Young
ace and aspiring pro Ann Kostanian from Albuquerque, New
Mexico won her second Hunter
Classics Amateur Women's Tour event of the year in Dallas, Texas at Pugsley's Library on June 10-11.
Forty four ladies from Arkansas, Missouri, New
Mexico, Canada and of course Texas came to compete in the event. The
A/C was fixed Saturday night, so literally there were a lot of matches
to sweat on Saturday. However, Sunday matches were very close as
the top echelon of the Hunter Tour and many Qualifier-seekers were
dueling it out for the first place crown and the WPBA Qualifier.
Anna Kostanian, Veronique Menard, Lisa Brannen and Amanda Lampert
Traveling
from Quebec, Veronique Menard impressed everyone over
the weekend in her quest for the Qualifier. Unfortunately, she
lost a close match to Houston's Belinda Lee 7-6 on Saturday and then
ran into a determined Lisa Brannen Sunday morning who defeated
Veronique 7-0. We hope to see her in the future – Veronique is an
amazing player with a wonderful personality. Veronique earned
$220 for her 4th place finish.
Lisa
Brannen (from Arkansas) had all lopsided scores on Saturday -
her opponents couldn't win 4 games against her. On Sunday
morning, Anna had other plans, though, and defeated Lisa
hill-hill. The other winner's side match on Sunday morning was
between Amanda Lampert (new resident of Dallas) and Terry Petrosino (of Houston). Terry fought hard, but Amanda was
too much and won 7-5. Terry then lost to Veronique 7-5 while Lisa
defeated Heather Lloyd (from Austin) 7-3. Terry and Heather placed
5th/6th and earned $150. Amanda and Anna then battled for the hot
seat title. Both played well but Anna came out on top winning
7-3. Amanda then defeated Brannen 7-4 to earn her
rematch with Anna. Lisa earned $400 for her third place
finish.
Amanda and Anna both wanted the WPBA
qualifier badly, which was evident when Amanda defeated Anna 7-5 the
first set in the double elimination tournament. The second set
was just as close and exciting and tied at 4-4, it was anyone's
game. Anna was able to reach 5 games first but Amanda won the
next game and tied it 5-5. In the 11th game, Amanda played safe
on the 2-ball after Anna fouled, but accidentally left a window open
for a 2-9 combo, which Anna made nicely. Amanda broke dry the
next game and Anna ran the table to win the match 7-5. Anna took
home $750 for first place and the WPBA Qualifier for the pro tournament
in July in Peoria, Illinois. Amanda earned $550 for her 2nd
place finish.
In
the second chance tournament, Tournament Board Member Julie Stephenson
defeated Anne Mayes for the title. Julie earned $100 and Anne
earned $75. Third placed was filled by Jennifer Combs ($50)
and Tracie Voelkering placed fourth ($25).
A BIG
thank you to Wes Hunter who donated a beautiful $1,800 Hunter Classics
Custom Cue for this event. Jillian Valles from Houston was very excited as she received a phone
call on her drive back to Houston from the event to hear she won the cue!
Main Event, complete payouts:
1st
$750 Anna Kostanian plus WPBA Qualifier
2nd
$550 Amanda Lampert
3rd
$400 Lisa Brannen
4th
$220 Veronique Menard
5th/6th $150
Heather Lloyd and Terry Petrosino
7th/8th
$100 Lisa Henderson-Major and Leslie Anne Rogers
9th-12th
$70 Michelle Ram, Kim pierce, Belinda Lee and Lisa Miranda
