Melanie Koger defeated Leslie Rogers in the finals at G-Cue Billiards in Round Rock, Texas to win her first Hunter Classics Tournament of the year.  While Leslie's runner-up finish made it the second time she has placed 2nd in a Hunter Classics Stop in 2001.  Melanie and Leslie have been league teammates for years and it was two close friends in the finals, each wanting the win.

 

The runner-up finish for Leslie was not only another important finish but also helped move her to tie for first place in the points standings.  Gail Lave is tied with Leslie by placing 5th/6th (after just playing in the WPBA event in Chicago hours before).  Brenda Plantz placed 5th/6th as well and is only one point behind the first place tie.  The next tournament in Alvin, TX (the Final Stop – the Tour Championship) in November will be the deciding tournament to see who becomes the Hunter Classics 2001 Tour Champion!

 

A BIG thank you to Wes Hunter who gives these wonderful ladies a great tournament to play in by donating a Hunter Classics Custom Cue each tournament.  Lucille Donahue won the Hunter Classics Cue this time, after many years of buying raffle tickets.  When Lucille was called about winning the cue, she wasn't home yet from traveling from the tournament, but her husband took down the message.  However, she couldn't sleep until she knew it was really true that she won the cue.  The cue, valued at $1,800, has Tulipwood forearm w/ 5 Ebony floating points and tulipwood butt, blue and card veneers with stitch rings and 5 ebony inlays on the butt.

 

Kevin Welling was a great host over the weekend as the ladies played pool on his 17 9-foot Brunswick tables at G Cue Billiards, with the bartenders just as helpful and courteous.  Thanks to the Hunter Classics Board who ran another smooth tournament and to Tony Hinojosa who kept play moving along as the Tournament Director.

 

36 ladies came to play pool over the October 13th weekend.  Some flew in from the midwest and others drove from as far away as Denver to play.  Friday night was showered with rain and thunderstorms but by Sunday clear skies were the norm as we were all indoors playing the sport we all love so much.

 

By Sunday morning the main event was getting kicked off with one-loss side matches pitting Colorado's Brenda Plantz against Austin's Sharon Townsend, June Walter from San Antonio against Austin's Heather Pulford, Kim Pierce from Bastrop, Tx against Gail Lave from Springfield, Missouri and Austin's Lucy Robinson against Tara McCracken from Lewisville, Tx.  Tara would eventually play Gail and June would eventually play Brenda.  While on the winner's side it was s an all 'Texas Shootout' with Leslie Rogers from the Dallas area playing Melanie Koger of Fort Worth, while Deanna Kniola from Austin was playing Sophie Lopez of San Antonio.  After the Texas dust settled it would be Leslie Rogers playing Deanna Kniola for the winner's bracket with Sophie playing Gail and Melanie playing Brenda on the one-loss side.

 

Leslie Rogers' fight to the finals was played on the winner's side the whole tournament, only losing one match – in the finals against Melanie Koger.  Leslie had a bye then defeated Vickie McKillop 7-2, Michelle Cortez 7-4, Gail Lave 7-1, Melanie Koger 7-4, Deanna Kniola 7-3 and then lost to Melanie 5-11 in the finals.

 

Melanie's fight to the finals: bye, defeating Julie Stephenson 7-1, Mindy Williams 7-3 and Tara McCracken 7-3 before losing to Leslie Rogers 4-7.  Melanie then fought through the one-loss side with wins over Brenda Plants 7-4, Sophie Lopez 7-4, a hill-hill thriller win over Deanna Kniola 9-8 and then defeating Leslie Rogers 11-5 to win the tournament.

 

The second chance tournament on Sunday, with $100 added and 18 women, was playing on the other side of the pool room.  Melinda Bailey of Fort Worth came out on top over runner-up finisher Jennifer Kraber of Austin.  Michelle Cortez of Austin placed third and Audra Carter of San Antonio placed 4th.

 

The ladies would like to take this time to thank Wes once again for his continued and dedicated support.  Don't forget to visit us on the web at www.hunterclassics.com.  Also, come see us at the final stop of the year, where we will find out who wins the Tour Champion and Most Improved Player at Alvin, TX November 10-11. 

45 women came to compete at Pool Sharks in Las Vegas, NV September 8-9,2001.  20 of these women were in contention for the WPBA Qualifier, and Ying-Ya came out on top winning the event and the qualifier.  Women came from Texas, Arizona, California, Missouri, Minnesota, Taiwan, Florida, Washington, Colorado and of course Nevada.

 

Wes Hunter donated another beautiful Hunter Classics Custom Cue worth a whopping $2,400 this time!  This spectacular cue has a tiger maple forearm with 6 ebony points, a tiger maple butt with ebony band, black and light blue veneers and stitch rings.  Ebony and ivory inlays with a black with white linen wrap complemented the cue.  Congratulations to Clint Smith from Westminster, CO who won the cue that everyone wanted to win.

 

The Hunter Classics Tour would like to thank Joe Cannella and John Kutcha who were great hosts for this event, showing the ladies a good time in their spacious pool room.  The last three matches were held in the "pit" of the pool room, which was one table, on sunken ground, surrounded by four rails of fans.  Thank you also to Thumbs for refereeing and Al Lawrence for running the board.  Summer and Hector worked behind the bar for us ladies.  And we can't forget the hard work of Susan Conlee, our local representative, who worked diligently getting the stop ready.  Thanks to Debra Aarens-Cerchi, a local Las Vegas artist and great player, who donated a pool/Shakespeare poster which was won by Joe LeBeau (you can purchase the same painting in the new Meuller catalog that will be coming out soon).

 

After the smoke cleared on Saturday, 12 women came back for the fight on Sunday.  On the winners side, Susan Mello (from Arizona) was playing Mary Olson (from Seattle) and Katie Moses (from Las Vegas) was playing Ying-Ya Lin (from Taiwan).  Eventually, it would be Mary and Ying-Ya playing for the hot seat.  On the one-loss side, Brenda Plantz was playing Melissa Morris (who had just come down on Saturday after playing in the Albuquerque WPBA pro event) and Kristin Haney was playing Gail Lave.  The other four ladies playing on the one-loss side were Kim Shaw versus Angel Paglia and Jenny Lee versus Jean Vaillancourt.  Coming in 7/8 was Brenda Plantz and Jenny Lee, coming in 5th/6th was Gail Lave and Kim Shaw.  The 4th and 3rd places were earned respectively by Katie Moses and Mary Olson.

 

Gail Lave and Brenda Plantz went hill-hill in a match to determine not only who continued in the tournament, but also who the new Tour point leader would be.  Gail Lave won the match and is now in first place by 1 point.  Brenda is in second place with Leslie Rogers close behind in third.

 

Ying-Ya defeated Jane Fujinaga 7-5, Summer Gage 7-3, Angel Paglia 7-4, Gail Lave 7-1, Katie Moses 7-5 and then Mary Olson 7-5 for the hot seat.  Ying-Ya waited for Susan Mello to come through the one-loss side.

 

Susan Mello's road to the finals was defeating J'Lene Barnes 7-2, Norma Deitz 7-6, Debra Aarens-Cerchri 7-6 and Kim Shaw 7-4 before she was defeated by Mary Olson 5-7.  Then Susan defeated Gail Lave 7-6, Katie Moses 7-5 and Mary Olson 9-2 before playing Ying-Ya in the finals.  This match would be one race to 11 with Ying-Ya winning 11-2, collecting $750 and the WPBA Qualifier and Susan Mello placing second and collecting $575.

 

The always exciting second chance tournament, this time with 19 ladies, was being held at the same time on Sunday with Debra Aarens-Cerchi from Vegas coming in 1st, Leslie Rogers from Texas coming in 2nd and Helene Caukin from Florida coming in 3rd.

 

Thanks to Julie Stephenson, Lucille Donahue and Melinda Bailey who helped run this stop and thanks again to Wes Hunter for his continued support of this tour!

 

Come visit us at our next stop at G-Cue Billiards in Round Rock, TX (outside of Austin) October 13-14 and visit us on the web for all information: www.hunterclassics.com.  for more pictures from this tournament, please click here. 

WPBA Touring Pro – Ramona Biddle wins first Hunter Classics Amateur event Of 2001 – Melanie Koger wins qualifier spot.

 

The 1st stop of the year was an exciting event. 42 ladies from across the USA and world competed for the top spot at Corner Pockets in Albuquerque, NM. The tour was happy to host Sarah Ellerby from England and Noriyo Yurino from Taiwan/Japan.

 

Wes and Cindy Hunter were in attendance all weekend at this event. This gave the players a chance to thank them in person for sponsoring the tour. The Hunter Classics tour is very appreciative for the many years of support from Wes and Cindy. The quality and beauty of the Hunter Classics Custom cues make winning one of them a coveted event.

 

As usual, it was a fierce battle for the top prize and qualifier spot. Anna Kostanian, a local player and only 13 years old was the talk of the tournament. This young lady showed stamina and the talent of a veteran player. Her hometown support was very visible and audible during all her matches – a tough distraction for her opponents in addition to Anna’s level of play.

 

Play commenced at 10am on Saturday. Play went on until only 12 players were Left for Sunday. On the winners side was: Ramona Biddle, Anna Kostanian, Sarah Ellerby, and Melanie Koger. On the one loss side – Julie Stephenson, Leslie Rogers, Noriyo Yurino, Miriam Martinez, Gail Lave, Susan Mello and Judi Wickelgren

 

Ramona made her way to the winner’s bracket match starting off with a bye, then by winning matches against Melinda Luerco (7-3), Cynthia Ferrer (7-4), Susan Mello (7-5), Anna Kostanian (7-6), and the win for the hot seat by defeating Sarah Ellerby (7-6).

 

Sarah Ellerby made her way via a first round bye and wins over Lucille Donahue (7-0), Noriyo Yurino (7-4), Gail Lave, and Melanie Koger (7-2).

 

Melanie determined to win the qualifier spot eliminated Leslie Rogers after her loss to Sarah. A special congratulations to Leslie Rogers for an outstanding tournament. She held her own through several tough matches with hometown favorites on Sunday to finish 4th.

 

The match for 3rd place was a fierce one. Both players were in contention for the qualifier spot. It was a see-saw match with Melanie reaching the hill with a 8-7 lead. Melanie left Sarah with an incredibly tough cut shot on the 9 which would bring the match hill-hill. After studying the shot, Sarah calmly fired in the 9 and then dropped her shoulders in disappointment as the cue ball promptly scratched in the corner pocket. Congratulations for Sarah for a 3rd place finish in her first Hunter Classics Tour event.

 

The finals was a marathon match that lasted almost 3 hours. Ramona prevailed with a win over Melanie.

 

Due to a technicality Ramona Biddle was able to play in the Albuquerque, NM Event. Newly enforced rules from the WPBA stipulate “no touring pros”; however Due to the “lateness” of the information from the WPBA – the Hunter Classics Tour held to the “old” rules – disallowing the top 32 for this tournament only. Ramona is currently ranked 34 on the WPBA tour.

 

On Sunday a smaller field then usual played for in the 2nd chance event. Sherri Hudson came on strong to defeat Melinda Bailey for the win. Brenda Plantz finished 3rd and Mindy Williams finished 4th. Congratulations to Melinda, Brenda and Mindy for consistently strong showings in recent 2nd chance events.

 

Congratulations to local player Evelyn Hampton for winning the Hunter Classics Cue in the raffle. This beautiful Hunter Classics Custom cue is valued at over $1900. Thanks again to Wes Hunter for his continued support! Many thanks to Corner Pockets, owners and staff. Local players Rachel Rumschlag and Evelyn Hampton ran the boards. Many thanks for a job well done.