Khanh Ngo Claims Undefeated Victory at Dog House Billiards – TWCWT First Stop of 2024
Becky Simi, Khanh Ngo, Dar Domingo and Revelina Um
Since its inception in the early 1990’s, The West Coast Women’s Tour has established a strong following of some of the top players across the region, while building opportunities for players of all levels to compete. With a history spanning three decades, the backbone of the organization (originally known as the Western Women’s Regional 9-Ball Tour) was founded by players including Julie Hunter, Linda Silva, and Christina Piona, while Emilyn Callado later took over the reins.
While the tour was historically held across Northern California as well as parts of Nevada, the locations now focus on the greater San Francisco Bay Area. After Emilyn Callado stepped down from leadership a little over ten years ago, the West Coast Women’s Tour has since been led by director Cony Mendoza, alongside WPBA pro Eleanor Callado, who serves the tour as treasurer. In 2024, the tour will be traveling to seven different locations to set up battle amongst some of the toughest ladies on the West Coast. Last year, some of the most notable players on the tour included current and former WPBA members Nicole Keeney, Kim Cuarisma, and former tour director Emilyn Callado.
To kick off the 2024 season, on Saturday, May 4, TWCWT was hosted by a first-time sponsor for the tour, Dog House Billiards in Cotati, CA. This event drew in a field of forty players from around Northern California and featured $500 in added prize money contributed by room owner Ron Schisler. In its seven years of operation, Dog House has become known as one of the top locations for leagues in Sonoma County, and by sponsoring TWCWT, will help support the progression of women’s pool in the area.
While the forty players arrived for registration at 10am, the tournament was nearly derailed after an unseasonable storm knocked out the power at 9:30 that morning. Luckily, the power was restored shortly after 11am, and the action was able to get underway. For this opening tour stop, the match format was comprised of one set of 9-ball and one set of 8-ball per match. If each player scored a set for a 1-1 tie, a shootout would determine the winner.
The story of the tournament would be dominated by one of TWCWT’s veteran players, Khanh Ngo. Hailing from San Francisco, Ngo came away from the 2023 season with the #1 points ranking on the tour and made her mark as the undefeated champion at Dog House Billiards. To move into the final, Khanh Ngo defeated Shawn Modelo, Gaby Benuto, Nicole Keeney, Revelina Um, and Becky Simi. As noted by Ngo, her toughest fights were against Nicole Keeney and Shawn Modelo, who were the only two players to force closely-contested shootouts along her route to victory.
One of the other impressive performances of the day came from longtime Bay Area player Dar Domingo. Although Domingo only won a single match in the winner’s bracket, she caught fire on the loser’s side and won six straight matches, capped off with a quarterfinal victory over veteran player Revelina Um. In the semifinal, Domingo’s run would end, after a close battle against Becky Simi that ended in a shootout against. This win earned San Mateo-based Simi a rematch in the final against Khanh Ngo. However, the second meeting for these two players ended in similar fashion, as Ngo remained in top form to secure a 2-0 win and take the title.
Along with the main event, a second-chance tournament is also held at each stop. In this single-elimination tournament, Lyndee Russell came out on top. Kacie Ragen took the runner-up spot while Cinthia Minnear and Kathy Acherzer finished tied for third place.
The West Coast Women’s Tour would like to acknowledge Dog House Billiards for hosting Stop #1 and providing excellent equipment, as well as contributing a cue which was raffled during the event. Special thanks go out to our sponsors: Adam Sickles, Robbie Lyng Custom Cues & Repair, and Diablo Valley Pool League.
The next stop on the West Coast Women’s Tour is set to be held on June 29 at Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento. For more tour details and announcements, visit http://www.facebook.com/twcwtour/
