Corr eclipses Fisher to take No. 1 ranking
Ireland’s Karen Corr captured her 2001 Classic Tour-best third title of the season by defeating Allison Fisher, 7-3, in the final of the Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s Cuetec Cues Carolina Classic at the Charlotte Marriott City Center, June 14-17. The victory vaulted Corr into the No. 1 spot in the rankings, unseating Fisher, who held the WPBA’s top position since Sept. 1996.
Corr’s victory was her sixth WPBA crown since joining the tour in 1999. Five of those wins have come in Corr’s last nine Classic Tour stops, including back-to-back titles at the 2001 Cuetec Cues Players Championship in March and the Spring Classic in April. With the $7,500 first-place prize, Corr’s earnings total reached a Classic Tour-leading $30,000 for the 2001 season.
Byrne, Ceulemans get BCA Hall of Fame nods
The voters have spoken, and Earl Strickland can begin making plans to attend the World Pool Championship in Cardiff.
In a vote that seemed to underscore the business nature of the BCA electorate, author Robert Byrne and legendary Belgian 3-cushion star Raymond Ceulemans earned entry into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame, according to the BCA. Byrne and Ceulemans become the 39th and 40th members of the Hall. The duo emerged as the top vote-getters on a five-person ballot that included Strickland and fellow contemporary players Jim Rempe and Allen Hopkins. Strickland had previously insisted that, if elected, he would bypass the $300,000 world championship to attend the BCA Hall of Fame banquet.
Byrne, 70, credited with drawing thousands of players into the game through his seven books and five videos on billiards, will become the eighth person to be inducted in the Meritorious Service category. Ceulemans, 63, dominated the world 3-cushion scene from the ’60s into the ’90s, winning 16 of his 19 world-titles in an 18-year period between 1962 and 1980.
That the Hall of Fame vote is in the hands of BCA’s 125 Voting members and 175 Associate members (nearly 60 percent of the Voting membership voted, while just 25 percent of the Assoicate members submitted ballots, according to the BCA) probably increased Byrne’s chances, since his books and videos are well known to the BCA business populace. Meanwhile, industry pundits will likely wonder whether the lack of support for Strickland was a direct reflection of his sometimes volatile career.
Lee and Deuel Victorious in Vegas
Jeanette Lee ended Karen Corr’s two-tourney win streak when she came from the one-loss side to hand Corr her only loss of the tournament, 7-5, at the Billiard Congress of America Pro 9-Ball open. Lee also ended a drought of her own, taking her first tournament top prize since prior to her 2000 back and shoulder surgery.
On the men’s side, Cory Deuel came through the left side and won 12 consecutive matches to take the top prize, defeating Jose Parica, 7-5, with a jaunty 8-9 combo in the final.
Lee and Deuel each won $15,000.
Billiard Congress of America’s Pro 9-Ball
Defending Champion Johnny Archer will have to do it the hard way if he is to repeat at the Billiard Congress of America’s Pro 9-Ball tournament in Las Vegas. Archer was upset by Canadian Mario Mora, 11-8, in the opening round of the men’s division, Sunday. The double-elimination format makes it “sudden death” for Archer from this point on.
The 2000 women’s division winner, Gerda Hofstatter, got by Ann Gray easily, 9-1, to stay in the hunt.
The 64-player men’s and women’s divisions are competing for twin $80,000 prize funds. The event runs through Saturday, May 19, and will be broadcast on ESPN later in the summer.
Deja Vu, All Over Again
Karen Corr became the first Women’s Professional Billiard Association player other than No. 1-ranked Allison Fisher to win back-to-back Classic Tour titles since 1997 by capturing the Spring Classic, in Alpine, Calif., April 26-29. The victory, which paid Corr $6,500, once again came against Jennifer Chen, Corr’s final opponent one month earlier at the Cuetec Cues Players Championship in Valley Forge, Pa., March 23-25.
On her path to a second consecutive TV final, No. 2-ranked Corr knocked off Kim White, 9-1, Tiffany Nelson, 9-4, Line Kjorsvik, 9-8, and Vivian Villarreal, 9-2, before her rematch with Chen. Only Gerda Hofstatter as previously been able to string together back-to-back Classic Tour stops in the last four seasons. A native of Taiwan, Chen earned $4,500 for second place.
Guinness World Record Attempt!
Can Raymond “Hitman” Modglin, owner of Castleton Billiards Cafe in Indianapolis, play 1,000 games of 9-ball IN A ROW? Ray will make this historic attempt at a Guinness World Record during the BCA N.A. 8-Ball Championships at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Ray will begin his quest the morning of Monday, May 14 and plans to hit the magic number on Wednesday evening.
YOU CAN BE A PART OF THIS GREAT EVENT! Ray needs challengers to meet his goal and with a small donation to the Billiard Education Foundation, you can play against Ray and have the honor of being an official Guinness World Record holder! Sign up for your place in history at the BCA booth in the Grande Ballroom.
Sponsors for the Guinness attempt are: Buckhorn Billiards (tables), Iwan Simonis (cloth), Imperial International (balls), Viking Cue Mfg. (cues), Tweeten Fibre Co. (chalk) and The Sardo Tight Rack (rack). See the Official Tournament Program (in your goodie bag!) for all the details!
Corr defends Valley Forge
Karen Corr kicked off the 2001 Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s Classic Tour by capturing its first stop at the Cuetec Players Championship, in Valley Forge, Pa., March 23-25. Corr went undefeated to collect $6,500 during the three-day tournament, which will be aired on ESPN beginning in May.
Corr, the WPBA’s second-ranked player, rallied from a 4-1 deficit against Jennifer Chen in the final match with six consecutive games to claim her second consecutive Players Championship title. “This event is important for me because I live just down the road [in Feasterville, Pa.],” said Corr. “There’s a lot of local support for me here, and I have a lot of friends who wanted to see me do well.”
Hall of Fame Ballot Released
Three first-timers joined a pair of returning nominees on the 2001 Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame Ballot. Author Bob Byrne, three-cushion legend Raymond Ceulemans and player of the year Earl Strickland all make their first appearance on the ballot. Allen Hopkins and Jim Rempe are holdovers from last year. The voting membership of the BCA will elect one or two of the nominees and the winner will be announced in the spring.
Jones’ All-Star weekend
Jeremy Jones bounced back from the one-loss bracket to defeat Corey Deuel in the final match of the Lexington All-Stars Championships in Lexington, Ky., Feb. 28-March 4. Two months after the two finalists played as teammates during Team USA’s win in December’s Mosconi Cup, Jones held off Deuel in the final match, 15-8, to earn $5,000 and his first tournament win of the year.
Deuel collected $2,500 for second place, and defending champion Jose Parica won $1,800 for third.
Lee gives 3-cushion a stab
Women’s Professional Billiard Association attraction Jeanette Lee has announced she will participate in the United States Billiard Association’s next Carom Corner 3-cushion billiards event at World Class Billiards in Peabody, Mass., March 12-18. She will compete in a handicapped event during the tournament, which will feature recently crowned U.S. champion Sang Chun Lee and current world No. 1 Dick Jaspers.
For more information contact the host site at (978) 535-7000.