WPBA Pros and amatuers get
together in Rhode Island's Pro-Am event.
The Cutec Cues U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship (held in
conjunction with the Northeast Challenge) kicked
off with a media night Charity Pro-Am event on Wednesday,
August 1, 2007 at 7 p.m. in Lincoln Rhode Island. Celebrity
guests (like Vincent
Morris) from around the country had an opportunity
mingle and compete with some of the world's top players
including: Karen Corr,
England's Kelly Fisher, Kim Shaw and Sarah Ellerby,
Korean Ga-Young Kim,
Austrian Gerda Hofstatter,
Sweden's Ewa Laurance
and Helena Thornfeldt, and Americans Monica Webb, Vivian
Villarreal, Jeanette
Lee, Tiffany Nelson, Melissa Herndon and Jennifer
Barretta. Admission to the Pro-Am was a $20 donation.
The event marked the first time the Cutec Cues U.S.
Open has been hosted at a Northeast location. "The
players of the WPBA were extremely excited about the
move to Twin River and their newly remodeled facility,"
said Peg Ledman, WPBA Tour coordinator. "The new
venue coupled with 7 hours of ESPN coverage made for
a very exciting tournament for both the players and
fans."
The total purse for the event was $110,000. The Saturday
and Sunday rounds were televised on the ESPN Network.
The final matchup in the tournament came down to Allison
Fisher and Kelly Fisher. After a hard fight Allison
was able to show why she still is the WPBA's top player.
To view more Pro-Am
pics please click here.
ALLISON
FISHER CLAIMS ANOTHER TITILE
Allison
Fisher Claims Another Title
Making
this her second consecutive win this season and her
fiftieth Classic Tour victory, Allison Fisher eked
out a double-hill win over Kelly Fisher in the finals
of the Cuetec Cues U.S. Open 9-Ball tournament. The
event, which started Thursday, August 2, brought out
a full 64-player field to Twin River Casino in Lincoln,
RI.
Making this her second consecutive win this season
and her fiftieth Classic Tour victory, Allison Fisher
eked out a double-hill win over Kelly Fisher in the
finals of the Cuetec Cues U.S. Open 9-Ball tournament.Kim
Shaw experienced some bad rolls and worse luck in
her semifinal match against Kelly Fisher. Empty breaks
and scratches seemed to plague her throughout, while
Fisher was able to sail to the hill 6-2. Since the
alternating-break format was in use, it was Shaw’s
turn to break. She pocketed the 1, 2, and 3 balls
but scratched into the corner. Unable to believe her
luck, Fisher cleared the remaining six balls to advance
to the final match.
In
the second of both lopsided semifinal matches, Allison
Fisher met the aggressive Ga-Young Kim. Fisher took
an early lead, taking advantage of a scratch by Kim
and a neat run-out of her own. Some excellent defensive
play added two more racks to Fisher’s score,
making it now 6-2 in her favor. A hung 1 ball in the
following game narrowed the gap slightly to 6-3, but
in the last rack, Fisher countered a safety by pocketing
the 1 and getting into position to run out, which
she did to win 7-3.
A
long and tension-fraught finale unfolded as the players
tried every trick they knew to trip the other up.
In the 13-rack match, there was only one break and
run-out, and that was by K. Fisher in the fourth game.
And two games was the biggest lead anyone had throughout,
when A. Fisher reached 5-3.
View
the WPBA US Open tournament brackets
K.
Fisher tied the match at 5 apiece when A. Fisher came
up empty on her break and then scratched off the 4
ball in the following rack. Reaching the hill after
a hung-up 2 by A. Fisher, K. Fisher was so close she
could taste the victory. Especially when she broke
and ran out the next rack—almost. But coming
off the 8 ball, the cue ball kissed off the 9 and
scratched. An unsuccessful safety by K. Fisher in
the final game handed the table to A. Fisher, who
hooked herself on the 4 ball but kicked it in anyway.
A tough leave on the 6 gave her pause, but only for
a moment, and then A. Fisher dished up for the 7-6
win.
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