(l to r): Jackie Rivera, Judie Wilson, Briana Miller, Sharon O’Hanlon, Kathy Friend & Linda Shea
In a circumstance about as rare as a teenager that doesn’t play video games, Linda Shea, tour director of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) was shut out twice, in the hot seat and finals of her tour’s season finale. Briana Miller was the culprit. She went undefeated through a field of 17, on-hand for the $1,250-added ($500 from Coins of the Realm) event, hosted by Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD on the weekend of November 18-19.
Miller’s five-match trek to the event victory saw her win 35 of her 44 games. She gave up a single rack to Tina Marinelli in her opening round of play, and four to Carol V. Clark, which set her (Miller) up to face Judie Wilson in one of the winners’ side semfinals. Shea, in the meantime, who would finish with a 21-24 game record, got by Terri Stovall and Heather Platter, both 7-3, to draw Sharon O’Hanlon in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Miller sent Wilson to the loss side, as Shea was downing Hanlon, both 7-4. Miller chalked up the first of her two straight shutouts over Shea to claim the hot seat, and waited for Shea to get back from the semifinals.
Friend and Rivera made it four in a row with identical 7-5 wins over Wilson and O’Hanlon, respectively. In the quarterfinals that followed, Rivera made it five loss-side wins in a row, defeating Friend 7-3.
Shea ended Rivera’s run with a 7-5 win in the semifinals. Miller claimed the season finale event title with her second shutout over Shea.
The win moved Miller up into third place (from eighth) in the tour’s season-end rankings, behind Shea, and Elaine Wilson, who, by virtue of her finish in the tie for 13th place, stayed just five points ahead of Miller in the final standings. Miller had competed in only three events this season, winning two of them and finishing as the runner-up (to Karen Corr) in the third. Rounding out the tour’s top-ten-ranked players were in order, from fourth place – Carol V. Clark, Nicole King, Kia Sidbury, Jenn Keeney, Jia Li, Sharon O’Hanlon and Judie Wilson.
Just back from an appearance in the North American Pool Tour's (NAPT) third Division I Pro tournament in Greyslake, IL, where she finished fourth on the weekend of August 18-20, Jia Li returned to the familiar confines of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour (JPNEWT) to compete in their fifth stop of the year on the weekend of August 26-27. Li came back from a loss to Caroline Pao in a winners' side semifinal of the event to meet and defeat her in the finals. The event, which drew 21 entrants to Classic Billiards in Phoenixville, PA, was a qualifier for the next NAPT Division I Pro event, scheduled for September 28-October 1 at Eagle Billiards in Dickson City, PA, and with Li already qualified, Pao picked up the invitation that will allow her to compete in that event.
Following a 7-5 win over Carol V. Clark in the event's opening round, Li met up with fellow NAPT competitor, Kia Sidbury, who had come within a match of meeting Li in the quarterfinals of the recent NAPT event (Sidbury was eliminated by Eleanor Callado, just prior to those quarterfinals). Li shut Sidbury out, and then defeated Jenn Keeney 7-2, to draw Pao in the winners' side semifinal. Elaine Wilson, in the meantime, who, following an opening round bye, had survived two straight double hill matches against Kathy Friend and Tina Marinelli, squared off against Tina Malm.
In their first of two, Pao downed Li 7-4 and advanced to the hot seat match. She was joined by Wilson, who'd sent Malm to the loss side 7-2. Pao gave up only a single rack in the hot seat match against Wilson, which proved to be her last match victory of the weekend.
Li moved to the loss side and picked up Marinelli, who, following her defeat by Elaine Wilson, had chalked up two straight double hill matches against Kathleen Lawless and Sidbury. Malm drew Friend, who, following her defeat by Wilson had, after a loss-side bye, chalked up three straight 7-5 wins, over Clark, Nicole King and Sharon O'Hanlon.
Li eliminated Marinelli 7-3, and in the quarterfinals, faced Malm, who'd defeated Friend, double hill. Li defeated Malm 7-5, and then, heating up, allowed Elaine Wilson only one rack in the semifinals, to earn her a second shot against Pao.
In the single race-to-9 final, Li defeated Pao 9-6 to claim her first JPNEWT victory of the year. The two could conceivably meet again, in two weeks, at the sixth stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for September 16-17 at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA or in a month, when they travel to Dickson City, PA for the next NAPT Division I Pro event
Briana Miller ended up winning just over three out of every four racks that she played during the third stop (her first appearance this year) on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour. But for three percentage points, that racks-against average would have been four out of every five. She went undefeated through a field of 23, on-hand for the $500-added (from Coins of the Realm) event, hosted by First Break Cafe and Billiards in Sterling, VA on the weekend of May 20-21.
After allowing only four racks to be scored against her through her first three matches, including an 8-1 victory over the tour's #1-ranked competitor, tour director Linda Shea, and a shutout over Kia Sidbury in the third round, Miller moved into what would prove to be her toughest challenge; a winners' side semifinal against Teri Thomas. Gwen Townsend, in the meantime, who'd been awarded an opening round bye, survived a second round double hill fight against Terri Stovall, defeated Britanya Rapp 7-3, and moved into the other winners' side semifinal against Rumi Brown.
Thomas chalked up two more racks against Miller (6) than her previous three opponents combined (4), but they weren't enough, as Miller advanced to the hot seat match 8-6. She was joined by Townsend, who'd sent Brown to the loss side 7-4. Miller shut Townsend out in that hot seat match, and waited on the return of Nicole King.
King, after a second round defeat at the hands of Rapp, went on a six-match, loss-side streak that gave her a shot against Miller in the finals. Three victories into that run, she eliminated Judie Wilson 7-5, and Anita Sowers 7-2, to draw Brown. Thomas picked up Jenn Keeney, who, going into the match, occupied the tour ranking's second spot, behind Shea (she was runner-up to Shea's victory on the tour's second stop). Keeney had been awarded an opening round bye and fell to Thomas 7-2 in the second round. Like King, Keeney was on a six-match, loss-side streak that would propel her as far as the quarterfinals. She'd gotten by Rapp 8-4 and Rita Thakur 7-3 to draw the re-match against Thomas.
As befitted a loss-side rematch, Keeney and Thomas battled to double hill before Keeney won it to advance to the quarterfinals. She was joined by King, who'd eliminated Brown 7-2. At the conclusion of her second straight double hill match, Keeney's loss-side streak had come to an end.
King followed up by ending Townsend's single-match loss-side journey with a 7-3 win in the semifinals. King entered this third stop on the tour with a .500 record through its first two events (4-4), finishing 9th and 7th previously. Moving into the finals, she was guaranteed at least the tour's third spot in the rankings, behind Shea and Keeney, whose fourth place finish kept her in the #2 spot. A win would have moved King into the second spot, five ranking points ahead of Keeney. Miller, appearing in her first JPNEWT event of the year, completed her undefeated run with a 7-3 win over King in the finals. The victory put Miller in sixth place in the tour rankings, behind Shea, Keeney, King, Meredith Lynch and Carol V. Clark. Miller, having already received an invitation to a North American Pool Tour Division 1 Pro event, deferred the qualifying spot for this event's winner to Nicole King.
Regional pool tour rankings are generally based on a point system that takes both performance and participation into account. In 2016, Linda Shea, tour director of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour (JPNEWT), ended up at the top of the tour's end-of-year rankings, in part because she participated in all 13 stops on the tour, accumulating 1,660 tour points (two wins and among the top four finishers in nine more). By comparison, Karen Corr, who won all three of the tour's events in which she competed last year, finished in eighth place in the tour rankings.
On the weekend of April 29-30, Shea chalked up her first victory of the 2017 JPNEWT season, coming from the loss side to meet and defeat hot seat occupant, Jenn Keeney. The victory moved Shea into the 2017 tour's #1 ranking slot. The event drew a short field of 15 entrants to Markley's Billiards in Norristown, PA.
Shea opened her bid against 2016's #2-ranked player, Kia Sidbury, who, though she failed to chalk up a tour win last year, participated in 12 of the tour's 13 stops, and accumulated the second highest number of total points (835). Shea downed Sidbury in this event's opening round 8-4, before being sent to the loss side by Carol Clark 7-5. Clark advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Keeney, while Sharon O'Hanlon (#3 in 2016) squared off against Boye Lu. Keeny moved into the hot seat match with an 8-6 win over Clark, and was joined by Lu, who'd moved O'Hanlon to the loss side 7-5. By the same score, Keeney sent Lu to the semifinals, and waited on Shea's return.
Shea advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-5 win over O'Hanlon. Clark joined her by squeaking past Wilson in a double hill battle. Shea flexed her muscles in that quarterfinal match, shutting Clark out in their re-match, and then downed Lu in the semifinals 7-5. Shea completed her first title run with a 9-6 victory over Keeney in the extended-race-to-9 finals.
In addition to the second place prize money, Keeney's finish afforded her a paid slot in a North American Pool Tour event, scheduled for August at Shooter's in Grayslake, IL. The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of May 20-21, will be hosted by First Break Cafe and Billiards in Sterling, VA.
About five weeks after chalking up a victory at the Virginia State Women's 10-Ball Championships, Meredith Lynch, after being defeated by Caroline Pao, came back from the loss side to down Pao in the finals and win the season opener on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour. The $1,000-added event ($500 from Coins of the Realm) drew 34 entrants to Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
Lynch and Pao met first in a winners' side semifinal. After being awarded an opening round bye, Lynch defeated Kia Sidbury, Denise Reeve and Jenn Keeney by an aggregate score of 24-10 (70%), to draw Pao. Pao, who'd also picked up an opening round bye, had defeated Tina Malm, Nicole Fleming and Tina Scott and came into the winners' side semifinal versus Lynch with a 24-7 record (77%). Nicole Monaco, in the meantime, faced Carol V. Clark in the other winners' side semifinal.
Pao gave up a single rack to Lynch, and in the hot seat match, faced Monaco, who'd sent Clark to the loss side 7-4. Pao downed Monaco 8-3 to claim the hot seat, chalking up what would prove to be her last match win.
On the loss side, Lynch drew Kathleen Lawless, who'd defeated Nicole King 7-4 and Tina Castillo 7-3 to reach her. Clark drew the 2016 tour's #1 player and tour director, Linda Shea, who'd gotten by Jenn Keeney 7-4 and Kathy Friend 9-7.
Lynch and Shea advanced to the quarterfinals; Lynch 8-3 over Lawless and Shea 9-5 over Clark. Lynch ended Shea's weekend 8-6 in those quarterfinals, and then, by the same score, defeated Monaco for a second shot at Pao in the hot seat.
Lynch came into the finals looking for her second victory on the JPNEWT. She'd competed seven times in 2016, winning once in October. Pao, according to our records, first cashed on the JPNEWT in 2003, and though she'd been runner-up numerous times, had never won. Their mutual search for a milestone in their separate careers led to a double hill fight that Lynch eventually won to claim her second JPNEWT title, and temporarily at least, place herself at the top of the 2017 tour rankings.
Tour director Linda Shea thanked the ownership and staff at Triple Nines, as well as Coins of the Realm for the $500 money-added to the first ($300), second and third ($100 each) place payouts. The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for April 29-30, will be hosted by Markley Billiards in Norristown, PA.
As the two finalists squared off in the finals of the last stop on the 2016 J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour on the weekend of Nov. 12-13, it was a question of whether it was going to be a Cinderella story or the expected finish. It turned out to be the expected finish, as tour director Linda Shea completed an undefeated run with a finals victory over Kathy Friend, who’d been defeated in the event’s opening round and chalked up six on the loss side for the right to face Shea in the finals. It was Shea’s second victory on this year’s tour. She had won the first event at the same location back in March. This $1,000-added event ($500 from Coins of the Realm) drew 20 entrants to Triple Nines in Elkridge, MD.
Following an opening round bye, Shea defeated Tina Malm 7-4, and just did survive a double hill battle versus Dawn Fox to advance to a winners’ side semifinal against the tour’s #2-ranked player, Kia Sidbury. The other winners’ side semifinal featured Jenn Keeney and Eugenia Gyftopoulos. Shea shut Sidbury out and in the hot seat match, faced Gyftopoulos, who was making only her fifth appearance on the 2016 tour, and had defeated Keeney 7-3. A double hill fight ensued, won by Shea, who waited in the hot seat for Friend to complete her loss-side run.
On the loss side, Friend, after her opening round, double hill loss to Meredith Lynch, had opened what would turn into a six-match winning streak against Nicole Fleming, who almost ended Friend’s weekend on a two-and-out note. Friend hung on, though, to defeat Fleming, double hill, and advance through Teri Thomas 7-4, and Melissa Jenkins 7-3 to pick up Keeney. Sidbury drew Lynch, who’d ousted Elaine Wilson 7-4 and Sharon O’Hanlon 7-2 to reach her.
Friend and Lynch advanced to the quarterfinals for a re-match; Friend, 7-5 over Keeney and Lynch, 7-3 over Sidbury. Friend took the quarterfinal re-match against Lynch 7-2, and then, in her second, loss-side double hill match, downed Gyftopoulos in the semifinals.
Going into the finals, Friend was in pursuit of her third win on the tour in 10 years. She’d won an event back in June of 2006, and most recently, had chalked up her second tour victory in October of 2015. The finals came within a game of being Friend’s fourth double hill match. Shea, though, pulled out in front and ended it at 7-5 to claim the event title and finish the 2016 JPNEWT season atop its ranking board. Sidbury was comfortably in second place in those rankings, while Sharon O’Hanlon, finishing in the tie for 7th at this most recent event, retained her third place spot in the tour rankings. By virtue of her runner-up finish at this event, Friend moved into the fourth slot in the rankings, previously held by Lynch, who slipped into fifth place.
The top finishers on this year’s tour (the number of them had yet to be determined) will qualify for the North American Pool Tour’s Division II Championships, to be held at a to-be-determined date in February of 2017.
Nicole Albergaria has won both stops on the 2016 J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour (JPNEWT) in which she has appeared. She went undefeated to win the tour's sixth stop back in July at Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY and on the weekend of October 22-23, she won five on the loss side to meet and defeat hot seat occupant Emily Duddy in the finals of the tour's most recent stop. The $1,100-added event (which included a donation by Billy Bunn, made in memory of Florence Fuller), drew 20 entrants to a new venue for the JPNEWT – Eagle Billiards in Dickson City, PA.
The recipient of an opening round bye, Albergaria advanced to a double hill struggle she eventually won against Jenn Keeney, and then fell 7-4 to tour director, Linda Shea, who entered and finished the tournament as the tour's top-ranked competitor. Duddy, in the meantime, appearing in her first stop on the 2016 tour, got by some heavy hitters, like Kia Sidbury (#3 on the tour) and Borana Andoni, who, though making her first appearance on the 2016 JPNEWT, stepped to the table with an established reputation (10th on the tour in 2015, which included a victory in the season finale last year). Duddy downed them both and her 7-5 win over Andoni put her into the hot seat match against Dawn Fox (winner of the last JPNEWT stop), who'd sent Shea to the loss side 7-5 in the other winners' side semifinal. Duddy claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Fox and waited on Albergaria's return.
Albergaria started her loss-side campaign with a bang, shutting out Suzanne Sellet. She then downed Kathleen Lawless 7-3 to draw Andoni. Shea picked up Kidbury, who, following her defeat at the hands of Duddy, got by Melissa Jenkins 7-3 and Jenn Keeney 7-1.
Albergaria defeated Andoni 7-5, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Shea, who'd eliminated Sidbury 7-1. The rematch went Albergaria's way 7-3, and by the same score, she eliminated Fox in the semifinals.
The modified race-to-9 format of the finals required Albergaria to reach seven games ahead of Duddy in the hot seat to extend the match to nine games. Early on, it didn't look as though that was going to happen, as Duddy took a moderately significant 4-0 lead right out of the gate. Albergaria, though, responded by first, making a very good bank shot on the 9-ball to win game five, and then winning six more to reach her 'seven' goal and the hill.
But it wasn't over yet. Duddy rallied to pull within one at 8-7. In rack #16, Duddy was at the table, shooting at the 6-ball; looking down table at it, where it rested closer to the lower right corner than it was to the lower left. Intervening balls, however, precluded a shot into the lower right corner, and she opted for the deep, right-side cut to put it in the lower left. The 6-ball dropped quickly, but the cue ball, moving to the lower right corner, did a double hit off two rails, angled up to the long rail, then bounced off the short rail and with speed to spare, dropped into the side pocket. Albergaria picked up the cue ball, connected the dots, and sunk the remaining three balls to claim the event title.
Regardless of the outcome of the tour's season finale, scheduled for November 12-13 at Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD, the 2016 top competitor award will go to tour director Linda Shea, who has appeared in all 12 stops on the tour, to date. She won the season opener, back in March and has won 70% of her matches, finishing, on average, in fourth place.
Tour representatives had high praise for the tour's new venue, Eagle Billiards. Newly renovated, it features 10 Brunswick, two bar box and three Diamond tables. Tour director Linda Shea thanked owner Chris Wilson for his hospitality, while players articulated their anticipation of a return to the venue in the season to come.
On the weekend of September 17-18, at the ninth stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour, Jia Li lost her opening match and embarked on a seven-match, loss-side run that put her in the finals against the tour's #1-ranked player; its tour director, Linda Shea. Li defeated Shea twice to claim the event title and chalk up her second victory on the tour. The $1,000-added event ($500 from Coins of the Realm) drew 22 entrants to the Top Hat Cue Club in Parkville, MD.
It was Kim Whitman, who came into the tournament with only three tour stops to her credit and ranked at #17 on the tour, who downed Jia Li in the opening round 7-5. Whitman would advance to a winners' side semifinal against Shea, while Sharon O'Hanlon and Tina Malm would face off in the other one. Shea and Whitman battled to double hill before Shea advanced to the hot seat match. She was met by Malm, who'd allowed O'Hanlon only a single rack. Shea claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Malm and waited for Li to finish her loss-side run.
On the loss side, Whitman drew Jenn Keeney, who, like Li, had lost in the opening round (to Kathy Friend), and was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side streak that was about to end. She'd shut out Karen Myers and eliminated Judie Wilson 7-2 to reach Whitman. O'Hanlon picked up Li, four matches into her loss-side streak, the most recent of which had eliminated Tina Marinelli 7-1 and Heather Platter 7-4.
Whitman squeaked by Keeney, double hill, and in the quarterfinals, matched up against Li, who'd downed O'Hanlon 7-2. Li won the re-match against Whitman and the semifinals versus Malm by the same 7-2 score and moved into the double elimination final against Shea.
She took the opening set 9-5. She won the second set by the same score to claim the event title.
In so doing, Li climbed a few rungs on the tour ladder, ending up in fifth place behind Shea, Karen Corr, Kia Sidbury (who finished in the tie for 13th) and Sharon O'Hanlon (5th). The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of October 1-2, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.
In only her second appearance on the 2016 J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour, Jia Li jumped from 28th place in the tour rankings to a spot among the top 10. She did this with an undefeated run on the tour's seventh stop on the weekend of August 6-7. The $500-added event drew 19 entrants to a new venue on the tour – Level2 Billiards, in Somerdale, NJ.
Two wins, including a 7-1 victory over tour director Linda Shea, who leads the tour's ranking list, put Li into a winners' side semifinal against Jenn Keeney. Three wins put Briana Miller in the other winners' side semifinal versus Boye Lu. Li downed Keeney 7-2 and in the hot seat match, faced Miller, who'd sent Lu to the loss side 7-1. Li took the first of two against Miller 7-4 and waited on her return.
On the loss side, Keeney picked up Meredith Lynch, who'd been sent to the loss side by Miller, survived a double hill match versus Elaine Wilson, and defeated Emily Herpel 7-3. Lu drew Shea, who, following her defeat at the hands of Li, downed Nicole Monaco 7-4 and Nicole Fleming 7-1.
Shea and Lu locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Shea to the quarterfinals. She was joined by Lynch, who'd ended Keeney's weekend 7-2. Shea took the quarterfinal match 7-4 over Lynch, who moved up a spot or two in the rankings behind Shea, Karen Corr and Kia Sidbury.
Shea now faced Miller in the semifinals. Miller, last seen on the tour playing runner-up to Karen Corr in June, thwarted Shea's attempt for a re-match against Li with a 7-5 win. Li, looking for her first 2016 JPNEWT event title (she'd placed third in a stop back in May), ended any thoughts Miller had about winning her first 2016 JPNEWT stop. They fought to double hill before Li finished to claim the title.
