Tara Williams, Ginger Abadilla, Aryana Lynch and Alicia Stanley
Since Tara Williams recorded her first win on the former OB Cues Ladies Tour in 2009, she had gone on to the winners’ circle of that tour numerous times, including, in what turned out to be her best recorded earnings year (2015), victories on six stops of the tour and just for variety that year, added a win on the Gulf Coast Women’s Regional Tour. This past weekend (Saturday, March 12), the multiple BCA and ACS state and national champion chalked up her first recorded 2022 win, going undefeated to claim a DFW Ladies 9-Ball Tour title. The $500-added event drew 36 entrants to Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX.
By the time Williams reached her winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Jamie Tidmore, she’d won 21 of her first 27 games, having sent Anna Billington (1), Monica Anderson (2) and Crystal Jones (3) to the loss side. Ginger Abadilla, in the meantime, one of the lower-rated competitors in the event (at a 3), parlayed her handicap into a successful race to the hot seat match. She got by Kathy Knuth 3-3 (Knuth racing to 4, so double hill), Francisca Riza Pili 3-2 (Pili racing to 4) and Melissa Britt 3-2 (Britt racing to 5), which brought her to a winners’ side semifinal against Alicia Stanley (racing to 7).
Williams downed Tidmore 7-2, as Abadilla punched her ticket to the hot seat match with a 3-3 win over Stanley (once again, racing to 7). Abadilla’s ship of good fortune (and not to downplay her efforts, combined with skill and persistence) ran aground in the hot seat match. No doubt cognizant of Abadilla’s success getting to the hot seat match, Williams shut her out to claim the hot seat.
Meanwhile, back at the Loss-Side Ranch, there was another competitor making her presence known – Aryana Lynch, two-time Billiards Education Foundation Junior National Champion (2018; 16 & Under and 2021; 18 & Under), and twice, winner on the 2021 DFW Ladies 9-Ball Tour. Lynch won her opener against Snowy Belt 6-2 and then, ran into Alicia Stanley, who sent her to the loss side 7-2. Lynch proceeded to embark on a four-match run that saw her win 18 of the 20 games she played against three opponents, giving up one each to Rachelle Dytko and Brooklyn Kanady, before recording a forfeit win over Melissa Britt and then, shutting out Orietta Strickland to draw Tidmore, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal.
In the meantime, Stanley, in her first loss-side match, drew Jennifer Kim, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Tidmore and embarked on a similar, albeit shorter, loss-side run. She played eight games and didn’t give up a single rack to either of her two opponents, Francisca Riza Pili and Jennifer Pavlovick.
Lynch extended her loss-side streak to five with a 6-2 win over Tidmore. Stanley joined her in the quarterfinals after putting a stop to Kim’s brief, but illustrious loss-side run 7-3. Loss-side win # 6 for Lynch ended Stanley’s run 6-2, and in the semifinals, loss-side win # 7, 6-1 over Abadilla, put her into the finals.
Williams put a stop to that potential ‘loss waiting to happen.’ She allowed Lynch a single rack and claimed the event title 7-1.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Snookered for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, Cuetec, Doc’s Billiards Office and Kamui. The next stop on DFW Ladies 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Saturday, April 9, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Stixx and Stones Billiards in Lewisville, TX.
Jennifer Kim, Orietta Strickland and Jennifer Pavlovick
Like many before her, Jennifer Kim began playing in an APA league, before graduating to regional tournament play. She’d made a few appearances on the recently-launched DFW Ladies 9-Ball Tour, at which, noted tournament director Monica Anderson, “she had not fared very well.”
And then, along came Orietta Strickland, who recently began to tutor Kim.
“They’d been working together for a few months,” said Anderson, “and when we saw (Kim) this time, it was a different player.”
Different enough to have signed on with 17 others to the $500-added, July 10 stop on the DFW Ladies 9-Ball Tour, hosted by Rusty’s in Arlington, TX and chalked up her first major event victory anywhere. Kim lost only one match in the effort, battling for the hot seat. And for a second and necessary third shot in a true double elimination final against the woman who’d defeated her (Jennifer Pavlovick), Kim downed her mentor, Orietta Strickland, in the semifinals. According to Anderson, the mentor didn’t actually lie down and play dead for the student, but she did miss some critical shots at critical moments, leading to victories for Kim, who was racing to 4 throughout the tournament.
Kim faced five opponents on her way to the winners’ circle, one of them – Pavlovick – three times. In her seven matches, as a skill level “4,” she started four of them with a single bead on the wire in a race to five. She started one match in which she gave her opponent a single bead on the wire in a race to 4. After being awarded an opening round bye, she won her first match, a straight-up race to 4, double hill versus Angie Kirkpatrick and then, defeated tournament director, Monica Anderson 4-2 (Anderson racing to 5). Kim drew April Gonzales in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Pavlovick, in the meantime, who started all of her matches by granting all four of her opponents, through six matches, a single bead on the wire in races to 5, opened with victories over Tera Saunders 5-2 and Sharolyn Sumner 5-1. She drew Crystal Dunn in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Pavlovick advanced to the hot seat match by sending Dunn to the loss side 5-1. Kim joined her after sending Gonzales over, double hill (4-2). Pavlovick, in what proved to be her last winning match, claimed the hot seat 5-2.
On the loss side, Kim’s mentor, Orietta Strickland, who’d lost, double hill, to Charlie Marie 4-6 in the 2nd winners’ side round, survived a double hill battle versus Sheila Lowe 7-4 in her first loss-side match and then, downed Anderson 7-2. She fought and won another double hill match against Phoebe Simon, winning 7-3 to draw Crystal Dunn.Gonzales, in the meantime, drew Sandy Harrington, who’d recently eliminated Sharolyn Sumner, double hill (4-3), and shut out Angie Kirkpatrick.
Gonzales downed Harrington 3-2. Strickland joined her for the quarterfinals, after eliminating Dunn 7-2. Strickland then shut out Gonzales and entered the semifinals against her student, Jennifer Kim, sporting a virtual ‘ton’ of momentum.
It didn’t do her a lot of good in those semifinals, as (noted earlier) she turned the table over to Kim on a number of critical occasions. Kim advanced to the true double elimination finals over her mentor, having not given up a single rack to her in the semifinals.
Strickland had apparently transferred some of the momentum that she’d built up during her five-match, loss-side run to her student. Kim battled Pavlovick to double hill in the opening set of the true double elimination final, before winning it to force the second set. Kim gave up only a single rack in that second set to claim her first major event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, OB Cues and Doc’s Billiards Office. The next stop on the DFW Ladies 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Saturday, September 25, will be hosted by Snookered in Frisco, TX. The next stop on the regular DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for July 24-25, will be hosted by the venue which hosted this event, Rusty’s in Arlington, TX.
DFW 9-Ball Ladies Tour held their last event for this 2020 challenging year on Saturday, October 24th at Snookered Restaurant and Billiards in Frisco, TX.Special thanks to Craig and Jana Lucas, owners of Snookered for hosting our stop and we hope to be back next year for more fun-filled and competitive tournaments.
The DFW 9-Ball Ladies Tour Committee (Ginger Abadilla, Jennifer Hooten, Monica Anderson and David “Doc” Reyes, tournament director) would also like to thank OB Cues as our ladies’ tour sponsor for all of our tour stops.OB Cues, made in Plano, TX, strives to provide high performance billiards equipment including the latest popular products in playing shafts, playing cues, break and jump cues plus other equipment.Be sure to check them out at obcues.com for more information.
We can’t say enough about Fort Worth Billiards Superstore and Albert Trujillo.They have been a DFW 9-Ball Tour sponsor since 2018 and continue to support the ladies’ tournaments every stop as well.Fort Worth Billiards Superstore has a wide range of gameroom, pool and billiards equipment, tables, furniture, accessories, darts, shuffleboards, and much, much, much more.Anything and everything you need for your sports and gameroom pleasures can be found at https://www.billiardsuperstore.com/
A little bit of history about the DFW 9-Ball Ladies Tour which was formed in 2019 was to provide an avenue of competitive 9-ball tournament opportunities in the DFW Metroplex for a wide-range of skilled level female pool players. All ladies tour stops are handicapped events based on a player’s Fargo rating (minimum 200 games must be established).If you don’t have a Fargo rating, we will use an APA skill level if you have one.If you don’t have either of those, we will set your skill level based on known ability.Our tour skill levels begin with 3’s all the way to 7’s. A handicapped tournament, such as ours, will give all players an opportunity to test their mettle against the best as well as hopefully pick up a few pointers along the way.But most of all, we encourage fun and relaxation while escaping life with some 9-ball pool therapy.
Our ladies tour events are always one-day tournaments with guaranteed $500 added monies with an entry fee of $30.On Saturday, we had 28 ladies venture to Snookered to match up and catch up with favorite friends plus meet some new friends in the process.We had seven (SL 3’s); ten (SL 4’s); four (SL 5’s); three (SL 6’s) and four (SL 7’s).With this great variety of all skill levels, it would be a strong fight to the finish.Our top three Snookered main event finishers are featured below:
Tara Williams, Chris Fields and Rachelle Dytko
Chris Fields was unstoppable in every match.She played strong, precise and smart throughout the entire day.In fact, her overall tournament record, while playing in a total of six matches, racked up a masterful win/loss record of 36-6.
We also held a Second Chance tournament as we had the time, tables and ladies who wanted to keep on playing.Eight ladies paid a $20 entry fee with the tour adding $100 and Snookered adding $50 for a total purse of $310.
Our Second Chance top 2 winners are:
Janet Ybarra and Tina Soto
Payouts from the Second Chance Event – total purse $310
1st – $160 – Tina Soto (SL 5)
2nd – $100 – Janet Ybarra (SL 3)
3rd – $50 – Monica Anderson (SL 4)
Congratulations also go out to Alicia Stanley for winning the OB Cues that was raffled off.
The DFW 9-ball Ladies Tour will be working on their 2021 schedule soon.Be sure to keep up with updates and tournament announcements on the DFW 9-Ball Tour Facebook page.
Thank you to sponsors, hosts, players, fans and committee members for a successful 2020 tour year.Looking forward to a bigger, better and safer 2021.See you next year.
Tina Soto, Orietta Strickland & Krystle Suarez (Photo courtesy Jesse Garcia . Bound by Imagination)
With the idea of introducing a Ladies Division into their 2020 schedule, the Dallas/Fort Worth 9-Ball Tour ran a ‘trial run’ event on Saturday, September 28. It was, according to tour representatives, a success and plans are moving ahead to include four or five events in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The trial event was won by Krystle Suarez, who, after being awarded a bye in the opening round, was defeated in the second round by Tina Soto, won eight on the loss side and then met and double dipped Soto in the finals to claim the event title. The event drew 35 ladies to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Soto, who’d won her opening round versus Jennifer Hooten, advanced after her defeat of Suarez to send Phoebe Simon and Tam Trinh to the loss side and faced Corina Campbell in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Orietta Strickland squared off against Jessica Demello in the other one.
Soto and Campbell locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Soto to the hot seat match. Strickland joined her after shutting Demello out. With Strickland racing to 7, Soto claimed the hot seat 5-5 and waited for Suarez to complete her loss-side run.
On the loss side, Campbell drew a re-match against Ricki Casper, whom she’d sent to the loss side in a third-round double hill battle. Casper was in the midst of six-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently included two straight shutouts over Christa Ramon and Nina Dolman. Demello picked up Suarez, five matches into her loss-side streak, having recently shut out Jennifer Pavlovick and downed Alicia Stanley 7-4.
Casper extended her loss-side streak, as she successfully navigated her rematch versus Campbell 6-1. Suarez joined her in the quarterfinals with a 7-2 victory over Demello.
Suarez ended Casper’s loss-side journey 7-2 in those quarterfinals and then earned her rematch against Soto with a 7-5 victory over Strickland in the semifinals. She and Soto battled to double hill in the opening set of the true double elimination finals, forcing a second set. Suarez upped her game a bit in the second set, shutting Soto out to claim the trial run of the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s Ladies Division.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, OB Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, and the Dallas 8-Ball League. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for October 19-20, will be hosted by the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
Shades of Yogi Berra and his musing about ‘Déjà vu all over again.’ On the weekend of June 8-9 at JR Pockets Sports Bar and Grill in Denton, TX, Kelly Jones and Kim Pierce faced each other twice to claim an event title (Stop #4) on the Jerry Olivier Custom Cues Ladies Tour, just as they had on the weekend of April 13-14 (Stop #3) at the Diamond Sports Bar and Grill in Port Arthur, TX. With the same result – Kelly Jones claiming the title, Kim Pierce finishing as runner-up. At this most recent event, however, their first meeting came in the hot seat match (it was in a winners’ side semifinal back in April), while for the second straight time on the tour, they were the event finalists. The $2,000-added event drew 48 entrants to JR Pockets.
Jones’ path to the hot seat match was almost derailed at the outset. She was awarded an opening round bye before facing Michelle Cortez in the second round. Cortez battled her to double hill before giving way. Jones advanced to defeat Rachel Hurst and Belinda Lee, to face Angie Payne in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Pierce, in the meantime, without an opening round bye, defeated Ellen Robinson, Glynda Fuller, Tam Trinh, and Orietta Strickland to draw Ashley Nandrasy in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Jones got into the hot seat match with a 7-2 win over Payne and was joined by Pierce, who’d survived a double hill match against Nandrasy. Jones claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited for the second straight time on the tour for the return of Pierce.
On the loss side, Payne picked up Tara Williams, who’d been defeated by Belinda Lee in the third winners’ side round and defeated Stacie Putnam 7-2, Rachel Hurst 7-4, picked up a forfeit win from Ricki Lee Casper and downed Kim Sanders 7-5. Nandrasy drew Aryana Lynch, who’d been sent to the loss side by Payne in a winners’ side quarterfinal and downed Michelle Yim 7-3 and Ellen Robinson 7-4 to reach Nandrasy.
Nandrasy advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-4 victory over Lynch and was joined by Williams, who’d eliminated Payne 7-2. Williams made it six in a row on the loss side with a 7-2 victory over Nandrasy in those quarterfinals.
Pierce stopped Williams’ loss-side run with a 7-4 victory in the semifinals for a second shot (a second time) at Jones in the hot seat. Second verse, same as the first, as they say. Jones took the semifinal match 7-4 to claim her second Jerry Olivier Ladies Tour title.
A Best of the Rest event with 11 entrants saw Rachel Hurst take the top prize, with Nicole McDaniel in 2nd place. McDaniel was in the hot seat, but left to get home to her family. Corina Campbell finished 3rd and Melissa Smith came in 4th.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at JR Pockets, as well as title sponsor Jerry Olivier Custom Cues, MzTam.com and a “huge shout out” to Rackem TV for providing a live stream. The next stop (#5) on the Jerry Olivier Custom Cues Ladies Tour, scheduled for the weekend of September 14-15, will be hosted by Slick Willie’s Family Pool Hall in Austin, TX.
Terry Petrosino and Angie Payne (Photo courtesy of Marty Jones)
The kickoff of the 2019 JO Ladies Tour was held at Big Tyme Billiards in North Houston on the weekend of January 12th-13th. 54 women came out to compete in a double elimination, race to 7, 9-Ball match on Diamond Bar Boxes. Prior to the start of each tournament, a players’ meeting is held and this one was quite special. A major announcement made was the addition of Strokin’ Billiards, owned and operated by brothers, Tuan and Nam Nguyen. Strokin’ Billiards will be providing the fashion of the tour and adding $100 to the “Best of the Rest” Tournament at each stop. We are excited to have Strokin’ as part of the JO Tour and look forward to the amazing designs that will be available! Check them out at www.strokinbilliards.com!
The JO Ladies Tour also commemorated the years of service and dedication given by Monica Anderson and Shayla Neris, both who resigned from board positions at the end of 2018. Also resigning from the tour was our “Tour Angel”, Carter Nakashima. We are actively looking to fill that spot, so applications are being accepted… As always, our fearless sponsor, Jerry Olivier, was on site to provide flawless cue repair and sales of his great playing cues! To order one of his fabulous cues go to www.jocues.com!
The battle of the 54 ladies went late into Saturday night and the remaining 12 returned to play on Sunday. On the winners’ side was a showdown between Angie Payne vs Chris Fields and Terry Petrosino vs Kim Pierce. The B Side featured Robyn Petrosino vs Shayla Neris, Jeannie Cockman vs Orietta Strickland, Michelle Yim vs Natalie Mans, and Jennifer Kraber vs Tam Trinh. When it was all said and done, the hot seat match featured Angie Payne from Austin and Terry Petrosino from Houston. Terry sent Angie to the other side to duke it out with 2018 Tour Champion, Orietta Strickland from Dallas, and it was Angie who came out on top. Angie hadn’t played in an Tour stop in quite some time and she was on a mission. She beat Terry in the first set, however, Terry wasn’t going to let her get away with the second set. Terry nabbed the first place trophy and prize money of $800! Congratulations!
The second day of the stop isn’t all about the main event. The Best of the Rest tournament is held on Sunday and it is no less competitive than the main event. 24 ladies returned to play and then there were 2 remaining. Ellen Robinson from San Marcos and Yvonne “Casher” Asher from Houston were the last 2 standing and split the winnings of $210 and were declared the Best of the Rest.
A huge thank you to Big Tyme Billiards (www.bigtymebilliards.com) and Billy Sharp for hosting the event. Big Tyme is truly a players’ pool hall with its wide open spaces, Diamond Bar Boxes, 9’ Diamonds and Gold Crowns, and friendly staff! We appreciate it and look forward to returning next year!
We hope to see everyone at the next stop! From Diamond Bar Boxes to 9’ Gold Crowns, we head out to Round Rock, TX (just north of Austin) to Skinny Bob Billiard’s (www.skinnybobs.com), home of the Texas State 9 and 10 Ball Opens, the weekend of March 9-10th. Come on out and enjoy some great pool and meet the women of the JO Ladies Tour! For more information, please contact one of the Board members: Teresa Garland, Natalie Mans, or Yvonne Asher.
The JO Ladies Tour is a sanctioned Division II tour of the North American Pool Tour (NAPT). Good Luck to these 14 women who will represent the JO Tour in the upcoming NAPT Division II Championships held at Bull Shooters in Phoenix, AZ, February 21-24: Jennifer Kraber, Michelle Cortez, Nicole McDaniel, Kim Pierce, Natalie Mans, Yvonne Asher, Teresa Garland, Tam Trinh, Ellen Robinson, Robyn Petrosino, Kim Sanders, Shayla Neris, Julie Collins, and Kelly Jones. Let’s hope one of these ladies brings the championship to our tour!
(L-R): Tam Trinh, Orietta Strickland and Michelle Cortez
On the weekend of September 15-16th, 2018, thirty-seven women descended onto the great state of Texas’s capital to battle for the top prize at the Jerry Olivier’s Ladies Tour’s 4th Stop, held at Slick Willie’s on Burnett Road. The September event in Austin is significant to the members of the JO Tour, as it is the stop where we take the time to remember one of our own, Emma Stewart Davis who, three years ago, left us unexpectedly. We know you’re watching, Emma!
On hand to show his support for the women and to provide cue repair services, was renowned cue maker and tour sponsor, Jerry Olivier. Jerry has always been a staunch supporter of women’s billiards and it was no different this weekend. Thank you, Jerry, for all that you do! You can check out his cues on jocues.com or talk to him about having a custom cue made!
At the pre-tournament player’s meeting Saturday morning, it was revealed that one of the original Hunters/OB/JO Cues Tour Board Members was resigning. After dedicating 20+ years to the tour, Shayla Neris decided it was time to close this chapter in her life and forge on as a full-time player. “It was just time” Shayla says, “but I’ll be back as a player and not on the board!” We will miss her and the time and effort she has devoted to helping make this tour a success!
Onto the battles… with $2000 added to the prize money, the women were ready to fight. Saturday began with 37 but ended with 12. On the A side, the returning Sunday matches would be Natalie Mans (Houston) vs Michelle Cortez (Austin) and Jennifer Kraber (Austin) vs Tam Trinh (Austin). Natalie’s quest started with wins against Margaret Fox (Austin) 7-6, Tina Soto (Dallas) 7-4, Veronica “Pistol” Perez (Austin) 7-5, and Teresa Garland (Houston) 7-5. Michelle took on the always tough opponent “Bye,” Tera Saunders (Dallas) 7-2, Gail Roles (College Station) 7-3, and Darcy Durham (Austin) 7-0. Jennifer’s day consisted of Nicole Menitz (Austin) 7-3, Kitty Poutthaung (Dallas) 7-4, Orietta Strickland (Dallas) 7-5, and Kimberly Brown (Waco) 7-1. Tam stacked up wins against the always tough “Bye,” Melissa Smith (Denton) 7-6, Kim Pierce (Austin) 7-5, and Belinda Lee (Houston) 7-5. The one-loss side had 8 women returning on Sunday. Matchups were Yvonne “The Casher” Asher (Houston) vs Kimberly Brown (Waco); Rachel Hurst (Austin) vs Belinda Lee (Houston); Kelly Isaac (Waco) vs Teresa Garland (Houston); and Orietta Strickland (Dallas) vs Darcy Durham (Austin).
With the one loss side returning at 10am on Sunday, Yvonne defeated Kimberly 7-3, Belinda defeated Rachel 7-4, Teresa defeated Kelly 7-6, and Orietta defeated Darcy 7-1. However, they did not leave empty-handed as they shared the winnings for 9th through 12th at $35 each. Free play for the weekend! On the No Loss Side, Michelle was victorious over Natalie 7-2 and Tam over Jennifer in a hill-hill thriller. As those matches progressed, the one loss side women were at it again and this time it would be Belinda barely edging out Yvonne in another hill-hill thriller and Orietta defeating Teresa 7-5. Yvonne and Teresa, both members of the JO Ladies Tour Board and sponsored by Jerry Olivier, went home with the 7-8th place finishes at $95 each. (Yes, Yvonne “the Casher” Asher lived up to her new nickname…)
The fight to advance past 5-6th matched up two friends who are also road partners and opponents who had already faced each other the day before – Belinda vs Natalie and Orietta vs Jennifer. Belinda and Orietta ended up victorious in those matches, 7-3 and 7-4 respectively, but Natalie and Jennifer earned $170 each for their 5th-6th finish.
The hot seat match was a great display of Austin women’s billiard skills. Michelle and Tam battled it out, trading blows until it was another hill-hill matchup. In the end, Michelle was victorious. Meanwhile on the other side, Belinda and Orietta had to face each other and after the score was tied 4-4, Orietta made a charge and beat Belinda 7-4 while earning a 9 ball on the snap lottery ticket! Belinda went home with the 4th place prize at $335.
Tam went to the one loss side seeking revenge but she had to go through Orietta first. Orietta would prove that she’s 2017 Tour Champion for a reason and beat Tam 7-3. In a true double elimination format, Orietta would have to defeat Michelle twice in order to go home as the winner. Michelle had other plans – she beat Orietta 7-3 and called it a day earning her the nickname Michelle “The Conqueror” Cortez. Congratulations to Michelle! This is her second win in three years at this particular stop! For their efforts, Tam went home with $450 for 3rd place, Orietta went home with $600 for 2nd, and Michelle, went home with the top prize of $770! Not bad for a weekend of doing a labor of love!
Not to be forgotten were the women of the “Best of the Rest” Tournament held on Sunday. Twelve women returned to duke it out and the winner was Gail “Thunder” Roles (College Station). Board member Monica Anderson (Dallas) came in 2nd. Austin’s own Kim “Texas Heat”Pierce, who is also a Jerry Olivier sponsored player, finished 3rd and Tina Soto (Dallas) 4th. Congratulations to these ladies for taking another shot and winning!
As always, the stop was a combination of fun, laughter, and serious concentration to hone in the pool skills. We look forward to seeing everyone at the Championship Stop at Legend’s Billiards the weekend of November 3-4, where the hosts Mindy and Craig Cohen have generously added in an additional $1000 to make it a total of $3000 to the prize fund!!! So come on out and join us! We welcome players of all skill levels and look forward to meeting new players! More details of the final stop will be out soon so be sure to check out the website joladiestour.com for the most up to date information! Tickets are available for cue raffles! Please contact Yvonne Asher for more details!
Yvonne Asher, Jennifer Kraber, Gail Eaton and Rhea Brooks
Jerry Olivier, custom cue maker extraordinaire from Houston, TX rolled out the red carpet for his newly sponsored Ladies 9-Ball Tour at Skinny Bob's Billiards, the weekend of March 10th-11th. Jerry won over the hearts of all the ladies of the former OB Cues Ladies Tour and brought sponsorship to a new level. It's not very often that a Title Sponsor partakes in the tournament activities of an event but Jerry was with us all weekend, providing sponsor banners for each and every stop, personalized crystal trophies for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for each and every stop, personalized payout materials, stickers, banners plus participated in the group photo with all 58 ladies in attendance for this inaugural event.
To quote Jerry: “It is an honor to be a part of your team. Thank you all for this opportunity! And, to all 58 Ladies that played, THANK YOU! Without you, none of this is possible. I'm looking forward to the future with this Tour”. Jerry, WE thank you for your sponsorship, friendship and most of all your genuine care and love for the game and for allowing all players to continue to flourish in our pool dreams and endeavors. We will make you proud!
It was also a joy to be playing at the famous Skinny Bob’s Billiards, home of the Texas 10-Ball Open and Texas Open. Skinny Bob’s, a fan favorite billiard room, was our home all weekend and we appreciate John Cielo and his staff for taking care of us and our fans, supporters, family and friends for this fantastic showing.
Like all of our tournaments, it is a two-day double elimination 9-ball tournament. Many champions and title holders were at this event, so without a doubt it would be a strong tournament to the finish. It was anybody's guess who would take home the 1st place prize. Players from Missouri, Alabama and all over Texas brought their “A” game. The Jerry Olivier Ladies Tour is also a member of NAPT (North American Pool Tour). This stop was a qualifying event for the NAPT Division I Pro Event in August at Shooters Sports Bar and Billiards in Grayslake, IL. For more information on NAPT, be sure to check out playnapt.com.
By the end of Day 1, the top 16 returned to continue their winning ways. On the winner’s side, it was Jennifer Kraber vs. Gail Eaton and Rhea Brooks vs. Board Member, Yvonne Asher. Jennifer, from Austin and local Skinny Bob’s champion, made her way to the winner’s side by defeating Ming Ng 7-3 as her first match, then Kristin Wilburn 7-2; Kelly Jones 7-1 and a tough match against Chris Fields 7-6.
Gail, from Boerne, always a top finisher in many, many tournaments, was blazing her winning trails with wins and three back-to-back-to-back hill-hill matches; defeating Margaret Fuentes 7-1; Belinda Lee 7-6; Robyn Petrosino 7-6 and Orietta Strickland, current tour champion, 7-6.
Board Member Yvonne Asher playing strong and consistent all weekend scored wins over Diana Cardona 7-3; Marilana Nieves 7-2; Ashley Julian 7-4 and Kim Sanders 7-2.
On the other side of the bracket, matches were Kelly Jones vs. Tina Soto; Board Member Teresa Garland vs. Ming Ng; Board Member Shayla Neris vs. Kim Pierce and Nicole Menitz vs. Belinda Lee.
Placing 13th-16th was Tina Soto from Everman, Teresa Garland from Houston, Shayla Neris and Nicole Menitz both from Austin. 9th-12th was Kelly Jones from Alabama, Kim Pierce and Kim Sanders both from Austin and Chris Fields from Arlington.
7th-8th winners were Belinda Lee from Pearland and Ming Ng from Houston; 5th-6th went to Ellen Robinson from San Marcos and Orietta Strickland from Plano. 4th Place went to Yvonne Asher who had her best tournament and highest finish ever since playing on the OB Cues Ladies Tour and now Jerry Olivier Ladies Tour. Jerry also has two players that he sponsors and they are none other than Board Members Teresa Garland and Yvonne Asher. Jerry sure knows how to pick them and besides their inner and outer beauty; they play pretty sporty as well. Congratulations to all!
Rhea Brooks from Missouri was having a great tournament. She played Jennifer Kraber for the hot seat match but Jennifer, always consistent and a tough opponent to draw, defeated her 7-3. In the semi-finals match, Gail Eaton scored a rematch with Jennifer, as she narrowly defeated Rhea 7-6 to earn her right to the finals match. Great tournament showing Rhea!
In a true double elimination format, Gail would have to defeat Jennifer twice to earn first place and while she tried her best to score a first set win, Jennifer fought hard to the finish and made it one set only securing the first place title with a 7-6 score. Way to shoot, Gail and Jennifer! Awesome job!
(left to right: Orietta Strickland, Kim Pierce, Chris Fields, Jennifer Pavlovick)
The OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour, the largest and longest running regional tour in the country, also a member of NAPT (North American Pool Tour), hosted 64 players at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX the weekend of February 4-5. OB Cues has been the title sponsor for this tour since 2008 and we continue to give thanks to them and all they do not only for this ladies tour but for all players, fans, and billiards aficionados worldwide. OB Cues, a leader in the industry with shafts, cues, outstanding customer service plus an offering of billiard accessories and to top it all off, they are located in Plano, TX, with all shafts and cues made in the USA. Be sure to check them out at obcues.com. Thank you OB Cues for all you do.
With 64 players vying for the top prizes in this $2000 added monies event, just as the day was long, sharp shooting, stamina and endurance would become major factors for everyone participating in this two-day event. The tour greeted players from all over DFW Metroplex, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Longview, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana—just to name a few areas.
The tour also enjoyed welcoming many first time players to test their mettle and take a venture into the OBCLT experience and the wonderful hospitality of Rusty’s Billiards. The tour would like to thank Rusty’s owners and staff for their gracious hospitality and years of continued support!
Saturday was an eventful day as sixty-four players were dwindled down to sixteen players who would return on Sunday morning to battle for the $750 1st place prize money. Saturday’s play saw first time OB tour stop player Janet Ybarra, ACS Texas board member, go undefeated as she made her way through the winner’s bracket posting wins over Kathy Knuth (7-1), Brooklyn Kanady (7-3), and Kelly Jones (7-6). On the one-loss side, Aryana Lynch – a relative newcomer to the OB tour and its youngest player at 14 years old – also had a great run in her bid for the final 16. After suffering a first round loss to Shaunte Starley (3-7), Aryana grinded her way through the B side, posting wins over Kienchay Phoutthavong (Kitty) (7-5), Jessica DeMello (7-4), and Hopey Carter (7-5). Although the final round of play on Saturday night saw Rachel Petersen emerge victorious over Aryana (7-4) to move on to Sunday, Aryana posted her best OB tour stop finish to date (tied 17-24th place) and proved that she is definitely a contender!
On Sunday morning, winner side matches were Janet Ybarra (Grand Prairie) vs. Jennifer Pavlovick (Irving); Orietta Strickland (Dallas) vs. Natalie Rocha (Houston); Kim Pierce (Austin) vs. Deedra Trammell (Waxahachie) and Chris Fields (Arlington) vs. Julie Stephenson (Keller).
On the other side of the bracket and still giving it their all were Natalie Mans (League City) vs. Angie Payne (Austin); Tina Soto (Ft. Worth) vs. Corina Campbell (Carrollton); Rachel Petersen (Midwest City, OK) vs. Teresa Garland (Houston) and Gail Roles (College Station) vs. Terry Petrosino (Houston).
In the four winner’s side matches Sunday morning, Kim Pierce emerged victorious over Deedra Trammell (7-0), Orietta Strickland posted a win over Natalie Rocha (7-3), Jennifer Pavlovick won vs. Janet Ybarra (7-3), and Chris Fields defeated Julie Stephenson (7-1). The four B-side matches saw Tina Soto defeat Corina Campbell (7-4); Angie Payne won over Natalie Mans (7-5), Terry Petrosino posted a win over Gail Roles (7-4), and Rachel Petersen wound up on the winning side of her match vs. Teresa Garland (7-4).
Kim Pierce continued her winning streak, sending Chris Fields to the B-side with a score of (7-5) and Orietta Strickland also posted a win against Jennifer Pavlovick (7-1). This set the stage for Kim and Orietta, two undefeated players vying for the hot seat match but Orietta was solid in her play and shooting and secured her spot in the finals with a win of 7-3.
Chris defeated Tina Soto (7-2). Tina, only playing in a couple of OB Cues Ladies Tour events, scored her highest finish to date 5th/6th which was pretty sporty for just her 2nd time at bat. Nice work Tina.
Chris then knocked out Jennifer Pavlovick with a score of (7-3). This 4th place spot was the highest finish ever for Jennifer. She has been playing on the tour for a bit but has been coming on with a surge during these last two years. She is a top shooter and staying consistently strong throughout her tournament play. She will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. Superb finish Jennifer! You go girl!
Next was a rematch between Chris and Kim but Chris ran out of steam playing Kim as the Texas Heat came on strong with a win (7-3), thus securing her spot in the finals to avenge her hot seat loss to Orietta.
In true double elimination format, Kim would need to defeat Orietta twice and that’s exactly what she did. In the first set, it looked to be all Orietta who was up in the match 5-2, but due to some unfortunate rolls and uncharacteristic misses by Orietta, she forgot to shut the front door and Kim came back to score the first set win 7-5.
The second set was a lot like the first. It looked like Orietta was going to take it away as she reached the hill first. However, Kim continued to fight the fight and keep on battling. She was able to finish out some games by capitalizing on some problem position play by Orietta, and making it a hill-hill match. The final game saw Orietta almost running out but she had a tough finish with the 8 and 9 on opposite ends of the table and both near the short rails. A straight in shot on the 8 would be a challenge draw to get position for the 9 ball and it came up short. Orietta then opted to take a long rail kick on the 9 but it rattled out of the corner pocket leaving Kim an easy shot with the 9 ball inches away from the pocket. This was Kim’s very first OB Cues Ladies Tour stop win since playing on the tour. Congratulations Kim and Orietta for a great, great tournament.
Our next stop will be at Big Tyme Billiards in Spring, TX the weekend of March 25-26. Big Tyme is hosting their first OB Cues Ladies Tour event. Thank you to the management and staff for having us. We are anxious and looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Main Event Tournament Payouts – ($2000 added) – 64 players
OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour held their 6th and final tour stop December 3 & 4th at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas. Thirty-three players were on-hand to close out the 2016 tour year and see who would take top honors for the annual awards. The owner and manager, Jeff Pitts and the entire bar and wait staff did a wonderful job taking care of all the ladies as always. Rusty’s is a great room to visit and play at, so be sure to hit them up whenever you can!
At the players meeting, board member Monica Anderson announced yearly awards. The Best Sportswomanship Award went to Teresa Garland of Houston, for her positive attitude both on and off the table, regardless of the match outcome. The Most Improved Player was Corina Campbell of Carrollton. Corina had a banner year on the OB tour, finishing 6th in the ranking and posting a second place in one tour stop, earning her well-deserved title of Most Improved for 2016. For the 3rd year running, Tara Williams of Fort Worth secured her first place ranking on the tour by winning four tour stops and finishing 4th in the remaining two, securing the title as 2016 OB Cues Ladies Tour Champion.
Three additional awards are drawn at the tour finale, based on attendance and performance at the tour stops throughout the year. For the Perfect Attendance award, seven players were eligible to be drawn for the $200 cash award. Tara Williams, Orietta Strickland, Jennifer Yo, Natalie Mans, Shayla Neris, Monica Anderson, and Julie Enzensperger were at every event in 2016 and one of them would receive $200 cash even before the tournament started. OB Cues Customer Service Manager, David “Doc” Reyes officiated the draw and Shayla Neris was the lucky recipient of the extra $200. At every tour stop, when a player gets a 9-on-the-snap award or a break and run, they receive a scratch-off. At the end of the year, each player who earned a scratch off also received an entry for a drawing for a $20 scratch-off and that winner was Marilina Nieves from San Antonio. Same rules apply for a break and run and the lucky player whose name was drawn for the $50 scratch-off was Jeannie Kim of Dallas.
On Saturday, the top eight ladies returned to continue in the Main Event on Sunday morning. The final four remaining in the winner’s bracket were Tara Williams (Ft. Worth) vs. Jeannie Kim (Dallas) and Natalie Mans (League City) vs. Orietta Strickland (Dallas). The four ladies returning on the one loss side were Melinda Bailey (Ft. Worth) vs. Tracie Voelkering (Ft. Worth) and Chris Fields (Weatherford) vs. Brittany Williams (Longview).
Eliminated first round Sunday morning at the 7th-8th position was Chris Fields and board member Tracie Voelkering. In the winner’s side matches, Tara defeated Jeannie and Orietta defeated Natalie to set the hot seat match. Moving over to the one-loss side for the 5/6th place matches, Brittany was eliminated by Natalie and Melinda came out the winner over Jeannie. For the next match, Melinda once again persevered, leaving Natalie to settle for the 4th place spot.
Tara made her way through Saturday with wins in a first round tournament matchup over Melinda Bailey (7-3), Shirley Fields (7-1), Jennifer Yo (7-2) and Snowy Belt (7-0). On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Orietta was making her way through her Saturday matches with her speedy, yet consistent play. She posted wins over Tina Soto (7-1), Chris Fields (7-4), and Tracie Voelkering (7-2). In the hot seat match, Tara ended up on top in the match 7-3 and waited to see who would be coming through the one-loss side to meet her in the finals.
For the 3rd place match, Melinda was blazing trails and steadily fighting all through the tournament after her 1st match loss against Tara. She had a successful run through the B-side eliminating Orietta to move to the finals against Tara and a rematch for revenge. Congratulations to Orietta for a great tournament!
With Melinda and Tara in the finals, Melinda had quite a run to make it back to the finals surviving three hill-hill matches on her path to the finals. However, in the finals, Tara got out to a quick lead and didn’t look back. Melinda put forth her best effort to try and stop the tour champion’s effort, but came up short, with Tara winning the match with a final score of 7-2. Congratulations to both ladies for an exciting finals match and great tournament finish!
Thanks again to Rusty’s for our first and last tournament this year, and to all our board members who do a fantastic job all year around. A special year-end thank you to the man behind the tour, always supporting the ladies and feeding us bananas, chocolate and other energizing food and goodies, such a great friend and wonderful person, Carter, we love you.
Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor. If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at www.obcues.com. The new Digicue is available so be sure to get you one.
Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters—we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/ players/friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again in 2017. Our first stop of the 2017 season will at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas, February 4th-5th weekend.
Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!!
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