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Li (JPNEWT) goes undefeated, besting Lea (Sport 9 Tour) on WPBA RTC

Jia Li, who entered the WPBA's Regional Tour Championship on the weekend of January 8-11, having won three stops on the 2014 J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour, went undefeated through the event's field of 64 to claim the WPBA's 2015 Regional Tour Championship title. Her opponent in the finals of the RTC, Betty Lea from Atlanta, GA was a single event winner and Leader of the Year from the 2014 Sport 9 Ladies Tour. Together, they had survived two round robin stages of the RTC; Li, going undefeated through 10 matches in two stages, while Lea won seven of her 10 matches. The two advanced into a 16-player single elimination phase, which culminated when they faced each other, early Sunday evening. Li added four victories to her undefeated list to take the final match over Lea. 
 
In all, 64 players, representing 14 regional women's tours gathered at Breakers Sky Bar Lounge in Herndon, VA to compete for the 2015 Regional Tour Champion title. It was the first combined RTC since 2008. Half of the entrants shared over $11,000 in prize money, including Li's first place prize of $2,500 and Lea's $1,400 as runner up. 
 
In Stage One of the event, which divided the 64 entrants into eight groups and began on Thursday, January 8, Jia Li, Bernie Store, and Gail Eaton were the only competitors to emerge from the seven-match phase, undefeated. April Larson, Dawn Fox, Belinda Calhoun, Rebecca Wagner, Linda Shea, Nicole Albergaria, and Natalie Mans had each given up one match in the phase. They, along with 22 others, entered a Stage Two, three-match round robin phase, which featured eight groups of four players. The top two from each of the eight groups in Stage Two advanced to the 16-player, single elimination and final phase of the tournament.
 
Stage Two featured five undefeated performances (Li, Lea, Shea, Wagner and Meredith Lynch), while Samantha Barrett, Belinda Calhoun, Michele West, Suzanne Smith, Gail Eaton, Kawania Watson, Tara Williams, Kim Benson, Nicole Albergaria, and Jennifer Kraber won two out of three of their matches in the phase. Kelly Jones, who won just a single match of her three in the phase was also advanced to the final 16.
 
Emerging from the opening round of the single elimination phase (and combined with their second round opponent) were Watson and Lea, Smith and Albergaria, Benson and Li, and Shea and Williams. Lea advanced to the semifinals with a 7-3 win over Watson. Albergaria downed Smith 7-2. Li was tested, but survived a double hill battle against Benson, while Shea advanced with a 7-5 win over Williams.
 
Lea defeated Albergaria 7-5, as two of the JPNEWT representatives – Li and Shea – squared off in the other semifinal. The two had met three times in the finals on the JPNEWT tour, with Li winning all three. She defeated Shea in this match, as well; 7-4, to advance to the finals against Lea.
 
Li got out in front in the single race-to-9 final and stayed there. She completed her undefeated run with a 9-4 win over Lea and claimed the 2015 Regional Tour Championship title.

Kim Benson wins back-to-back NWPA events

On August 9-10, 2014, the NWPA’s fifth tour stop of 2014 was hosted by The Parlor in Bellevue, Washington.  The Parlor added $500 to the event and a Volturi custom case voucher raffle added another $350 to the prize fund ($250 to the main event and $100 to the Second Chance.) Some tickets remain on the raffle, so if you are interested please contact Suzanne Smith (suzos78@gmail.com).
 
The NWPA would like to thank our sponsor Ozone Billiards and Volturi for their support for the 2014 season. Please check out their websites and show them your appreciation at www.ozonebilliards.com and www.volturicases.com. The NWPA tour standings and 2014 schedule are available at www.nwpatour.wordpress.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.
 
Thirty ladies came out to compete Saturday morning. Only one new player joined in for the fun, Kirsten Fery out of Portland, OR. The tournament was run on 11 9-foot Brunswick Gold Crowns with Rail2Rail Productions providing a free live stream all weekend. The format was a race to 7, alternating break, 9 ball, with a race to 6 on the B side. There were only two first round byes, but play moved along. As usual play finished early Saturday evening, many of the ladies were given complimentary comedy club tickets to The Parlor Live. Thanks to Parlor GM, Dave Lauer, for taking care of us! 
 
Sunday morning, eleven players remained. A side match ups included Jing Liu vs. Liz Cole (NWPA #1 and #2) and Shari Ross vs. Kim Benson. Liz and Kim both advanced through their morning matches, by the scores of 7-3 and 7-1, advancing them to the hot seat match. Liz and Kim battled it out for the hot seat, with Kim edging out Liz by the score of 7-4. On the B side, due to the early finish on Saturday, there were 3 matchups that needed to play before the money rounds. These matches include Rebecca Slyter vs. Sheila Clark, Stacy Eilts vs. Elizabeth Jensen, and Natalie Seal vs. Kim Toops. Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Natalie advanced into the money matches with the scores 6-4, 6-3, and 6-5 respectively. Following that round, the 7/8 matches were played, with Rebecca playing Suzanne Smith and Natalie playing Elizabeth. Suzanne and Elizabeth advanced by the scores of 6-1 and 6-3.  Fired up from their morning losses Shari and Jing matched up next against Elizabeth and Suzanne. While Shari advanced by the score of 6-3, Jing went hill-hill against Suzanne. In the final game, Suzanne broke dry and Jing attempted to play a safety on the 1. Suzanne proceeded to run out the rack to advance by the slimmest of margins, 6-5. Shari then squared off against Suzanne. Suzanne picked up some steam and won that match 6-2. Suzanne then played Liz (fresh off the hot seat loss), and Suzanne continued with her strong shooting and defeated Liz 6-1 to earn her first final appearance of the 2014 season. 
 
Kim Benson path to the final: Teri K (2), Patricia T (2), Suzanne S (2), Shari R (3), Liz C (4)
 
Suzanne Smith path to the final: Cassandra B (6), Melissa D (4), loss to Kim B (2), Jenny L (0), Rebecca S (1), Jing L (5), Shari R (2), Liz C (1)
 
The final was one race to 9, alternating break. Throughout the entire final, Kim’s stellar shot making and Suzanne’s missed safety opportunities would be the theme. Suzanne ended up down 5-2 before she would take her break. Kim expanded her lead steadily throughout the match, making fewer mistakes and maintaining her confidence throughout the set. Kim defeated Suzanne 9-4 to claim her second tour stop win on the NWPA, skyrocketing her to 3rd place in overall standings. Jing and Liz maintained their #1 and #2 spots, while Suzanne moved up to 4th with her finish. Should make for an exciting last two stops. Congratulations all the ladies for an excellent tournament.
 
The NWPA’s next event is back in Spokane WA at The Black Diamond on September 13-14, 2014. 

Kim Benson dominates in her first appearance on NWPA

Jing Liu, Ford and Kim Benson

On June 21-22, 2014, the NWPA’s fourth tour stop of 2014 was hosted by The Black Diamond in Spokane, Washington.  The Black Diamond added $500 to the event and a Kwikfire Cue Raffle (donated by Suzanne Smith) added another $350 to the prize fund ($250 to the main event and $100 to the Second Chance.)
 
The NWPA would like to thank our sponsor Ozone Billiards and Volturi for their support for the 2014 season. Please check out their websites and show them your appreciation at www.ozonebilliards.com and www.volturicases.com. The NWPA tour standings and 2014 schedule are available at www.nwpatour.wordpress.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.
 
Twenty-seven ladies came out to compete Saturday morning. New players to the tour included Kim Benson (HI), Christy Morgan (ID), and Cheryl Rosean (MT) . The tournament was run on 8 9-foot Brunswick Gold Crowns with Rail2Rail Productions providing a free live stream all weekend. 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. 
 
Sunday morning, only eight players remained. A side match ups included Suzanne Smith vs. Liz Cole and Jing Liu vs. Kim Benson. Suzanne and Jing both advanced through their morning matches, by the scores of 7-5 and 7-3, advancing them to the hot seat match. Jing and Suzanne battled it out in a hill-hill match up where a failed safe by Jing looked to be all the opportunity Suzanne would need to advance to her first final of the 2014 season. Suzanne missed an open shot on the 7 ball to leave Jing tough. Jing proceeded to pocket each of the last balls, culminating with an amazing 9 ball shot to advance to the finals and solidify her position on top of the tour’s overall standings. B side match ups included Amber Foster vs. Patricia Tipton and Carissa Biggs vs. Mary Olson. Amber and Mary both advanced through their morning matches by the same score of 6-5.  Fired up from their morning losses Liz and Kim rallied back through their next round, by the score of 6-4 and 6-2. Liz then squared off against Kim. Kim maintained a lead throughout the match and advanced by the score 6-4. Kim then played Suzanne, and Kim looked to be well on her way when a stumble on her final 8 ball allowed Suzanne back to the table with a fairly easy 2 ball out. Suzanne pocketed the 8 ball and scratched, giving Kim ball in hand to win the set 6-4.
 
Jing Liu path to the final: Rebecca S (6), Kim T (1), Patricia T (4), Kim B (3), Suzanne S (6)
Kim Benson path to the final: Dyamelle C (3), Natalie S (6), Elizabeth J (3), loss to Jing L (3), Mary O (2), Liz C (4), Suzanne S (4)
 
The final was one race to 9, alternating break. Throughout the entire final, Kim shot with such amazing confidence and precision, ultimately only missing four balls throughout the set, capitalizing on Jing’s mistakes as the match proceeded. Kim expanded her lead steadily throughout the match, allowing her opponent very few opportunities to find a rhythm. Kim defeated Jing 9-0 in just over an hour match to claim her first tour stop win on the NWPA. Congratulations to both ladies for an excellent tournament.
 
With Jing’s finish, she maintained her position on top in overall standings. Suzanne jumped up 7 spots with her 3rd place finish, and Liz maintained 2nd place in overall standings coming in 4th place. Great tournament ladies!  The NWPA’s next event is at The Parlor in Bellevue, WA on August 9-10.  
 
Eleven ladies returned on Sunday for the $200 added Second Chance tournament. There was no entry fee with the extra money and the true double elimination tournament was a race to 3 on the A side and race to 2 on the B side.  Rebecca Slyter ended up winning top prize, defeating Mary Coffman two sets in the final. Good work ladies, nice shooting.
 

 

Jia Li over Janet Atwell for Regional Tour Championship Win

Jia Li and Janet Atwell

Janet Atwell looked nearly unbeatable all week at the WPBA's Regional Tour Championship, only dropping a 5-4 decision to the East Coast's Jia Li late on Saturday. In the end, it would also be Li who would keep Atwell from the final winner's circle.
 
Sixty four of the US's top female regional players made their way to Bullshooters in Phoenix, Arizona to stake their claim to over $11,000 in prize money on January 16th – 19th. 
 
The players were initially split into eight groups of eight players for just over two days of round robin play. Players would play each player in their group in one race to five, with the top four players from each group advancing to stage two. Each group held the winner of one of the eight regional tours – and with only two exceptions – each tour winner advanced to the second stage. The Flamingo Billiard Tour's Janis Sessions and Tina Hess were the two players to stumble in their groups and fail to advance. Advancing with no problems in stage one were three players were perfect 7-0 records; Atwell, Arizona's Bernie Store and Kim Pierce.
 
The second stage of the event saw the thirty two remaining players divided into eight groups of four players. Each player would play everyone in their group one race to five, with the top two players from each group advancing to the final stage of the event. Two of stage one's undefeated players – Atwell and Pierce – would cruise through stage two with 2-1 records, but Arizona's Store would pick a bad time to fall ill and crashed in her stage with an 0-3 record. Five players would advance through stage two with undefeated records; Crystal McCormick, Sheila Clark, Jai Li, Dawn Fox and Liz Cole. Li's final stage win would be at the expense of Atwell, in a possible glimpse of things to come.
 
The final stage of the event saw the sixteen remaining players placed in a single elimination bracket for play on Sunday. Atwell and Li would ride opposite sides of this bracket to the final race to nine, where the event's winner would be determined.
 
Atwell let a couple early opportunities get by her to start the finals, and Li stayed steady to take a quick 4-2 lead. Atwell took advantage of a couple mid match mistakes from Li and tied the score at 4-4 before Li would take a break to clear her head. Li would come back from the break and ride a combination of strong play and a friendly roll or two to win five of the next six racks to earn first place and $2500 in prize money, as well as a spot in the upcoming WPBA Masters on February 5th – 9th.
 
While the final sixteen players were battling it out on Sunday, thirty two of the already eliminated players came back for a $1000 added second chance tournament. This tournament was won by Kim Benson, who defeated Arizona's Susan Williams in the finals.
 
Everyone in attendance enjoyed four days of top notch pool, and a very well run event. Kristie Ortega and Tres Kane from the Arizona Women's Billiards Tour – teamed up with Bullshooters owner Mike Bates – to put on a great event. Special thanks to "friends of the AWBT" for sponsoring the second chance event for $1000.