48 women came to compete at the final stop of the Hunter Classics 2001 Season in Alvin, TX November 10-11.  This Championship Stop would also crown the Tour Champion and it was a fight until the bitter end.

 

Gail Lave, Brenda Plantz and Leslie Anne Rogers were fighting for the title and even on Sunday morning no one was sure who would win.  Only one point separated these three ladies, but in the end, Leslie Anne Rogers would win the Tour Championship title and also the tournament!

 

This is the 5th time in a row Big Daddy's has hosted the season finale of the Hunter Classics Tour.  Many thanks for our wonderful hosts Vickie and Ed McKillop.  Also, a big thanks to Rich Walkuski for being our referee and Mike Roles for being yet again a great Tournament Director for us.  And thank you to Wes Hunter who donated a beautiful $1,900 Hunter Classics Custom Cue for this stop.  Debi Goode, Heather Pratt and Andy Guerrero were wonderful help over the weekend working at Bid Daddy's and making the ladies feel at home.

 

Leslie Anne Rogers of Arlington, TX won $750 for her first place finish and fought all year for the Tour Champion title.  Leslie has been placing high for several years now, including a runner-up finish in the main event in 1998 and three second chance tournament wins just last year.  However, this year she has had two runner-up finishes in the last three Hunter Classics Stops, which help her to be in the running for the championship title.  With this tournament win, it pushed her way ahead in first place in the points and now she can also claim the title of having won a Hunter Classics Event, after so many close times.

 

Sarah Ellerby, runner-up in the Amateur Nationals, received $550 for her second place finish, Nicole Bacon placed 3rd and received $400 and her highest finish yet!  Jeannie Seaver, runner-up in the Regional Tour Championship the previous weekend, placed 4th and received $250 after going hill-hill her last two matches.  Julie Stephenson, Hunter Tour Board Member, placed 5th as did local Dana Hanks – her highest finish yet.  Karen Smith and Brenda Plantz, traveling buddies from Colorado, both placed 7th, with their other traveling roommate Lisa Preston placing 9th.  The other three 9th-12th place finishers included last year's Alvin winner Sherri Hudson, Sherry Pouncey of Austin ,TX having her highest finish yet and Natalie Mans of Clearlake, TX playing in her first Hunter Tournament.  Congratulations to all of the women!

 

Sarah Ellerby's road to the finals started off with a bye and then wins over Gail Lave 7-5, Sybil Wingard 7-1, Brenda Plantz 7-5, Jeannie Seaver 7-5 and Nicole Bacon 7-6 before playing Leslie in the finals.

 

Leslie's road to the finals started off with a bye also, and then wins over Melinda Bailey 7-2 and Sherry Romero before losing to Jeannie Seaver 5-7.  At this crucial point in the tournament, Brenda and Leslie were both still in the tournament on Sunday, but on the one-loss side.  When play began on Sunday, Leslie had beat Natalie Mans 7-2 while watching Brenda Plantz play Sherri Hudson.  Sherri and Brenda went hill-hill and on the last game, Sherri missed the 9 and scratched which meant Brenda and Leslie had to play each other!  When the smoke cleared, Leslie defeated Brenda 7-4 and Leslie was announced the Tour Champion.  Brenda and Leslie will both receive invitations to the WPBA Nationals in December!  Congratulations to both of these ladies for a hard fight all year long.

 

Leslie then went into high gear – wow stop now?  And defeated Jeannie Seaver 7-6, Nicole Bacon 9-4 and then Sarah Ellerby 11-6 in the finals.  Leslie won the tournament by snapping the 9 in on the break and finishing her great year in style.

 

Numerous raffle items were raffled off, but some of the main prizes were autographed balls signed by professional pool players.  Winners of the autographed balls included Ismael, Robert Plata, Suzanne Walkuski, Linda Chestnut and Billy D.  Another great raffle prize was a gift certificate to the local favorite restaurant, Joe's Bar B Q, which was won by owner Ed McKillop.

 

Several cues were also raffled off.  The number one cue was the beautiful Hunter Classics Custom Cue valued at $1,900.  June Walter of San Antonio was very surprised, but very excited that she finally won a Hunter Classic cue!  The cue forearm is Goncola Alves w/5 ebony points, Ebony butt w/ Goncola Alves band and it has orange and white veneers and stitch rings, 5 Ivory inlays in butt and a black with white linen wrap.

 

The other cues for raffle were a $200 Rhino cue won by Jeannette Martinez of San Antonio, a $500 Olivier cue won by Audra Carter of San Antonio and a $1,200 Annie O' cue won by W.T. Wetsel of the Houston area.  Anne Mays donated the Annie O' cue and also played in the tournament.  She placed 1st in the second chance event, defeating Kawania Watson of San Antonio hill-hill.  Mindy Williams of Houston – newly awarded Most Improved Player of 2001 – placed 3rd with Heather Pulford of Austin placing 4th.

 

The second chance tournament raised money from a Lucasi Cue donated by professional pool player Jeremy Jones, but also raised money for the fire fighter's fund of September 11th.  $435 was raised for the fund, and will be sent to the "Widows and Children's Fund of the Uniformed Firefighter's Association."  Theresa Murphy of San Antonio won the Jeremy Jones Lucasi Cue.  Thanks to Jeremy for supporting us again this year in Alvin, TX.

 

The Hunter Classics members would like to thank Wes Hunter for his continued support and cannot wait to play in 2002!  Thank you Wes for supporting women's pool!  This tour would not be the largest, longest running regional women's tour without YOU.

Melanie Koger defeated Leslie Rogers in the finals at G-Cue Billiards in Round Rock, Texas to win her first Hunter Classics Tournament of the year.  While Leslie's runner-up finish made it the second time she has placed 2nd in a Hunter Classics Stop in 2001.  Melanie and Leslie have been league teammates for years and it was two close friends in the finals, each wanting the win.

 

The runner-up finish for Leslie was not only another important finish but also helped move her to tie for first place in the points standings.  Gail Lave is tied with Leslie by placing 5th/6th (after just playing in the WPBA event in Chicago hours before).  Brenda Plantz placed 5th/6th as well and is only one point behind the first place tie.  The next tournament in Alvin, TX (the Final Stop – the Tour Championship) in November will be the deciding tournament to see who becomes the Hunter Classics 2001 Tour Champion!

 

A BIG thank you to Wes Hunter who gives these wonderful ladies a great tournament to play in by donating a Hunter Classics Custom Cue each tournament.  Lucille Donahue won the Hunter Classics Cue this time, after many years of buying raffle tickets.  When Lucille was called about winning the cue, she wasn't home yet from traveling from the tournament, but her husband took down the message.  However, she couldn't sleep until she knew it was really true that she won the cue.  The cue, valued at $1,800, has Tulipwood forearm w/ 5 Ebony floating points and tulipwood butt, blue and card veneers with stitch rings and 5 ebony inlays on the butt.

 

Kevin Welling was a great host over the weekend as the ladies played pool on his 17 9-foot Brunswick tables at G Cue Billiards, with the bartenders just as helpful and courteous.  Thanks to the Hunter Classics Board who ran another smooth tournament and to Tony Hinojosa who kept play moving along as the Tournament Director.

 

36 ladies came to play pool over the October 13th weekend.  Some flew in from the midwest and others drove from as far away as Denver to play.  Friday night was showered with rain and thunderstorms but by Sunday clear skies were the norm as we were all indoors playing the sport we all love so much.

 

By Sunday morning the main event was getting kicked off with one-loss side matches pitting Colorado's Brenda Plantz against Austin's Sharon Townsend, June Walter from San Antonio against Austin's Heather Pulford, Kim Pierce from Bastrop, Tx against Gail Lave from Springfield, Missouri and Austin's Lucy Robinson against Tara McCracken from Lewisville, Tx.  Tara would eventually play Gail and June would eventually play Brenda.  While on the winner's side it was s an all 'Texas Shootout' with Leslie Rogers from the Dallas area playing Melanie Koger of Fort Worth, while Deanna Kniola from Austin was playing Sophie Lopez of San Antonio.  After the Texas dust settled it would be Leslie Rogers playing Deanna Kniola for the winner's bracket with Sophie playing Gail and Melanie playing Brenda on the one-loss side.

 

Leslie Rogers' fight to the finals was played on the winner's side the whole tournament, only losing one match – in the finals against Melanie Koger.  Leslie had a bye then defeated Vickie McKillop 7-2, Michelle Cortez 7-4, Gail Lave 7-1, Melanie Koger 7-4, Deanna Kniola 7-3 and then lost to Melanie 5-11 in the finals.

 

Melanie's fight to the finals: bye, defeating Julie Stephenson 7-1, Mindy Williams 7-3 and Tara McCracken 7-3 before losing to Leslie Rogers 4-7.  Melanie then fought through the one-loss side with wins over Brenda Plants 7-4, Sophie Lopez 7-4, a hill-hill thriller win over Deanna Kniola 9-8 and then defeating Leslie Rogers 11-5 to win the tournament.

 

The second chance tournament on Sunday, with $100 added and 18 women, was playing on the other side of the pool room.  Melinda Bailey of Fort Worth came out on top over runner-up finisher Jennifer Kraber of Austin.  Michelle Cortez of Austin placed third and Audra Carter of San Antonio placed 4th.

 

The ladies would like to take this time to thank Wes once again for his continued and dedicated support.  Don't forget to visit us on the web at www.hunterclassics.com.  Also, come see us at the final stop of the year, where we will find out who wins the Tour Champion and Most Improved Player at Alvin, TX November 10-11. 

45 women came to compete at Pool Sharks in Las Vegas, NV September 8-9,2001.  20 of these women were in contention for the WPBA Qualifier, and Ying-Ya came out on top winning the event and the qualifier.  Women came from Texas, Arizona, California, Missouri, Minnesota, Taiwan, Florida, Washington, Colorado and of course Nevada.

 

Wes Hunter donated another beautiful Hunter Classics Custom Cue worth a whopping $2,400 this time!  This spectacular cue has a tiger maple forearm with 6 ebony points, a tiger maple butt with ebony band, black and light blue veneers and stitch rings.  Ebony and ivory inlays with a black with white linen wrap complemented the cue.  Congratulations to Clint Smith from Westminster, CO who won the cue that everyone wanted to win.

 

The Hunter Classics Tour would like to thank Joe Cannella and John Kutcha who were great hosts for this event, showing the ladies a good time in their spacious pool room.  The last three matches were held in the "pit" of the pool room, which was one table, on sunken ground, surrounded by four rails of fans.  Thank you also to Thumbs for refereeing and Al Lawrence for running the board.  Summer and Hector worked behind the bar for us ladies.  And we can't forget the hard work of Susan Conlee, our local representative, who worked diligently getting the stop ready.  Thanks to Debra Aarens-Cerchi, a local Las Vegas artist and great player, who donated a pool/Shakespeare poster which was won by Joe LeBeau (you can purchase the same painting in the new Meuller catalog that will be coming out soon).

 

After the smoke cleared on Saturday, 12 women came back for the fight on Sunday.  On the winners side, Susan Mello (from Arizona) was playing Mary Olson (from Seattle) and Katie Moses (from Las Vegas) was playing Ying-Ya Lin (from Taiwan).  Eventually, it would be Mary and Ying-Ya playing for the hot seat.  On the one-loss side, Brenda Plantz was playing Melissa Morris (who had just come down on Saturday after playing in the Albuquerque WPBA pro event) and Kristin Haney was playing Gail Lave.  The other four ladies playing on the one-loss side were Kim Shaw versus Angel Paglia and Jenny Lee versus Jean Vaillancourt.  Coming in 7/8 was Brenda Plantz and Jenny Lee, coming in 5th/6th was Gail Lave and Kim Shaw.  The 4th and 3rd places were earned respectively by Katie Moses and Mary Olson.

 

Gail Lave and Brenda Plantz went hill-hill in a match to determine not only who continued in the tournament, but also who the new Tour point leader would be.  Gail Lave won the match and is now in first place by 1 point.  Brenda is in second place with Leslie Rogers close behind in third.

 

Ying-Ya defeated Jane Fujinaga 7-5, Summer Gage 7-3, Angel Paglia 7-4, Gail Lave 7-1, Katie Moses 7-5 and then Mary Olson 7-5 for the hot seat.  Ying-Ya waited for Susan Mello to come through the one-loss side.

 

Susan Mello's road to the finals was defeating J'Lene Barnes 7-2, Norma Deitz 7-6, Debra Aarens-Cerchri 7-6 and Kim Shaw 7-4 before she was defeated by Mary Olson 5-7.  Then Susan defeated Gail Lave 7-6, Katie Moses 7-5 and Mary Olson 9-2 before playing Ying-Ya in the finals.  This match would be one race to 11 with Ying-Ya winning 11-2, collecting $750 and the WPBA Qualifier and Susan Mello placing second and collecting $575.

 

The always exciting second chance tournament, this time with 19 ladies, was being held at the same time on Sunday with Debra Aarens-Cerchi from Vegas coming in 1st, Leslie Rogers from Texas coming in 2nd and Helene Caukin from Florida coming in 3rd.

 

Thanks to Julie Stephenson, Lucille Donahue and Melinda Bailey who helped run this stop and thanks again to Wes Hunter for his continued support of this tour!

 

Come visit us at our next stop at G-Cue Billiards in Round Rock, TX (outside of Austin) October 13-14 and visit us on the web for all information: www.hunterclassics.com.  for more pictures from this tournament, please click here. 

Gail Lave wins the Fast Freddy's Hunter Classics tournament two years in a row!

 

Forty-two women showed up on this hot, Texas weekend to play some great pool at Mike Lynch's pool room, Fast Freddy's, on August 4-5, 2001 in Arlington, TX.  Although many of the women were Texans, some traveled from as far away as Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado to compete.  Even Gail caught a Friday afternoon flight from Missouri and almost missed her plane ride back on Sunday evening after her final match with Leslie Rogers, the runner-up in this event.

 

The Hunter Classics Tour would like to welcome the new players that joined us at this great event!  We hope to see you again soon!

 

Wes Hunter made another beautiful Hunter Classics Cue, this one valued at $1,700.  Made of tiger maple and cocobolo with teal and red veneers with a black and white irish linen wrap, Kathy Krabbenschmidt was ecstatic when she won it!  Thank you to Wes for supporting this tour with another one of his exquisite cues!

 

12 ladies survived until the Sunday matches, with the winners side matches of Leslie Rogers versus Sherri Hudson (who was very pregnant) and Nancy French (having a great tournament) versus Alicia Teskey (who had her highest finish yet, playing solid pool all weekend).

 

Houston-area girls LaDonna Ulrich and Nicole Bacon (who was playing with a broken finger) placed 7th/8th, with Mindy Williams having her best tournament yet at 9th-12th place, along with Linda Long.  Brenda Plantz, always one to contend with, placed 5th/6th along with Sherri Hudson.  Rounding off the top 12 were Austin ladies Heather Pulford and Deanna Kniola placing 9th-12th.  Congratulations to all of these women on a great tournament!

 

Gail Lave started her fight Saturday morning beating Kim Mills (7-2) and Wendy Echols  (7-0) before losing to Deanna Kniola (5-7).  She then fought through the loser's bracket beating Sandi Dunlap (7-1) and Shayla Neris (7-2) and came back on Sunday to compete some more.  On Sunday she beat Heather Pulford (7-4), Nicole Bacon (7-5), Sherri Hudson (7-4), Nancy French (7-1) and Alicia Teskey 9-7 before reaching Leslie in the finals.

 

Leslie Rogers had a tough road for her as well, playing 4 nail-biting double hill matches along the way (including the finals).  Leslie got a bye the first round, then proceeded to beat Kathy Krabbenschmidt (7-1), Nicole Bacon (7-4), Mindy Williams (7-6), Sherri Hudson (7-6) and Alicia Teskey (9-7) before meeting up with Gail in the finals.

 

The finals was a hard fought race, with both wanting to taste the win.  For Leslie, it would have been her first Hunter Classics Tour win (and she was playing very well) and Gail could see how close herself was to winning this event two years in a row.  Going back and forth, tied several times, it then down to the last game in a race to 11.  Gail came out on top, winning with a score 11-10 and $750 richer, with Leslie placing second and winning $550.  Alicia got 3rd place and $375, with Nancy French placing 4th and receiving $250.

 

Downstairs on Sunday, 18 women were fighting in the Second Chance Tournament, with $100 added.  Melissa Norton, Sherry Pouncey, Beth Shriver and Stephanie Tuinstra all placed their highest yet, finishing respectively, 1st ($100), 3rd ($50), 5th and 6th ($15).  Melinda Bailey finished 2nd ($70), with Kelly Harmon (always consistently placing) finished 4th ($30).

 

Mike and his staff were wonderful as always and we can't wait for their stop again next year.  Randy Cole ran the tournament smoothly for us ladies and again, thank you to Wes Hunter.  Without Wes, we wouldn't have the longest running regional women's tour!

 

Don't forget to visit us at our next stop in Las Vegas, September 8-9, when a WPBA Qualifier will be in contention at this Hunter Classics event!

 

Visit us on the web for all information: www.hunterclassics.com.

Exciting times at Mile High Qualifier.  The 3rd Hunter Classics stop of the year was the usual showcase of tough competition, exciting surprises and comebacks (check out the brackets).  40 ladies from across the USA and world competed for the WPBA Qualifier Spot at Paradise Billiards in Denver, CO June 23-24, 2001.

 

The tour was happy to host Sarah Ellerby, Kelly Fisher, Maria Catalano and Kim Shaw – all originally from England and currently living in the United States.  In addition, Noriyo Yurino, originally from Japan, now residing in Vancouver, BC and Ikumi Ushiroda, also from Japan, living in California.   The remainder of the field featured ladies from Florida, Iowa, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas and of course Colorado.

 

Of the 40 competitors – 25 of the players were in contention for the WPBA Qualifier spot.   Many confident ladies in this tournament!  For the 3rd straight year, Terry McFadden and his staff were gracious hosts and provided a professional environment.  For hosting this event, Terry was given a beautiful Hunter Classics Custom Cue, valued at over $1,800.  It is a beautiful example of Wes Hunter's work – Cocobolo w/5 Macassar rosewood points and ivory inlays.

 

Play commenced at 10am on Saturday.  Play went on until only 12 players were left for Sunday. It was a fierce battle for the top prize – with many of the local Colorado girls hanging tough and pulling through on some difficult matches.

 

Players on the winners side included:  Sarah Ellerby, Rose McCrory, Noriyo Yurino, and Maria Catalano  – on the one-loss side were Margie Soash, Melinda Bailey, Deb Winter, Brenda Plantz, Kim Shaw, Susan Mello, Ikumi Ushiroda and Karla Chorny.

 

Congratulations to local players and favorites – Deb Winter and Brenda Plantz for finishing 7th/8th.  Brenda and Kim Shaw started off the morning treating spectators to exciting double hill match.  With Brenda coming back from 4-6 to win 7-6.  Also, congratulations to Karla Chorny for finishing in the top 9 in her first Hunter Classics Tour event.

 

The final six players featured tight battles with many double hill matches.  Most notable was Colorado Springs resident, Rose McCrory coming back from a 1-5 deficit to win 6 straight games for a 7-5 win over Ikumi.  Rose went on to a double hill match with Florida player, Margie Soash -with Margie coming out on top to hand Rose 4th place.

 

Noriyo Yurino made her way to the winner's bracket match with wins over Ranee Beckel (7-2), Gail Lave (7-1), Margie Soash (7-0), Brenda Plantz (7-2), Maria Catalano (7-5) and lost to Sarah Ellerby (6-7).  Sarah Ellerby made it to the "hot seat"  via a first round bye, and wins over Liz Bernreuter(7-4), Julie  Stephenson (7-3), Deb Winter (7-2), Rose McCrory (7-1), and Noriyo Yurino (7-6)

 

The semi-finals match pitted Margie and Noriyo together.  Noriyo pulled out for a strong lead and had Margie down 8-3, with Margie hanging tough and bringing it to 6 games on her side before Noriyo won game 9.

 

The finals featured Noriyo and Sarah.  Noriyo took a commanding lead while Sarah struggled a bit with her usually flawless game.  Very quiet in demeanor Noriyo has a strong break with the 9 ball ending up near the pocket after almost every break.  She took advantage of Sarah's mistakes and confidently ran out when the opportunity presented itself.  As a result, Noriyo won 1st place* and Sarah Ellerby won 2nd place and the WPBA Qualifier spot.  Congratulations to both ladies.  *Due to an ineligibility between Noriyo and the WPBA, Noriyo forfeited her WPBA Qualifying spot to Sarah Ellerby later that month.

 

On Sunday 18 ladies returned to play in the 2nd chance event.  Kelly Fisher defeated Mindy Williams to take 1st place.   Congratulations to Mindy with another strong finish in the 2nd chance event.  Rounding out the top 4 were Julie Stephenson (who had to forfeit in order to catch her plane) and Leslie Rogers.

 

As usual, this tour stop was an exciting event.  Local Colorado residents and WPBA Touring Pros Laura Smith and Melissa Little were on hand to watch the action.  Many thanks to Melissa for giving us a taste of the WPBA by allowing the use of the Sardo Rack during the final matches.   Also, a huge thank you to our host Terry McFadden, Bob Winter for being our referee and all the wait staff at Paradise Billiards.  And once again, thanks to Wes Hunter for his continued support of the tour.

 

The next Hunter Classics Tour Stop will in Arlington, TX – August 4th/5th.   Visit us at www.hunterclassics.com.

40 women came to compete on April 7th and 8th at Legends Billiards in League City, TX.  12 of the women paid the extra $50 to have a chance at winning the WPBA qualifier and it was a hard fight to get it.  Five of the top 8 finishers were in contention, but in the end it was Noriyo Yurino (who is from Japan, but currently lives in Canada) who came out on top.  Noriyo won $750 and the WPBA Qualifier.

 

The weekend was well-hosted at Legends Billiards where room owner and Tournament Director Mindy Cohen made us all feel welcome, as always.  Her many pool tables allowed us to not only get play done early, but also had practice tables available for us.  Thanks Mindy!  Mindy had the help of Jimmy Moen, Dennis Strickland and Chuck Mills calling shots.  We also had WPBA Professional Belinda Campos visit our tournament over the entire weekend.  Thanks Belinda!

 

A big thank you to Wes Hunter for his continued support of the Hunter Classics Tour.  Dwight Brookland won the beautiful Hunter Classics Custom Cue valued at $1900.  This time the cue was of Brazilian Rosewood, Tiger Maple and Ivory Inlay with a Black Linen Wrap!  Also raffled off where autographed cue balls by Vivian Villarreal and Johnny Archer.

 

After the smoke cleared on Saturday, 12 women came back to play in the big event on Sunday.  The rest of the ladies competed in the Second Chance Tournament.  LaDonna Ulrich (local favorite) came out on top of the Second Chance Event with Trish Kaston (from Missouri) coming in 2nd, Kelly Harmon coming in 3rd (who had a great main event finish as well!) and Karen Smith (from Denver) coming in 4th.

 

On the other side of the room, Michelle Cortez, Julie Stephenson, Nicole Bacon and Deanna Kniola were waiting for the winner's brackets matches. On the winners side it was Shayla Neris (this was Shayla's first time to be on the winners bracket on Sunday!), Sherri Hudson, Melanie Koger, Leslie Rogers, Sybil Wingard (great tournament!), Lisa Marr, Noriyo Yurino and Brenda Plantz.  As play went on, Melanie Koger beat Noriyo for the winners bracket hill-hill, running out nicely.

 

Noriyo then had to play Brenda Plantz (who had just beat Lisa Marr and Deanna Kniola).  Noriyo won 9-4.  It was time for Melanie to play Noriyo again.  After being tied 5-5, Noriyo came out on top with a score of 11-9.  Congratulations to Melanie for another great finish and for Noriyo on her first Hunter Classics win and the WPBA Qualifier.  On their way to the finals, Noriyo beat LaDonna Ulrich 7-2, Tasha Salandanan 7-1, Kim Mills 7-3, Sybil Wingard 7-3, Lisa Marr 7-4, lost to Melanie Koger  6-7 for the winners bracket, beat Brenda Plantz 9-4 and Melanie Koger 11-9.  Melanie had a bye and then beat Gail Lave 7-2, Teresa Hayes 7-1, Leslie Rogers 7-2, Shayla Neris 7-2, Noriyo Yurino 7-6 and then lost the in the finals to Noriyo Yurino 9-11.  Looks like it was only Noriyo that could get past 2 games against Melanie!  Great tournament ladies!

 

Other news surrounding the tournament was the missed group of San Antonio G.rls, who were competing in a city tournament back home.  Some of the Dallas/Fort Worth girls were also missing, playing in their own league tournament as well on this weekend.  A special note to Crystal Livingston (all of 12 years old), who won her first match in the Second Chance Tournament 5-1!

 

Again, a big thank you to Wes Hunter who is thought of every day of the year that the ladies get to play the sport they love.  And, don't forget to visit Wes and the Hunter Classics Tour at www.hunterclassics.com.

WPBA Touring Pro – Ramona Biddle wins first Hunter Classics Amateur event Of 2001 – Melanie Koger wins qualifier spot.

 

The 1st stop of the year was an exciting event. 42 ladies from across the USA and world competed for the top spot at Corner Pockets in Albuquerque, NM. The tour was happy to host Sarah Ellerby from England and Noriyo Yurino from Taiwan/Japan.

 

Wes and Cindy Hunter were in attendance all weekend at this event. This gave the players a chance to thank them in person for sponsoring the tour. The Hunter Classics tour is very appreciative for the many years of support from Wes and Cindy. The quality and beauty of the Hunter Classics Custom cues make winning one of them a coveted event.

 

As usual, it was a fierce battle for the top prize and qualifier spot. Anna Kostanian, a local player and only 13 years old was the talk of the tournament. This young lady showed stamina and the talent of a veteran player. Her hometown support was very visible and audible during all her matches – a tough distraction for her opponents in addition to Anna’s level of play.

 

Play commenced at 10am on Saturday. Play went on until only 12 players were Left for Sunday. On the winners side was: Ramona Biddle, Anna Kostanian, Sarah Ellerby, and Melanie Koger. On the one loss side – Julie Stephenson, Leslie Rogers, Noriyo Yurino, Miriam Martinez, Gail Lave, Susan Mello and Judi Wickelgren

 

Ramona made her way to the winner’s bracket match starting off with a bye, then by winning matches against Melinda Luerco (7-3), Cynthia Ferrer (7-4), Susan Mello (7-5), Anna Kostanian (7-6), and the win for the hot seat by defeating Sarah Ellerby (7-6).

 

Sarah Ellerby made her way via a first round bye and wins over Lucille Donahue (7-0), Noriyo Yurino (7-4), Gail Lave, and Melanie Koger (7-2).

 

Melanie determined to win the qualifier spot eliminated Leslie Rogers after her loss to Sarah. A special congratulations to Leslie Rogers for an outstanding tournament. She held her own through several tough matches with hometown favorites on Sunday to finish 4th.

 

The match for 3rd place was a fierce one. Both players were in contention for the qualifier spot. It was a see-saw match with Melanie reaching the hill with a 8-7 lead. Melanie left Sarah with an incredibly tough cut shot on the 9 which would bring the match hill-hill. After studying the shot, Sarah calmly fired in the 9 and then dropped her shoulders in disappointment as the cue ball promptly scratched in the corner pocket. Congratulations for Sarah for a 3rd place finish in her first Hunter Classics Tour event.

 

The finals was a marathon match that lasted almost 3 hours. Ramona prevailed with a win over Melanie.

 

Due to a technicality Ramona Biddle was able to play in the Albuquerque, NM Event. Newly enforced rules from the WPBA stipulate “no touring pros”; however Due to the “lateness” of the information from the WPBA – the Hunter Classics Tour held to the “old” rules – disallowing the top 32 for this tournament only. Ramona is currently ranked 34 on the WPBA tour.

 

On Sunday a smaller field then usual played for in the 2nd chance event. Sherri Hudson came on strong to defeat Melinda Bailey for the win. Brenda Plantz finished 3rd and Mindy Williams finished 4th. Congratulations to Melinda, Brenda and Mindy for consistently strong showings in recent 2nd chance events.

 

Congratulations to local player Evelyn Hampton for winning the Hunter Classics Cue in the raffle. This beautiful Hunter Classics Custom cue is valued at over $1900. Thanks again to Wes Hunter for his continued support! Many thanks to Corner Pockets, owners and staff. Local players Rachel Rumschlag and Evelyn Hampton ran the boards. Many thanks for a job well done.