington ahead 8-3 in the race to 11.
Marquez opened Day Two with one of Oregon’s two remaining victories, downing Tweedell 5-3. Washington took the next two, putting them on the hill, ahead by six, 10-4. Oregon’s Bob Zack won his team’s last match, double hill, over Pongpanik, before Washington’s Davee closed the proceedings with a 5-2 win over Oregon’s Darin Walding.
“You know,” said Pongpanik the day after the victory, “I’ve played in front of a lot of people, in a lot of (event) finals, and this was a pressure, unlike anything I’ve ever felt.
“It’s a different kind of pressure when you’re representing your state or city,” he added, “and pool could use something like this, to be honest.”
Held March 9-11, 2017 at Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, Oregon, this installment of the Men’s Chinook Winds Open 8-Ball Championships, the 4th Annual, featured some of the biggest names in professional men’s Billiards. There were a couple of past champions — Skyler Woodward and Rodney Morris. You might also recognize some of the other contenders — Shane Van Boening, Dennis Orcollo, Billy Thorpe, Warren Kiamco, Amar Kang and Josh Roberts — to name but a few. There were also some notable newcomers — Roberto Gomez, Joey Gray, Johann Chua, Jeffrey DeLuna and Manny Perez. Some Western BCA players made their presence known as well, including — Randy Camantigue, Stan Tourangeau, Randy Baker and crowd favorite, Richie Geiler. In all, there were 108 entered in the Men’s Division and and 28 in the Women’s.
As always, the party started with a Calcutta auction on Wednesday evening (March 10). It was a spirited affair overseen by CWO TD Bill Henderson and WBCA President Darcy Williams. The Men’s Division Calcutta total was $24550 with $9600 the first place payout and the Women’s was $2010 with $820 the first place payout.
Then came the Late Night 10-Ball Invitational, a new event aimed at the professionals. The format was $1000 entry, 16 bracket limit, race to 13, single elimination, winner breaks with a first place prize of $8000. The “Late Night” referred to when the matches were played, starting Wednesday after the Calcutta, the final four playing Thursday after CWO play was finished for the day and the final on Friday night, again after CWO play was finished for the day. The bracket filled with all the upper echelon pros ponying up a grand each for the big payout at the end. By the end of play Wednesday, Jeffrey DeLuna vs Dennis Orcollo and Josh Roberts vs Shane Van Boening were all that survived. Everyone was looking forward to a Orcollo/SVB final but up jumped DeLuna who beat Dennis Orcollo to move into the final against Shane Van Boening. The final score was 13-11/SVB and was basically a clinic, with nine break and runs (including the winning rack), one 1-10 combo in game 2 and all the rest runouts following three dry breaks and the very occasional mistake on the part of one player or the other. Jeffrey collected $4000 for 2nd place and Dennis and Josh received $2000 each for getting to the semis. Fun format + great shooting + a large and appreciative crowd = a successful event. Look for it to be on the menu next time.
Thursday the main event got underway with many great match-ups for the spectators to watch. By the end of the night, many of the serious contenders were on the back side of the bracket (Roberto Gomez, SVB, Jeffrey DeLuna, Ramil Gallego, Johann Chua, Taylor Anderson, Dennis Orcollo, Warren Kiamco and Alex Olinger) and only one could fight his way to the final. Tough bracket. The marquis matches included Rodney Morris vs Dennis Orcollo (7-6 Rodney), Rich Geiler vs Jeffrey DeLuna (7-4 Rich) and SVB vs Marc Vidal (7-6 SVB just after Marc took out Johann Chua 7-4).
Friday was a new day and everyone, especially the back side dwellers, hoped it would be a good one for them but, unfortunately, many of the top guns would be up against each other before the end of the day with many eliminated. Before the end of the day, Skyler Woodward, Amar Kang, Rodney Morris and Billy Thorpe would also find themselves on the back side, nearing extinction. By the end of play, only 9 would be left in.
Saturday began with Roberto Gomez sending Amar Kang home as he began his single-minded quest for the final. He went on to eliminate Josh Roberts, Rodney Morris, and crushed Billy Thorpe’s hopes for a rematch with Joey Gray after losing the hot seat to Gray 7-6. Shane Van Boening looked to be on his way to a shot at another big pay day until he ran into Rodney Morris, who had another plan, winning 7-5. Dennis Orcollo seemed to be on a collision course for SVB but he was derailed by former Champ Skyler Woodward 7-6. As we already know, Roberto Gomez would not be stopped on his way to the final with Joey Gray, taking out his final two obstacles (Morris and Thorpe). The Gray/Gomez final was on, but before we get to that, it should be said that the hot seat match was one of the best of the event, with Joey and Billy trading break and runs and run outs all the way to the decider. Joey broke dry and Billy marched through the rack until leaving himself a delicate shot on the 4-Ball to get on the 8. He missed the 8 and walked away from an open table and gave the game and the match to Joey. So close yet so far.
In the first set of the final (yes, a possible double dip materialized), Roberto was warmed up and ready to go. Joey was a little cold and never really got into the match, winning only two games. Roberto, with four break and runs plus three runouts following a Gray dry break, a missed shot and a foul on the break took the first set 7-2. Joey doubled his win tally in the second set but there was no stopping Roberto. His near flawless play continued as he closed out the match and claimed the title with his 8th break and run of the two set match.
Roberto collected $10,000 for his performance over the three days of the CWO and Joey Gray went home with a respectable $6400 for his efforts. Complete results and payouts follow.
All the while the men were in action, there was also a small Women’s Division (28 entrants) playing for a first place prize of $4000. Former champion Nicole Keeney was on hand with a few other notable out of towners (Brittany Bryant, Emily Duddy, Kelly Isaac and Bernie Store among them) as well as some of Western BCA’s finest (Liz Cole, Kim Jones and Cindy Sliva). Brittany Bryant and Bernie Store made it through the front side undefeated to the point match, with Bernie winning 5-4 to get to the final. Cindy Sliva, after taking out both Keeney and Duddy, met up with Bryant in the back side point match. There Cindy met up with a determined Brittany and was shut out and finished in 3rd place. Brittany went on to the final and another shot at Bernie. Brittany had to beat Bernie twice and she got off to a great start, shutting Bernie out 5-0 and the double dip was on. Often the first set is just warm up for the winner of the hot seat and this proved to be the case here. Bernie played much better the 2nd time around. The ladies traded games until the got to the hill-hill decider. Bernie had won the lag, so she had the break. It was a good break until the cue ball found a pocket. The table was wide open and Brittany never looked back as she ran out to claim the title. Complete results and payouts follow.
There were 2nd chance tournaments for both the men and women, with 28 men and 6 women not ready to call it quits. Lake MacKay beat out Danny Smith for first and $1400 in the Men’s and Kathie MacDonald prevailed over Myra Cables for first and $450.
That brought the festivities to a close. None of the spectators went away in any way disappointed. The pros put on quite a display of prowess on the table and were very approachable. We cannot thank enough our great sponsors — Chinook Winds Casino Resort, Western BCA and Bud Light. The Western BCA staff — TDs Mike Jensen and Bill Henderson, Tournament Registrar Darcy Williams, Referees Darryl Farley and Dwayne Payne, Graphic Design/Advertising/Photographer Robbin Iredale, Podium Manager Pam Carraway and Payout Supervisor Cathy Dunford — all worked long hours to make these events a success. Lenny Marshall of OnTheRailTV streamed and recorded many great matches that will soon be available for viewing (a link will be provided on westernbca.org). Many thanks to Bad Boys Billiards Production who provided the 7-foot Diamond tables and bracketing. Chinook Winds again provided a great and welcoming venue for all the players and spectators. Mother Nature was the only negative, causing interruption of internet service, but that’s March on the Coast, nothing to be done about that.
If you came to play, we thank you and hope you come back next time.
If you came to watch, we’ll try to put on an even better show next time.
Cindy Sliva and Suzanne Smith (Photo courtesy of Sandro Menzel)
On March February 27-28th – the NWPA’s first tour stop of the 2016 season, the Washington State 9 Ball Championships, was hosted by Malarkey’s Pool & Brew in Tacoma, WA. The tournament was ran on 9 9-foot Gold Crowns with Rail2Rail Productions providing a free live stream all weekend. The NWPA tour standings and 2016 schedule are available at www.nwpatour.com and is sanctioned by the newly formed North American Pool Tour. New tour sponsors include mzTam.com, who donated 5 goody bags to the NWPA player rewards program, and Dave Jones, who will be donating a custom cue towards increasing player payouts. Get in touch with your favorite NWPA ladies to learn more about purchasing raffle tickets as details are finalized.
Twenty-three ladies came out to compete Saturday morning. There was one new player to the tour, Miranda Sellman from Oregon originally, but now residing in Gig Harbor, WA. The tournament was ran on 9 9-foot Brunswick Gold Crowns. The format was a race to 7, alternating break, 9 ball, with a race to 6 on the B side. The main event was $500 added and a second chance tournament was held on Sunday for players who did not make it into the money rounds.
Sunday morning, eight players remained. A side match ups included Cindy Sliva vs. Kira North and Julie Suzanne Smith vs. Tricia Heintz. Cindy and Suzanne both advanced through their morning matches, 7-0 and 7-4. Cindy and Suzanne then squared off in the hot seat match. Suzanne advanced by the score 7-5 to earn her spot in the final. B side match ups included Kimberly Kirk vs. Clara Silvas and Deby Welfringer vs. Jeanne Christensen. Kimberly and Deby advanced through their first round of play 6-4 and 6-2, earning a shot at Tricia and Kira. Kimberly and Deby both continued on the B side, defeating their opponents 6-3 and 6-2. Kimberly then squared off against Deby. Kimberly advanced by the narrowest of margins (6-5) to play Cindy in the semifinals. Both players battled, taking that match to the hill as well, where Cindy ended up winning the final rack to earn a rematch against Suzanne.
Suzanne Smith path to final: Melissa D. (3), Andy R. (2), Jeanne C. (3), Tricia H. (4), Cindy S (5)
Cindy Sliva path to final: Bye, Adrianne B. (1), Kimberly K. (3), Kira N. (0), loss to Suzanne S. (7-5), Kimberly K. (5)
The final was one race to 9, alternating break. During the early racks, both players tried to find their groove, exchanging racks, with Suzanne then taking a two game lead at 4-2. Suzanne then turned it up a notch and closed out each of the following racks, to make it 7-2 with a break and run. Cindy answered with a break and run of her own to make it 7-3. Suzanne responded breaking and running her second rack of the finals to reach the hill. At 8-3, Suzanne faltered, made some critical errors, including a miss on what could have been her winning 9 ball. At 8-7, Cindy appeared to be running out to tie the set at 8-8, when she got funny on the 7 ball. She pocketed the 7, but left herself long on the 8, which she missed. Suzanne was able to close out the rack and win the event with the final score of 9-7. Congratulations to Suzanne for winning the event and to Cindy for a great event as well.
Great tournament ladies! The NWPA’s next event is the 5th Annual Martha Hartsell Memorial and will be hosted at The Cue Ball in Salem, OR on April 23-24, 2016.
Six ladies returned on Sunday for the $100 added Second Chance tournament. With the low turnout, there was no entry fee and players got lots of table time, playing a round robin, best of 5 games against each of the other players. Patricia and Anna ended up tied for first with 17 wins, however Patricia took top prize, since she had defeated Anna earlier 3-2. Newcomer Miranda Sellman wasn’t far behind in 3rd place with 15 wins. Nice job ladies!
Owner of a couple of wins on the Arizona Women's Billiards Tour this year (April & September), and a 9th place finish in the WPBA's Regional Tour Championships in January, Rebecca Wagner traveled north and west to join a 30-entrant field at the $4,700-added, 3rd Annual Chinook Winds Casino and Resort's 10-Ball Championships (Ladies Division) in Lincoln City, OR on the weekend of October 9-11. She was awarded a bye in the opening round, and lost her first match to Liz Cole. She went on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that put her into the finals against The Duchess of Doom, Allison Fisher, and double-dipped her to take the title.
With Wagner at work on the loss side, Fisher and Susie O'Connor advanced to the hot seat match; Fisher having sent Joanne Ashton to the loss side 5-2 in a winners' side semifinal, as O'Connor was busy surviving a double hill match against Liz Cole. Fisher, who at that point, was boasting a 20-4 advantage in total games played, made it 25-4 with a shutout over O'Connor and waited in the hot seat for Wagner.
Following opening loss-side victories over Sherry Ahola and Melyssa Chasteen, Wagner chalked up two straight double hill wins over Bev Ashton and Kimberly Kirk to earn herself a re-match against Cole. Joanne Ashton drew Cindy Sliva, who'd defeated Deby Welfringer and Bernie Store, both 5-3, to reach her.
Wagner successfully navigated her re-match against Cole 5-3, and in the quarterfinals, faced Sliva, who'd eliminated Joanne Ashton 5-1. Wagner advanced to the semifinals with a 5-3 win over Sliva, and then, as Fisher had done before her, shut out O'Connor.
Apparently in something of a shutout mood, Wagner took the opening set of the true double elimination final against Fisher 5-0. The Duchess of Doom wasn't about to let that stand and put up a strong double hill fight in the second set. Wagner prevailed, though, to claim the event title.
Kira North, Ford and Suzanne Smith (Photo courtesy of Sandro Menzel)
On March 21-22, 2015- the NWPA’s first tour stop of the 2015 season, the Washington State 9 Ball Championships, was hosted by Malarkey’s Pool & Brew in Tacoma, WA. The tournament was ran on 9 9-foot Gold Crowns with Rail2Rail Productions providing a free live stream all weekend. The NWPA tour standings and 2015 schedule are available at www.nwpatour.com and is sanctioned by the WPBA. All skill levels are welcome to play and players can accrue points towards their semiprofessional status while gaining experience playing some of the top women players in the northwest. The main event was $750 added, while a Second Chance tournament was available to ladies not making it to the second day. We would like to thank our sponsors Ozone Billiards for donating magic racks for the entire season and Volturi Cue Cases for donating three $500 vouchers for custom cases. Raffle tickets can be purchased for the vouchers through Suzanne Smith (suzos78@gmail.com), and are $10 each. Only 50 tickets will be sold for each voucher, winners will be announced at the conclusion of each voucher’s ticket sales.
Thirty ladies came out to compete Saturday morning. There were several new players to the tour including including Cindy Salcedo (Bozeman, MT), Claire Binci (Corvalis, OR), Brittany Marshall (Spanaway, WA), Andrea Dexter (Renton, WA), and Dara Koch (Portland, OR). The tournament was ran on 9 9-foot Brunswick Gold Crowns. The format was a race to 7, alternating break, 9 ball, with a race to 6 on the B side. There were several first round byes, but play sped right along, without any major upsets going through the early rounds.
Sunday morning, only eight players remained. A side match ups included Cindy Sliva vs. Liz Cole and Julie Valdez vs. Kira North. Cindy and Kira both advanced through their morning matches, 7-2 and 7-5. Cindy and Kira then squared off in the hot seat match. Kira advanced by the score 7-5 to earn her spot in the final. B side match ups included Carissa Biggs vs. Kirsten Fery and Suwanna Matarazzo vs. Suzanne Smith. Carissa and Suzanne advanced through their first round of play 6-1 and 6-4, earning a shot at Liz and Julie. Liz and Suzanne both advanced through the next round by the same score: 6-3. Liz then squared off against Suzanne. Liz led throughout the entire match; however, it was Suzanne who would sink the final 9 ball in their hill-hill match up. Suzanne then played Cindy and defeated her as well, 6-4.
Kira North path to final: Mary O (F), Kathy S (3), Kim T (5), Julie V (5), Cindy S (5)
Suzanne Smith path to final: Patricia T (0), loss to Natalie S (6), Elaine E (2), Tamre R (4), Rebecca S (2), Suwanna M (4), Julie V (3), Liz C (5), Cindy S (4)
The final was one race to 9, alternating break. During the early racks, both players tried to find their groove. At 3-2 Suzanne, Kira was at the table with a 2 ball out. Unfortunately, Kira missed the 9 and scratched giving Suzanne the 4-2 lead. From that point, Suzanne continued to shoot with confidence, increasing her lead to 5-2 in the next rack, then allowing Kira her final rack of the set to make the score 5-3. Suzanne took advantage of opportunities afforded by her opponent, running out three of the final four racks from the 4, 5 and 2. Congratulations to Suzanne, this was her first tour stop in win since 2009, and to Kira for making her second final appearance in only three events played.
Great tournament ladies! The NWPA’s next event is the 4th Annual Martha Hartsell Memorial and will be hosted at The Cue Ball in Salem, OR on April 25-26.
Eight ladies returned on Sunday for the $100 added Second Chance tournament. With a $10 entry, half the field made some money in the true double elimination tournament, race to 3 on the A side and race to 2 on the B side. Kim Toops ended up winning top prize, defeating Dara Koch in the finals. Good work ladies, nice shooting.
Corey Deuel drives a run-out pace and ran through the loser’s bracket, beating Canadian Champion John Morra in finals. John Morra chopped through a star studded bracket to get to the point and showed he was in total command until coming up against Corey who held John to only 6 combined in games in both the finals matches on his way to the $10,000 1st place prize.
Vivian Villarreal came out of the loser’s bracket, where she was sent packing by Cindy Sliva who waited on the point. Vivian got through tough competitor Kim Jones, to return to Cindy again. The finals match featured a lot of great play from both women. They both played like champions and Vivian had to struggle to capture the $4000 1st place check. Cindy once again showed why she is one of the Northwest's finest, keeping up with seasoned professional, Vivian Villarreal.
Chinook Winds added $21,000 to the 8-Ball Open events, $17,000 to Men’s division with guaranteed $10,000 for 1st and $5,000 to the Women’s division with $4000 guaranteed for 1st place. Western BCA added an additional $4000 to the events. The Men’s division raced to 7 and the Women's raced to 5. 128 men and 38 women entered, trying to get into the money.
A $1000 added Warm up 8-ball tournament took place Thursday before main event. League players and those entered in Main event were welcome to play. 83 men entered the $25 entry, race to 3, Double elimination event. The short race can be an equalizer with top players. It was a smash event. There was over $3000 in prize money. Rafael Martinez took 1st, Jason Shaw 2nd, Josh Roberts 3rd, Stan Tourangeau 4th, Ace Brown and Corey Deuel 5th/6th, Steve Lingelbach and Marc Vidal 7th/8th.
The Calcutta went off well. Auctioning through both fields took some time but it was well worth it. There was a net $25,280 in the men’s and $6425 in the women's. Paul “Kez Dog” Marquez and Carissa Biggs helped out calling on bidders. It was a fun and exciting event.
It took a lot of hard work producing the Chinook Winds Open event. Co-coordinators/directors Andrew Monstis and Mike Jensen worked 100’s of volunteer hours to make this event successful as it was. It was about pool. It was very rewarding to hear the praise coming from both participants and spectators. The top players all said it was the best event they have ever been too. First timers to the event said they had never seen such a great event. Others said this was the biggest event in the Northwest since “Ocean Shores” event in the early eighties.
Special thanks to Mike Howerton, “Azbilliards”, Lenny Marshall “On The Rail TV”, Ozzy Reynolds of “Cuesports International” Ric and Bonnie Jones of Bad Boys Production and Chinook Winds & WBCA staff for their considerable help.
They say it’s better at the beach and they are right! Chinook Winds Casino Resort is a full service facility and is an exceptional place for a tournament venue. Having this event tucked in at the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon creates an atmosphere you can’t find anywhere else.
The huge gallery of spectators did watch many excellent matches as the Tournament unfolded. People were able to watch and learn what great pool playing is about. The crowds were in awe of top players like Vivian Villarreal, Stacy Allsup, Rebecca Wagner, Kathy MacDonald, Shane Van Boening, Scott Frost, Rodney Morris, Joshua Roberts, Danny Olson, Ace Brown and Jayson Shaw. They were equally dazzled by top local players like Cindy Sliva, Kim Jones, Carissa Biggs, Liz Cole, Danny Louie, Rafael Martinez, Stan Tourangeau, Matt Horner and Randy Baker. These great pool players showed their talent. Mike Massey Shared with the crowd some of his patented trick shots, What fun!
