Corr Pulls Ahead of the Pack
Karen Corr is on a roll. Last month at the Florida Classic, she knocked off Allison Fisher in the final, and this month, at the Midwest Classic, she defeated the other Fisher, Kelly, in a final that tested the bladder control of many an audience member. With three titles so far in the 2006 season, Corr has left both Fishers, who have a title apiece, in the dust for the Player of the Year race.
Nine of the tour’s top players competed in the International Pool Tour’s North American Open just days before the Midwest Classic commenced at the Par-a-dice Hotel and Casino in Peoria, Ill. Sarah Ellerby went the farthest in the 8-ball event, and had to fly overnight from Vegas to make it in time for her first match in the Midwest.
While an exhausted Ellerby was knocked out early, the rest of the IPT members didn’t seem affected by the transition from 8-ball to 9-ball. After three rounds, eight players remained undefeated: Corr, Monica Webb, Kim White, Kelly Fisher, Allison Fisher, Jeanette Lee, Xiao-Ting Pan, and Belinda Calhoun.
The remaining players battled it out in the one-loss side to reach the top 16. The bottom eight were Sarah Rousey, Val Finnie, Julie Kelly, Ga-Young Kim, Ewa Laurance, Megan Minerich, Gerda Hofstatter and Pam Treadway.
In the single-elimination matches to determine the semifinalists, Allison Fisher was knocked out by Chinese up-and-comer Xiao-Ting Pan. She, along with Webb, Corr, and Kelly Fisher advanced.
Both semifinal matches were decided by crucial plays at 4-4. Kelly Fisher outplayed Pan in the semifinal, 7-4, after the tiny 24-year-old fouled on a jump shot. Fisher said that revenge was sweet, as Pan had knocked her out in San Diego. Corr also won 7-4, pulling ahead against Webb after an untimely scratch.
In the final between Fisher and Corr, the game of 9-ball had never so resembled ping-pong. The former snooker players battled back and forth, going 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5 after Corr jarred an easy 9 ball. With a race-to-2 determing a difference in payouts of $5,000, Corr ran out to reach the hill. Fisher broke in the case game, and executed a safety. Corr mulled over the shot, and ended up scratching. Fisher sank the 2 and played safe on the 3, which Corr pocketed with a surprising two-rail bank shot, which proved to be the winning shot. She ran out the rest of the rack for the $13,000, and her third title of the season.
Check out www.wpba.com for the full bracket and photo highlights.
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.
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.
Julie Kelly Triumphs in Windsor
Julie Kelly finally broke through for a WPBA title win.
The ebullient Irishwoman took a 7-5 victory over perennial top-ranker Fisher at the Cuetec Cues Canadian Classic in Windsor, Ontario, Oct. 6-10. Kelly lost to friend and road partner Corr in round four and went to the losers’ side, defeating Gerda Hofstatter, 9-8, Romana Dokovic, 9-3, Vivian Villareal, 9-7, and Hsin Huan, 7-2, to earn a semifinal rematch with Corr, who she dismissed handily, 7-4, to move forward into the final and trump Fisher.
Kelly was ecstatic after her long-awaited win, and took the opportunity to thank members of her family back in Ireland, as well as Corr, for their help and support in reaching her goal.
WPA Crowns World 9-Ball Champs
The 2001 World Pool-Billiard Association World 9-ball champions are Allison Fisher (representing Great Britain) and Brian Naithani (Germany).
Fisher, ranked No. 2 by the Women’s Professional Billiard Association, earned her fourth WPA world title by defeating WPBA No. 1-ranked Karen Corr (also representing Great Britain) 11-8 in the final held in Amagasaki City, Japan. Only one other player (Robin Dodson, with the 1990 and 1991 titles) owns multiple WPA women’s 9-ball titles. Fisher finished third last year while Corr placed second. The 2000 titlist, Julie Kelly, finished 17th, losing first to Anita Kuczma of Canada, 11-5, and then to Kyoke Sone of Japan, 11-4.
Naithani, who was the 2000 runner-up in the juniors’ contest, defeated Jung-Lin Chang of Taipei, 11-5, in the final. The defending champion, Dmitri Jungo, aged out of competition.
Also at the tournament, the WPA elected Ian Anderson of Sydney, Australia to a four-year term as its president.
Irish eyes are smiling
Although the 2000 World Pool-Billiard Association World 9-Ball Championships in Quebec City, Quebec, Nov. 14-19, brought together the best women players in the world, the finals came down to the Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s two top Irish imports. After a difficult route to the final, Julie Kelly topped WPBA No. 2-ranked Karen Corr to capture first place and her first major tournament title since coming to the United States in 1999.
Kelly, currently ranked No. 18 on the WPBA’s Classic Tour, twice knocked off defending champion Shin-Mei Liu (9-8, 9-6), then Jeanette Lee (9-7), before defeating her countrymate, 9-8 in the final match. Corr reached the final match with a victory over Lee in the quarterfinals (9-5) and a convincing win over three-time World Champion and WPBA No. 1-ranked Allison Fisher (9-2).
Corr Falls to Fisher at Fall Classic
Continuing a streak that’s starting to look like a comeback, Allison Fisher defeated longtime rival Karen Corr, 7-1, in the finals of the Women’s Professional Billiards Association’s Fall Classic, Oct. 2-6 at Amsterdam Billiards in New York, N.Y.
Fisher’s first game of the tournament brought an unexpected scare, when Canada’s Anita Kuczma took it to the hill before Fisher pulled off the 9-8 win. Fisher went on to win decisive victories over Julie Kelly, 9-1, Vivian Villareal, 9-2, and Monica Webb, 9-4, before another surprise trip to the hill, this time against Belinda Campos, put Fisher on the losers’ side. Fisher got her wind back, defeating Helena Thornfeldt, 7-4, Campos, 7-2, and finally Corr.
With this win, Fisher continues to creep up on Corr in the point rankings. This event earned Fisher 75 points, bringing her to 1615, while Corr holds steady at the top of the chart with 1770 points.