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Fisher downs Baretta twice to win first WPBA Virtual 9-Ball Ghost Challenge

There was reportedly very little trouble finding members of the Women’s Professional Billiards Association (WPBA) who were anxious to play some competitive pool with each other, albeit from the comfort of their own home and/or pool room. Based on an idea brought up by Dawn Hopkins, Angela Janic, a relatively new member of the WPBA, volunteered to organize and coordinate the organization’s first (and definitely not the last) Virtual 9-Ball Ghost Challenge during the week of May 10-16. While so-called ‘ghost’ matches and isolated streaming events have been cropping up on the Internet since the restrictions brought on by the pandemic began, this was something relatively new; a 16-entrant, double elimination tournament with prize money that pitted players from around the globe against each other, playing against the ‘ghost,’ a ‘player’ normally only encountered in practice, when a player is alone.

From her home pool room in Dumfries, Scotland, Kelly Fisher went undefeated through the field and downed Jennifer Baretta, playing from her pool room in Brooklyn, NY (Skyline Billiards), twice; once, battling for the hot seat and again, in the finals. Talking to both players, it was apparent that winning or losing wasn’t among the things that resonated in their minds about playing in the tournament.

“It was really good fun,” said Fisher. “I really enjoyed it.”

Baretta had played some ‘ghost’ matches in a recent USA vs. Europe matchup and found the experience to be “kind of nerve wracking.”

“But now,” she said, “I want to play more of them.”

“In practice, I play the ghost all the time,” she added. “I play a race to 7, but I play so that if I miss, I have to kick and/or bank (subsequent balls).”

This WPBA event was based on playing 10 racks, per player, per match. Players were allowed to begin shooting after their break with ball-in-hand. Essentially, each ball was worth one point, though if you ran the rack, you’d get an extra point for 10 points total, available per rack. There were 15 points available for a rack if you chose not to take advantage of ball-in-hand after the break. A number of the 30 matches ended before one of the competitors had completed the 10 racks, because one player had scored enough points to make ‘catching’ that player impossible.

Fisher’s path to the winners’ circle ran through Lonnie Fox-Raymond and April Larson, before coming up against Monica Webb in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Baretta downed Eugenia Gyftopoulos and Canada’s Suzanne Peters to arrive at her winners’ side semifinal against Dawn Hopkins.

With Allison Fisher and LoreeJon Hasson commentating on the live stream, Kelly Fisher defeated Webb 104-70. Baretta sent Hopkins to the loss side 83-69. In the hot seat match that followed, Fisher chalked up the event’s highest score of 120, when she ran all 10 racks, four of them which she ran without benefit of ball-in-hand at the start.

Upon her arrival on the loss side of the bracket, Dawn Hopkins picked up an immediate rematch against Mary Rakin Tam, whom she’d defeated in the opening round and who was working on a three-match, loss-side winning streak during which she’d eliminated Cheryl Baglin, April Larson and one of the event’s significant organizers, Angela Janic. Webb drew Line Kjorsvik, who’d lost her opening round match to April Larson and was also working on a three-match, loss-side winning streak that had eliminated Lonnie Fox-Raymond, Ewa Mataya Laurance and Suzanne Peters.

Rakin Tam and Kjorsvik advanced to the first money round, the quarterfinals. Tam defeated Hopkins 74-60, as Kjorsvik downed Webb 79-58. Kjorsvik then eliminated Tam 90-75.

The semifinals of this event – Kjorsvik versus Baretta – had a way of demonstrating the best that this particular format had to offer viewers. At the end of their 9th rack, the two were separated by a single point; Baretta ahead by one at 74-73. Baretta refused the ball-in-hand option after her break of the final rack, looking to chalk up 15 points instead of just 10. Unfortunately, she only added three balls to her score; missing the fourth ball and finishing her 10 racks with a score of 77. All Kjorsvik had to do was sink five balls. With two of the five down, she found herself hooked and forced to make a jump shot, which she missed to finish at 74.

In the finals that followed, with the racks-necessary extended to 13, and Jeremy Jones in the streaming ‘booth,’ commentating, Baretta was ahead by seven points after four racks, 45-38. Though Baretta would extend her lead by opting out of ball-in-hand in the 5th rack and running the table to hit 60 points, while Fisher had her 5th rack stopped at 6 balls, the tables started to turn, as Fisher started to pick up speed, reminding everyone of her “KwikFire” nickname.

They would both run racks #6 & 7 without ball-in-hand, leaving Baretta out in front by 16 (80-64). Fisher would go on to opt out of ball-in-hand for racks # 8, 9, 10 & 11 and ran all four, leaving her at 124 when she was through. Baretta, now working two racks behind Fisher, picked up only three in rack #8, and though she ran racks #9 & 10, she was, for the first time since her fourth rack, no longer in the lead, but behind Fisher by six at 109-103.

Fisher closed out her run with two break and runs, opting for ball-in-hand in both to finish her 10 racks with 144 points. In order to defeat Fisher, Baretta, at the time, was preparing to break her 11th rack and would have had to play all three of her last racks without ball in hand. Two without and one with ball in hand (assuming she ran the table) would have left her one point shy of Fisher’s 144 total. Baretta missed a shot in the 11th rack and conceded the victory, punctuating the concession by going down on her knees and bowing. Fisher extended a hand to shake and all smiles, the two of them traded an across-the-ocean-via-Internet handshake.

In some ways, the entire event, to include how quickly it came together and successfully it occurred came as a bit of surprise. Angela Janic thanked particularly Jennifer Hamilton for her work on the live stream, noting that Hamilton had “kept us all organized and just did a fantastic job.”

“Thanks, too,” Janic added,” to everybody on the WPBA, the board and all the players. I had just sent messages out and asked people for help and everybody just jumped in and said yes. I’d read names but there are just too many of them.”

According to Janic, another edition of the WPBA’s Virtual 9-Ball Ghost Challenge will occur on Memorial Day weekend (May 31-June 6) and while no names have been confirmed for participation, she expects another field of 16.

“Nothing’s going to change much,” she said of the upcoming event. “It’ll probably get a little easier.”

After the imaginary handshake, and Janic thanking her for her participation, Fisher added her thanks to all those who’d been involved.

“It was such short notice and it happened so quickly,” said Fisher. “You did an absolute fantastic job putting it together and running it smoothly.”

“It was great for the sport and great for the WPBA,” she added. “Thank you very much for doing this for us.”

WPBA Masters Round Two Results

 

MT. PLEASANT, MI –  The WPBA Masters 9-Ball Championship wound up play tonight with completion of Round Two. Losing players in both rounds begin competition at 11 a.m. Friday in the one-loss bracket. Winners of the Round Two matches play at 3 and 6 p.m. Friday. Grand Ledge, Michigan's Vicki Paski upset top 8 ranked Brittany Bryant to join fellow Hall of Famers Allison Fisher, Karen Corr and newly inducted Jeanette Lee in the final sixteen.

ROUND TWO RESULTS
Allison Fisher d. Julie Kelly 9-2
Dawn Hopkins d. Cathy Metzinger 9-5
Vicki Paski d. Brittany Bryant 9-6
Helena Thornfeldt d. Jessica Karacia-Human 9-2
Jasmin Ouschan d. Eleanor Callado 9-3
Melissa Little d. Vivian Villarreal 9-7
Monica Webb d. Kelly Cavanaugh 9-3
Kim White Newsome d. Eve Stockstill 9-7
Jeanette Lee d. Teruko Cucculelli 9-2
Jennifer Chen d. Hiroko Makiyama 9-3
Karen Corr d. Sara Miller 9-3
Joanne Ashton d. Line Kjorsvik 9-8
Ga Young Kim d. Maureen Seto 9-3
Jana Montour d. Emily Duddy 9-3

ESPN3
For the first time in the history of the Women’s Pro Billiard Tour, the entire semi final and final matches will run LIVE on ESPN3, beginning Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans can head to http://www.wpba.com for more info and tournament brackets, or visit the link direct at http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/817665/wpba-masters.

WPBA Masters Sponsors
Auto-Owners joins WPBA Masters sponsors Diamond Billiard Products, Iwan Simonis Cloth, Aramith pro balls, Delta-13 (racks) and online gameroom supplier Pooldawg in sponsoring this historic event on the 2013 Women’s Pro Billiard Tour.
 
Tickets
Tickets are available via startickets.com or the Soaring Eagle Box office at 888-726-9633. 

WPBA Masters First Round Draws

The Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s (WPBA) top players have arrived in northern Michigan to compete in the WPBA Masters at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort. The WPBA Masters 9-Ball Championship kicks off the 2012 Women’s Pro Billiard Tour season and the first round of competition begins at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 26, 2012.  

Here is the first round schedule. (Note, the 16 winners will compete against the tournament’s top 16 seeds in round two, while the losers move to the one-loss side of the tournament chart.) To view the chart and ongoing results, visit www.wpba.com and click on “2012 Soaring Eagle Tournament Board.”
 
11:00 a.m.
Emily Duddy vs. Jacqui Herrera (winner plays Ga Young Kim at 6 p.m.)
Dawn Hopkins vs. Emilyn Callado (winner plays Gerda Hofstatter at 6 p.m.)
Val Finnie vs. Jessica Barnes (winner plays Ewa Laurance at 6 p.m.)
Susan Williams vs. Joanne Ashton (winner plays Cathy Metzinger at 6 p.m.)
Liz Cole vs. Cheryl Pritchard (winner plays Karen Corr at 6 p.m.)
Belinda Calhoun vs. Teresa Gifford (winner plays Brittany Bryant at 6 p.m.)
 
1:00 p.m.
Erica Park vs. Janet Atwell (winner plays Helena Thornfeldt at 8 p.m.)
Laura Smith vs. Barbara Lee (winner plays Jasmin Ouschan at 8 p.m.)
Morgan Steinman vs. Lonnie Fox (winner plays Nicole Keeney at 8 p.m.)
Jennifer Chen vs. Jana Montour (winner plays Kelly Fisher at 8 p.m.)
Eleanor Callado vs. Tina Hess (winner plays Line Kjorsvik at 8 p.m.)
 
3:00 p.m. 
Naomi Williams vs. Rebecca Wagner (winner plays Allison Fisher at 10 p.m.)
Maureen Seto vs. Vicki Paski (winner plays Jennifer Barretta at 10 p.m.)
Melissa Little vs. Angel Paglia (winner plays Jeanette Lee at 10 p.m.)
Kyoko Sone vs. Erin McManus (winner plays Tamara Peeters at 10 p.m.) 
 
There will be two sessions of play each day. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, January 29 beginning at 1 p.m., when the final four players remaining will compete for the title of 2012 WPBA Masters Champion. These three final-round one-hour matches will be taped by ESPN for future television broadcasts. Tickets are available via startickets.com. 
 
Alongside the WPBA Masters is the Soaring Eagle Open III, featuring amateur singles 8-Ball and 9-Ball tournaments in men and women’s divisions, with $10,000 in added prize money. This event also begins Thursday, January 26 and continues through Sunday, January 29, 2012. Visit www.soaringeagleopen.com for more information.

Headline Players at WPBA Masters January 26-29


International and Local Favorites Vie for Title in Season Opener

MT. PLEASANT, MI – The Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort hosts the best female billiard players in the world January 26-29, 2012, when the Women’s Professional Billiard Association WPBA Masters 9-Ball Championship kicks off the 2012 Women’s Pro Billiard Tour season.
 
WPBA MASTERS: HEADLINERS!
 
Defending Champion: Jasmin Ouschan (Austria)  
www.jasmin-ouschan.com   
2010 World 10-Ball Champion  
2009 3x tour champion and Player of the Year  
Current Rank: #3
 
Ga Young Kim (Korea)  
2010 US Open 9-Ball Champion  
2009 US Open 9-Ball Champion  
2009 Colorado Classic Champion  
Current Rank: #1

Allison Fisher (Charlotte, NC)
www.allisonfisher.com    
2009 BCA Hall of Fame Inductee  
4x World Champion and WPBA Title Record Holder: 76 titles since 1995!  
Current Rank: #2
 
Jeanette Lee (Indianapolis, IN)
www.jeanettelee.com   
2007 World Team Cup and Empress Cup Champion
2005 China Invitational Champion
Current Rank: #7
   
 LOCAL FAVORITES   
Vicki Paski (Lansing, MI)
www.vickipaski.com
2011 Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
2005 WPBA Hall of Fame Inductee
1993 WPBA president/co-founder of WPBA Classic Tour
Current Rank: #50
 
Lonnie Fox (Adrian, MI)
10 time Michigan VNEA 8 Ball Champion
9 time Michigan VNEA 9 Ball Masters Champion
2011 BCA National Masters Team Champion
2011 VNEA International Intermediate Team Champion
 
Preliminary rounds begin Thursday, January 26, through Saturday, January 28 with 40 top players and 8 WPBA Regional Tour representatives. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, January 29 beginning at 1 p.m., when the final four players remaining will compete for the title of 2012 WPBA Masters Champion. These three final-round one-hour matches will be taped by ESPN for future television broadcasts. Tickets are available via startickets.com.
 
Alongside the WPBA Masters will be the Soaring Eagle Open III, featuring amateur singles 8-Ball and 9-Ball tournaments in men and women’s divisions, with $10,000 in added prize money. This event will begin on Thursday, January 26 and continue through Sunday, January 29, 2012. Visit www.soaringeagleopen.com for more information.

About the Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA)

The WPBA was established in 1976 as the Women’s Professional Billiard Alliance, and is the oldest pro player organization in the sport. The WPBA sanctions and produces the Women’s Pro Billiard Tour, which features ESPN-televised events with the world’s greatest women players. Visit www.wpba.com for more. The WPBA Classic Tour, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012, is sponsored by the American Poolplayers Association, Diamond Billiards, Iwan Simonis, Delta 13, Pooldawg and Aramith.
 
About the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort

The Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort is the Midwest’s premier AAA Four Diamond gaming and hospitality destination offering top-name entertainment year-round, award-winning dining, high stakes bingo and a full-service spa. For more information, visit www.soaringeaglecasino.com