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.
Corr Recovers to Capture Southeast Classic Crown
After losing in the second round of the WPBA’s Southeast Classic, Karen Corr went on a tear that landed her in the final match against rising star Ga Young Kim. After trading blows with Kim to 4-4, Corr reeled off three straight games to win her first classic Tour event of the 2005 season, 7-4.
Going into Sunday’s final three matches at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., the marquee matchup appeared to be the first tilt pitting WPBA No. 2 Corr against No. 1 Allison Fisher, who likewise lost in the second round. But Fisher woke up Sunday morning with muscle spasms on the left side of her neck that severely limited her mobility around the table, forcing her to consider forfeiting against Corr. Fisher, always a gamer, ultimately decided to play on, improvising during much of the early games by shooting left-handed or with a bridge. By the time her body loosened up, the score was already 6-2 in Corr’s favor. The Irish Invader went on to win, 7-3.
Corr then faced WPBA No. 6 Monica Webb, who had yet to finish higher than 3rd in a Classic Tour event. The always-consistent Webb continued that streak, falling 7-4 to Corr after scratching in the 10th game, and then watching Corr break and run out in the final frame.
The last match was the third finals meeting between Corr and Kim, with each having won a U.S. Open title at the other’s expense. By this point in the day, Corr was in dead stroke, while Kim came out shooting a bit carelessly and blew some chances to take a decisive advantage. After battling back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the match at 4-all, Kim fell victim to Corr’s clever safety play in game 9, and then fell out of line in game 10 to hand the keys to victory to her opponent. A break-and-run in game 11 sealed Corr’s win.
Kim and Corr Face Off in Florida
The final match has been set for the WPBA Southeast Classic at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Karen Corr, currently ranked second on the Classic Tour, will face reigning world champion Ga Young Kim.
Coming through the one-loss side, Corr bested top-ranked Allison Fisher, 7-3, and advanced to face Monica Webb. Corr had a similarly decisive victory over Webb, beating her 7-4 to earn her spot in the final against Kim.
Kim takes Florida hot-seat
The TV Matches are now set for the WPBA Southeast Classic at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood Florida.
In the hot seat sits reigning world champion Ga Young Kim, who defeated Monica Webb 9-6 on Saturday.
Webb, will await the winner between #1 ranked Allison Fisher and #2 ranked Karen Corr in the first match on Sunday. Karen Corr defeated Jeanette Lee 9-3 on Saturday night, while Allison Fisher defeated Kelly Fisher 9-6.
Fisher Takes Fifth Amway Title
Fisher grabbed Amway title number five.
In the final, televised live on Taiwanese television station Videoland, Fisher bested Korea’s Ga Young Kim, 11-6. Fisher collected $24,000 for her win. Kim took home $12,000 for second place.
The rest of the field finished as follows: 3. Karen Corr; 4. Shin-Mei Liu; 5. (tie) Yuan-Chun Lin, Wendy Jans; 7. (tie) Jasmin Ouschan, Jennifer Chen; 9. (tie) Shu-Han Chang, Jeanette Lee; 11. (tie) Jennifer Barretta, Kajitani Akimi.
Finals Set for Amway Cup
The quarter- and semifinal rounds are complete at the Amway Cup World Women Billiards Invitational, being held May 6-9 in Taipei, Taiwan. Korea’s Ga Young Kim is slated to face British “Duchess of Doom” Allison Fisher in the final tonight.
In one quarterfinal round, Karen Corr bested Yuan-Chun Lin, advancing to a semifinal against Fisher, where Corr was eliminated, 7-3. In the other quarterfinal, Shin-Mei Liu beat young Belgian Wendy Jans, 7-5. Liu then took a 7-2 beating from good friend Kim.
The playoff for third place between Corr and Liu takes place this evening before the final. All matches are being shown live on Taiwanese television.
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.
Liu Takes Amway Title for Taiwan
Liu remained placid, even after winning a momentous title for her country.
This time, the British perennial champ took a brutal 11-2 loss . She did not score a point until a seventh-game run out brought the score to 6-1, and she failed to pick up momentum from there, scoring only once more. Fisher didn’t capitalize on several of Liu’s mistakes, including a 7-ball bank that left the ball sitting on the lip of the pocket.
Liu took the final game with a tricky run-out that included jumping out of a safety on the 1 and recovering from poor position on the 4. As icing on the cake, she sank the 5 and 7 in one shot before running what was left of the rack. She registered little emotion as she won the title, but did say that this was the first time that she had beaten Fisher in Taiwan.
Fisher took home $10,000 for second place, Monica Webb took $8,000 for third, Karen Corr took $7,000 for fourth, and Jeanette Lee and Korean Ga-Young Kim tied for fifth and $5,000 each.