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NEWPA holds ‘Break the Cycle’ domestic violence awareness event at Crow’s Nest in NH

Samantha Barrett, Erica Testa and Lida Mullendore

Testa and Barrett split top two prizes in 16-entrant 9-ball tournament

The ‘cycle’ that the New England Women’s Pool Alliance (NEWPA) set out to raise awareness of on Sunday, August 15 is a pattern of behavior recognized by professional domestic violence counselors, support personnel and the victims of such violence. It begins in a relationship where tensions build and an abuser demonstrates more and more anger and violent behavior. An ‘explosion’ occurs, which results in some form of violence. The victim is in pain, fearful, desperate and humiliated, all at once. The abuser minimizes what’s been done or denies it completely, while the victim will often blame herself. A ‘honeymoon’ period occurs, during which the abuser apologizes, declares love and assures the victim that it won’t happen again. Hopeful and loved, life goes on until the tension starts to rebuild toward yet another ‘explosion’ occurs and the cycle is renewed.

Women in such situations are sometimes unable to identify the pattern, understand its significance or break the cycle in a way that frees them to live more productive and certainly less high-anxiety lives. Events like this recent one, hosted by the NEWPA, are not necessarily designed to address victims or abusers directly (although that might happen), but more as a means of raising awareness so that those in attendance, while perhaps neither victim nor abuser, can be made aware of the ‘cycle’ and potentially recognize it in the lives and behavior of people with whom they are close and be in a better position to help. Victims and abusers are often reluctant to seek professional help in these hyper-personal situations, but might take some measure of comfort or advice in speaking to a family member or personal friend.

And the more people who understand the ‘cycle’ of domestic violence, the more likely it will be that victims and abusers will find avenues, through close personal support, potentially leading to professional help to ‘break that cycle.’

So the NEWPA, with its roots in the world of competitive pool, organized a 9-ball tournament and in addition to running that tournament, offered professional information and advice to all of those in attendance.

“Ann Mason was the main sponsor of this event, adding $200,” said NEWPA representative Katie Fiorilla. “She also arranged for a representative of Haven (NH’s largest violence prevention and support services agency) to speak to the players about resources in the area and distribute pamphlets with further, more detailed information about the agency and its efforts to ‘Break the Cycle.”

“Master Billiards also added $100,” said Fiorilla. “We also wanted to thank Marc Dionne and Jenn Berghelli from the New England 9-Ball Series for all their support. They handled all the registrations and payments, allowed us to use their CompuSport bracket and Jenn even made flyers and posted the player list for us.”

Originally scheduled to be hosted by House of Billiards in Hampton Falls, NH, a change in ownership, seven days prior to the event, led to something of a scramble to find a new venue.

“We were very fortunate that at the last minute, Cochise Kasabian-Judd (Crow’s Nest, Plaistow, NH) agreed to host the event,” said Fiorilla. “She also put out a very nice coffee service, with juice, muffins and bagels and we can’t thank her staff enough.”

So, after some early morning refreshment and a presentation on ‘breaking the cycle’ of domestic violence from the folks at Haven, it was time to play some pool. The $300-added event drew a planned 16 entrants to Crow’s Nest.

It was won, technically by Erica Testa, who went undefeated into the hot seat. The woman she’d defeated to gain that seat (Samantha Barrett) came back from the semifinals and they decided to split the top two prizes.

Testa’s path to the winners’ circle went through Melissa Curtin and Stacy Hamel to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal versus Michelle Haddock. Barrett, in the meantime, got by Jessie Wilmott and Ann Ngeth to pick up Lida Mullendore in the other winners’ side semifinal.

Barrett and Testa apparently really wanted to play against each other in the hot seat match and proceeded to shut out both of their opponents to make sure that happened. Testa then claimed the hot seat 5-2 over Barrett, in what proved to be the winner-determining match of the event.

On the loss side, Mullendore drew Hamel, who’d defeated Wilmott and Linda George, both 4-2 to reach her. Haddock picked up Kim Chappelle, who’d recently eliminated Danielle Walker 4-1 and Ngeth 4-2.

Haddock and Mullendore got right back to work, handing Chappelle and Hamel, respectively, their second loss. Mullendore then downed Haddock 4-2 in the quarterfinals, before losing to Barrett in the semifinals by the same score.

Testa and Barrett agreed to the split. The final four standing went home a little richer and everybody presumably went home a little wiser about the ways and means of breaking the cycle of domestic violence. 

Bad Ass Bitches win New England Women’s Pool Alliance’s Anchorperson Challenge

Erica Testa, Stacie Bourbeau, and Lindsey Monto (not pictured is the fourth team member Kim Storey)

In the New England Women Pool Alliance’s second team event, the $500-added Anchorperson Challenge, four mixed-geography teams of four women competed against each other in a first stage series of best two-out-of-three round robin, 8-ball matches. At the conclusion of this first stage, a single representative (best record from first stage) from each of the teams (the anchorwoman) competed in a best three-out-of-five set of round robin matches. The format was altered slightly to accommodate four teams instead of the planned-for eight teams around which the event was initially planned.

At the end of the first stage and based on potential point allocation for games won in the second stage, it was mathematically possible for any one of the four teams to win the event as they moved into that second stage. Victorious Secret (Sam Barrett, Nicole Albergeria, Dawn Fanning and Becca Sue Phillis) emerged from the first stage, ahead by two points (11-9; each match won by a player earned her team a single point), but in the anchorwoman challenge set of matches, Bad Ass Bitches’ Stacie Bourbeau won nine out of the 10 games she played to chalk up another nine points for her team (Erica Testa, Lindsey Monto & Kim Storey) and win the event for them; 19-13, over Victorious Secret. The event drew its four teams/16 women to Amazin’ Billiards in Malden, MA on Sunday, May 23.

During the second stage of the event, the players not involved in that stage squared off in a consolation event; a single elimination bracket with 12 women. Two women, members of what turned out to be the top two teams, were to have squared off in the finals of this event – Lindsey Monto from Bad Ass Bitches and Nicole Albergeria from Victorious Secret. But in the end, they chose not to play a final match and split the $200 in total consolation prize money. They also turned down an opportunity to play a single ‘bragging rights’ match.

In the opening stage of the event, Hot Pockets (Lida Mullendore, Stef Brownstein, Kayleen Gray and Tina DeLima) played against Victorious Secret. Victorious Secret won 24 of the 41 games they played against Hot Pockets, earning 11 points to Hot Pockets’ 5. Stef Brownstein won six of the 17 games for Hot Pockets and represented the team in the second stage. Sam Barrett and Nicole Albergeria chalked up 16 of their team’s 24 games (eight each). Though tied for total games won, it was Barrett who advanced to the second stage for Victorious Secret, because she had lost one less game than Albergeria. 

The Tonkin Team/Bad Ass Bitches round robin ended with a little closer score. The BAB won 22 of the 41 games they played against the Tonkin Team (Stacey Tonkin, Pam Fiahlo, Emily Cady and Dawn Luz) and nine of the 16 points awarded. Stacie Bourbeau and Lindsey Monto each won seven games, but Monto lost one more, which sent Bourbeau to stage two. Emily Cady won eight games for the Tonkin team and advanced to the second stage.

The races were a bit longer in the second stage (best three out of five) and the point distribution for winning was a little different; a first win earned a single point, a second earned three points and a third earned four points. Bourdeau went undefeated in the stage, earning nine points for the Bad Ass Bitches (18 total), four more than Sam Barrett earned for Victorious Secret (13 total). Emily Cady from The Tonkin Team (7 total) and Stef Brownstein from Hot Pockets (5 total) earned four points each.

Event director Katie Fiorilla thanked the ownership and staff at Amazin’ Billiards, as well as sponsors who contributed money to the prize fund and other aspects of making the event happen, including Mazin Schooni, the NE 9-Ball Series, AZBilliards, Emily Cady, Dawn Luz and the Tonkin Tour. 

The next event of the New England Women’s Pool Alliance will be a fund raiser in August (exact date to be determined) in August. As a fund-raising event, it will be open to all genders. Later, in the fall (at another exact date to be determined), the NEWPA will sponsor an event that will be a women’s event, a domestic violence awareness event.  

Corr has to come from the loss side to win her second straight on the JPNEWT

(l to r): Kia Sidbury, Caroline Pao & Karen Corr

In an uncharacteristic path to the winners’ circle, Karen Corr had to come from the loss side to win the August 11-12 stop (#5) on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour. It was Corr’s second straight appearance and win on the tour since it began in March. Though she would advance to the hot seat match, she was sent to the loss side by Caroline Pao (making her first appearance on the 2018 tour). Corr came back from the semifinals to win a nail-biting, double hill match against Pao to claim the event title. The $500-added (by Coins of the Realm) event drew 23 entrants to Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
 
In addition to Pao, Corr had to face the tour’s #3-ranked player (coming into this event), Kia Sidbury, twice. Corr opened her campaign against Sidbury, downing her 7-1, and would meet her again in the semifinals. Corr then defeated Eugenia Gyftopoulos 7-3 and Kathy Friend 7-2 to draw the tour’s #2-ranked player, Linda Shea, in a winners’ side semifinal. Pao, in the meantime, opened her bid for the event title with a 7-3 victory over the tour’s top-ranked competitor, Nicole King. She sent King to the loss side 7-3 and then shut out Leslie Furr to draw Nicole Monaco in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Corr and Shea came within a game of going double hill, before Corr edged out in front to win 7-5 and advance to the hot seat match. Pao defeated Monaco 7-3 to join her. Pao sent Corr to the semifinals 7-4 to claim the hot seat.
 
Following her loss to Corr, Sidbury embarked on a six-match, loss-side bid for a rematch. She got by Valerie Nolan, Sharon O’Hanlon, Bethany Sykes, and won a double hill match against King to draw Monaco. Shea picked up Elaine Wilson, who’d defeated Lynn Richard 7-5 and Gyftopoulos 7-3 to reach her.
 
Sidbury and Shea advanced to the quarterfinals; Sidbury 7-1 over Monaco and Shea 7-3 over Wilson. Sidbury and Shea fought a double hill match that eventually earned Sidbury her rematch against Corr in the semifinals. Corr gave up only two racks in that semifinal to earn her own rematch against Pao in the finals.
 
In the extended race-to-9 format of the finals, Corr had to (and did) reach seven racks before Pao. They traded racks to an 8-8 tie before Corr broke and ran to capture the event title.
 
The event was a North American Pool Tour (NAPT) Qualifier for the upcoming Desert Challenge, to be hosted by Griff’s Billiards in Las Vegas. With Corr already qualified, Pao picked up the qualifying spot.
 
The results led to a bit of a shakeup among the tour’s top competitors going into the 6th stop on the tour, scheduled for September 15-16, to be hosted by First Break Café and Billiards in Sterling, VA. Tour director Linda Shea and Nicole King switched places; Shea moving into 1st and King, dropping to 2nd. Kia Sidbury, previously tied with Erica Testa (who did not compete), stayed right where she was. Corr, with her second straight win, moved up to 4th place, as Judie Wilson maintained her hold on 5th place in the tour rankings.
 
Tour director Linda Shea thanked the ownership and staff at Triple Nines, as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Coins of the Realm, live stream sponsor – angle aim Art, Mezz USA, and Baltimore City Cues. 

King goes undefeated at third stop on JPNEWT

Judie Wilson, Linda Shea, Jackie Rivera, Nicole King, Kia Sidbury and Kathy Friend

In addition to the visible struggle that plays out on the pool tables, regional tour competitors participate in a meta-game of tour rankings. At the end of a given season, based on those tour rankings, someone ends up as a given tour’s champion, which can accrue benefits ranging from cash, entry fees to major events, or, in some cases, nothing more significant than bragging rights. This meta-game tends to play out within a relatively small circle of a tour’s members, because ascension to the top of a tour’s rankings requires a combination of superior skills and consistent participation.
 
On the weekend of May 19-20, there was another early-season shuffle in the upper ranks of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) rankings. Going into the $500-added (from Coins of the Realm), third stop on the tour, which drew 18 entrants to First Break Café and Billiards in Sterling, VA, Erica Testa, with a win and runner-up finish to her credit, was the tour’s #1-ranked player. When it was over, tour director Linda Shea (third going in) had become #1. Testa (who did not compete in this event) was sharing the second spot with Kia Sidbury, who came into and out of the event as the tour’s #2 player (albeit, tied at that spot). Nicole King, who went undefeated in the event, moved into the fourth slot, while Judie Wilson, dropped a spot into #5.
 
The players don’t spend a lot of their time (if at all) thinking about this meta-game aspect of a single tournament, but it’s there, and highlights the generally tight group of women (in this case) who get together on seven separate occasions (in this case) to battle for area supremacy in the sport. It may only be the tour’s third stop, but it’s just shy of half the battle. King’s trip to the winner’s circle went through two players just below her in the rankings – Sharon O’Hanlon (7-4) and Melissa Jenkins (7-5) – and one above her (Kia Sidbury; 7-3), before meeting up with a woman in a winners’ side semifinal, Jackie Rivera, who, at this stage, had yet to figure into the current rankings.
 
Shea, in the meantime, got by Elaine Wilson 7-5 and Kelly Wyatt 7-2 to draw Kathy Friend in the other winners’ side semifinal. Shea moved into the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Friend, as King was busy surviving a double hill match against Rivera. King downed Shea 7-3 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting her return.
 
On the loss side, Rivera picked up Judie Wilson, who’d lost her opening match to Friend, and was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side run that included a recent double hill win over Wyatt and a 7-4 win Bethany Sykes. Friend drew Sidbury, who, following her defeat by King on the winners’ side had defeated Elaine Wilson and Teri Thomas, both 7-4.
 
Rivera eliminaTed Wilson 7-3 and was joined in the quarterfinals by Friend, who’d defeated Sidbury 7-5. Friend just did survive the quarterfinal 7-6 but had her bid for further advancement derailed by Shea, who took the semifinal match 7-4.
 
In the meta-game of ranking points, Shea was moving into the top spot, no matter what happened in her finals match against King, who, no matter what happened in the finals, was going to end up in the #4 ranking spot. Both, however, were looking to chalk up their first win on the tour, which, one would assume, carried much more weight in the double hill fight that followed than the meta-rankings-game. King won it to complete her undefeated run and take that first 2018 event title.
 
The meta-rankings-game and the individual battles that define it will continue at stop #4  on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of June 23-24. The event will feature a separate amateur division and will be hosted by Champion Billiards and Sports Bar in Frederick, MD.

Testa comes from the loss side to down Shea in finals of Stop #2 on the JPNEWT

L to R: Erica Testa, Kia Sidbury, Judie Wilson, Nicole King, Chari Slater, Linda Shea

While it’s still a little early to be talking about tour rankings, and who might or might not advance to be the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour champion at the conclusion of its season in November, the tour’s second stop, held on the weekend of April 28-29, did result in a bit of shuffling at the top of those rankings. Erica Testa, who entered Stop #2 in second place behind Kia Sidbury in the single-event rankings, came from the loss side to down Linda Shea in the finals. Testa moved ahead of Sidbury into first place. In the absence of Heather Platter, who was ranked second, Sidbury, who finished in the tie for 5th place, moved into the second spot. Shea’s runner-up finish moved her from 5th to 3rd, while Judie Wilson’s third-place finish kept her in the #4 spot in the rankings. The event drew 18 entrants to Markley Billiards in Norristown, PA.
 
After an opening round bye, Testa downed Chari Slater and Anita Sowers to draw Shea in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Wilson, in the meantime (also after a bye) defeated Suzanne Sellet and Melissa Jenkins to meet Sidbury in the other winners’ side semifinal. The four women in those two matches were four of the early-tour’s six best players (Heather Platter and Cheryl Sporleder did not compete in this event). Shea sent Testa to the loss side 7-4, as Wilson was working on a double hill win over Sidbury. Shea claimed the hot seat (her first of the early season) 7-1 over Wilson and waited on the return of Testa.
 
Over on the loss side, Testa drew a re-match against Slater, who’d defeated Tina Marinelli, Sharon O’Hanlon (double hill) and Melissa Jenkins 7-4 to earn that re-match. Sidbury picked up Nicole King, who’d originally been defeated by Shea, and gotten by Elaine Wilson 7-3 and Nicole Nester 7-2 on the loss side.
 
Advancement to the quarterfinals was hotly contested with both matches going double hill. When the double hill dust settled, King and Testa had advanced. Testa eliminated King 7-5 in those quarterfinals, and then, spoiled Judie Wilson’s bid for a re-match against Shea (and movement up the rankings ladder) with a 7-3 win in the semifinals.
 
It was an ‘extended race to 9’ final. Coming from the loss side, Testa had to beat Shea to seven racks, to extend the race to 9. She did so and added two more for a 9-6 win that gave her the event title and sole possession of first place in the tour rankings.
 
In addition to the Open event, on Sunday, the tour added its second Amateur event, open to players with skill levels at “4” or below. That event was won by Shelah Joner, who, in addition to $40 in cash, was awarded a paid entry into the next JPNEWT event. That event, scheduled for the weekend of May 19-20, will be hosted by First Break Café and Billiards in Sterling, VA.

Sidbury comes back from semifinals to down Testa and win JPNEWT season opener

(l to r): Erica Testa, Linda Shea, Judie Wilson, Kia Sidbury, Cheryl Sporleder & Heather Platter

Kia Sidbury claimed the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour’s season opener on the weekend of March 3-4 by coming back from a hot seat loss to down hot seat occupant, Erica Testa in the finals. Sidbury, who finished sixth overall in the tour’s 2017 standings, claimed the event title, and for the time being, top spot on the 2018 rankings. The $500-added (by Coins of the Realm) event drew 20 entrants to Triples Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
 
Sidbury faced Testa twice, winning the all-important second matchup, in the finals, but she also had to get by Heather Platter twice; once in a winners’ side semifinal, and again, in the event semifinals. Following victories over Elaine Wilson and Kathy Friend, Sidbury came out on top in two straight double hill matches, against Tour Director Linda Shea in a winners’ side quarterfinal and Platter in the winners’ side semifinal, which put her (Sidbury) in the hot seat match. Testa’s path to the hot seat match went through Nicole Fleming, Lynn Richards (who would go on to win a concurrently-run, 9-entrant Amateur event), Gwen Townsend, and in the other winners’ side semifinal, Judie Wilson 7-2. Testa claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Sidbury and waited on her return from a re-match versus Platter in the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Platter and Wilson met up with Cheryl Sporleder and Shea, respectively. Sporleder had eliminated Gwen Townsend, double hill, and Teri Thomas 7-2 to reach Sporleder. Shea got by Sharon O’Hanlon and Kim Whitman, both 7-4 to draw Wilson. Platter and Wilson advanced to the quarterfinals; Platter, 7-5 over Sporleder and Wilson, 7-2 over Shea.
 
Platter and Wilson locked up in a quarterfinal, double hill fight, that eventually sent Platter to a rematch against Sidbury in the semifinals. That semifinal match came within a game of going double hill, but in the end, Sidbury pulled ahead to win it by two 7-5.
 
In what was, essentially, an early season, first-stop battle for first place on the tour, Sidbury and Testa fought for a second time, looking to claim the event title. Sidbury got out in front, and stayed there, winning it 9-3 for her first tour win. 
 
A concurrently-run Amateur event drew nine entrants and was won by Lynn Richards. The next stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour, scheduled for April 28-29, will be hosted by Markley Billiards in Norristown, PA.

Li goes undefeated to win her second 2017 J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour stop

Jia Li

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.

Corr goes undefeated, again, to win second stop on JPNEWT

Karen Corr

Karen Corr won eight out of the nine stops in which she competed on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour last year. On the weekend of April 30-May 1, at the second stop on the 2016 tour, she went undefeated to claim her first JPNEWT victory of the year. The $500-added event drew 24 entrants to Markley Billiards in Norristown, PA.
 
Corr gave up an average of just two racks to five opponents, touching each of five possibilities, from shutout  to the four racks that Colleen Shoop chalked up against her in the event's second round. Carol Clark managed a single rack against her in the opening round before Shoop checked in with her four. This set Corr up against tour director, Linda Shea in a winners' side semifinal. Nicole Fleming, and Jia Li squared off in the other one. Corr sent Shea to the loss side 7-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Li, who'd defeated Fleming 7-4. Corr and Li had met up a few times last year, including an August double hill battle in the finals that eventually led to Corr's sixth straight win on the tour. This time out, battling for the hot seat, Li managed the opponent average of two racks against Corr, and moved to the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Fleming mounted a three-match, loss-side campaign to the finals that began when she faced Kathy Friend, who was on a four-match, loss-side streak of her own, that included victories over Denise Reeve 7-3 and a double hill win over Shoop. Shea picked up Meredith Lynch, who'd eliminated Dawn Fox 7-3 and survived a double hill fight versus Erica Testa.
 
Shea and Fleming advanced to the quarterfinals; Shea 7-4 over Lynch, and Fleming 7-3 over Friend. Fleming had advanced to the quarterfinals before; three times in 2015, and in 2014, had made it to the finals (versus Shea). On this weekend, she advanced to a semifinal re-match against Li with a 7-3 victory over Shea. She got her second (ever) shot at being added to the JPNEWT's Wall of Fame (listing event winners back to 1999) with a 7-4 victory over Li. Corr thwarted Fleming's shot at a first JPNEWT title by shutting her out in the finals, and claiming her first 2016 JPNEWT title.
 
The event was a qualifier for the inaugural North American Pool Tour's Division I Women's 10-Ball Invitational, scheduled for the weekend of June 4-5 at Breaker's Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA. Having already been invited, Corr's qualification slot (paid entry fee) went to Fleming, who, having chalked up 130 ranking points with her runner-up finish, moved among the JPNEWT's top-ranked competitors, two stops into the season.

Shea comes back from semifinals to defeat Whitman in JPNEWT Season Opener

Linda Shea continues to be a force to reckon with on her own J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour, which opened its 2016 season on the weekend of March 19-20. She advanced to the hot seat match in the $1,000-added ($500 from Coins of the Realm) event which drew 29 entrants to Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD, and was sent to the semifinals by Kim Whitman. She returned from those semifinals to defeat Whitman in an extended race-to-9 final, chalking up her first 2016 tour win.
 
Following victories over Teri Thomas, Nicole King, and Colleen Shoop, Shea advanced to a winners' side semifinal versus Nicole Nester. Whitman, in the meantime, who'd survived a double hill opening round battle against Delia Mocanu, went on to defeat Sharon O'Hanlon, and Kia Sidbury to end up in the other winners' side semifinal against Nicole Monaco. Shea and Whitman got into the hot seat match with identical 7-4 victories over Nicoles Nester and Monaco. Whitman claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Shea and waited on her return.
 
On the loss side, Monaco had the misfortune of running into Erica Testa, who'd been defeated in the event's opening round by Judie Wilson and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would propel her into the semifinals versus Shea. She downed Kristina Douglas, O'Hanlon, Shoop and Heather Platter to draw Monaco. Nester didn't fare much better in the 'draw' department, picking up Mocanu, who was also defeated in the event's opening round by Whitman, and was on her own five-match, loss-side streak that began with two straight double hill wins (over Sierra Reams and Carol V. Clark). She went on to defeat Judie Wilson 7-3, Britanya Rapp 7-1, and survived her third, loss-side double hill match (vs. Kia Sidbury) to pick up Nester.
 
Nester ended Mocanu's streak 7-3, and in the quarterfinals, faced Testa, whose streak continued with a double hill win over Monaco. Testa was gaining momentum. She allowed Nester only a single rack in those quarterfinals, and advanced to meet Shea. Testa put up a fight in those semifinals, but Shea prevailed 7-5 for a second shot at Whitman in the hot seat.
 
They played an extended race-to-9, in which, if the loss-side opponent reaches "7" first, the race is extended to 9 games. Shea hit that "7" spot first, went on to win 9-7 and claimed the season opening title.
 
As representative of the JPNEWT, Shea extended thanks to the ownership and staff at Triple Nines for their hospitality. The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of April 30-May 1, will be hosted by Markley Billiards in Norristown, PA.

Erica Testa bests the field at Snookers to take First Place

Erica Testa and Samantha Barrett

The third stop of the Northern Lights Women’s Pool Tour took place at Snookers in Providence, Rhode Island on Sunday, June 28th 2015. The Northern Lights tour is a WPBA sanctioned qualifying tour for women of the New England region. Snookers is a fantastic venue with well­maintained tables, top­notch food, and a lively environment. Snookers is one of the best pool halls in New England, housing top pro player, Mike Dechaine! They graciously offered $400 added to entice women from around New England to compete! This was a double­elimination tournament with races to seven on the winner’s side and races to five on the loser’s side. The final championship match was a modified race to nine.
 
The play began on this rainy Sunday with Nicole Albergaria over Dianne Masters, Mandi Capps overtaking tournament director Pauline McGrath, Erica Testa over Jenn Sylvester, and Amanda Judkins over Samantha Barrett. The winner’s and loser’s brackets were set at this point and exciting play continued. On the winner’s side, Nicole bested Mandi to send her to the loser’s bracket. Erica then took down Amanda (7­4) and Nicole (7­2), sending both to the loser’s bracket and putting Erica in the hot seat, awaiting the results of the one­loss side. On that side, Samantha fought back to beat Connecticut players Aaron Haefele and the up and coming Jenn Sylvester. Pauline was sent packing by Dianne who then lost to Amanda. Samantha finished off the one­loss bracket by beating Mandi, Amanda, and Nicole (5­3) to meet up with Erica in the finals. Samantha fought hard and played solid pool all day, but there was no one who could take down the 2014 Tour Champion Erica Testa, who played lights out pool, won 9­6, and went undefeated for the day.