On the weekend of May 18-19, 2016, OB Cues Ladies Tour made it to one of their favorite stops on the yearly tour calendar at Click’s Billiards in San Antonio. General Manager Miranda Dalka and her exceptional staff extended their awesome hospitality and services the entire two day weekend. They were superb hosts to 35 players and a large group of fans, friends, and family members who came out to join in the weekend festivities. A strong contingent of players from all over Texas came to try their luck and brought out their best pool playing skills as all were vying for the $800 first place prize money. A big, big thank you to Click’s Billiards and Miranda for supporting the tour and we will most certainly be back next year.
Also first and foremost a big high five and utmost thanks to our title sponsor OB Cues. OB Cues, our main sponsor since 2008, is one of the leading pool cues and shafts manufacturers in the world. They have a plethora of quality and intrinsically crafted products to complement your pool playing arsenal. Be sure to check them out at obcues.com—you won’t regret it! They are also made in the USA, in Plano, TX to be specific. Thank you OB Cues!
To precede with the tournament updates, by day’s end on Saturday, the final eight ladies would continue their winning ways in the Main Event competition on Sunday. The final four in the winner’s bracket pitted the three Jennifer’s in the tournament, against the lone stand-out, Tara. Facing each other early Sunday was Jennifer Pavlovick (Grand Prairie) vs Tara Williams (Ft. Worth) and Jennifer Kraber (Austin) vs. Jennifer Yo (also of Austin). The four ladies returning on the one loss side were Terry Petrosino (Spring) vs. Kim Pierce (Austin) and Orietta Strickland (Dallas) vs. Natalie Mans (League City).
7th-8th finishers were Kim Pierce and Orietta Strickland. 5th-6th places went to Jennifer Pavlovick and Natalie Mans. 4th place winner was Terry Petrosino and 3rd place winner Jennifer Yo. Jennifer Pavlovick has had a couple of high finishes this year already and we hope to see her continued winning ways in more OB stops throughout this year. Good shooting Jennifer—keep up the great work!
Tara Williams made her way through Saturday with wins over Barbara Wisdom (7-4), Corina Campbell (7-3), and Krystal West (7-0). On Sunday, she continued her undefeated run and to earn a spot at the hot seat with another win over Jennifer Pavlovick (7-0). On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Jennifer Yo was making her way through her Saturday matches, posting wins over some tough opponents. She had wins over Frances Marron (7-1), Michelle Cortez (7-6), and Kim Pierce (7-5). On Sunday morning, she continued her run besting Jennifer Kraber (7-6) for her spot in the hot seat match. In the hot seat match, Tara jumped to a quick lead and didn’t look back, winning her spot in the finals against Jennifer Yo (7-3).
For the 3rd place match, we knew Jennifer would be the victor but we didn’t know which one. Jennifer Kraber didn’t allow Jennifer Yo to keep as close as she had in the winner’s side match and defeated Jennifer Yo (7-3). This would then allow Tara the opportunity to challenge all of the Jennifer’s on Sunday. Big congratulations to Jennifer Yo for this being her highest finish to date in any OB stop. Jennifer was the 2015 OB Cues Ladies Tour Best Sportswoman recipient and we know that she is truly an asset to the tour and we wish her well in continued success in future OB events.
In the finals, in the true double elimination format, Jennifer Kraber would need to beat Tara twice in order to win the event. Both players started out the match strong, but Tara prevailed to win her third tournament of the year. Congratulations to both ladies for a great event! With this third win in 2016 and the last two wins of 2015 for Tara, she broke her own consecutive win record with five wins in a row. Congratulations for an awesome accomplishment Tara! Keep on keepin’ on!
Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor. If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at www.obcues.com
Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters—we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/ players/friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again at Stop #4 – CK’s Billiards in Dallas, Texas, June 25-26th weekend.
Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!!
Jennifer Kraber, Amanda Lampert, Sophia Lopez and Tara Williams
Thirty-six players showed up Father’s Day weekend June 20-21st at Legend’s Billiards in League City, TX to play in Stop #4 of OB Cues Ladies Tour 2015 calendar. Top players from throughout the Texas area were competing for the first place prize in this $2000 added monies event. Legend’s Billiards, home of the Houston Open, and many other special tournaments throughout the years, is always a player favorite, with courteous and welcoming staff, fans as well as well-maintained Brunswick/Diamond equipment. We look forward to coming back for years to come. Special thanks to Mindy and Craig Cohen for hosting us on this holiday weekend!
By days end on Saturday, eight ladies would be returning on Sunday morning to continue in the Main Event. The final four remaining in the winner’s bracket were Sophia Lopez (San Antonio) vs Tara Williams (Ft. Worth) and MzTam Trinh (Austin) vs. Jennifer Kraber (Austin). The four ladies on the one loss side were Natalie Esparza (Houston) vs. Terry Petrosino (Houston) and Amanda Lampert (Dallas) vs. Board Member Tracie Voelkering (Ft. Worth).
7th-8th places went to Tracie and Natalie, which is her highest finish in only her second event after a tough first round loss. 5th-6th places went to Terry and MzTam, who also had her highest finish ever and 4th place went to Sophia. Great shooting to everyone. Keep up the great work!
Tara made her way through Saturday with wins over Janna Preston (7-0), Natalie Mans (7-4), and Amanda Lampert (7-5). On Sunday, she continued her undefeated run and earned a spot for the hot seat with a win over Sophia Lopez (7-4). On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Jennifer was making her way through her Saturday matches with the strong play that has made her a consistent and formidable player. Her winning matches were as follows: besting Natalie Esparza (7-5), Shayla Neris (7-3), and Terry Petrosino (7-6). On Sunday morning, she continued her run taking down MzTam (7-0) which would secure her spot in the hot seat match. In the hot seat match, it looked like it was going to be over quickly in Jennifer’s favor when she jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Tara regained her focus though and managed to get on the board to bring the score to 4-3 with some strong play. Tara missed a 9-ball to allow Jennifer to pull ahead 5-3, but composed herself and ran the next rack to close it out at 5-4. A late miss by Jennifer then allowed Tara to tie it up at 5 games apiece. Trading run outs the next two games, it came down to a single game to decide the winner. Tara appeared to have the advantage after a solid break, but a tough leave on the 5 ball forced to her to make a few difficult shots in a row. On the 8-ball, Tara slightly overcut the ball and left it hanging in the pocket but Jennifer was left directly behind the 9-ball. She looked over her options and decided to go for a jump shot, but couldn’t quite get over the 9-ball, giving Tara ball in hand on the last two balls to take the hot seat match and wait for her finals opponent.
In the semi-finals match, Amanda and Jennifer traded racks early and it appeared that both players would be grinding it out for the single spot available in the finals. However, when tied at 2-2, Amanda caught a gear and quickly began pulling ahead in the match. She played some great outs and strategic safeties to shut Jennifer down in the match, finishing out the set with a final score of 7-2. Good tournament Jennifer—nice 3rd place finish!
As the finals were now set and both Amanda and Tara being champions in their own right, everyone knew it was going to be a strong and solid fight to the finish. Amanda, seeking to avenge her earlier loss on Saturday to Tara, she quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Tara posted her own solid play to tie it up at 2 games each. After trading games until tied at 4-4, an early miss by Amanda allowed Tara to pull ahead for the first time in the match. Tara won the next game as well and looked ready to finish out the set, but a tough leave on the 8-ball gave Amanda opportunity to stay in the match and bring the score to only a one game deficit at 5-6. On the final game, it looked as if Amanda was going to force a hill-hill set, but a missed six ball allowed Tara to finish the set with a final score of 7-5. Congratulations to both ladies for a fantastic tournament! With this fourth win in 2015 for Tara, she makes tour history by becoming the first player to ever win four consecutive events. She also becomes only the third player to win four stops in a calendar year – Amanda Lampert had four wins in 2013 and Leslie Anne Rogers scored four wins in 2004. Congratulations on the awesome accomplishment Tara! You have made your mark in tour history!
Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor. If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at www.obcues.com
Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters—we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/ players/friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again at Stop #5 – P.O.E.T.S. Billiards in College Station, Texas, August 15-16th weekend. P.O.E.T.S. Billiards is a new stop on the OBCLT calendar; so let’s show them how these tour ladies roll with a large showing in attendance.
Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!!
Check us out at www.obcuestour.com or Facebook/obcuestour
Michelle Yim, Tina Malm, Helen Hayes, and Tara Williams
Forty players showed up the weekend of May 2 & 3rd at Clicks Billiards in San Antonio, TX to play in the third stop of 2015 on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. Top players from throughout the Texas area and one player from San Diego were vying for the $775 first place prize in this event.
9th-12th finishers were Barbara Wisdom, Tracie Voelkering, Natalie Mans, and Kim Pierce. 7th-8th place went to Jennifer Kraber and Gail Roles (her highest finish to date!); 5th-6th places went to Sophia Lopez and Belinda Lee. 4th place went to Helen Hayes and 3rd place went to Michelle Yim.
Tara Williams made her way through Saturday with wins over Krystal West (7-6), Terry Petrosino (7-2), and Michelle Yim (7-1). On Sunday, she continued her undefeated run and to earn a spot at the hot seat with another win over Sophia Lopez (7-4). On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Tina Malm was making her way through her Saturday matches without much opposition. She posted wins over Angela Garza (7-1), Monica Anderson (7-0), Natalie Mans (7-1) and Tracie Voelkering (7-3). On Sunday morning, she continued her run besting Belinda Lee (7-2) for her spot in the hot seat match. In the hot seat match, both players showed the reason that they made it through their brackets with the tough field that was in attendance this May weekend. After trading racks until tied a four games apiece, a missed safety by Tina after the break allowed Tara a run out to pull ahead 5-4. With the alternate break format, Tara broke and ran the next rack to reach the hill, and then Tina answered back with her own break and run to set the score at 6-5. On the final rack, Tara once again broke and ran to take the hot seat and wait for her opponent.
For the 3rd place match, Tina quickly got a lead over Michelle Yim and didn’t look back, earning a spot in the finals with a 7-1 win. In the finals, in the true double elimination format, Tina would need to beat Tara twice in order to win the event. It was not to be though; both players struggled early on to find the level of play that had allowed them to make their finals appearance. After a few back and forth racks, there nerves settled down, but Tina was already down 4 games by the time she was able to make it on the board. Tara was able to finish out a few racks when up 5-2 to win the event in one set with a final score of 7-2. Congratulations to both ladies for a great tournament! With this third win in 2015 for Tara, she makes only the third player to ever win three consecutive events; Lisa Marr was the first player to complete this feat in 2002 and Leslie Anne Rogers completed this feat in 2004. Congratulations on an awesome accomplishment Tara!
Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor. If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at www.obcues.com
Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters—we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/ players/friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again at Stop #4 – Legends Billiards in League City, Texas, June 20-21st weekend.
Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!!
Check us out at www.obcuestour.com or Facebook/obcuestour
