They sit atop the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour standings; tour director Linda Shea and Kia Burwell. They both overtook the tour’s first-half leader, Caroline Pao, at a stop in Elkridge, MD on the weekend of August 15-16, when Burwell went undefeated for a second time on the 2021 tour to claim the title and Shea finished as runner-up. As they did last month, they battled twice on the tour’s 8th stop this past weekend (Saturday, Sept. 25), and finished, for the second time in a row, as winner and runner-up. The event drew 10 entrants to First Break Sports Bar in Sterling, VA.
In the previous meeting, Burwell downed Shea in a winners’ side semifinal and defeated her a second time in the finals. This past weekend, they split their two matches, with Burwell coming back from the semifinals to claim the title.
Burwell was awarded an opening round bye and was immediately threatened in her first match by Ada Lio, who forced a 13th and deciding game. Burwell prevailed to face Judie Wilson in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Shea, in the meantime, also awarded an opening round bye, had an easier first match, shutting Kankan Yu out to draw Nicole Christ in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Burwell got into the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Wilson. Shea shut out Christ to enter the hot seat match, having yet to give up a single rack. Shea claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Burwell and waited on her return.
On the loss side, Wilson picked up Melissa Jenkins, who’d lost to Christ on the winners’ side and defeated Kankan Yu 7-5 to reach her. Christ drew Terri Stovall, who’d lost to Wilson, then shut out Calaia Jackson and defeated Ada Lio 7-2.
Wilson advanced to the quarterfinals on the heels of a 7-5 win over Jenkins. Terri Stovall earned her rematch versus Wilson with a 7-4 win over Christ. Given that the subsequent quarterfinals would determine who would advance to the event’s first money round in the semifinals, it was no surprise that Wilson and Stovall battled to double hill. Wilson was up 5-2 when Stovall made a 3-9 carom to draw within two. Wilson responded to make it 6-3, before Stovall dropped a second, early 9-ball combination to draw within two again. Stovall won another to make it 6-5 and a scratch by Wilson in rack #12 allowed Stovall to tie it up at six games apiece. A safety battle in the final rack was broken to give Wilson a three-ball out, and though she dropped the 7-ball, she missed her shot at the 8-ball and Stovall finished it.
Burwell downed Stovall 7-3 in the semifinals to earn her rematch against Shea. She completed her second straight win on the tour, her third overall, with a 9-6 win in the finals.
Tour director Shea thanked the ownership and staff at First Break Sports Bar, as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Bitzel and Associates PTPA Physical Therapy, stream commentator George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor) AZBilliards and, for the live stream of matches, Britanya E Rapp (angle aim Art). The next stop on the JPNEWT (#9), scheduled for October 9-10, will be hosted by Eagle Billiards in Dickson City, PA.
(l to r): Jackie Rivera, Judie Wilson, Briana Miller, Sharon O’Hanlon, Kathy Friend & Linda Shea
In a circumstance about as rare as a teenager that doesn’t play video games, Linda Shea, tour director of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) was shut out twice, in the hot seat and finals of her tour’s season finale. Briana Miller was the culprit. She went undefeated through a field of 17, on-hand for the $1,250-added ($500 from Coins of the Realm) event, hosted by Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD on the weekend of November 18-19.
Miller’s five-match trek to the event victory saw her win 35 of her 44 games. She gave up a single rack to Tina Marinelli in her opening round of play, and four to Carol V. Clark, which set her (Miller) up to face Judie Wilson in one of the winners’ side semfinals. Shea, in the meantime, who would finish with a 21-24 game record, got by Terri Stovall and Heather Platter, both 7-3, to draw Sharon O’Hanlon in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Miller sent Wilson to the loss side, as Shea was downing Hanlon, both 7-4. Miller chalked up the first of her two straight shutouts over Shea to claim the hot seat, and waited for Shea to get back from the semifinals.
Friend and Rivera made it four in a row with identical 7-5 wins over Wilson and O’Hanlon, respectively. In the quarterfinals that followed, Rivera made it five loss-side wins in a row, defeating Friend 7-3.
Shea ended Rivera’s run with a 7-5 win in the semifinals. Miller claimed the season finale event title with her second shutout over Shea.
The win moved Miller up into third place (from eighth) in the tour’s season-end rankings, behind Shea, and Elaine Wilson, who, by virtue of her finish in the tie for 13th place, stayed just five points ahead of Miller in the final standings. Miller had competed in only three events this season, winning two of them and finishing as the runner-up (to Karen Corr) in the third. Rounding out the tour’s top-ten-ranked players were in order, from fourth place – Carol V. Clark, Nicole King, Kia Sidbury, Jenn Keeney, Jia Li, Sharon O’Hanlon and Judie Wilson.
Tina Malm had to come a little further on the loss side than Shaun Wilkie did, but when the Open and Ladies events' of the Action Pool Tour's (APT) seventh stop concluded on the weekend of July 8-9, they'd both come back to challenge their respective hot seat opponents, and chalked up their third victory on the tour. The Open event drew 71 entrants, while the Ladies' event drew 13 to Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD.
It could be argued that it would have been Wilkie's fourth win on the tour, had it not been for the presence of Dennis Orcollo at the VA State 10-Ball Championships back in February. That said, though, Wilkie did defeat Orcollo in a winners' side semifinal in those championships, and advanced to the hot seat, only to fall in the finals. This time around, Wilkie had to contend with Karen Corr. Following victories over BRyan Jones, Alan Duty, the winner of the Ladies' event, Tina Malm and TJ Moore, Wilkie drew Corr in a winners' side semifinal. Scott Haas, in the meantime, squared off against Jordan Grubb. Corr took Wilkie right to the brink before Wilkie finished the double hill win that put him in the hot seat against Haas, who'd defeated Grubb 7-4. Wilkie took Haas to the brink in that hot seat match, before Haas finished it, consigning Wilkie to a semifinal re-match against Corr.
On the loss side, Corr picked up Bruce Nagle, who'd eliminated Malm via shutout and Dave Hunt 6-4 to reach her. Grubb drew veteran APT competitor Brandon Shuff, who'd been sent to the loss side by Haas in the third round and was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side winning streak that included two double hill wins (over Duty and Matt Krah), before chalking up a shutout over Paul Oh and a 6-4 win over Jimmy Varias that set him up against Grubb.
Corr got into the quarterfinals 6-3 over Nagle, and was joined by Shuff, who'd eliminated Grubb 6-4. Corr and Shuff went double hill before Corr advanced to a re-match against Wilkie in the semifinals. Wilkie defeated Corr 6-4 and got his own re-match, versus Haas in the finals. In the extended race to 9, Wilkie defeated Haas 9-4 to claim his third APT title.
Malm loses opener, wins five on the loss side to meet and defeat Lampert in Ladies final
Things did not start out well for Tina Malm, who entered the ladies event of the APT's 7th stop in the #2 position in the ladies rankings (behind Judie Wilson, who's appeared in all seven stops on the tour). In the opening round, Malm faced Tina Castillo, who was appearing on the tour for the first time this year. Castillo won that opener 6-4, and after a 6-1 victory over Peggi Wilkinson, faced Anita Sowers in a winners' side semifinal. Amanda Lampert, in the meantime, faced Terri Stovall, who'd defeated Judie Wilson 6-2 and Jennifer Tully 6-3 to reach her.
Lampert and Sowers advanced to the hot seat match; Lampert 6-4 over Stovall and Sowers 6-3 over Castillo. Lampert claimed the hot seat over Sowers 6-1 and waited on Malm.
Castillo's move to the loss side put her in an immediate re-match against Malm, who'd defeated Tully 5-1, and Gwen Townsend 6-4 to reach her. Stovall drew Kia Sidbury, who, after an opening round loss to Townsend, had defeated Melissa Mason (double hill), Nicole King and shut out Judie Wilson to reach her. Stovall and Sidbury battled to double hill before Stovall advanced to the quarterfinals to meet Malm, who'd successfully wreaked her vengeance on Castillo 5-3.
With two more, back-to-back 5-3 wins – against Stovall in the quarterfinals and Sowers in the semifinals, Malm got a shot at Lampert, waiting for her in the hot seat. The two battled to double hill before Malm dropped the final ball and chalked up her third APT victory of the 2017 season.
A Second Chance tournament, which drew 23 entrants, saw Steve Fleming come back from a hot seat loss to Josh McCauley to defeat him 6-2 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.
The Action Pool Tour opened its 2017 season at the Magic 8 Cue Club in Cockeysville, MD on the weekend of Jan. 14-15. It featured the first of a season-long series of ladies tournaments, a new rule governing the calculations for rankings (lowest event score, previously eliminated from calculations, now counted in rankings), and, in the persons of Tom Zippler and Tina Malm, new visitors to the tour's winners' circle. The 40-entrant Open event saw Zippler return from a loss in the hot seat match to defeat its occupant, Brett Stottlemyer, in the finals. In the 7-entrant ladies tournament, Tina Malm did the same thing, downing Lai Li in the finals.
Zippler's trip to the finals went through Steve Fleming, Phillip LaPorta, Justin Powers and the eventual winner of the Ladies tournament, Tina Malm, before coming up against Andy Lincoln in a winners' side semifinal. Stottlemyer defeated Mike Slagle, and Bill Woods before almost having his winners' side run derailed by Dave Hunt in a double hill fight. Stottlemyer moved on, though, to defeat Doug Hornsby, before meeting up with Clint Clayton in the other winners' side semifinal.
A 7-4 victory by Zippler over Lincoln and a 7-3 win by Stottlemyer over Clayton set the two up for their first of two in the hot seat match. It came within a game of double hill, with Stottlemyer winning 7-5 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Clayton picked up Malm, who, following her defeat at the hands of Zippler, had defeated Garrett Waechter 6-3 and Will Moon 6-4. Lincoln drew Trevor Dentz, who'd squeaked by Doug Hornsby 6-5, and defeated Tom Helmstetter 6-2. Lincoln and Malm advanced to the quarterfinals; Lincoln 6-4 over Dentz and Malm, with a shutout over Clayton.
There were a couple of "ifs" on the line in the quarterfinal match that followed. If Malm had defeated Lincoln, she'd have guaranteed herself more prize money in the Open match than she eventually earned winning the Ladies tournament. In addition, if Malm had gone on to face Zippler in a re-match, she might have fared better than Lincoln did in his re-match against Zippler. Lincoln and Malm went double hill in that quarterfinal match before Lincoln advanced. Lincoln was then shut out by Zippler in the semifinal.
One can only surmise that the APT veteran Stottlemyer lost a degree of momentum in waiting for the potential newcomer to the winners' circle (Zippler's) return. In any case, Zippler took the final match 9-5 over Stottlemyer to claim the APT season opener title.
Tina Malm claimed the Ladies title with a 4-1 record. She downed Judie Wilson 6-2, and just did get by Kia Sidbury, double hill, in a winners' side semifinal, before being defeated by Lai Li, double hill, in the hot seat match. Li had won her two opening matches 6-2, against Jenny Acot and Terri Stovall (in the other winners' side semifinal), before winning the double hill hot seat match against Malm.
On the loss side, Nicole Fleming, after losing her opening match to Sidbury, got by Judie Wilson, and Terri Stovall, to earn herself a re-match against Sidbury in the quarterfinals. Fleming successfully wreaked her vengeance on Sidbury 6-1 to face Malm in the semifinals. Malm downed her 6-3 to get her second shot at Li in the hot seat. Again, one can only surmise that the downtime between hot seat match and finals had its effect on Li. The result was an 8-2 victory by Malm, which earned her the first ladies title of the APT season.
Reams comes from loss side to win short-field Women's event
Eric Moore solidified his hold on the top position in the Action Pool Tour rankings with a come-from-the-loss-side victory at the VA State 8-Ball Championships, held under the auspices of the Action Pool Tour on the weekend of November 12-13. Sierra Reams, after a loss in one of the winners' side semifinals, came back to claim the VA Women's 8-Ball Championship title. The Open event drew 56 entrants to Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA. The women drew an extraordinarily short field of six to the same location.
Female competitors living in the vicinity of the Northeast Corridor, extending along a two and half hour section of Route 95 from Midlothian, VA to Elkridge, MD (along with others who may have traveled from other areas), had two choices over the weekend. They could attend the VA State Women's 8-Ball Championships in Midlothian, or the season finale of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour in Elkridge. Combined, the two events drew 26 women, six of whom opted for the APT event in Midlothian.
Sierra Reams' trek to the victory in the VA State 8-ball event was extended by two matches, when she was defeated, double hill, in a winners' side semifinal by Kim Whitman. Jacki Duggan joined Whitman in the hot seat match, following a 6-4 victory over Terri Stovall. Duggan claimed the hot seat 6-4 over Whitman.
On the loss side, Reams downed Vivian Nguyen 5-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. Bethany Sykes downed Stovall, double hill, to join her. Reams took the quarterfinal match over Sykes 5-2, and then locked up in a double hill fight against Whitman in their semifinals re-match. Reams won it for a shot at Duggan in the finals. Reams defeated Duggan 8-6 to claim the title.
In the Open event, All 10 of the Action Pool Tour's top 10 competitors were on hand to battle for the 8-ball title, all vying (with one event to go) for the top two slots on the season-end ranking list, which will earn those top two players free entry into all three divisions of the 2017 US Bar Table Championships in Las Vegas, and a shared free hotel room during the event. The #1-ranked player, which, with only the one event to go, would appear to be Moore, will earn plane fare to the event, as well.
Moore's primary nemesis in this event proved to be Max Schlothauer, making a rare appearance on the tour; his first this year (he defeated TD Ozzy Reynolds in the finals of an event a few years ago). Moore and Schlothauer came to the first of their two meetings, in the hot seat match, on the heels of two distinctly different paths. Moore faced four opponents before Schlothauer and gave up an average of 3.5 racks to each of them; overall, 28-14. Schlothauer faced just as many and gave up an average of only one rack to each of his opponents; overall, 28-4.
Following victories over Yuta Morooka, Chris Pyle, Chris Bruner, and Danny Mastermaker, Moore squared off against Jamey Mellott in one of the winners' side semifinals. Schlothauer got by Luther Pickeral, Ernie Allen, Alan Duty, and Reggie Jackson to draw Kenny Miller in the other winners' side semifinal. Between them, Moore and Schlothauer gave up only a single rack in the two winner's side semifinals. Moore allowed Mellott one, while Schlothauer advanced to the hot seat match after a shutout over Miller. Moore chalked up as many racks against Schlothauer in the hot seat match, as all five of Schlothauer's previous opponents combined. Schlothauer claimed the hot seat 7-4 and waited on Moore's return.
On the loss side, Mellott picked up Bruner, who, following his loss to Moore on the winners' side, got by Wai Cho Yee, Bobby Stovall, Reggie Jackson and Yuta Morooka. Miller drew Mastermaker, who'd gotten by Duty, double hill, and Rick Glasscock 6-4 (Glasscock had previously eliminated the tour's #3-player, Shaun Wilkie). Mastermaker downed Miller 6-1, advancing to the quarterfinals against Bruner, who'd eliminated Mellott 6-4.
It was Bruner who advanced to meet Moore in the semifinals, following a 6-3 win over Mastermaker in the quarterfinals. Moore ended Bruner's six-match, loss-side streak with a 6-4 win in the semifinals. In a reversal of fortunes, Moore was able to chalk up as many racks against Schlothauer in the finals as had been chalked up against him to that point (8). Schlothauer managed only three in those finals. Moore was able to record his third APT victory on the year, and claim the VA State 8-Ball Championship title, to go along with his previous VA State 10-Ball Championship title that he earned back in February.
Meredith Lynch moved up into second place in the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour rankings on the weekend of October 1-2, with an undefeated win on the tour's 10th stop. The $1,000-added event ($500 from Coins of the Realm), which was in scheduling competition with Vivian Villareal's Tornado Open in Florida, drew a short field of 15 to First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.
Lynch's five-match march to the winners' circle went through Tina Malm, twice. Following victories over Nicole Fleming and Terri Stovall, Lynch moved into a winners' side semifinal against Kathy Friend. Malm, in the meantime, having been the single recipient of a bye in the 16-player bracket, defeated Heather Platter and in the other winners' side semifinal, faced Elaine Wilson.
Lynch and Malm moved into the hot seat match with identical 9-7 scores over Friend and Wilson. Lynch claimed the hot seat 9-6 over Malm, and waited on her return.
On the loss side, Elaine Wilson drew Judie Wilson, who'd been sent to the loss side in the opening round by Malm, and following a bye, defeated Stovall 7-3 and the tour's #1-ranked player, Linda Shea 7-2. Friend picked up Nicole King, who'd been defeated by Stovall in the opening round, and on the loss side, got by Nicole Fleming 7-2, Heather Platter, double hill, and Sharon O'Hanlon 7-5.
Elaine Wilson eliminated Judie Wilson 7-3, as Friend was downing King 7-3. Friend dominated the quarterfinal versus Elaine Wilson 7-1, but had her short, two-match winning streak on the loss side ended by Malm in the semifinals 7-4.
Malm got a little closer in the finals, than she had in the hot seat match, chalking up an extra game. Lynch, though, chalked up the win 9-7 to claim the event title.
