Taylor becomes only 4th woman since 2013 to win VA State Women’s 10-Ball title

 

It’s a little early to start making predictions or get too much of a ‘read’ on a tour’s point standings (at least those that run on a calendar year schedule), but the Action Pool Tour’s second stop provided some intriguing information. It wasn’t so much about who’s in the top spots at this point, but who, among last year’s top players are apparently starting out a little slow. Stop #2 on the Action Pool Tour – the 2020 VA State 10-Ball Open Championships – drew 73 entrants to Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA on the weekend of February 15-16. Six of last year’s top 10 players in the tour’s final standings competed in this event. Two finished out of the money, including the event’s defending champion, RJ Carmona. Three, including last year’s tour champion, Chris Bruner, finished in the first money round. Reymart Lim, who finished in 4th place overall last year and won this year’s season opener was this event’s runner-up. In his first appearance on the tour in seven years, BJ Ussery came from the loss side to earn a finals rematch against Lim, which he won to claim the event title.

 

Meanwhile, the 2020 VA State Women’s 10-Ball Championships drew 16 women to the same location. As they did last year, Liz Taylor and Janet Atwell battled twice to claim this title. The results of those two battles were a reverse of last year’s; Atwell, winning the first and Taylor, winning the final (more on this a bit later).

 

Ussery’s appearance on the Action Pool Tour is a reflection of his desire to play generally stronger opponents than those he tends to face on regional handicapped tours. The last time he’d appeared on the APT, he’d finished 7th in the inaugural (2013) VA State 10-Ball Championships.

 

“I’m hoping to play in more of these (APT events) this year,” said Ussery. “I want to play against better players and compete in the some of the bigger events, like the US Open or the Super Billiards Expo.”

 

Any time at table, ultimately, is good time at table, but playing in a handicap system, no matter which one it is, carries a downside. According to Ussery, it’s less about the game and more about human nature.

 

“I get so used to giving up a handicap,” Ussery explained, “that when I get into a non-handicap game, it’s hard for me to bear down.”

 

His opening matches tended to demonstrate this. Ussery opened with an 8-6 win over Reggie Jackson, had a strong 8-1 victory over Jonathan Syphanthavong, and then gave up five against Shorty Davis. He had to win a deciding, 15th game in his fourth match, against Justin Martin. Nathan Childress chalked up six against him next, but Ussery prevailed and advanced to his first meeting against Reymart Lim, in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Lim had downed Barry Mashburn, RJ Carmona, Larry Kressel and shut out Greg Sabins (last year’s #12 in the point standings) to reach Ussery. Shane Wolford and Eric Moore (the APT’s 2016 Tour Champion) squared off in the other one.

 

By identical 8-1 scores, Lim and Wolford advanced to the hot seat match over Ussery and Moore. Lim and Wolford then locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Wolford to the semifinals and left Lim in the hot seat.

 

Ussery opened up on the loss side against Mike Davis, who was working on a five-match winning streak that was about to end and had included recent wins over Kelly Farrar 7-3 and Justin Martin 7-2. Moore picked up Scott Roberts, who’d been shut out by Greg Sabins in the second round and was working on his own seven-match, loss-side streak that included a successful 7-5 rematch against Sabins and a 7-5 victory over Nathan Childress, which led to Moore.

 

Ussery ended Davis’ streak 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced Roberts, who’d defeated Moore 7-4. Ussery ended Roberts’ streak and Wolford’s short visit to the loss side in the semifinals, both 7-5.

 

Going into the final match, Ussery was mindful not only of the earlier matchup, in which Lim had allowed him only a single rack, but previous matchups, as well. They’d faced each other on a number of occasions over the years, and playing against him, Ussery knew what the difference was.

 

“I knew he was a good player when we’d met before,” said Ussery, “but I knew then, that part of the reason he was beating me was that he’d been putting in the time.”

 

“These days,” Ussery added, “I’m as prepared as anybody.”

 

Ussery spoiled Lim’s bid for a second straight win on the APT. He defeated him 10-8 to claim his first APT title.

 

Taylor spoils Atwell’s bid for a third straight, sixth overall VA State 10-Ball Woman’s title.

 

[photo id=51605|align=right]Since 2013, there have been four women who’ve claimed the VA State Women’s 10-Ball title. Tracie Majors won it in 2014 and Meredith Lynch captured the title in 2017. Janet Atwell has claimed the title five times; once in its inaugural year (2013) and then, back-to-back, twice (’15,’16, ’18, ’19). Last year, Atwell was defeated by Liz Taylor, double hill, in the hot seat match and came back to down Taylor 8-2 in the finals to claim her second straight and fifth overall title.  This year, at the event that drew 16 entrants (one more than last year), they reversed things. Taylor was defeated in the hot seat match and came back to defeat Atwell in the finals and claim the 2020 women’s title.

 

It took them each three matches to meet for the first time in the hot seat match. Atwell got by Nicole King, Tina Nash and, in a winners’ side semifinal, shut out Hayleigh Marion. Taylor defeated Soo Emmett, Christy Norris and, in her winners’ side semifinal, survived a double hill match against Lisa Cossette. Atwell claimed the hot seat 6-1.

 

Taylor’s return faced a stiff challenge from Deeqa Nur, who’d been defeated in the opening round of play by Cheryl Sporleder and came back through five opponents to draw Taylor in the semifinals. Nur battled to double hill against two of those opponents. She picked up Hayleigh Marion, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal and defeated her, just ahead of downing Lisa Cossette in a double hill quarterfinal. Taylor spoiled the strong, loss-side bid 5-3 in the semifinals.

 

And so it was, that for the second year in a row, Liz Taylor and Janet Atwell battled for the State of Virginia’s Women’s 10-Ball title. In a reversal of fortunes, Taylor gave up only one rack to Atwell in claiming the event title 8-1.

 

Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Diamond Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Full Stroke Billiards Apparel and Haselman & Hunt, D.D.S., P.C. Family Dentistry. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for March 28-29, will be a Double Points event – The East Coast Landscaping Bar Box Bash – to be hosted by Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, VA.

Atwell comes back from semifinals to claim her 5th VA State 10-Ball title

 

In the seven-year history of the Virginia State 10-Ball Championships, there have been seven different winners in the event’s Open Division. The most recent winner at the 7th Annual event was RJ Carmona. In that same time frame, there have only been three women who have claimed the title – Tracie Majors (2014), Meredith Lynch (2017) and Janet Atwell, who won the inaugural event in 2013, and claimed the title in successive years, twice; 2015, 2016, 2018, and this past weekend, February 16-17, 2019. Both competitors at this year’s championships, held under the auspices of the Action Pool Tour and hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA, made it to their respective hot seat matches, and lost. They both came back to meet and defeat their hot seat opponent and claim the event title.

 

The Open division of the annual event drew 48 entrants, and only one former champion (Eric Moore, 2016). The Women’s Championship drew 15 entrants, including four-time and defending champion, Atwell. The Open event drew 9 of the top 10 finishers from the APT season opener in January, including that event’s winner (Reymart Lim).

 

Carmona opened his bid for the 2019 title with a shutout over Christopher Wilburn and then, battled to double hill against Del Sim before advancing. He downed Reymart Lim 8-6 and met up with Scott Roberts in a winners’ side semifinal. Carmona’s hot seat and finals opponent, Scott Haas, got by Danny Mastermaker, double hill, in the opening round and went on to defeat Shane Buchanan 8-5, before getting locked up in a second double hill battle against David Hairfield. Haas won that one to advance to a winners’ side semifinal against Brian Bryant.

 

Haas got into the hot seat match with an 8-4 win over Bryant. Carmona joined him after sending Roberts to the loss side 8-2. Haas claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Carmona and waited on his return.

 

On the loss side, Bryant picked up APT veteran/pro player Brandon Shuff, who’d lost a second- round match to Reymart Lim (double hill) and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He’d most recently eliminated Shorty Davis 7-3 and winner of the APT season opener, Reymart Lim 7-2. Scott Roberts drew Chris Bruner, who’d lost his second-round match to John Newton, and like Shuff, was on an extended loss-side streak (eight matches) that would take him to the seminfinals. He’d most recently defeated David Hairfield 7-5 and Danny Mastermaker 7-4.

 

Shuff and Bruner advanced to the quarterfinals with seven loss-side wins each, once Shuff had eliminated Bryant 7-5 and Bruner had defeated Roberts 7-3. Bruner broke the loss-side match tie with a 7-5 win over Shuff and with some momentum on his side, battled to double hill against Carmona in the semifinals. Carmona, though, finished it for a second shot at Haas in the hot seat.

 

Whatever happened in the Carmona/Haas finals, Reymart Lim was going to retain his top spot on the tour’s (two event) points-leader board, and RJ Carmona would hold on to his #2 spot. Haas, competing in his first 2019 APT stop, would enter the points-leader board at either #18, if he won, or #20, if he lost. Carmona completed his 2019 VA State 10-Ball Championship run with a 10-8 victory over Haas.

 

Atwell goes 3-1 to claim her fifth VA State 10-Ball Ladies title

 

It’s never easy, but short fields make for short runs to event titles. Janet Atwell played four matches and won three of them to claim her fifth VA State 10-Ball title. It was her first appearance on the APT in 2019 and her victory allowed her to enter the tour’s points-leader board at #83 (points are awarded based on a player’s finish and a formula related to the total number of entrants).

 

Atwell was awarded an opening round bye and then defeated Buffy Jolie 7-4 to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Marianne Merrill. Liz Taylor, in the meantime, got by Cheryl Pritchard 7-2 and Tina Castillo 7-4 to arrive at her winners’ side semifinal match against Linda Shea (tour director of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour).

 

Atwell and Taylor advanced to the hot seat match with identical 7-4 victories over Merrill and Shea. Taylor claimed the hot seat in a double hill win.

 

On the loss side, Shea picked up Lisa Cossette, who’d defeated Kim McKenna and Nicole King, both 6-4, to reach her. Merrill drew Cheryl Sporleder, who’d defeated Dorothy Strater 6-1 and Bethany Sykes 6-4. Shea and Sporleder advanced to the quarterfinals, having given up only three racks between them in 15 games; Shea gave up two to Cossette and Sporleder gave up one to Merrill.

 

Shea gave up none at all to Sporleder in those quarterfinals, only to get locked up in what was most likely a predictable double hill fight between her and Atwell in the semifinals. Atwell prevailed and then in the finals rematch, downed Taylor 8-2 to claim the VA State 10-Ball Ladies title.

 

A Second Chance tournament drew 18 entrants. Greg Sabins and Robert Farmer worked their way through the field and battled in both the hot seat and finals. Farmer claimed the hot seat in a double hill fight, but Sabins came back from a shutout over Graham Swinson in the semifinals to shut Farmer out in the finals and claim the Second Chance top prize of $160. Farmer took home $100 as runner-up. Swinson finished third ($75), Cheryl Sporleder finished in fourth place ($50). Jamie Bess and Andrew Stephan each took home $30 for the 5th place tie.

 

Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Diamond Billiards, as well as sponsors Diamond Billiard Products, Viking Cues, Predator, Tiger, Kamui Tips, Ozone Billiards, Simonis Cloth, and George Hammerbacher Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the 2019 Action Pool Tour, scheduled for March 23-24, will be the East Coast Landscaping Bar Box Bash and will be hosted by Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, VA.

Atwell goes undefeated to reclaim Ladies title she won in 2016

 

Most players will spend a few hours, sometimes quite a few, practicing at their local pool room before venturing out to compete in a major tournament. Russia’s Ruslan Chinakhov spent two days on the West Coast in what’s been described as a “grueling” one-on-one 10-ball challenge (which he won) against Oscar Dominguez, before showing up 3,000 or so miles away, three days later, to compete in the 2018 VA State 10-Ball Championships, held under the auspices of the Action Pool Tour on the weekend of February 10-11. Chinakhov went undefeated through the field of 64 entrants in the Open portion of the Championships, which were hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA. A concurrently-run Ladies tournament was won by Janet Atwell, who went undefeated through a field of 16 entrants to reclaim the title she’d last won in 2016.

 

Chinakhov faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals of this event. He met the Action Pool Tour’s top-ranked player, Reymart Lim in the hot seat match, and in the finals, Warren Kiamco, whom he’d defeated earlier in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Following victories over Joseph Sellechia, Steve Fleming and Donnie Haynes, Chinakhov downed Kiamco 8-5 and moved on to a winners’ side semifinal against John Newton. Lim, in the meantime, who’d won the APT’s season opener, downed Matty Arcuri, Chris Pyle, David Stanley, and Mike Davis to draw Kirill Rutman in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Rutman battled Lim to double hill, but it was Lim who advanced to the hot seat match. Chinakhov joined him after sending Newton to the loss side 8-1. Chinakhov claimed the hot seat with an 8-3 win over Lim and waited on the return of Kiamco.

 

Though this year’s VA State 10-Ball Championships did not include last year’s winner, Dennis Orcollo, it did feature last year’s runner-up (Shaun Wilkie), third place (Larry Kressel), fourth place (Lim), and both 5th place finishers (Newton and Davis). Newton, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal this year drew Davis, who’d survived a double hill battle against Chris Bruner and defeated Kenny Miller 8-1 to reach him. Rutman picked up Kiamco, who, following his defeat at the hands of Chinakhov, stopped Shaun Wilkie’s four-match, loss-side winning streak 8-4, and then eliminated this event’s 2016 champion, Eric Moore 8-1.

 

Kiamco advanced to the quarterfinals 8-2 over Rutman, while Davis was downing Newton 8-2 to join him. Kiamco sent Davis home 8-4 in those quarterfinals; one spot higher than he’d reached last year. Kiamco then downed Lim 8-6 in the semifinals, sending him home one spot higher than he’d finished last year.

 

Chinakhov completed his undefeated run with a commanding 10-3 victory over Kiamco in the finals.

 

Atwell returns to chalk up her third VA State 10-Ball Ladies Championships

 

[photo id=48695|align=right]For two years in a row – 2015/2016 – Janet Atwell and Jacki Duggan were winner and runner-up, respectively, in the Ladies edition of the VA State 10-Ball Championships. Atwell did not compete in 2017, although Duggan did, finishing in the tie for 7th place. Duggan was on hand this year, as well, although she would be shut out by Atwell in the second round, and for the second year in a row, end up in the tie for 7th place. Last year’s champion, Meredith Lynch, showed up to defend her title and finished fourth, just behind Lisa Cossette, who would win three on the loss side before falling to the undefeated Atwell in the finals.

 

Atwell’s path to the winners’ circle proved a little shaky at the outset, as she survived an opening round, double hill match against Falon Newton. Atwell went on to shut out Duggan and then, faced Lynch in a winners’ side semfinal. Nicole King, in the meantime, got by Sierra Reams, and Soo Emmett to face Cossette in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Atwell sent last year’s winner to the loss side 6-1, and was joined in the hot seat match by King, who’d defeated Cossette 6-4. Atwell claimed the hot seat 6-2 over King and waited on Cossette’s return.

 

On the loss side, Cossette picked up Duggan, who’d defeated Judie Wilson and Bethany Sykes, both 6-3, to reach her. Lynch drew Buffy Jolie, who’d shut out two straight opponents – Eugenia Gyftopoulos and Falon Newton – to reach her.

 

The two battles for the right to advance to the quarterfinals went double hill; Cossette downing Duggan, and Lynch eliminating Jolie. So did the quarterfinals, with Cossette eventually moving on to face King. Cossette, who was likely a little tired of the double hill route, gave up only a single rack to King in the semifinals and turned to face Atwell in the finals. Atwell gave up only two to Cossette in the finals to claim her third VA State 10-Ball Ladies Championship.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Diamond BIlliards, as well as sponsors Kamui, Tiger Products, Predator, Viking Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Aramith, SImonis, Ozone Billiards and George Hammerbacher. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for March 17-18 will be a Bar Box Bash, hosted by Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, VA.

 

Malm and Townsend finish 1st & 2nd for third straight time in Women’s event

 

It’s been a good year for Reymart Lim; his best recorded earnings year since he started showing up on the AZBilliards’ database, four years ago. He began the year in February by finishing fourth in the 2017 VA State 10-Ball Championships, behind Dennis Orcollo, Shaun Wilkie and Larry Kressel. Since that time, he’s cashed in nine other events, including victories on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, and the North Carolina State 10-Ball Open. Only once, all year, has he been outside of an event’s top 10 finishers. The exception was the 42nd Annual US Open 9-Ball Championships, at which he finished in the tie for 25th. There were only seven US players among the Open’s top 25 finishers – Lim, Earl Strickland (also in the tie for 25th), Skyler Woodward, Justin Bergman, Shane Van Boening (all 13th), Billy Thorpe (9th), and Corey Deuel (7th).

 

Good company, to say the least. On the weekend of December 9-10, Lim added a victory on the Action Pool Tour to his resumé and had to win seven on the loss side to do it. He challenged and defeated hot seat occupant, Eric Moore in the finals. It was the APT’s season finale and it drew 35 entrants to Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. A concurrently-run Women’s event drew a very short field of six entrants and saw Tina Malm and Gwen Townsend finish 1st & 2nd, respectively, for the third straight time on the tour.

 

In the women’s event, a preliminary, two-match round of play advanced Malm and Meredith Lynch to the winners’ side semifinals. Malm had defeated Soo Emmett 7-2 to draw Townsend. Lynch had sent Donisha Riddick to the loss side 7-1 and picked up Cheryl Pritchard. Malm and Townsend battled to double hill, before Townsend finished it to advance to the hot seat match. She was joined by Pritchard, who’d defeated Lynch 7-5. Townsend successfully fought a second double hill match and sat in the hot seat, awaiting Malm’s return from a three-match trip on the loss side.

 

On the loss side, Malm downed Riddick 7-2, advancing to meet Lynch, who’d defeated Emmett 7-1. Malm and Lynch came within a game of double hill, before Malm advanced to the semifinals 7-5. Malm then downed Pritchard 7-1 for a second shot at Townsend in the hot seat. The race was extended to 9, and Malm needed 16 of the match’s potential 17 games to close it out. She did so, 9-7, to chalk up her third straight victory on the tour (7th overall). It was also Townsend’s third straight finish as runner-up (to go along with a victory in May). The two finished 1st and 2nd in the tour’s rankings for the year.

 

In the Open event (in which Malm participated, as well, going two-and-out), Lim won his opening-round match against Brad Hedges 9-3, and was then sent to the loss side by Tuan Chau 9-6. Chau advanced to meet Eric Moore, who defeated him, double hill, and then advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Kenny Miller. JT Ringgold, having defeated Mac Harrell, Michael Hughes, and Greg Sabins, advanced to meet Chris Wilburn, who entered (and finished) the tournament as the tour’s #2-ranked player (Shaun Wilkie, who did not compete, remained in the #1 slot).

 

Moore downed Miller 9-6, as Ringgold defeated Wilburn 9-3. Moore and Ringgold locked up in a double hill fight for possession of the hot seat and Moore claimed it.

 

On the loss side, Lim opened his trek back to the finals with victories over Jose Vega-Hernandez (7-1), Joshua Padron (7-2), Greg Sabins (7-2), and Mac Harrell (7-4), to draw Miller. Wilburn picked up the man who’d sent Lim to the loss side, Tuan Chau, who’d recently defeated Michael Hughes 7-2 and Nilbert Lim (no relation, though a friend, to Reymart) 7-4.

 

Chau defeated Wilburn, as Reymart Lim was busy eliminating Harrell, both 7-4. Lim wreaked his vengeance on Chau 7-2 in the quarterfinals, and went on to down Ringgold 7-5 in the semifinals. Lim took command of the finals, and finished it at 11-5 to claim the event title.

 

Tour director Ozzy Reynolds thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards for their hospitality and sponsorship, along with Cue Sports International, Predator, Ozone Billiards and George Hammerbach. The event, as the season finale, also ended the mega-battle for tour rankings in the male and Open divisions. Leading the way in the Open Division was Shaun Wilkie, who earned airfare, hotel and entry fee to the 2018 US Open 10-Ball Championships. Chris Wilburn, who finished second, earned hotel and entry fee to the same event.

 

Tina Malm, who finished at the top of the women’s rankings, received hotel accommodations and entry fee to the 2018 BCAPL World Championships in July. Unless a female finishes at the top of the tour’s Open rankings, Malm became the APT’s last separate female tour champion, because the APT will no longer offer separate tournaments for a female division of the tour.

 

Corr had to get by Briana Miller twice in this event; a chore rendered more significant by an earlier meeting between the two, which took place in June, during the fourth stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour in Frederick, MD. Looking to secure a second straight win on the 2107 JPNEWT, Miller defeated Corr, double hill, in the third winners’ side round of that event. Corr came back through the loss side to defeat Miller in the finals to win her first 2017 JPNEWT title. It was a match Corr remembered when Meredith Lynch interviewed her for the NAPT, following the Summer Classic and asked her about the influx of young female guns.

 

“There’s a lot of great talent out there,” Corr said at the time. “Briana (Miller) – I played her there in Frederick. She beat me in the one side and we had a close match in the final. It’s challenging for me, too, you know?”

 

They had two close matches in this Freedom Classic. The first one came in the battle for the hot seat. Victories over Denise Belanger, Krista Walsh, Brittany Bryant (5th in the NAPT Summer 10-Ball Classic) and Naomi Williams set Corr up to face April Larson (7th in NAPT Summer 10-Ball Classic) in a winners’ side semifinal. Miller, in the meantime, having worked her way through Alex Calabrese, Teruko Cucculelli, Nathalie Chabot, Jenna Blahoff, faced veteran LoreeJon Hasson in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Corr downed Larson 7-3, whiLe Miller sent Hasson to the loss side 7-4. As might have been expected, Miller and Corr locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Miller to the semifinals and put Corr in an NAPT Division I hot seat for the second straight time.

 

On the loss side, Larson picked up Bryant, who, after her defeat by Corr, was in the midst of a four-match loss-side streak that included recent victories over Jenna Blahoff 7-3 and Stacie Bourbeau 7-4, and was about to come to an end. Hasson drew Naomi Williams, who’d gotten by Janet Atwell 7-4 and Veronique Menard 7-5 to reach her.

 

Larson defeated Bryant 7-4, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Williams, who’d eliminated Hasson 7-4. Larson and Williams locked up in a double hill quarterfinal that eventually sent Williams to the semifinals against Miller.

 

Miller got her second shot at Corr with a 7-4 win over Williams in the semifinals. The true double elimination final amounted to one set. As they had done battling for the hot seat, Corr and Miller fought to a deciding game, before Corr closed it out to claim her second straight NAPT title.

 

The next NAPT Division I Pro event – The Desert Shootout – scheduled for November 2-5, will be hosted by Griff’s Pool & Billiards Hall in Las Vegas, NV.

 

 

She won the first one a little over a year ago; June, 2016. In the debut event of the fledgling North American Pool Tour at Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA, Karen Corr went undefeated through a field of 56 to capture her first and the first NAPT title. Two months later, the NAPT's first 10-Ball Summer Classic saw 16-year-old April Larson claim her first professional title. Just shy of a year later, August 17-20, Corr signed on to the $5,000-added, second 10-Ball Summer Classic and went undefeated again. Though it would be newcomer Molly Bontrager facing her in the hot seat match and veteran Eleanor Callado against her in the finals, Corr came within two matches (played and won by those two) of facing the same competitor she'd faced in the hot seat match and finals of the first 10-Ball Summer Classic, Jia Li.

 

Corr opened her march to the winners' circle by allowing only four racks against her through her first three matches. She gave up two against Amy Latzko in the opening round, none at all to Lisa Lehman in round two and two more against Meredith Lynch before running into Brittany Bryant in a winners' side quarterfinal. Bryant chalked up more against her (five) than all three of her previous opponents combined, but Corr advanced to her first match against Callado in a winners' side semifinal.

 

Molly Bontrager, in the meantime, moved into the other winners' side semifinal against Jia Li, Corr's opponent in the finals of the first NAPT event. Bontrager had shutout Rho Reyes, given up two to Nicole King, defeated five-time Junior National Champion, April Larson, and downed JPNEWT veteran Kia Sidbury for the right to face Li.

 

Corr downed Callado in their first of two, 7-3. Bontrager and Li battled to double hill before Bontrager advanced to the hot seat match against Corr. Corr sent Bontrager to a semifinal against Callado 7-4 and sat in the hot seat, waiting, as it turned out for Callado.

 

Over on the loss side, Callado picked up Sidbury, who, following her defeat at the hands of Bontrager, had eliminated Janeen Lee 7-2 and Kaylin Wykoff 7-3. Li drew Brittany Bryant, who, following her trip to the loss side, courtesy of Karen Corr, had downed Jenna Bishoff 7-2 and fought April Larson to double hill before advancing to face Li.

 

Callado got by Sidbury 7-2, and in the quarterfinals, faced Li, who'd put Bryant on the wrong side of her second double hill fight. Callado then ended Li's bid for a second NAPT finals match against Corr with a 7-4 win. It was Callado drawing that second chance card, as she eliminated Bontrager 7-4 in the semifinals. Corr downed Callado a second time, this time 6-1, to claim the NAPT Summer 10-Ball Classic, again.

 

NAPT President Adrianne Beach thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter's Bar, co-tournament directors Chris Rogers and Ford Rice, and the staff and crew of Railbird Productions which live-streamed the event throughout the weekend. The next NAPT Division I event, scheduled for September 28-October 1, will be hosted by Eagle Billiards in Dickson City, PA 

 

Malm wins Ladies event

 

Eric Moore, the 2016 VA State 10-Ball and 8-Ball Champion, finished the 2016 Action Pool Tour (APT) as its top player, capping that feat with an undefeated run at the Tour Championships last December. Until this past weekend (June 17-18), he'd appeared in only two APT stops this year, finishing 7th in March, and, in February, finishing 13th in defense of his VA State 10-Ball title, which was claimed by Dennis Orcollo. Moore also finished fourth in the inaugural Barry Behrman Memorial Spring Open. At this most recent 10-Ball event, the sixth stop on the APT, he went undefeated through a field of 48 at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.

 

In a concurrently-run Ladies event, Tina Malm worked her way, undefeated, through a short field of eight to claim that title. It was Malm's second win on this year's inaugural series of Ladies tournaments, having won the season opener in January. Malm also appeared in the Open event, finishing in the tie for 33rd. In a ranking system that rewards a combination of performance and participation, Judie Wilson, who's appeared in all six of the Ladies tournaments, remains atop the APT's list of female competitors.

 

Moore's run in the Open event began with back-to-back shutouts versus Tina Malm and Toby McGovern, before Chris Futrell, his eventual opponent in the finals, gave him a double-hill run for his money in the third round. Moore survived, advancing to defeat Shaun Wilkie (currently at #3 in the tour rankings) 7-3, which set him up in a winners' side semifinal against Mike Davis. Chuck Sampson, in the meantime, met up with Nilbert Lim in the other winners' side semifinal.

 

Moore survived his second double hill fight, downing Davis, and advanced to the hot seat match versus Sampson, who'd sent Lim to the loss side 7-3. Moore claimed his first hot seat since the Tour Championships and waited there for Futrell to finish his seven-match, loss-side winning streak.

 

Over on the loss side, it was Davis who ran into Futrell, four matches into his loss-side streak, which began with a 6-4 win over the APT's top-ranked player, Christopher Wilburn, and was followed by a shutout over Steve Freeman, and 6-3 wins over TJ Moore and Steve Fleming. Lim picked up Greg Sabins, who'd defeated Mat LeMire 6-2 and (significantly) eliminated Shaun Wilkie 6-3.

 

Futrell defeated Davis 6-3, while Sabins and Lim locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Sabins. Futrell took the quarterfinal match that followed 6-4, and completed his loss-side run by giving up only a single rack to Sampson.

 

The 'finals' re-match was on. The result would do little to change the relative tour rankings of the two opponents (Moore, entering the tournament at #29 and Futrell a few spots above him at #23), but in keeping with their first, double hill meeting, the two played 15 of a possible 17 games. Moore completed his undefeated run 9-6 to claim the title.

 

Malm downs Duggan twice to claim Ladies title

 

Tina Malm's four-match, undefeated run in the Ladies event went through Jacki Duggan twice. They met first in the second round (which was the winners' side semifinal) and fought to double hill, before Malm prevailed. Cheryl Pritchard, in the meantime, having shut out Nicole King, faced Gwen Townsend in the other winners' side semifinal and defeated her 6-4. Malm claimed the hot seat with a 6-2 win over Pritchard and waited on Duggan's return.

 

On the loss side, Duggan picked up Nicole King, who'd just survived a double hill battle against Wilson. Townsend drew Meredith Lynch, who'd defeated Cabatit 6-4 to reach her. By identical 6-4 scores, Duggan and Townsend advanced to the quarterfinals over King and Lynch.

 

Over the next 15 games, encompassing the quarter and semifinals, Duggan gave up only three racks; two to Townsend in the quarterfinals, and one to Pritchard in the semifinals. Malm ended Duggan's short, three-match, loss-side run with an 8-3 win in the finals.

 

Briana Miller ended up winning just over three out of every four racks that she played during the third stop (her first appearance this year) on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour. But for three percentage points, that racks-against average would have been four out of every five. She went undefeated through a field of 23, on-hand for the $500-added (from Coins of the Realm) event, hosted by First Break Cafe and Billiards in Sterling, VA on the weekend of May 20-21.

 

After allowing only four racks to be scored against her through her first three matches, including an 8-1 victory over the tour's #1-ranked competitor, tour director Linda Shea, and a shutout over Kia Sidbury in the third round, Miller moved into what would prove to be her toughest challenge; a winners' side semifinal against Teri Thomas. Gwen Townsend, in the meantime, who'd been awarded an opening round bye, survived a second round double hill fight against Terri Stovall, defeated Britanya Rapp 7-3, and moved into the other winners' side semifinal against Rumi Brown.

 

Thomas chalked up two more racks against Miller (6) than her previous three opponents combined (4), but they weren't enough, as Miller advanced to the hot seat match 8-6. She was joined by Townsend, who'd sent Brown to the loss side 7-4. Miller shut Townsend out in that hot seat match, and waited on the return of Nicole King. 

 

King, after a second round defeat at the hands of Rapp, went on a six-match, loss-side streak that gave her a shot against Miller in the finals. Three victories into that run, she eliminated Judie Wilson 7-5, and Anita Sowers 7-2, to draw Brown. Thomas picked up Jenn Keeney, who, going into the match, occupied the tour ranking's second spot, behind Shea (she was runner-up to Shea's victory on the tour's second stop). Keeney had been awarded an opening round bye and fell to Thomas 7-2 in the second round. Like King, Keeney was on a six-match, loss-side streak that would propel her as far as the quarterfinals. She'd gotten by Rapp 8-4 and Rita Thakur 7-3 to draw the re-match against Thomas.

 

As befitted a loss-side rematch, Keeney and Thomas battled to double hill before Keeney won it to advance to the quarterfinals. She was joined by King, who'd eliminated Brown 7-2. At the conclusion of her second straight double hill match, Keeney's loss-side streak had come to an end. 

 

King followed up by ending Townsend's single-match loss-side journey with a 7-3 win in the semifinals. King entered this third stop on the tour with a .500 record through its first two events (4-4), finishing 9th and 7th previously. Moving into the finals, she was guaranteed at least the tour's third spot in the rankings, behind Shea and Keeney, whose fourth place finish kept her in the #2 spot. A win would have moved King into the second spot, five ranking points ahead of Keeney. Miller, appearing in her first JPNEWT event of the year, completed her undefeated run with a 7-3 win over King in the finals. The victory put Miller in sixth place in the tour rankings, behind Shea, Keeney, King, Meredith Lynch and Carol V. Clark. Miller, having already received an invitation to a North American Pool Tour Division 1 Pro event, deferred the qualifying spot for this event's winner to Nicole King.

 

After being edged out by Dennis Orcollo in the 2017 VA State 10-Ball Championships last month (Feb.), Shaun Wilkie returned to the tables with a vengeance and went undefeated at the March 11-12 stop on the Action Pool Tour. On his trip to the hot seat (racing to 8), only one of his six opponents (Reymart Lim) got within two racks of him, giving him a win percentage to that point of 77% (48-14). Only his opponent in the finals (racing to 10), Chris Futrell, got as close as three racks, knocking his overall percentage down to 73% (58-21). The event drew 54 entrants to Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. 

 

In a concurrently-run Ladies event, Nicole King came back from a double hill loss to Barbara Yeager in the battle for the hot seat to defeat her in the finals and claim the title. The ladies' event drew eight entrants to the same location.

 

In the main event, Wilkie faced four opponents to get into a winners' side semifinal against Reymart Lim. He shut out two of those four opponents (Jose Vega-Hernandez and Troy Simmons), after giving up two racks to Nilbert Lim (no relation to Reymart) and sandwiching an 8-3 win over Corey Bress into the middle. Futrell, in the meantime, found himself facing Bill Duggan in the other winners' side semifinal.

 

Reymart Lim chalked up more racks against Wilkie in their winners' side semifinal (six) than all of Wilkie's previous opponents combined, but it wasn't enough. By the same score, 8-6, Duggan sent Futrell to the loss side. Wilkie sent Duggan west 8-3 to claim the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Futrell picked up Brian Dietzenbach, who, after being defeated by Reymart Lim in his first match, arrived at the 5/6 matches on the heels of a six-match, loss-side winning streak, including a shutout victory over Troy Simmons and a 7-2 win over Eric Moore. Reymart Lim drew RJ Carmona, who'd been sent west by Futrell in a winners' side quarterfinal. Carmona got by Corey Bress 7-4 and just did defeat Nilbert Lim 7-6. 

 

Carmona completed back-to-back victories over the Lims with a 7-5 victory over Reymart. In the quarterfinals, he faced Futrell, who'd ended Dietzenbach's loss-side winning streak 7-1. Futrell then eliminated Carmona 7-5 to face Duggan a second time in the semifinals. Futrell gave up only two racks to earn a second shot against Wilkie. Wilkie completed his undefeated run with a 10-7 victory over Futrell in the finals.

 

In the Ladies' event, five of the 14 total matches played went to double hill. Three of those five were played by Nicole King, who won two of them. She played back-to-back double hill matches to get into the finals. Following a 6-4 victory over Cheryl Pritchard, King defeated Daisy Lim, double hill, in one winners' side semifinal, as  Barbara Yeager was busy downing Gwen Townsend 6-4. Yeager claimed the hot seat, double hill over King and waited for her to return.

 

On the loss side, Lim picked up Meredith Lynch, who, following a defeat at the hands of Yeager in the opening round, had survived a double hill match against Jacki Duggan to draw Lim. Townsend drew Judie Wilson, who'd eliminated Pritchard, double hill.

 

Lim and Townsend advanced to the quarterfinals, having given up only a single rack between them against Lynch and Wilson (Wilson chalked up the solo rack, against Townsend). Townsend then defeated Lim 6-3 in the quarterfinals before being defeated in a double hill match by King in the semifinals. King came back and downed Yeager 8-4 in the finals to claim the event title.

About five weeks after chalking up a victory at the Virginia State Women's 10-Ball Championships, Meredith Lynch, after being defeated by Caroline Pao, came back from the loss side to down Pao in the finals and win the season opener on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour. The $1,000-added event ($500 from Coins of the Realm) drew 34 entrants to Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.

 

Lynch and Pao met first in a winners' side semifinal. After being awarded an opening round bye, Lynch defeated Kia Sidbury, Denise Reeve and Jenn Keeney by an aggregate score of 24-10 (70%), to draw Pao. Pao, who'd also picked up an opening round bye, had defeated Tina Malm, Nicole Fleming and Tina Scott and came into the winners' side semifinal versus Lynch with a 24-7 record (77%). Nicole Monaco, in the meantime, faced Carol V. Clark in the other winners' side semifinal.

 

Pao gave up a single rack to Lynch, and in the hot seat match, faced Monaco, who'd sent Clark to the loss side 7-4. Pao downed Monaco 8-3 to claim the hot seat, chalking up what would prove to be her last match win. 

 

On the loss side, Lynch drew Kathleen Lawless, who'd defeated Nicole King 7-4 and Tina Castillo 7-3 to reach her. Clark drew the 2016 tour's #1 player and tour director, Linda Shea, who'd gotten by Jenn Keeney 7-4 and Kathy Friend 9-7. 

 

Lynch and Shea advanced to the quarterfinals; Lynch 8-3 over Lawless and Shea 9-5 over Clark. Lynch ended Shea's weekend 8-6 in those quarterfinals, and then, by the same score, defeated Monaco for a second shot at Pao in the hot seat.

 

Lynch came into the finals looking for her second victory on the JPNEWT. She'd competed seven times in 2016, winning once in October. Pao, according to our records, first cashed on the JPNEWT in 2003, and though she'd been runner-up numerous times, had never won. Their mutual search for a milestone in their separate careers led to a double hill fight that Lynch eventually won to claim her second JPNEWT title, and temporarily at least, place herself at the top of the 2017 tour rankings.

 

Tour director Linda Shea thanked the ownership and staff at Triple Nines, as well as Coins of the Realm for the $500 money-added to the first ($300), second and third ($100 each) place payouts. The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for April 29-30, will be hosted by Markley Billiards in Norristown, PA.