The
Hunter Classics Amateur Women's Tour drew 34 players to Paradise Billiards
in Denver, Colorado July 10-11. In contention was not only the
first place prize of $750, but also a qualifier for the WPBA Florida Classic
in September.
Sunday Matches
With the field just over 32 players, four players were unfortunate enough
to not catch byes in the first round. Two of those players were powerhouses
Orietta Strickland and Leslie Anne Rogers who faced each other. Strickland
came out on top 7-6 and sent Rogers to the one-loss side. However,
this didn't deter Leslie Anne. She has had several tournament wins
after losing her first match, and at this tournament she won nine matches
in a row to reach the finals.
On the winners side, Julia Gabriel from Illinois was crushing the field with
dominating wins. Gabriel took the hot-seat with a 7-3 win over Ellen Van
Buren. Julia was focused and determined all weekend long and three
games was the most any player could score against her until the finals.
As Gabriel relaxed waiting for an opponent (and trying to find a phone charger
so she could make some calls), Leslie Anne Rogers continued her comeback
on the left side of the board. A win over local Stacy Jackman set up the
semi-finals between Rogers and Van Buren. This tight match went to Leslie
Anne 7-6.
Stacy Jackman herself had several hill-hill matches, which kept her winning
and earning her highest finish yet on the Tour. Stacy won $270
for her fine efforts. Ellen Van Buren, from Florida, won $400 for placing
a respectable third. Bonnie Plowman and Julie Schultz won $175 and
placed 5th/6th.
The finals started out with Leslie Anne on a roll. She won the first three
games and looked on her way to a win in the first set. Julia came back with
three wins of her own and tied the match at 3-3. From there, the match tightened
up with neither player able to grab a lead of more than one game. At 6-6,
the three ball landed in a tough spot forcing numerous kicks and safeties
by both players. Eventually, Julia navigated carefully a five ball
out for the tournament win and the WPBA qualifier. Julia pocketed $750
for the win, with Rogers earning $560.
Filming for a documentary for class
While the tournament was going on, Matthew Kandell, a local college student
taking film class, was filming and interviewing players throughout the weekend.
All of the footage will eventually be reduced to only a 5 or 10 minute
documentary for his class. If you are interested in a copy, you may email
him at kandell@colorado.edu.
Melinda Bailey, Tour Board Member, went undefeated and beat Justine Karber
from Arizona 5-4 in the finals to win the second chance tournament on Sunday.
CueTimes owner, Deb Winter, came in third and Tracie Boles from Fort Worth, TX came in 4th.
Second Chance finishers
Visit us next month in League City, TX at Legend's Billiards August 7-8, which is a
WPBA Qualifier and will have $2,000 added. A BIG thanks to Wes Hunter,
our tour sponsor for the last 11 years! http://www.hunterclassics.com
1st
Julia Gabriel
$750 + Qualifier
2nd
Leslie Anne
Rogers
$560
3rd
Ellen Van
Buren
$400
4th
Stacy Jackman
$270
5-6th
Bonnie Plowman and Julie Schultz
$175
7-8th
Orietta Strickland and Christina Hauck
$100
9-12th
Rachel Hurst, Deb Winter, Justine Karber and Chris Honeman
$55
13-16th
Melinda Bailey, Tara
McCracken, Laura Seavy and Teresa Frederick
$25
2nd Chance Tournament
Results: $110 added, 10 women
