Kelly Fisher Defends Her Title at San Diego Classic
It was a case of deja vu in the finals of the WPBA’s Sand Diego Classic, between defending champion Kelly Fisher, ranked third in the WPBA, and second-ranked Karen Corr.
On April 23 at Viejas Casino in Alpine, Calif., the same place and the same score as last year, Fisher beat Corr, 7-4, in front of a packed audience. Initially Corr dominated with a 3-0 lead, but the tide turned and it became all Fisher. Fisher pocketed the 9 ball on two breaks and capitalized on some rough misses and bad rolls by Corr.
In semifinal play, Fisher defeated fellow Brit and snooker convert, Allison Fisher, 7-4. Corr creamed Sarah Ellerby, 7-2.
The WPBA also celebrated its 10 year anniversary with the Viejas Casino and awarded a plaque to the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians in appreciation for their support.
Four Finalists Remain In the San Diego Classic
A face-off of the Fishers: Allison and Kelly, will take place today, April 23, at 1 p.m. at the San Diego Classic, the third 2006 stop on the Women’s Pro Billiard Tour currently being played out at Viejas Casino in Alpine, Calif.
Kelly dismissed Jeanette Lee and Allison defeated Dawn Hopkins to reach the semifinal match. Kelly is the returning champion of this event, and will do her best to defend the title.
Also among the undefeated, Karen Corr and Sarah Ellerby will face off at 1 p.m. as well. For ongoing results and event highlights, visit www.wpba.com
Ga-Young Kim Takes Second World Championship in Taipei
The world has a new women’s 9-ball champion in Ga-Young Kim of Korea. It’s a title she’s had before, in 2004, and one that she stole away from former 2002 champion Shin-Mei Liu, in the final match of the 2006 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship that took place in Taipei, Taiwan. The four-day tournament culminated March 5.
Kim was the favorite against American Jeannie Seaver in the quarter final. Seaver’s break was plagued by scratches and Kim was victorious, 7-5.
Her next match was a defensive battle against Japan’s Akimi Kajitani. With Kim on the hill, 8-6, Kajitani’s scrupulous safety placement escaped her and she left the opening Kim needed to run the remaining balls for a spot in the final, where she would meet Lui.
In the all-Asian final, points didn’t come easily and the defensive play that ruled the day continued. Kim eventually made it to the hill, 10-8, on an awe-inspiring pocket-speed shot. Within one game of the championship, Kim left Liu an opening, which she took and ran with, until she faced a poor lie on the 9. Liu went with a thin cut-shot, and the 9 ball rattled between the jaws, coming to rest just shy of the pocket. Kim easily knocked it in for the world title.
This year, the tournament yielded 64 participants from all over the world, competing for the high distinction. A few headliners were not in attendance, including Allison Fisher and Jeanette Lee.
Robert Huang, organizer of the Amway Cup was quoted in the Tapei Times as saying, “Jeanette Lee’s appearance fee rose to US$10,000 per day this year. We weren’t prepared to pay that type of money for her to play.”
Everything’s Coming Up Kim
Women’s Professional Billiard Association star Ga Young Kim has had quite a week. The day that Westwood Billiards announced their sponsorship of Kim, Nov. 3, she went on to win the Women’s Tournament of Champions at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.
The made-for-TV event features a two-set single-elimination format, with a single-game sudden-death tiebreaker if each player wins one set. Kim get past Corr on a tiebreaker game, putting Kim into the final. Meanwhile, Julie Kelly beat Allison Fisher, also on a tiebreaker, to gain a finals berth against Kim.
In the final, no tiebreaker was needed. Kim dominated both sets, 5-0, 5-1, to earn the title. That win earned her the $25,000 top prize.
Fisher Wins WPBA U.S. Open
Allison Fisher beat Karen Corr, 7-6, in the final of the Cuetec Cues WPBA U.S. Open, held Oct. 12-16 at the Sandia Casino in Albuquerque, N.M.
Fisher was sent to the one-loss side by Monica Webb, 7-5, in the winners’-side fifth round. On the left side, Fisher beat Helena Thornfeldt, 7-4, and advanced to play defending champ Ga Young Kim of Korea. Fisher took a 4-1 lead over Kim, and though Kim fought back to a tie, she never held a lead. Fisher won, 7-5, and moved on the play Webb.
Against Webb, the going was tougher for Fisher. Fisher took the first lead, but Webb got ahead 4-3. Tied at 5-5, Fisher again converted her opportunities into wins and took the match, 7-5. Webb collected $7,000 for third place.
Corr was waiting for Fisher in the hotseat. They tied on the hill and Fisher made the most of it, winning 7-6. Fisher took home $16,000 for first place, while Corr settled for $9,500 in second.
Ewa Laurance, 2005’s Trick-Shot Queen
Ewa Laurance won the second annual Women’s Trick Shot Challenge, organized by Matt Braun’s promotional company Billiards International and held at the ESPN Zone in Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 4.
Laurance beat Allison Fisher, 10-7, in the final match. Both semifinals and the final match were taped for ESPN broadcasts beginning in November.
Four women played in the one-day event: Laurance, Fisher, Gerda Hofstatter and Dawn Hopkins. Fisher beat Hopkins, 11-8, in one semifinal while Laurance beat Horstatter, 12-11, in the other.
The format required each player to perform ten specific shots, with one point awarded for each successfully executed shot. Then the players challenged each other with shots of their own choice; the player’s opponent had to duplicate the shot or lose a point.
Laurance took home $25,000 for the win; Fisher collected $5,000 for second, and Hofstatter and Hopkins each won $2,000.
Practically Perfect, Fisher Seizes Fourth Trophy of the Season
Still struggling with a stiff neck and playing a bit out of sorts, Allison Fisher nonetheless pulled it all together in the final of the WPBA’s Midwest Classic and played nearly flawless pool to flatten challenger Helena Thornfeldt, 7-1.
“That was the best I’ve played all week,” the Duchess of Doom said after the match, in which she missed just two balls and ran the final rack. As scored by the Accu-Stats system (percentage of balls pocketed vs. table errors), Fisher played at a .962 clip — an astonishingly high figure.
Fisher was coming off a disappointing, medal-less trip to the World Games in July, and a fourth-place finish at the WPBA’s Southeast Classic in June, where she developed intense muscle spasms in her neck the morning of the final TV matches. It forced her to play left-handed for part of her match, as well as with a bridge for normally routine shots.
The malady hadn’t entirely disappeared by the beginning of the Midwest Classic, held Aug. 4-7 at the Par-A-Dice Hotel & Casino in East Peoria, Ill. Fisher struggled through the pain, however, and managed to get through the tournament undefeated despite lackluster showings against Sarah Ellerby in the quarterfinals, 7-2, and Monica Webb in the semis, 7-3.
Against Sweden’s Thornfeldt in the final, Fisher found her speed and raced to a 5-0 lead. Frustrated by small but costly errors and a dry break, Thornfeldt got on the board finally with an aggressive 2-9 carom in the left foot-rail corner. Fisher countered with a sporty shot of her own, a 7-9 combo that put her on the hill, 6-1. Thornfeldt again broke dry, bringing Fisher up for a typically elegant runout and the $16,000 title.
Fisher now has won four of the six Classic Tour points events so far in the 2005 season. With just two remaining, she is the leading contender for Player of the Year.
“Rocket” Lone US Medal Hope
Rodney Morris overcame an early 4-1 deficit against Germany’s Thomas Engert Friday evening to win 11-8 and advance to the semifinals of the men’s 9-ball division at the 2005 World Games in Duisburg, Germany. With the ousters Friday of Charlie Williams and Vivian Villarreal, Morris is the only U.S. contestant remaining in the four cue sport medal categories.
Morris will face former world 9-ball champion and reigning Billiard Congress of American Open 9-Ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany on Saturday for the right to play in the Gold Medal game. Hohmann squeaked past Sweden’s Tom Storm, 11-10, to earn his semifinal spot. The other Saturday semi in the men’s division will pit China’s Pei-Wei Chang against surprising Vangelis Vettas of Greece. Vettas, who shocked Germany’s Ralf Souquet in the opening round of the 16-player single-elimination field, dumped Williams, 11-7, on Friday. Chang, 2004 World Pool Championship runnerup, beat Holland’s Niels Feijen, 11-7.
In Women’s 9-Ball, Korea’s Sung-Hyun Jung beat Villarreal, 11-8, to earn a spot in the semifinals. She’ll be joined by Jennifer Chen, who upended Allison Fisher, Jasmin Oschan of Austria, and Norway’s Line Kjorsvik.
Two Turks, Semih Sayginer and Murat Coklu, earned semifinal spots in the Men’s Carom discipline, along with Dick Jaspers of Holland and defending champion Danny Sanchez of Spain.
Men’s Snooker saw 18-year-old Jun-Hui Ding post a 138 clearance enroute to a 3-0 win over Germany’s Lasse Munstermann. Ding reached the semis along with Amateur World Champion Mark Allen of England, countryman Gerard Greene and Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer, who overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat England’s Gavin Pantall, 3 sets to 2.