Ga Young Kim Wins Championship TOP GUNS PLAY FOR THE MOST COVETED TITLE ON THE TOUR BY SHARI STAUCH PHOTO BY DALE SHANK
The Women’s Pro Billiard Tour returned to the beautiful Chinook Winds Event Center on the Oregon coast this year for the most coveted title on the tour, the WPBA Tour Championships, or as veterans know it, “the Nationals.” The event is only open to 48 players, and only by invitation. The world class field included all WPBA’s top guns save Karen Corr, who has moved back to England and is unsure whether she’ll return to professional competition. Beginning play on Thursday morning, November 10, the double elimination field was quickly whittled down to the top 16 who would compete in single elimination rounds for the title. The players making it past this first round would be featured in the quarter-finals, taped for ESPN broadcast in December and January (check poolmag.com for up-to-date air times). The final sixteen took to the floor late Friday night to pare down the field, with eight great matches. US Open runnerup Ga Young Kim defeated Hall of Famer Ewa Laurance 9-6 despite a valiant comeback from Laurance late in the game. Last year’s Tour Championship runner-up and the 2010 National Junior Champion Brittany Bryant defeated Norway's Line Kjorsvik 9-7. Great Britain's Kim Shaw destroyed American contender Liz Cole, and in a surprise victory, the Texas Tornado Vivian Villarreal bested UK native Kelly Fisher. Fisher, hot off a win at the Yalin Women's World Championship in the Philippines, was an early favorite. The other four matches in this round included Swedish native Helena Thornfeldt defeating Georgia's Monica Webb 9-2; media superstar Jeanette Lee (the Black Widow) over Colorado's Melissa Little 9-3, Hall of Famer Allison Fisher over hot newcomer Erica Park of Korea 9-3; and New York's Jennifer Barretta over Liz Ford 9-5. On Saturday, the first to take the stage in the televised races to seven were Ga Young Kim vs. young Brittany Bryant. Kim quickly left Bryant tied for fifth with a 7-2 win, then waited for her semi-final opponent. Next up, England’s Kim Shaw vs. the “Texas Tornado” Vivian Villarreal. Villarreal put on a whirlwind performance, but Shaw stayed right with her until the bitter end. Vivian eked out a 7-6 victory to set up a Kim vs. Villarreal showdown. In the third quarter-final match, Jeanette Lee faced friend and formidable opponent Helena Thornfeldt. Lee won by a slim one game margin, 7-6. And, wrapping up Saturday’s action, a marquis match between BCA Hall of Famer Allison Fisher and New York’s Jennifer Barretta, always a contender but yet to win a major title. Fisher, winner of the 2011 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, the WPBA’s last major tour stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma this past June, was eager to put another notch in her belt, and eventually defeated Barretta 7-5 in another close match to set up a Lee vs. Fisher semifinal. The top four contenders took to the floor Sunday afternoon, each
eager to make WPBA history and cement the last title of the 2011 season. Ga Young Kim was having none of the Tornado’s dark cloud; she defeated Vivian Villarreal 7-2 and set her eyes on the prize. Ditto Allison Fisher, who quickly eliminated Jeanette Lee 7-1 to secure her own seat in the final. And so it was a fan’s dream, two of the best players to wield a cue facing off in a battle for the last bragging rights of the season. Ga Young Kim came on strong in the final match, opening with a two-rack run. But a scratch in the third rack put Fisher at the table to run out and close the gap 1-2. Answering with a break and run of her own she quickly tied the match 2-2. Fisher then pulled ahead 3-2, only to be stopped short by another game win from Kim to tie it up 3-3. Then Ga Young Kim hit another gear. She won the next three racks to lead 6-3, just one game away from the title, but Allison fought back with a clever masse in game ten, followed by a break and run to trail one game, 5-6. She broke, played safe on the one, but left Ga Young Kim a long cut shot. Kim made the cut to the delight of excited fans, and ran the remainder of the rack to take the game, match and title victory! The WPBA Classic Tour and its culminating Tour Championship is sponsored by the American Poolplayers Association, Diamond Billiards, Iwan Simonis, Delta 13, Pooldawg and Aramith. The Tour Championships were hosted by the Chinook Winds Event Center in Lincoln City, Oregon. Visit www.wpba.com for more info.
December 2011 - Stroke Magazine 17