Ouschan Upsets Fisher; Souquet Gives Archer Second Second-place Finish
Jasmin Ouschan, who has become known as the “Ice Princess” for her arctic facial expression during competition, couldn’t help but crack the no-nonsense mask, revealing a stunning smile after ousting the undefeated defending champion Allison Fisher, 7-5, in the 2006 Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championship final, held May 20 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.
Ouschan joined German Ralf Souquet in the winner’s circle after Souquet gave Johnny Archer his second second-place finish at the event, 7-5, after a 7-0 whitewashing by Thorsten Hohmann last year. Both victors worked hard for the $20,000 payout, battling back from the one-loss side, where they had to overcome some stringent competition.
Just 20 years old, Ouschan is an Austrian native who came onto the U.S. women’s pool scene four years ago. Ouschan made waves early on in the tournament, knocking two-time World Champion Ga-Young Kim to the losers’ side in the first round. She had a mettle-testing road to the finals after Melissa Herndon knocked her down to the one-loss side in the third round. She beat the likes of Dawn Hopkins, 9-8, Karen Corr, 9-7, Kelly Fisher, 9-3, Pam Treadway, 9-3, fellow Austrian Gerda Hofstatter, 9-3, and Shin-Mei Lui, 9-2, to meet Helena Thornfeldt in the semifinal, who she defeated, 7-6.
In the final Ouschan faced the favorite Allison Fisher, who remained unscathed through the winners’ side. Fisher was flawless early in the match, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Ouschan then came back and won 3 games of her own to tie the match at 3-3. The match was tied again at 4-4, but Ouschan won two in a row to get to the hill at 6-4. From there, they split racks on their breaks and Ouschan won, 7-5.
After making it to the fifth round by beating the revered Efren Reyes, 11-8, Souquet was knocked to the one-loss side by Archer, 11-8, where he had to face Reyes again. He came out on top once again to redeem himself against Archer in the final, 7-5.
Both Archer and Fisher took home $10,000 for their efforts.
WPBA Midwest Classic Underway
The Women’s Professional Billiards Association’s Mueller Recreational Products Midwest Classic, being held Aug. 3-7 at the Par-a-Dice Hotel and Casino in East Peoria, Ill., has completed several rounds of play going into Friday evening’s matches.
There have been few notable upsets in either the winners’ or losers’ brackets, with the exception of BD contributing writer Sueyen Rhee, who beat Melissa Herndon, 8-6, to reach the third round of the winners’ bracket, where she plays 8th-ranked Julie Kelly later today.
Kim wins WPBA US Open
Korean Sensation Ga-Young Kim capped off an uncharacteristic final day of play with a 7-6 win over Karen Corr to win the 2004 WPBA US Open.
The TV rounds, usually only the domain of a few certain players, were invaded by not only Kim but also Melissa Herndon from California and Kelly Fisher who defeated Allison Fisher on Saturday night to earn her spot.
Corr won her first two matches on Sunday to earn her place in the finals against Kim. Corr and Kim had faced off in the finals of the same event last year with Kim missing a key 9-ball at hill-hill to lose this match. The score might have been the same this time, but it was a different winner as Kim hoisted the trophy high for her first WPBA tour win.