Pool tournaments will often play host to competitors who, for one reason or another, have been away from the game for a while. Depending upon the skill level they’d attained before they stopped competing, how long they’ve been away and the overall competitive level of the field they enter upon their return, the result could go either way. The competitor could go ‘two and out,’ if they’re seriously out of practice and stroke, or they could make it seem as though pool’s like riding a bicycle, where one can more or less pick up where they left off.
Shanna Lewis, whose last reported cash payout in a pool tournament was at a Q Master Billiards Mid-Atlantic Women’s 9-Ball Open in 2015 (9th place), returned to the tables this past weekend (March 7-8) to compete in the season opener of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour. Lewis chose the ‘like riding a bicycle’ option and went undefeated through the field of 31, downing last year’s runner-up in the Tour Championship standings, Lai Li, twice. The $500-added (by Coins of the Realm), NAPT Div. II Semi-Pro event drew 31 entrants to Triple Nines in Elkridge, MD.
Her own assessment of her TAFT (time away from table) was more in the vicinity of 10 years. It was an absence prompted by a decision to focus on the business career side of her life. She’s back, now, still working on the business side of her career, but with some flexibility to spend more TAT (time at table). While acknowledging that she’s returned with her skills more or less intact, she noted that it wasn’t as easy as it looked from the nature of the undefeated run and her two victories over Lai Li might indicate.
“Yeah, there were times during the tournament when I was thinking, ‘Yeah, this is great,” she said, “but there were other times when I felt like I couldn’t put a ball in the hole that was a straight shot.”
That said, Lewis was back on the bicycle right from the start, winning 14 of her first 17 games. She gave up only one rack to Judie Wilson and then two to Melissa Mason before running into Elaine Wilson, who, in essence, by chalking up five racks against her, applied some brakes to Lewis’ bicycle. It dropped Lewis’ game-winning percentage by 10 points in a single match. Lewis won, though, and advanced to face Teri Thomas in a winners’ side semifinal.
Lai Li, in the meantime, had opened with a 7-1 victory over Charlynn Dzambo, defeated Kelly Wyatt 7-4 and downed the tour’s 2020 champion, Linda Shea, 7-4 in a winners’ side quarterfinal. The draw wasn’t getting any easier as Li advanced to face Kia Sidbury in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Lewis got into the hot seat match with another 7-1 victory, over Thomas, and faced Li, who’d sent Sidbury to the loss side 7-4. In their first of two, they battled to double hill before Lewis prevailed to sit in her first hot (bicycle) seat in a while.
On the loss side, Nicole Nester and Sharon O’Hanlon were working on modest three-match, loss-side winning streaks that had begun when they’d lost their winners’ side quarterfinal match to Teri Thomas and Kia Sidbury, respectively. Nester and O’Hanlon both won two loss-side double hill battles; Nester, versus Colleen Shoop and Eugenia Gyftopoulos; O’Hanlon, over two ‘powerhouse’ opponents – Nicole King and Tour Director, Linda Shea. They did not, however, draw rematches because Nester drew Sidbury and O’Hanlon drew Thomas.
Nester advanced to the quarterfinals 7-4 over Sidbury, as Thomas eliminated O’Hanlon 7-3. Nester then downed Thomas 7-3 in those quarterfinals, before herself being eliminated in a double hill fight versus Li in the semifinals.
A second, slightly longer double hill fight, Li’s third straight, ensued in the finals. Lewis won it 9-8 to claim the title to JPNEWT’s 2020 season opener.
Tour director Linda Shea thanked the ownership and staff at Triple Nines, as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Coins of the Realm, The Turtle Rack (www.mezzusa.com), Baltimore City Cues, and the live stream, sponsored by Britanya E. Rapp, billiards artist (angle aim Art). The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of April 4-5, will be hosted by Markley Billiards in Norristown, PA.
The finalists in the season finale of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour were both in the midst of their best earnings year to date and were looking for their first win on the tour. Though Bethany Sykes was the State of Virginia’s 8-Ball Champion almost exactly a year ago, had chalked up a win on the gender-mixed Action Pool Tour in January and a month later, had won the Division II Championship on the (presently) all-female North American Pool Tour in February, she had yet to win an event on the JPNEWT. Lai Li, her opponent in both the hot seat match and finals, was looking for her first regional tour win ever and found it, as she went undefeated to win the tour’s season finale on the weekend of Nov. 16-17. The $500-added (by Coins of the Realm) event (Stop #8) drew 22 players to Triple Nines in Elkridge, MD.
The victory elevated Lai Li one spot on the Tour Standings list to #2. Tour director Linda Shea, who, for obvious reasons, has competed in all eight of the tour’s stops, finished 3rd in the season finale to retain her spot at the top of the tour standings. Caroline Pao, who won the three stops in which she competed and finished 3rd in the tour standings, did not compete in the season finale.
Following victories over Ceci Strain 7-1, Teri Thomas 7-3 and Melissa Jenkins 7-4, Lai Li advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Anita Sowers. Sykes’ trip to the hot seat match was almost derailed at the outset. After being awarded an opening round bye, Sykes drew Eugenia Gyftopoulos, who battled her to double hill before finally giving way for Sykes to advance. Sykes went on to down Kelly Wyatt 7-5 and advance to her winners’ side semifinal match against Judie Wilson.
By identical 7-5 scores, Li and Sykes defeated Sowers and Wilson and advanced to the hot seat match. Li took the first of their two matches 7-5 and waited on her return.
On the loss side, Sowers picked up tour director Linda Shea, who’d been sent to the loss side by Judie Wilson in a winners’ side quarterfinal and had then defeated Serafina Concannon 7-5 and Sharon O’Hanlon 7-3. Wilson drew a rematch against Kia Sidbury, whom she’d defeated in an early round and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included victories over Carol V. Clark 7-3 and a double hill win over Melissa Jenkins.
Shea defeated Sowers 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced Sidbury, who’d had a successful rematch against Wilson 7-4. Shea then ended Sidbury’s loss-side streak 7-5 in those quarterfinals.
Sykes, though, ended Shea’s four-match, loss-side trip with a 7-3 victory in the semifinals. Li, apparently unaffected by the wait, defeated Sykes in their second match, the finals, 7-3.
Tour director Shea thanked the ownership and staff at Triple Nines for their hospitality as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Coins of the Realm, Mezz USA, Baltimore City Cues, and for the live stream, Britanya E Rapp with angle aim Art. The tour will be back at Triple Nines in Elkridge, MD for their 2020 season opener on the weekend of March 7-8, 2020.
Forced to forfeit an opening round match because she was late in arriving, Karen Corr started her August 10-11 weekend on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour on the loss side of the bracket. This was good news/bad news for some of the tour regulars. For a few of the tour’s top competitors who would potentially have faced her in one of the four winners’ side matches and possibly, the hot seat match, it was likely a comfort to have her toiling away on the loss side, early. For those competitors who would normally toil away on the loss side, not having to worry about facing Corr until an undefined ‘later,’ which could be the event final, it was more of a bad news scenario. It meant that any hope that a competitor had of reaching the final was likely to necessitate facing Corr first, although at least some of the loss-side women could look forward to a few matches before that became an issue.
In any event, Corr ended up winning seven on the loss side, three of which entailed giving up a total of only two racks. She then defeated Lai Li in the finals to claim her second 2019 JPNEWT title. It was the second JPNEWT stop in a row which featured a winner who’d won seven on the loss side to defeat a hot seat occupant; Caroline Pao defeated TD Linda Shea in the finals last month. The $1,400-added (by Coins of the Realm) event this past weekend drew 22 entrants to Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
In an expression usually employed to introduce loss-side action . . . . meanwhile, on the winners’ side, 21 other competitors wended their way towards the hot seat match, including eight of the tour’s top ten players in the tour standings. Kathleen Lawless (#6) and Lai Li (#3) would emerge to do battle for the hot seat. After an opening round bye, Lawless opened with a double hill win over Nicole Christ and a 7-2 win over Teri Thomas to face Elaine Wilson (#11) in one of the winners’ side semfinals. Li would face the tour’s #1, Linda Shea, in the opening round and defeat her 7-4. She went on to down Sharon O’Hanlon 7-1 and Leslie Furr 7-2 to face Nicole King (#2) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Lawless moved on to the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Wilson and was joined by Li, who’d sent King to the loss side 7-5. Li claimed the hot seat 7-5 to wait on the arrival of Corr.
Over her first 23 loss-side games, Corr gave up only two racks; one each to Kim McKenna and Leslie Furr, while, in the middle, she gave up none at all Noel Rima. Then she came up against Linda Shea, who, like her, was riding a three-game, loss-side winning streak. Shea would chalk up more racks against Corr (5) than anyone in the tournament and move on to pick up Elaine Wilson. King drew Kelly Wyatt, who was making her second appearance on the tour, having finished in the tie for 9th place in May and was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side winning streak. She’d recently defeated Teri Thomas and Ceci Strain, both 7-3 to draw King.
Wyatt made it five in a row with a 7-5 victory over King, as Corr was busy eliminating Elaine Wilson 7-3. Corr ended Wyatt’s loss-side run 7-1 in the quarterfinals. She then downed Lawless in the semifinals 7-2, bringing her loss-side (and as it happened, event) aggregate score to 49-13. She the defeated Li in the finals 7-3 to claim her second 2019 JPNEWT title.
Linda Shea thanked the ownership and staff at Triple Nines and Coins of the Realm, as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, angle aim Art (Britanya Rapp), The Turtle Rack, Baltimore City Cues, and Billy Ray Bunn Cue Repair. The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for September 14-15, will be hosted by First Break Bar & Grill in Sterling, VA.
Going into the finals of the July 27-28 stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT), Caroline Pao had something of a dismal record on the winners’ side of the bracket. Of course, she’d only played twice, downing C.C. Strain 7-1 and then, falling to tour director Linda Shea 4-7 (11-8; 57%). Over the next seven matches on the loss side of the bracket, Pao gave up an average of less than two racks per match (1.43) and chalked up a remarkable aggregate score of 49-10 (83%), that included back-to-back shutouts in the quarter and semifinals. She capped the loss-side performance with a 9-4 victory over Shea in the finals to claim the event title. The $1,600-added event drew 28 entrants to Champion Billiards Sports Bar in Frederick, MD.
Shea and Pao had distinctly different opening rounds, which may have contributed to their first matchup in the second round. Pao gave up only a single rack to Ceci Strain, while Shea locked up in a double hill fight that did eventually send Melissa Mason to the loss side. Odds were likely to have been good that Shea and Pao would have a double hill fight, but they didn’t. Shea prevailed 7-4, adding two matches to Pao’s event total.
With Pao at work on the loss side, Shea, the tour’s current #1-ranked player, advanced through Teri Thomas 7-2 and arrived at a winners’ side semifinal against the tour’s current #2-ranked player, Nicole King. Lai Li, in the meantime, the tour’s #3-ranked competitor, having dispatched Sharon O’Hanlon, Judie Wilson and Elaine Wilson to the loss side, faced Kia Sidbury (#7) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Shea and Li advanced to the hot seat match 7-5 over King and Sidbury. Shea downed Li 7-2 to claim the hot seat, and waited on the fateful return of Pao.
On the loss side, it was King who drew Pao, four matches into her winning streak. At that point in time, Pao had given up only seven racks; one each to Noel Rima, Sharon O’Hanlon and Christie Hurdel and four to Anita Sowers. Sidbury drew Thomas, who, following her defeat at the hands of Shea, had eliminated Eugenia Gyftopoulos 7-5 and survived a double hill fight against Kathleen Lawless.
Thomas and Sidbury locked up in a double hill fight for advancement to the quarterfinals. Thomas, who’d already improved on her two previous appearances on the 2019 tour (finishing 17th in March and May), downed Sidbury to meet Pao, who’d defeated King 7-3.
Pao then chalked up two straight shutouts, against Thomas in the quarterfinals and Lai Li in the semifinals, to earn a shot against the so-far undefeated hot seat occupant, Shea, who came into the finals with a 72% game-winning percentage. Thanks to her 83% loss-side performance and her two winners’ side matches, Pao entered the finals at 76%. Pao completed her run with a 9-4 victory over Shea in the finals.
Tour director Linda Shea thanked the ownership and staff at Champion Billiards and Sports Bar and Coins of the Realm, as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, angle aim Art (Britanya Rapp), The Turtle Rack, Baltimore City Cues, and Billy Ray Bunn Cue Repair. The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for August 10-11, will be hosted by Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
While a number of her contemporaries were ‘down on the Bayou,’ competing in the WPBA’s Signature Tour Stop, Karen Corr was in Frederick, MD, competing in her first 2018 stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour. She joined a field of 23 entrants at the $500-added (by Coins of the Realm) event, hosted by Champion Billiards in Frederick and went undefeated to claim her first event title of the tour’s 2018 season.
It was Kim Whitman, playing in only her second stop on the tour (of four, to date) who ended up challenging Corr twice; once in the hot seat and again, in the finals. Corr, after victories over Cecilia Strain 7-2, Christie Hurdel 7-1, and eventual third-place finisher Christina Madrigale 7-2, drew Char Dzambo in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Whitman, who’d been awarded an opening round bye, got by Melissa Jenkins, double hill, and Judie Wilson 7-5, to draw Bethany Sykes in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Corr shut out Dzambo, while Whitman was sending Sykes to the loss side 7-2. Battling for the hot seat, Whitman scored one less rack against Corr than all of her (Corr’s) previous opponents combined. The 7-4 score, in favor of Corr, sent Whitman off to the semifinals.
On the loss side, Sykes picked up Madrigale, who, following her defeat at the hands of Corr, had eliminated Elaine Wilson, double hill (Wilson had previously eliminated tour director and top player in the point standings, Linda Shea), and Teri Thomas 7-5. Dzambo drew Nicole King, who’d been defeated by Sykes and subsequently eliminated Lynn Richard 7-5 and Val Nolan 7-2.
King downed Dzambo, double hill, and in the quarterfinals, faced Madrigale, who’d defeated Sykes 7-4. They’d both survived a loss-side double hill match to get to the quarterfinals, so it was only fitting that King and Madrigale’s quarterfinal match was a double hill affair, as well. Madrigale won it to challenge Whitman in the semifinals, but in her third loss-side double hill match (of five loss-side matches played), Madrigale fell to Whitman.
Whitman turned to challenge Corr a second time. The wait apparently had no effect on Corr, who gave up only a single rack to Whitman in the final that earned her the event title. It was Whitman who won the qualifying spot (sponsored by Baltimore City Cues) to the NAPT Desert Challenge in Las Vegas this fall.
Peggy Wilkinson won the tour’s amateur event, held for female competitors of a ‘4’ rank or below. Played out in a round robin format, the winner – Wilkinson at this event – was awarded free entry into the next local JPNEWT event.
The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for August 18-19, will be hosted by Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
Judie Wilson, Linda Shea, Jackie Rivera, Nicole King, Kia Sidbury and Kathy Friend
In addition to the visible struggle that plays out on the pool tables, regional tour competitors participate in a meta-game of tour rankings. At the end of a given season, based on those tour rankings, someone ends up as a given tour’s champion, which can accrue benefits ranging from cash, entry fees to major events, or, in some cases, nothing more significant than bragging rights. This meta-game tends to play out within a relatively small circle of a tour’s members, because ascension to the top of a tour’s rankings requires a combination of superior skills and consistent participation.
On the weekend of May 19-20, there was another early-season shuffle in the upper ranks of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) rankings. Going into the $500-added (from Coins of the Realm), third stop on the tour, which drew 18 entrants to First Break Café and Billiards in Sterling, VA, Erica Testa, with a win and runner-up finish to her credit, was the tour’s #1-ranked player. When it was over, tour director Linda Shea (third going in) had become #1. Testa (who did not compete in this event) was sharing the second spot with Kia Sidbury, who came into and out of the event as the tour’s #2 player (albeit, tied at that spot). Nicole King, who went undefeated in the event, moved into the fourth slot, while Judie Wilson, dropped a spot into #5.
The players don’t spend a lot of their time (if at all) thinking about this meta-game aspect of a single tournament, but it’s there, and highlights the generally tight group of women (in this case) who get together on seven separate occasions (in this case) to battle for area supremacy in the sport. It may only be the tour’s third stop, but it’s just shy of half the battle. King’s trip to the winner’s circle went through two players just below her in the rankings – Sharon O’Hanlon (7-4) and Melissa Jenkins (7-5) – and one above her (Kia Sidbury; 7-3), before meeting up with a woman in a winners’ side semifinal, Jackie Rivera, who, at this stage, had yet to figure into the current rankings.
Shea, in the meantime, got by Elaine Wilson 7-5 and Kelly Wyatt 7-2 to draw Kathy Friend in the other winners’ side semifinal. Shea moved into the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Friend, as King was busy surviving a double hill match against Rivera. King downed Shea 7-3 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting her return.
On the loss side, Rivera picked up Judie Wilson, who’d lost her opening match to Friend, and was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side run that included a recent double hill win over Wyatt and a 7-4 win Bethany Sykes. Friend drew Sidbury, who, following her defeat by King on the winners’ side had defeated Elaine Wilson and Teri Thomas, both 7-4.
Rivera eliminaTed Wilson 7-3 and was joined in the quarterfinals by Friend, who’d defeated Sidbury 7-5. Friend just did survive the quarterfinal 7-6 but had her bid for further advancement derailed by Shea, who took the semifinal match 7-4.
In the meta-game of ranking points, Shea was moving into the top spot, no matter what happened in her finals match against King, who, no matter what happened in the finals, was going to end up in the #4 ranking spot. Both, however, were looking to chalk up their first win on the tour, which, one would assume, carried much more weight in the double hill fight that followed than the meta-rankings-game. King won it to complete her undefeated run and take that first 2018 event title.
The meta-rankings-game and the individual battles that define it will continue at stop #4 on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of June 23-24. The event will feature a separate amateur division and will be hosted by Champion Billiards and Sports Bar in Frederick, MD.
(l to r): Erica Testa, Linda Shea, Judie Wilson, Kia Sidbury, Cheryl Sporleder & Heather Platter
Kia Sidbury claimed the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour’s season opener on the weekend of March 3-4 by coming back from a hot seat loss to down hot seat occupant, Erica Testa in the finals. Sidbury, who finished sixth overall in the tour’s 2017 standings, claimed the event title, and for the time being, top spot on the 2018 rankings. The $500-added (by Coins of the Realm) event drew 20 entrants to Triples Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
Sidbury faced Testa twice, winning the all-important second matchup, in the finals, but she also had to get by Heather Platter twice; once in a winners’ side semifinal, and again, in the event semifinals. Following victories over Elaine Wilson and Kathy Friend, Sidbury came out on top in two straight double hill matches, against Tour Director Linda Shea in a winners’ side quarterfinal and Platter in the winners’ side semifinal, which put her (Sidbury) in the hot seat match. Testa’s path to the hot seat match went through Nicole Fleming, Lynn Richards (who would go on to win a concurrently-run, 9-entrant Amateur event), Gwen Townsend, and in the other winners’ side semifinal, Judie Wilson 7-2. Testa claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Sidbury and waited on her return from a re-match versus Platter in the semifinals.
On the loss side, Platter and Wilson met up with Cheryl Sporleder and Shea, respectively. Sporleder had eliminated Gwen Townsend, double hill, and Teri Thomas 7-2 to reach Sporleder. Shea got by Sharon O’Hanlon and Kim Whitman, both 7-4 to draw Wilson. Platter and Wilson advanced to the quarterfinals; Platter, 7-5 over Sporleder and Wilson, 7-2 over Shea.
Platter and Wilson locked up in a quarterfinal, double hill fight, that eventually sent Platter to a rematch against Sidbury in the semifinals. That semifinal match came within a game of going double hill, but in the end, Sidbury pulled ahead to win it by two 7-5.
In what was, essentially, an early season, first-stop battle for first place on the tour, Sidbury and Testa fought for a second time, looking to claim the event title. Sidbury got out in front, and stayed there, winning it 9-3 for her first tour win.
A concurrently-run Amateur event drew nine entrants and was won by Lynn Richards. The next stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour, scheduled for April 28-29, will be hosted by Markley Billiards in Norristown, PA.
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.
