It was anything but bland. The 3rd Annual Bland Cup tournament, held on Friday, June 24 at the home of Doctor Richie Bland in Carrollton, GA, a few miles west of Atlanta, featured 10 of the top women in the sport; five, playing for the USA (Monica Webb, Ewa Laurance, Vivian Villarreal, Jeanette Lee and Megan Smith) and five, for Europe (Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher, Jasmin Ouschan, Line Kjoersvik and Helena Thornfeldt). Entering the tournament, the two squads were tied at one Bland Cup victory apiece. In the end, Europe chalked up its second win; this one, by a match score of 21-17.
This annual tournament came about as the result of a geographic proximity between Dr. Bland and Monica Webb. Bland, a world-renowned archer, and Medical Director of the Roy Richards, Sr. Cancer Center in Carrollton, is a pool enthusiast and plays in a local APA league, which utilizes facilities owned by Webb (Stix in nearby Villa Rica, GA). Three years ago, they arranged the first Bland Cup Tournament to benefit West Georgia College's Athletic Foundation. Webb transports two tables from her room to add to the single table Bland has in his home. They sell tickets to the single-day event (approximately $100 per ticket, with some variation for the sale of blocks of tickets), which attracts luminaries from the area like Carrollton's mayor, state congressman, and (on this particular occasion), the grandson of the founder of Coca-Cola. In all Webb estimated that there were 200 or so spectators at this year's exhibition event.
"It's a very laid back, cocktail party-like arrangement," she said.
It's so laid back that no one kept scores of any kind, or remembers who played against whom at any given point. The lone exception is the one score that mattered; the race to 21 points (one point awarded for each individual game victory). While they played primarily one-on-one, there were a few Scotch Doubles games played, as well. It began at around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and finished at around 8:30 p.m, after which the women played challenge matches until just after midnight.
"We try to arrange this when (the women) are all here in the US," she said, "and we use it, basically, to get together once a year."
Allison Fisher was not the only winner to be crowned at the WPBA US Open in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 6-10.
There was also a match to determine the WPBA Regional Tour Champion and even that was not the match that was expected. Eastern Champion My-Hahn Lac and Western Champion Kim Jones were both unable to make the trip to Oklahoma, so Eastern Runner up Megan Smith and Western Runner Up Liz Cole stepped up to face off for the coveted title.
The match saw WPBA veteran Megan Smith score a hard fought 9-6 win over Cole.
The tournament win capped off what has been a great season on the regional tour for Smith so far this year. “I have had a good year so far on tour, but to bring that National Title back to the East Coast meant a lot.”
Smith added “I just wanted to thank the WPBA, JPNewt, Linda Shea, Sharon O’Hanlon for all their hard work, and of course JPechauer for all their support. Many thanks to David Hughes for his coaching expertise, and of course I’d like to recognize Mike Sigel for his invaluable contributions to my game.”
TULSA, OK – Results are in for today’s first semi-final matchup between the #1 and #2 seeds in the WPBA US Open 9-Ball Championships taking place this week at the River Spirit Event Center. ESPN cameras rolled as Monica Webb and Allison Fisher, two veteran champions, took the stage.
Monica took the first point in the race to seven, but Allison quickly answered with two games of her own. Monica won the next three to lead 4-2. In the seventh game, Allison missed a surprising five ball in the corner that put Webb back at the table to extend her lead 5-2.
Allison picked up the next game to trail 5-3, and then another to trail 5-4 when Monica ended up short on a nine ball and missed a cross-side bank. She then broke and ran out to tie the match 5-5, and again to get to the hill, 6-5!
With no shot after the break, Fisher was forced to push out. A safety battle ensued but Fisher got first look at a long, sharp cut on the one. She nailed that, and proceeded to execute a tricky rack to take the win 7-5! Webb finishes tied for third place.
The quarter final, semi final and final matches will be broadcast by ESPN in seven one-hour national shows, airing Saturday, July 14, (Quarterfinals 12-4pm on ESPN2) and Sunday, July 15, (Semifinals/Final 1-4pm on ESPN2).
Fans and media can keep up with ongoing results at http://www.wpba.com/images/stories/brackets/2012_us_open.pdf Refresh the link for the most up-to-date results — scoring updates will take place throughout the day’s play!
Schedule of Events:
Sunday, June 10 at 3 pm and 5 pm
ESPN Semifinal #2 and Final (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP)
It’s all taking place at the River Spirit Event Center, adjacent to the River Spirit Casino at 81st and Riverside in Tulsa.
Tickets are just $20 on June 9th and 10th! VIP tickets are available for $25. Visit www.riverspirittulsa.com/entertainment/eventcenter for tickets and more information!
TULSA, OK – The WPBA US Open 9-Ball Championships at the River Spirit Event Center in Tulsa continued with eight more matches on the one-loss side of the double elimination chart. Winning players are matching up evening session play against losers of Round Three. Losing players below finish 25th – 32nd.
Elimination Round Three (Defeated Players Eliminated)
Fans and media can keep up with ongoing results at http://www.wpba.com/images/stories/brackets/2012_us_open.pdf (refresh the link for the most up-to-date results!)
Schedule of Events:
Friday, June 8 at 10 am
Double elimination play in day and evening sessions
Saturday, June 9 at 1 pm
ESPN Quarterfinals (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP)
Sunday, June 10 at 1 pm
ESPN Semifinals and Final (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP)
The quarter final, semi final and final matches will be taped by ESPN for seven one-hour national broadcasts, airing Saturday, July 14, (Quarterfinals 12-4pm on ESPN2) and Sunday, July 15, (Semifinals/Final 1-4pm on ESPN2).
It all takes place at the River Spirit Event Center, adjacent to the River Spirit Casino at 81st and Riverside in Tulsa.
Tickets are just $10 on June 8th and $20 on June 9th and 10th! VIP tickets are available for $25. Visit www.riverspirittulsa.com/entertainment/eventcenter for tickets and more information!
TULSA, OK – The WPBA US Open 9-Ball Championships at the River Spirit Event Center in Tulsa have whittled the field down to 48 players from the original 64. The first sixteen players were eliminated after two consecutive losses. Here are the results of the first round in the one loss bracket. Winning players are matching up in day session play today and another sixteen players will soon say farewell to their US Open title hopes…
Elimination Round One (Defeated Players Eliminated)
Fans and media can keep up with ongoing results at http://www.wpba.com/images/stories/brackets/2012_us_open.pdf (refresh the link for the most up-to-date results!)
Schedule of Events:
Friday, June 8 at 10 am
Double elimination play in day and evening sessions
Saturday, June 9 at 1 pm
ESPN Quarterfinals (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP)
Sunday, June 10 at 1 pm
ESPN Semifinals and Final (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP)
The quarter final, semi final and final matches will be taped by ESPN for seven one-hour national broadcasts, airing Saturday, July 14, (Quarterfinals 12-4pm on ESPN2) and Sunday, July 15, (Semifinals/Final 1-4pm on ESPN2).
It all takes place at the River Spirit Event Center, adjacent to the River Spirit Casino at 81st and Riverside in Tulsa.
Tickets are just $10 on June 8th and $20 on June 9th and 10th! VIP tickets are available for $25. Visit www.riverspirittulsa.com/entertainment/eventcenter for tickets and more information!
TULSA, OK – The WPBA US Open 9-Ball Championships at the River Spirit Event Center in Tulsa continued this morning with sixteen more matches on the one-loss side of the double elimination chart. Winning players are matching up in day session play later today; the losing players finish 33/48th.
Elimination Round Two (Defeated Players Eliminated)
Fans and media can keep up with ongoing results at http://www.wpba.com/images/stories/brackets/2012_us_open.pdf (refresh the link for the most up-to-date results!)
Schedule of Events:
Friday, June 8 at 10 am
Double elimination play in day and evening sessions
Saturday, June 9 at 1 pm
ESPN Quarterfinals (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP)
Sunday, June 10 at 1 pm
ESPN Semifinals and Final (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP)
The quarter final, semi final and final matches will be taped by ESPN for seven one-hour national broadcasts, airing Saturday, July 14, (Quarterfinals 12-4pm on ESPN2) and Sunday, July 15, (Semifinals/Final 1-4pm on ESPN2).
It all takes place at the River Spirit Event Center, adjacent to the River Spirit Casino at 81st and Riverside in Tulsa.
Tickets are just $10 on June 8th and $20 on June 9th and 10th! VIP tickets are available for $25. Visit www.riverspirittulsa.com/entertainment/eventcenter for tickets and more information!
TULSA, OK – Following the player’s meeting and draw at the River Spirit Events Center, the following are the times and match ups for Round One. Double elimination rounds continue until the field is narrowed to the final 16 on Friday, when the tournament becomes single elimination. #1 ranked Allison Fisher will attempt to defend her title!
Schedule of Events: Thursday, June 7 at 10 am Double elimination play in day and evening sessions Friday, June 8 at 10 am Double elimination play in day and evening sessions Saturday, June 9 at 1 pm ESPN Quarterfinals (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP) Sunday, June 10 at 1 pm ESPN Semifinals and Final (Tix are $20 general admission, $25 VIP) The quarter final, semi final and final matches will be taped by ESPN for seven one-hour national broadcasts, airing Saturday, July 14, (Quarterfinals 12-4pm on ESPN2) and Sunday, July 15, (Semifinals/Final 1-4pm on ESPN2). It all takes place at the River Spirit Event Center, adjacent to the River Spirit Casino at 81st and Riverside in Tulsa.
On the weekend of May 5-6, 2012, the J. Pechaurer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) headed to First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA. First Break Cafe is a new venue added to the JPNEWT tour schedule. After dominating the East Coast Regional Tour Championship, the JPNEWT ladies had another opportunity to earn a paid spot in the upcoming 2012 WPBA US Open in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For this event, $1000 was added and drew twenty-one ladies to battle it out on diamond tables.
Day two began with Linda Shea vs Megan Smith from the winner-side and from the 1-loss side Briana Miller vs Tricia Tennant and Cheryl Squire vs Pauline Mattes (earlier defeated Kathy Friend 7-3, Cheryl Squire 7-5, and Eugenia Gyftopoulos 7-3). Linda win over Megan 7-4 put her in the hot seat. From the b-side, Briana eliminated Tricia7-2 while Pauline did the same against Squire 7-4. Mattes swept through Miller 7-1 putting her in the semi-finals against Smith. Megan wasted no time to get a second chance at Shea in the finals as she defeated Pauline 7-2. Down to the finals as Shea held firm to form, preventing a modified race to 9; she defeated Smith 7-5 to win this event.
Other top finishers were Megan Smith, Pauline Mattes, Briana Miller, Tricia Tennant, and Cheryl Squire. Although Mattes finished third, she accepted the qualifier spot to the US Open; she will represent her home pool hall, First Break Café. Another notable mention is Tricia’s first time in the money since joining JPNEWT. Congrats to a job well done ladies.
The JPNEWT thanks all the players, spectators, and ustream.tv viewers for supporting ladies in pool. A special thank you goes out to our sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues. Last but not least, thank you First Break Cafe and Pauline Mattes for sponsoring this great event! First Break’s venue, service, staff and food were great!
On April 29, Kim Jones won the second stop on the Northwest Women’s Poolplayers Association Tour. A week later, on May 6, she joined 28 regional players in Bellevue, WA for the WPBA West Coast Regional Tour Championship, and in the finals, battled to a double hill victory over Liz Cole. The victory earned her the right to face the WPBA’s East Coast champion, Megan Smith, in a one-on-one battle to crown an overall regional tour champion at the WPBA US Open next month in Oklahoma. The $2,000-added RTC, hosted by Parlor Billiards and Spirits in Bellevue, featured a series of round-robin matches that sent eight, top-scoring women to a single elimination round of three matches which eventually crowned the West Coast champion.
The 28 entrants were broken up into four groups of seven, which played a series of six, round robin matches, tallying points (games won) along the way. The top eight scores (two from each group) at the end of the series, advanced to a three-match series of single elimination rounds. Liz Cole went undefeated (30 points) in her group, defeating eventual, final-eight competitor (Shelby Locati) in the process. Jones, who won five of her six matches to finish with 27 points, was in a group with the current, top-ranked player on the NWPA tour, Jana Montour; Jones is second on that tour, and Cole is third. Montour finished the round robin matches, a point ahead of Jones. Jones had won their head-to-head battle, but had scored only two points in a second round match against Trinh Lu.
Mary Hopkin and Linda Carter (the only competitor among the final eight not ranked on the NWPA Tour) advanced from their group with 25 points each, edging out Talya Makus (ties broken by head-to-head records in the round robin series). Suzanne Smith (28 points) and Deby Welfringer (26 points) completed the group of eight finalists. Jones faced Welfringer, Cole drew Hopkin, Montour took on Smith, and Locati squared off against Carter.
Jones advanced to the semifinals with a 9-4 victory over Welfringer and faced Locati, who’d downed Carter 9-3. Cole took her place among the final four with a 9-5 win over Hopkin, and was joined by Montour, who’d defeated Smith 9-4.
In a reversal of the April 29 hot seat match on the NWPA Tour, which Montour won 7-5, it was Cole advancing to the finals with a 9-4 victory. Jones advanced with a 9-6 win over Locati.
Cole took an early 3-0 lead in the race-to-9 finals, and maintained that lead, through to 6-3. By the 12th rack, the lead was down to two at 7-5. Jones promptly chalked up three in a row to reach the hill, and Cole came back to tie it – double hill. A shot at the 7-ball in the final rack was missed by Cole, and Jones took advantage to capture the WPBA West Coast RTC championship.
“Liz was the toughest challenge,” said Jones, a day later.
“I felt like I was struggling in that last match,” she added. “I felt I was shooting well, but I made a few errors in the last three games.”
It’s on now to Oklahoma for the (free entry for Jones) WPBA US Open, scheduled for June 6-10 at the River Spirit Casino and Resort in Tulsa, OK, for a match versus the East Coast champion, Megan Smith. Smith earned the East Coast title, when the winner of that event, My Hanh Lac, determined that she could not attend the Open.
“I’ve played her quite a few times,” said Jones, who began her competitive career on the East Coast, “but I think I’ve only beaten her once.”
“When I played her,” she added, “she was dominating that (JPNEWT) Tour.”
NWPA and WPBA President Tamre Rogers extended thanks to Steve Olson (owner) and Dave Lauer (manager) of Parlor Billiards and Spirits in Bellevue, Rail2Rail Productions, which provided live streaming at the event, and Billiards 911 for the event’s raffle cues. Rogers also thanked the WPBA for their contribution of a free entry to the US Open for the winner.
My Hanh Lac had to get by Megan Smith twice – first in the fifth round of a round robin series of seven matches and again in the finals – to win the WPBA Regional Tour Championships, held under the auspices of the MissCues Regional Ladies Tour on the weekend of April 14-15. The $2,000-added event drew 32 invited entrants to 150 ‘N Out Billiards in Mooreseville, NC.
The 32 entrants were split up into four groups of eight for the opening, seven-round series of round robin matches, which yielded two winners in each group. The resultant eight players moved into a single elimination set of quarterfinal and semifinal matches that resulted in the final matchup between Lac and Smith, both members of the first, round-robin grouping.
Advancement to the single elimination rounds was based on match wins, and total games won during the round-robin matches. Lac and Smith advanced with six wins each and a total of 29 games won in the first group. In the process, Janet Atwell, who’d defeated Lac in the second, round robin matchup 5-4, and was then defeated by Smith in the fourth round by the same score, was edged out of advancement to the final eight, when she dropped a second match in the round robin series. Emerging from the second group were Cheryl Pritchard and Buffy Jolie. Brianna Miller and Shanna Lewis advanced from Group Three, while Eugenia Gyftopoulos and Lisa Cossette advanced from Group Four.
Lac drew Gyftopoloulos in the quarterfinals and with a 9-4 victory, advanced to meet Miller, who’d defeated Pritchard in the other quarterfinal match 9-5. Smith faced Cossette in the quarterfinals, and defeated her 9-1, to face Jolie, who’d downed Lewis in their quarterfinal matchup 9-6.
Both semifinal matches yielded the same score. Smith advanced to the finals 9-4 over Jolie, as Lac was busy eliminating Miller. Lac and Smith battled to double hill before Lac sunk the final ball to claim the regional tour title, and its $700 first prize. She will face the winner of the West Coast Regional Tour championships in a playoff at the WPBA US Open in June to determine eligibility for future WPBA events.
The top prizes in the event were portioned out based on overall event results, which left Smith in second place ($600), Miller in third ($500) and Buffy Jolie in fourth place ($400).
