Day 2 of the Soaring Eagle Masters in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. It was all about Jeri, Jeri, Jeri, Jeri
Day 1 produced very few surprise results; maybe Kristina Zlateva's loss to Veronique 'Vero to her friends, but you could argue that's not really a shock. Vero has a good pedigree, and let's not forget she represented Canada in the World Team Championships in Klagenfurt, Austria, in 2022. Most of the usual suspects made it through unscathed.
Day 2, and first up on the stream is my favourite human being, Jeri Engh. I know it can be taboo to talk about Women's ages, but this is an exception. At 85, she is always the first on the practice table. She is living her dream. After losing her husband passed away, she decided to join the pro tour and fulfill that dream. She was up against Shanelle Loraine, who is very classy on and off the table, and she has risen up the rankings this year. Shanelle took the first two racks, but it looked like Jeri was going to take her first rack, and after making a great 8, she left herself a long thin cut on the 9, made it but scratched in the side pocket.
The chat was full of lovely messages about Jeri, and she may not be the best player in the world, but she is undoubtedly the most inspirational. Jeri won her first rack to make it 3-1. Shanelle was cueing very smoothly and a great long 6 with the cueball glued to the kitchen rail. She played the shot of the match ending up perfect on the 7, and eventually took that rack after a good safe on the 8 to open up a 4-rack lead of 5-1. this was a fun match; not all games have to be lightning-fast. Sometimes it's about the occasion, the story behind the match that counts more than breaking and running rack after rack. There isn't a player or fan on the planet that would deny Jeri Engh her moment. You could hear the applause as he grabbed another rack to make it 6-2.
A fantastic long straight 9 from Jeri brought her back to within 3, the chat and commentator in the booth going crazy for Jeri. I know how she feels. I'm the same when Kelly plays. Go, Jeri, go, Jeri, go Jeri 6-4, and there is plenty of fight left in the 85-year-old and energy. Let's spare a thought for Shanelle as she fought against Jeri, the balls, and the spectators. Shanelle survived a double bank that almost dropped but hung agonizingly on the edge, which left Shanelle an easy 9 to get on the hill. Jeri refuses to go down without a fight and won another rack with a great 7, 8, and perfect three rail position on the 9, reducing the lead to 2 racks at 7-5. The dream is over for Jeri in this event, but she'll be back at the next one. I'm sure she will be the first on the practice table in the morning. She loves her pool as much as me. Congratulations to Shanelle, who advances, and 'My final thought' on Jeri. Until next time, take care of yourself and each other.
Results from the outside tables one-loss side
Leanne Lini 1 - 8 Lonnie Fox-Raymond
Olivia Cheng 8 - 5 Laura Smith
Nicole Albergaria 4 - 8 June Maiers
Edwidge Cavanna FF - Kaylee McKintosh
Barbara Lee 5 - 8 Kelly Cavanaugh
Shanna Lewis 5 - 8 Judie Wilson
Monica Webb FF - Tina Larson
Joanne Ashton and Kia Burwell were up next. Joanne is from Calgary in, Canada, and owns the Hidden Spot pool room, trendy with 7-footers, pinballs, and basketball machines downstairs and a fantastic Mezzanine upstairs with six diamond 9-footers and a second bar, big screen TVs, a DJ booth, and the most amazing chicken wings I have EVER tasted, worth the visit just for them. I don't know that much about Kim but from what I've seen, she is an attacking talented left-hander, and they shared the first two racks in the race to 8. A terrific shot on the 7 gave her perfect position on the 8; she runs out to lead 2-1. When Joanne catches a gear, she can rattle through racks very quickly, and as Kia started to miss, Jo grew in confidence, and the Canadian was cruising at 5-1. Joanne and he sister Bev are actually from the UK, Hertfordshire if my memory is holding up, the family moved to Calgary when the twins were 14. Jo won't mind me saying this, Beverley is actually the more talented twin when it comes to pool, but Bev rarely plays but is the type of player that can go months without picking up a cue and win a tournament. They are great girls who are very generous and will make sure your time in their city will be fun. They also run a WPBA event at the Hidden Spot, 'The Ashton Twins Classic.'
Kia finally got the chance to win a rack to reduce Jo's lead to 6-2. A bizarre incident in rack 9
as Joanne removed the Accurack, then for a reason I don't know, she picked up the cue ball and tried to put it down again quickly; strange, a brain freeze, that's all I can think of. Take a look if you haven’t seen us. What do you think was going on? https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxo3lkJJbioXZ3HwjPE9o3OhNnbYJ-ok6H
The wheels seemed to come off for Joanne, it would have been a good time to take a time out, but she stepped up to break and scratched, which cost Joanne another rack, and from 6-1, Kia won 3 in a row to close within two racks. That incident where she picked up the cue ball has clearly affected her. She wasn't the same after that, and Kia battled away to draw level at 6-6. The turnaround was complete as Kia ran and took the lead for the first time in the match and, unbelievably, from 6-1 down, reached the hill first and completed the miracle in the very next rack; good performance Kia has to feel sorry for Joanne, she never recovered from that rack incident.
More results from the one-loss side
Harin Lee 8 - 2 Laura Semko
Angela Williams 8 - 2 Mary Avina
Cathy Tschumper 8 - 6 Maureen Van Der Ven
Pamela Mullen 4 - 8 Kennedy Meyman
Seo Seoa 8 - 1 Camille Campbell
Emilyn Callado 8 - 5 Sandy Chen
Joanne Ashton 6 - 8 Kia Burwell
Billie Billing 2 - 8 Sofia Mast
Kaylee McKintosh, the 24-year-old from Florida, and Sara Miller from Arizona were next at the main table. This was another one-loss side round, so it's crunch time for these Ladies, and Kaylee is very attacking, supernaturally talented, and quite quickly raced to a 6-1 lead. Sara had a few chances but couldn't take advantage when it mattered, and in the end, it was a comfortable victory for Kaylee at 8-2.
It wasn't Miller time for Sara today, she is out, unfortunately, and it's Kaylee who goes through. I am really impressed with this lefty, and I would put her very high on the list of American women right now. I would like to see her play Caroline Pao, that would be interesting.
Other 2nd round 1 loss side matches, remember the loser is out.
Kim Newsome 8-1 Judie Wilson
Lonnie Fox-Raymond 7 - 8 Stephanie Mitchell
June Maiers 5 - 8 Susan Williams
Shanelle Loraine 3-8 Angela Janic
Kelly Cavanaugh 8 - 5 Ada Lio
Judie Willson 1 - 8 Kim Newsome
Tina Larson 3 - 8 Naomi Williams
Nicole Keeney 8 -2 Olivia Cheng
Seo Seoa is always a delight to watch; so calm around the table and glides around, almost like an ice skater or a ballerina, with silky smooth strokes so serene. She was sent to the one-loss side by Allison Fisher after leading 6-4. Tonight she played Eleanor Callado, I hadn't seen her play, but the commentator Leanne Lini mentioned her stroke being reminiscent of Efren's or
Bustamante's. We got to see more of Seo's silky stroke in the early stages of the match as she took a 4-1 lead which started with a perfect break and run in the first rack. This 21-year-old is real class, the real deal, and glides into the next round 8-2.
One loss side round 2
Kristina Zlateva 8 - 0 Angela Williams
Emily Duddy 8 - 6 Cathy Tschumper
Kennedy Meyman 8 - 4 Bonnie Arnold
Kia Burwell 3 - 8 Loreejon Brown
Sofia Mast 8 - 4 Jaye Succo
Harin Lee 8 - 4 Caroline Pao
April Larson 8 - 3 Emilyn Callado
Pool fans were given a double treat for the evening session, Kelly Fisher vs. Bean Hung, Kwikfire against the 'Magic Bean', and the WPBA was very kind to put Allison Fisher vs. Kristina Tkach on their Facebook page/ What should I do? Split my screen and watch both, of course. Both Fishers found themselves on the wrong end of the pole, Bean Hung punished every mistake by Kelly, and the Australian pounced like a kangaroo, and the Krystal raced to an 8-1 win over Allison, a bit of revenge for the last time they met in Wisconsin when Kristina had 'That scratch' on the eight ball, and Allison went on to beat her from what seemed like an impossible position just before that famous scratch. Allison moves to the one-loss side, and Kristina is in the last 8.
Kelly and Bean were matching each other blow for blow; Bean did open up a 2-rack gap but
Kelly doesn't keel over. She will fight to her last breath. From 4-2 down and 5-3 down, she got back to within a rack again with a gutsy clearance after Bean questioned what she thought maybe wasn't a legal break, but it was and kept Bean in her seat. Kelly kept on being Kelly to draw level again at 6-6, and as they got down to the business end, it was nip and tuck, and of course, it just had to go Hill Hill, a great break from Kelly, but no shot on the one, she pushed out to a jump, Bean gave it back after using the full 60 seconds of the shot clock, of course, she did, she isn’t a jumping bean, Kelly jumped, rattled the one but got a lucky roll to snooker Bean, the Aussie Magic Bean used some of her magic to masse around the six but painfully looked on as she never made a rail, Kelly ball in hand ran the table and ran out the winner 8-7 and goes into the QF where she will play Yuki Hiraguchi. It was Yuki, from memory, that sent Kelly to the one-loss side in the last event in Iron City, but the way Kelly is breaking, Yuki could have her hands full.
Some outside table Winner's side match results
Kyoko Sone 6 - 8 Yuki Hiraguchi
Brittany Bryant 8 - 7 Teruko Cucculelli
Veronique Menard 8 - 3 Ashley Rice
Jasmin Ouschan 8 - 4 Savannah Easton
Janet Atwell 6 - 8 Margarita Fefilova Styer
Allison Fisher M.B.E. 1 - 8 Kristina Tkach
Joanne Mason Parker 3 - 8 Wei Tzu Chien
Kristina was next into the arena up against the cueist formerly known as Woojin Lee; she now plays under the name Harin Lee. It was a one-loss side match which meant the loser is out. Well, Harin may have changed her name, but her stroke is still the same, beautifully smooth, straight, and deadly. She played some great pool to go 5-2 up. Kristina looked a little bit tight and stabby at times, with some really uncharacteristic misses from the normally straight-shooting Bulgarian potter, but another weapon she has is she's a real fighter; you have to scrape her off the table, very tenacious, speaks several languages too, I'm still struggling with English. The Bulgarian bulldog won't let go when she gets her teeth into you, and she fought back to go just one behind at 7-6, and one more nervy clearance put her level for the first time since 1-1, she was actually four racks behind at one stage. So hill-hill, it was Harin to break, and what a time to have your first dry break of the match. You have to feel for the South Korean; she looked so good early on. Kristina stuck to the task, stayed patient, and held her nerve to stay alive; the Zlayer zlayed her opponent 8-7.
Loser's side matches on outside tables.
Stephanie Mitchell 8 - 7 Nicole Keeney
Susan Williams 4 - 8 Kaylee McKintosh
Angela Janic 8-5 Kelly Cavanaugh
Kim Newsome 6 - 8 Naomi Williams
Emily Duddy 7-8 Kennedy Meyman
Seo Seoa 8 - 7 April Larson
Lorriejon Brown 8 - 4 Sofia Mast
Quarterfinals tomorrow and Sunday, we will have our four semi-finalists. Who is your favourite to get to the final and take the first prize of $15,000? See you Saturday from 11 am local time.
Live stream on the WPBA youtube channel
Brackets on digitalpool.com
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