Fresh off a third place finish in the WPBA's Regional Tour Championships (RTC) in January, at which she was defeated in the semifinals by the eventual champion, Jeannie Seaver, Ricki Casper moved on to Texas and went undefeated through a field of 37, on-hand to compete in the inaugural Ladies event of the Texas Open 10-Ball Championships. The $500-added event, held on the weekend of February 16-19, was hosted by Skinny Bob's Billiards in Round Rock, TX.
Casper faced Jennifer Kraber twice in this inaugural event; once in the hot seat and again, in the finals. Casper advanced through the field to a winners' side semifinal against Julia Rapp, as Kraber faced Gail Eaton (runner-up to Seaver in that RTC) in the other winners' side semifinal. Kraber downed Eaton 7-5, and in the hot seat match, faced Casper, who'd sent Rapp to the loss side 7-4. Casper took her first of two against Kraber 7-5 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting her return.
Eaton downed Sanders 7-3, and in the quarterfinals, faced Lopez, who'd made Rapp's presence on the loss side a single-match trip with a 7-5 win. Eaton ended Lopez' loss-side journey 7-4, and then fell to Kraber 7-5 in the semifinals. Eaton would add $500 to her $300 for third place in the Ladies event by being the top female finisher in the Open event. Casper took the opening set of what would have been a true double elimination final 7-4 over Kraber to claim the inaugural event title.
More than $500,000 in cash and prizes were awarded to APA members at the APA National Singles Championships held April 25 – 28 in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel & Casino. The National Singles Championships consisted of both the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout Singles Championships and the Jack & Jill Doubles Championship.
The final round of the 9-Ball Shootout featured three championship matches, one for each Skill Level Tier, with two shooters in each match competing for $10,000 in cash and prizes.
In the Green Tier, James Rockwell of Columbus, N.J., defeated Kevin Hazlip of Orange Park, Fla. Rockwell advanced to the finals after a semifinal round victory over Sophina Placencia of Waianae, Hawaii. Hazlip advanced to the finals after defeating Courtney McIntosh of Round Rock, Texas. Placencia and McIntosh tied for 3rd Place.
In the White Tier, Mike Sousa of Norton, Mass., defeated Mike Hernandez of San Antonio, Texas. Sousa defeated Christopher Garza of Brownsville, Texas, in the semifinal round to advance to the finals. Hernandez advanced to the finals by defeating Sandra Ante of Florence, Ky. Garza and Ante tied for 3rd Place.
In the Black Tier, Dustin Morris of Minneapolis, Minn., defeated Levent Ertoz of Mountain View, Calif. Morris advanced to the finals after defeating James Key of Southaven, Miss., in the semifinals. Ertoz advanced to the final round match after a victory over John Torockio of Derry, Pa., in the semifinal match. Key and Torockio tied for 3rd Place.
Each of the three Champions received a prize package worth $10,000. Runners-Up in each tier took home a prize package worth $5,000. Third Place finishers each received $3,000.
More than 3,600 poolplayers made it to the regional level of the 9-Ball Shootout before the field was whittled down to 292 men and women competing for 9-Ball crowns in each of three skill level tiers.
Nearly 6,300 APA members advanced to regional competition of the 8-Ball Classic, and 469 of those players advanced to the championship in Las Vegas.
In the finals of the 8-Ball Classic, four champions each took home a prize package worth $15,000 for their performances.
In the Blue Tier, Connie Kraft of East Peoria, Ill., defeated Ryan Raftery of Toledo, Ohio. Kraft defeated Stefanie Macaluso of New Port Richey, Fla., in the semifinals to advance, while Raftery defeated Ruth Chappell of Coats, N.C. Macaluso and Chappell tied for 3rd Place.
In the Yellow Tier, Patrick Porter of Burlington, N.J., defeated Kenneth Suttles of Kodak, Tenn. Porter advanced to the finals by defeating Joshua Rose of Summit, Miss., earlier in the day in the semifinal round. Suttles defeated Bradley Lancaster of Bakersfield, Calif., in the semifinals. Rose and Lancaster tied for 3rd Place.
In the Red Tier, Joseph Magsaysay of Jackson, Mo., defeated Gabriel Valdez of San Diego, Calif. Magsaysay defeated Travis Fehlauer of Fayetteville, N.C., in the semifinals to advance, while Valdez defeated Josh Norris of Oklahoma City, Okla. Fehlauer and Norris tied for 3rd Place.
In the Purple Tier, Cary Cass of Miami, Fla., defeated Armando Leal of San Antonio, Texas. Cass defeated Marc Horsting of Hanover Park, Ill., in the semifinal round. Leal advanced after defeating Joseph Coleman of Joelton, Tenn. Horsting and Coleman tied for 3rd Place.
First place winners received cash and prizes worth $15,000. Each Runner-Up received cash and prizes worth $9,000. Third Place finishers each received $4,000.
In the annual Jack & Jill Doubles Championship, held in the MiniMania Room during the Singles Championships, Jason Fortun and Kim Nguyen of Terrytown, La., defeated Sean Higgins and Line Thibeault of Lewiston, Maine. Fortun and Nguyen took home $5,000, while Higgins and Thibeault received $3,000 as Runners-Up.
Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Jina Watterworth of Lapeer, Mich., and Mike Tucci of Fresno, Calif., for outstanding conduct throughout their matches in the 9-Ball Shootout and 8-Ball Classic, respectively.
The APA, based in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., sanctions the world’s largest amateur pool league, known as the APA Pool League throughout the United States, and as the Canadian Pool League in Canada. Nearly 270,000 members compete in weekly 8-Ball and 9‑Ball League play. The APA is generally recognized as the Governing Body of Amateur Pool, having established the official rules, championships, formats and handicap systems for the sport of amateur billiards.
The APA produces three major tournaments each year—the APA National Team Championships, the APA National Singles Championships and the U.S. Amateur Championship—that, together, pay out nearly $1.5 Million in cash and prizes annually!
The APA and its championships are sponsored by Aramith, Action Cues and PoolDawg.
For more information on the American Poolplayers Association, visit www.poolplayers.com.
January 28th-29th weekend was the 1st Tour stop for the OB Cues Ladies Tour and 51 ladies were anxious to start the New Year with some high spirited competition, fun and as some players call it, OBCLT therapy. It was great to see many, many new faces as well as familiar OBCLT family faces. A special welcome to Shar Vanderstyne who came to play on our tour all the way from San Diego, California. Thank You Ladies for keeping our tour #1 in the country.
Rusty’s in Arlington, Texas was our host site for this weekend and it was indeed a welcome to have their fantastic staff and management host us once again. Special thanks to Hutch, Jeff, Tracie, and all the other Rusty’s staff and organization for a job well done.
Special Thanks to our main tour sponsor OB Cues and new co-sponsor Pool300. The tour is now starting our 18th year in existence and we are proud to claim the status as the largest women’s amateur regional tour in the world. Thank you OB Cues and Pool300 for all that you do for us. Thank you for allowing us to continue to pursue our pool dreams and seeing our tour friends, fans, supporters and sharing in our journey along the way. Be sure to check out our sponsors at www.obcues.com and www.pool300.com
Finishing 9th/12th was Jennifer, Angie, Michelle and Monica. In 7th/8th it was Amanda and Orietta, and 5th/6th was Julie and Melinda. Great shooting and awesome tournament, ladies!
4-time OBCLT Regional Tour Champion Lisa Marr finished 4th. The semi-finals matchup was between Terry Petrosino and Kim Pierce. Terry always a contender with her playing consistency and strong shooting skills finished 3rd giving Kim a rematch with Ming who won the hot seat match between herself and Kim earlier in the day. Kim, having an awesome tournament, had some extra special motivation as she was celebrating her birthday weekend, as well as achieving her highest tour stop finish ever. Although Kim was shooting strong in the finals match, Ming, always a tough opponent and champion through and through, emerged as the victor in the one-set finals match with a score of 7-5. Fantastic finish to both ladies!
Main Event Tournament Payouts – $2000 added monies
