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Cucculelli Upsets Fisher at WPBA Dr Pool Classic

Teruko Cucculelli (Photo courtesy of Erwin Dionisio)

With an 8-5 win over #1 ranked Allison Fisher, Teruko Cucculelli is through to the final eight on the winner’s side at the WPBA Aramith / Dr Pool Classic. 
 
Cucculelli, hailing from Lancaster Ohio, had wins over Suzanne Peters and Jenna Bishoff to get her day started, but those paled in comparison to her win over Fisher. 
 
“I’m elated to have beat the #1 ranked player on tour. I felt very fortunate to capitalize on the opportunities that were given to me. Allison is a true champion and, although i had won the match, she had kind words of encouragement.” said Cucculelli after the match. 
 
Cucculelli will face #8 ranked Jia Li Saturday, while Fisher will wait for the winner between Laura Smith and Maureen Seto on Saturday. Cucculelli and Li are joined on the winner’s side by Jasmin Ouschan, Dawn Hopkins, Brittany Bryant, Taiwan’s Wei Tzu Chien, Jennifer Barretta and Kelly Fisher
 
The WPBA Aramith / Dr Pool Classic is being held at the Central Wisconsin Convention and Expo Center in Rothschild, Wisconsin. Online bracket coverage is available at compusport.us and online streaming of select matches is available at the WPBA’s Youtube page at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz3nECcig-zgKYfFvkS15hQ

Bryant goes undefeated to take WPBA title at Janet Atwell’s Borderline Billiards

Brittany Bryant, Janet Atwell and Mary Rakin (Photo courtesy of Barbara Lee)

It’s hard to know just how exactly the proverbial ‘luck of the draw’ can impact a tournament field. Is there ever an easy path through a strong field? Does early ‘luck of the draw’ influence a player’s ability to face increasingly difficult competition? With ‘no’ as the answer to the ‘easy path’ question, one would think that getting a few relatively ‘easy’ matches under your belt before facing any heavy hitters would have to be of benefit. On the weekend of October 18-21, Canada’s Brittany Bryant went undefeated through a field of strong opponents to win the WPBA BLU-EMU Southern Open Signature Tour Stop.
 
With a Fargo Rate of 663, Bryant opened the tournament with matches against opponents whose ratings were in the 500 range, slowly graduating to matches against higher ranked opponents, and then, in the finals, squaring off against Mary Rakin with exactly the same rating of 663. The $10,000-added event drew 64 entrants to Janet Atwell’s Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
 
That said, it didn’t take Bryant long to get into the thick of things. Following victories over Autumn Duncan (Fargo Rating 585) 7-2 and Bonnie Arnold (553) 7-3, Bryant faced the Texas Tornado, Vivian Villarreal, sporting a higher Fargo rate of 685 (the top Fargo-rated female in the US). They locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Bryant against Jia Li (654) and a second double hill fight, which Bryant won, advancing to a winners’ side semifinal match against Karen Corr (722; as an Irish competitor, Corr is not on the US Top 10 list, and doesn’t appear among the top 10 World List, dominated by seven Chinese women, whose ratings range from 782 to 744).
 
Meanwhile, Line Kjorsvik (675) was running her own gauntlet of top-notch talent. She defeated Ji-Hyun Park, Jeannette Lee, Ashley Rice and Helena Thornfeldt to draw (out of the frying pan into the fire, so to speak) Allison Fisher (724). Fisher had sent Bryant’s eventual finals opponent, Mary Rakin, to the loss side in the second round.
 
Bryant downed Corr 7-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Kjorsvik, who’d survived a somewhat predictable double hill match against Fisher. Bryant claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Kjorsvik and waited for Rakin to complete her nine-match, loss-side winning streak that would bring her into the final match.
 
Six matches had put Bryant in the hot seat, and while they included those back-to-back wins over Villareal, Li, Corr and Kjorsvik, the run paled (somewhat) in the face of what Rakin accomplished to meet her in the finals. Wins over Kaylin Wykoff and Maureen Seto put Rakin into the first money round (17th-24th) against Gerda (Hofstatter) Gregerson. A subsequent win over Dawn Hopkins led to five straight wins over Thornfeldt, Jennifer Baretta, Corr, Fisher and Kjorsvik.
 
She defeated Thornfeldt 7-4 and Baretta 7-3 to pick up Corr, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Fisher drew Jia Li, who’d defeated LoreeJon Hasson 7-5 and Melissa Little 7-4 to reach her.
 
Rakin defeated Corr 7-5 and in the quarterfinals, faced Fisher, who’d eliminated Li 7-2. Rakin and Fisher locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Rakin to the semifinals against Kjorsvik. A second straight double hill fight, won by Rakin, gave Rakin her shot at Bryant in the finals.
 
The finals, according to FargoRate, was a 50/50 proposition. Rakin had the intangible of momentum and recent wins over higher ranked competitors going for her, though two straight double hill wins over quality opponents might have taken a little out of her. Bryant had the wait, which can sometimes work for you with a little rest or against you, in terms of going a little cold at the table. By the same token, her own list of recently defeated quality opponents suggested that either way, it was going to be a good match between two quality opponents who had more than earned their way into the finals. Bryant won it 7-4 to claim the event title.

Fisher goes undefeated for the second time in a month, winning WPBA Ho-Chunk Classic

Ga Young Kim and Allison Fisher (Photo courtesy of the WPBA)

Fresh off her August 16-19 victory at the NAPT Summer 10-Ball Classic, Allison Fisher proved once again that age is just a number, and a fairly insignificant one at that. On the long weekend of September 13-16, Fisher joined what turned out to be 63 WPBA entrants in a multi-stage/bracket format at the Ho-Chunk Casino in Wisconsin Dells, WI and went undefeated through that field to capture her second title in a month. Fisher had to get by Korea’s Ga-Young Kim twice to claim that title.
 
The multi-stage format of this event created preliminary, 32-entrant rounds of play for 64 invited and seeded players, based on current WPBA standings going into the event. The lower-ranked invitees faced off against each other on Thursday, Sept. 13, in a standard 32-player bracket. Sixteen players, eight on each side of the bracket, emerged and advanced to play against a group of 16 players already selected to compete on Friday. When that Friday bracket came down to a final 16, those 16 advanced to compete against the WPBA’s top 16 players on Saturday (chosen from among the invitees who were able to attend). It was in this third, Saturday bracket that Fisher began her quest for the title.
 
On Thursday in races to 7, Kaylin Wikoff, Caroline Pao, Tonya Wiser, Naomi Williams, Kristie Bacon, Cathy Metzinger, Jia Li, and Jenna Bishoff won two matches each to advance to Friday’s bracket. In her second match, Jia Li downed LoreeJon Hasson 7-5 to get into that winners’ side final eight. Metzinger was among the final eight as the result (in part) of a forfeit by Jeannette Lee in her opening round of play. Lee came back through two rounds of loss-side play to become one of the 16 that advanced to Friday. Hasson won her only match on the loss side of the Thursday bracket and advanced, as well, along with Maria Juana, Lisa Cossette, Susan Wilbur, Sonya Chbeeb, Bonnie Arnold and Stephanie Mitchell.
 
On Friday in races to 8, Pao, Metzinger, and Arnold made it through their second day, winning two matches each to become one of the winners’ side final eight advancing to Saturday. Joining the event for the first time and winning their first two were Maureen Seto, Siming Chen, We Tzu Chien, April Larson and Kia Sidbury. Sidbury was originally scheduled to start on Thursday but a no-show for the tournament led to the 63-entrant field and an opening on Friday, into which she slipped. On the loss side of Friday’s bracket, Juana, Bishoff, Williams, Li, and Jeannette Lee advanced to their third day of competition. Lee had been defeated by April Larson, double hill, in Friday’s opening round and won two to join everybody on Saturday. Also winning two on the loss side and advancing to Saturday were Janet Atwell (defeated by Pao, double hill, in Friday’s opening round), Sara Miller and Robin Parker.
 
On Saturday in races to 8, Fisher said ‘hello’ to everybody and opened with an 8-1 victory over Juana, before running into Jeannette Lee (first of a series of classic women matchups during the day). Lee had defeated Kim Newsome 8-5 to start her day. Fisher defeated Lee 8-4 and then picked up the Texas Tornado, Vivian Villareal, who’d defeated Jennifer Barretta 8-2 in the previous round. An 8-2 win over Villareal sent Fisher to a winners’ side semifinal against Siming Chen, who’d defeated Line Kjorsivik 8-4 and Caroline Pao 8-3 to reach her. Melissa Little and Ga Young Kim squared off in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Fisher defeated Chen 8-2 and arrived at the hot seat match with an aggregate score of 32-9 (78%). Kim sent Little to the loss side 8-2, as well, and she came to the hot seat with an aggregate score of 32-14 (69%). Allison claimed the hot seat 8-3 over Kim and waited on her return from the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Chen picked up Barretta, who was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side winning streak that had included victories over Jeannette Lee (8-5), Jia Li (8-4) and Brittany Bryant 8-5. Little drew The Grinder, teenager April Larson, who’d been defeated by Jia Li on the winners’ side of the final bracket, and was in the midst of a six-match winning streak that would take her as far as the semifinals. Larson had most recently eliminated Vivian Villareal and Caroline Pao, both 8-3.
 
Larson advanced to the quarterfinals with an 8-5 win over Little, and was joined by Chen, who’d defeated Barretta 8-2. Larson took the quarterfinal match over Siming Chen 8-5.
 
Larson’s remarkable run ended in the semifinals, when Kim defeated her 8-5. Kim’s second shot against Fisher, waiting for her in the hot seat, was a tightly contested, double hill battle. Fisher closed it out to claim the WPBA’s 2018 Ho-Chunk Classic.

Do or Die Day 3 at Women’s International Pool Championship

Nathalie Seichter – Photo courtesy of Joe Gonzalez Photography

New York City-  DDD-Day! Today is Do-or Die- Day as half the field will be cut as 32 women face elimination from the  Andy Cloth Women's International Pool Championship . China, Russia, Canada, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Sweden and USA look strong to take top seedings into the final rounds of the event. The pro tournament is the longest women's billiard event of any kind with 6 days of heavy pool action with a round robin event that evolves into a final single elimination chart where players will start out races to 10 in 10-Ball and eventually rise to races to 11,13, and 17 in the finals.  All activities are taking place at Steinway Billiards Cafe and sponsored by Andy Cloth,  J.Pechauer Cues , Viking Cues,  Steinway Billiards.  , Olhausen Balls, Pool & Billiard Magazine , the NAPL & Focused Apparel . Patron sponsors include Dr. Greg Diehl, Tom Gleich, and Dr. Michael Frank.  Media partners include PKE Partners, IB Sports, NYC Grind, Gotham City Technologies, Nona Photography, and Charles Eames Photography.  7 days of live pool will be filmed and streamed by Inside Pool TV.   Pay per view on www.Dragonpromotions.com for $10 daily or $50 for the entire week for the upcoming  Andy Cloth Women's International Pool Championship  taking place December 16th-21st at the same venue.
 
Who's looking good:
 
Players looking to take the top seeds in their groups include Ga Young Kim (KOREA) the event's original #1 seed, she has been storming through her opponents in record time with the exception of local NY pro Erin McManus who gave the 3 times World Champion a tough match who only lost 4-6. McManus looks prime to take one of the top 4 spots in the group, and Florida's Jessica Barnes could take the 2nd spot. In other groups, Taiwan's Jennifer Chen, Russia's Anna Mazhirina, and USA's Vivian Villarreal remain undefeated. Florida's top player Jeannie Seaver, a qualifier winner, could steal her Group 5 as she also remains undefeated!
 
Maureen Seto could steal away the top spot in Group 2 from #2 event seed Jeanette Lee today. Seto controls her own destiny after she came from behind to defeat the Black Widow and has remained undefeated. Lee still looks safe to get through.
 
In danger:
 
Some notable players that are in do or die situations today that likely must win all their matches include:
WPBA pro Emily Duddy (NY) , WPBA legend Belinda Calhoun (Beardon), Hiroko Makiyama (JAPAN), Suzanne Smith (WA), Jing Liu (CHINA) , Caroline Pao (NY), and Netherland's top pro Nathalie Seichter.
 
See all the brackets can be found at www.nycgrind.com or click here and full schedule of play times at www.dragonpromotions.com
 
Action continues on Day 3 Round Robin Finale with this TV lineup that can be ordered on www.dragonpromotions.com  :
 
Only $10 all day or $50 All Event . See right side buttons.
 
Day 3 Dec 18, 2014 TV Schedule
 
10:30am Vivian Villarreal (TX, USA) #10 seed vs Tara Williams (TX, USA)
11:50am Nathalie Seichter (NETHERLANDS) #7 seed vs Trinh Lu (CA, USA) 
1:10pm Emily Duddy (NY,USA) vs Connie O'Heron (WI, USA) 
2:30pm Jeanette Lee (NY,USA) #2 Seed vs Suzanne Smith (WA, USA)
4:30pm Denise Wilkinson NEW ZEALAND vs Rebecca Wagner (NV, USA) 
5:50 pm Ga Young Kim (KOREA) #1 seed vs Jessica Barnes (FL,USA)
7:10pm Li Jia CHINA #6 seed vs Kelly Isaac (OH,USA)
8:00pm Jennifer Barretta (NY,USA) #8 seed vs Akiko Kitayama (JAPAN) #9 seed 
 
Follow the latest news and frequent updates on www.facebook.com/womensinternationalpool 

 

Stage I – 2014 Canadian Pool Championships

The first stage of the 2014 CBSA Canadian Open Pool Championships has come to an end at Shooters Snooker & Sports Club in Toronto. Although the attendance in each event was less than anticipated, the level of play was exceptional.  The top players from each division will move on to Stage II of the Championship to be held at the Delta Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ontario.  This year marks the first year where both the CBSA and CCS Championships are being held side-by-side. Here is a breakdown of the matches scheduled for this week in Mississauga:
 
Tuesday, April 15 – 8-Ball
A-Side – John Morra vs Rod Arsenault
A-Side – Erik Hjorleifson vs Paul Potier
B-Side – Jason Klatt vs Alex Pagulayan
B-Side – Sumon Sarkar vs Pahdahsung Shognosh
 
Thursday, April 17 – 9-Ball
A-Side – Alex Pagulayan vs John Morra
B-Side – Mario Morra vs Paul Potier
B-Side – Jason Klatt vs Erik Hjorleifson
 
Thursday, April 17 – Women’s 9-Ball
A-Side – Naomi Williams vs Brittany Bryant
B-Side – Kayla Jones vs Joanne Ashton
B-Side – Kayla Roloson vs Maureen Seto
 
Friday, April 18 – 10-Ball
A-Side – Erik Hjorleifson vs Andy Aupin
B-Side – Alex Pagulayan vs Paul Potier
B-Side – Mario Morra vs Jason Klatt
 
Friday, April 18 – Women’s 10 Ball
A-Side – Denise Belanger vs Brittany Bryant
B-Side – Naomi Williams vs Hanna Kwon
B-Side – Joanne Ashton vs Kayla Jones
 
There is no charge for spectators, so drop by and witness a piece of Canadian history being made. Be sure to bring your pool cue as mini-tournaments will be taking place throughout the event. There is no other tourney like it where you have great players from all over Canada in one place at one time.

Ga Young Kim becomes first WPBA Masters back-to-back champion

Ga Young Kim

She was the third woman to lay claim to the WPBA Masters title, following victories by Jasmin Ouschan in 2011 and Ewa Mataya Laurance in 2012. On February 9, after four days at the Soaring Eagle Resort in Mt. Pleasant, MI, Korea's Ga Young Kim became the event's first back-to-back champion, wending her way through a field of 48 and completing the title run, undefeated. She faced and defeated Ouschan in the semifinals and downed Kelly Fisher in the finals.
 
The fourth annual five-day event began on Wednesday, February 5, with an afternoon Kid's Clinic and an evening Charity Pro-Am, supporting the Notah Begay III Foundation. The event matches began on Thursday, and as had been done last year, the semifinal and final matches were broadcast live on ESPN3. 
 
The 48 entrants began in a standard, double elimination format. When both the winners' side and losers' side bracket had worked down to their final two players, those four re-drew to play two semifinals and then, a final match. The double elimination phase of the tournament featured races to 9, while the semifinals and final match were races to 4; best two out of three, unless the score, after two matches, was tied, in which case, a single, sudden death rack was played to determine the winner. This format worked to the benefit of both Fisher in her semifinal match against Siming Chen and Kim's final match against Fisher. 
 
Sixteen of the women were seeded at the start and awarded byes. Kim's path in defense of her title went through Jasmin Ouschan twice. After downing Maureen Seto and then, Vivian Villareal, Kim shut out Ouschan in her third round of play. Kim went on to defeat Karen Corr 9-5 to advance to her single elimination final against Ouschan, as Chen defeated Kim White-Newsome 9-1 to become the other winners' side semifinalist.
 
On the loss side, Ouschan went to work on a three-match winning streak, downing Melissa Little 9-5 and Line Kjorsvik 9-4, before eliminating White-Newsome 9-6 to earn a re-match against Kim. Fisher, who'd been sent to the losers' bracket by Ouschan 9-7 in the second round, fought back through Laura Smith, Villareal, Jennifer Chen and Brittany Bryant, before downing Karen Corr 9-4 to earn the last semifinal spot.
 
In the first of the two semifinal matches, which began at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Kim turned in a dominating performance to defeat Ouschan a second time. With a cascading series of uncharacteristic and literally, breath-taking errors, Ouschan failed to win a game in either four-game set. At a potential turning point in the second set (Kim ahead 2-0), Ouschan had a chance to make it 2-1, possibly allowing the momentum to shift, but she rattled the 9-ball into its pocket, giving Kim what proved to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead.  
 
The semifinal match between Chen and Fisher was something of a 'rubber' match between them. They had faced each other twice in the Queen's Cup team event in the Philippines last November. Chen shut out Fisher in their first meeting and Chen returned the favor by shutting Fisher out in their second meeting. Team East would go on to defeat the Western squad and claim the first Queen's Cup title. 
 
As they'd done in the Philippines, Chen and Fisher traded the first two sets of their Michigan matchup; Fisher taking the opener 4-2, and Chen winning four straight to win the second set 4-1. Rules dictated a lag for the sudden death break and it went to Chen, who promptly sank five balls on the break, and left herself with a dead straight shot at one of the balls left. She dropped it, sunk the 5-ball and 8-ball and lined up easily for the shot that would advance her to the finals against Ga Young Kim. And missed it, badly. Fisher stepped to the table and sunk the long table 9-ball to earn the shot against Kim.
 
Kim opened the final proceedings by dropping the 9-ball on the opening break, which led Fisher to examine the subsequent rack (to the accompaniment of spectator laughter). They fought to a 2-2 tie, before Kim finished it 4-2. Fisher got out ahead 3-1 in the second set, and though Kim would narrow the lead to a single game, Fisher would win 4-2, forcing a sudden death finish.
 
As she had done in her semifinal, sudden death match, Fisher lost the lag (prompting a colleague to comment that while Fisher's game was fine, her lag could use some work). Kim sunk a ball on the break, but ended up right on top of the 1-ball and had to play a safety. Fisher almost made a two-rail, cross-corner shot work, but the 1-ball fell about a half-inch short of the corner pocket. 
 
Kim stepped to the table and dropped the hanging 1-ball. Though she would run the table from there, it was not without drama, as the rolling cue ball forced her out of position in shooting her second-to-last ball. Kim settled herself, sunk the ball and watched the cue ball travel three rails and give her a good look at the 9-ball. She dropped it to claim her second straight WPBA Masters title. 
 
Fisher acknowledged to commentator Ewa Mataya Laurance that the loss was disappointing and odd that the championship had come down, more or less, to the sudden death lag.
 
"You try to forget about the unlucky things," Kim told Laurance,  in reference to scratching on the break in the second set of the finals. "I think the Soaring Eagle is real lucky for me. It is not easy to win back to back in the same tournament, and this is only the second time I have ever done that."
 
"I am really, really, really happy," she added.
 
The semi-finals and finals can be viewed online at www.espn3.com for the next 30 days.

WPBA Masters Continues Today

Ga-Young Kim

The WPBA Masters wraps up today at the Soaring Eagle Casino. The four players left to contest the title are Ga-Young Kim, Jasmin Ouschan, Siming Chen and Kelly Fisher. Ga-Young finds herself here via victories over Maureen Seto, Vivian Villareal, Jasmin Ouschan and Karen Corr.

Jasmin enjoyed wins over Janet Atwell and Kelly Fisher before Ga-Young sent her left. Once there she bested Melissa Little. Line Kjorsvik and Kim White-Newsome to gain entry to the final four.

Siming Chen has yet to taste defeat. She plays Sunday due to victories over Emily Duddy, Jeanette Lee, Melissa Little, Jennifer Chen and Kim White-Newsome.  Kelly Fisher won over Kelly Cavanaugh before Jasmin Ouschan beat her but then once on the one-loss side she dominated her opponents with none able to score more than four racks against her. In these five matches she lost only 13 racks. These wins were over Laura Smith, Vivian Villarreal, Jennifer Chen, Brittany Bryant and Karen Corr.

Matchups today begin at 1 PM with Jasmin Ouschan playing Ga Young Kim. At 3 PM Siming Chen will face off against Kelly Fisher. You may watch these matches live on your computer at ESPN3.com.

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.

WPBA Championships Down to Sweet Sixteen


Final 16 Players Compete in Single Elimination Stage for the Title 
    
LINCOLN CITY, OR – The Women’s Pro Billiard Tour’s WPBA Tour Championships is down to the final 16 players who will compete in the single elimination stage to determine the eventual champion on Sunday.
 
On the winner’s side, eight players emerged victorious after the second seeded round of play:

Ga Young Kim d. Jennifer Barretta 9-5   
Line Kjorsvik d. Cathy Metzinger 9-2    
Kim Shaw d. Kim White 9-1
Kelly Fisher d. Eleanor Callado 9-3
Monica Webb d. Ewa Laurance 9-2
Jeanette Lee d. Tamara Rademakers 9-1
Maureen Seto d. Mary Hopkin 9-7  
Allison Fisher d. Nicole Keeney 9-3   
Liz Ford d. Val Finnie 9-4
 
The eight winners were then drawn into the eight emerging from the one loss side, including Vivian Villarreal, with wins over Shelby Locati 9-1 and Eleanor Callado 9-7; Melissa Little, with wins over Jennifer Chen 9-4 and Kim White 9-7; Liz Cole, with wins over Dawn Hopkins 9-3 and Cathy Metzinger 9-6; Jennifer Barretta, with a win over Maureen Seto 9-4; Brittany Bryant, with wins over Tina Hess 9-1 and Val Finnie 9-6; Erica Park, with wins over defending champion Xiaoting Pan 9-6 and Nicole Keeney 9-3; Helena Thornfeldt, with wins over Teruko Cucculelli 9-4 and Tamara Rademakers 9-7; and Ewa Laurance, with a win over Emily Duddy 9-4.
 
Fans can keep up with match results at www.wpba.com via the Tour Championship Tournament Board. The final sixteen will narrow to eight players late this evening. Those eight be featured in the ESPN televised quarter finals on Saturday!
 
For more information, or to obtain tickets call 1-888-MAIN-ACT (624-6228) or 541-996-5775. Chinook Winds Casino Resort, located on the beach in Lincoln City, is owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
 
About the Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA)

The WPBA was established in 1976 as the Women’s Professional Billiard Alliance, and celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2011 as 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 is sponsored by the American Poolplayers Association, Diamond Billiards, Iwan Simonis, Delta 13, Pooldawg and Aramith.