US Open Winner Ga Young Kim
The WPBA’s first major of the year began Thursday at the Riverwind Casino in earnest as 64 of the top players from around the world compete for the title of the US Open Champion. Due to the fact that the WPBA will be taping all four Quarterfinal match-ups on Saturday, we’re on an accelerated schedule and 8 players were eliminated Thursday night. The WPBA welcomes back veteran players Ramona Biddle and WPBA Hall of Famer Vicki Paski and acknowledges the 2008 APA Ladies’ Division Amateur 9 Ball Champion, Amy Chen. This is Amy’s first WPBA Professional Event.
The Riverwind Casino held a Celebrity Charity Pro-Am on Wednesday, July 29th, featuring Oklahoma Attorney General and Gubernatorial Drew Edmonson along with former Heisman Trophy winners Billy Sims and Jason White. Both players hail from Oklahoma. Local television anchors Doug Warner and Kirsten McIntyre (KWTV) and KYIS radio morning show team Jack & Ron were also on hand for the fun.
Match play began with few surprises as the majority of the top players won their first round match-ups. Ramona Biddle posted the first minor upset of the day when she defeated Borderline Billiards owner and top Exempt Professional, Janet Atwell, but as Janet told me later, "Ramona played really well!" Ramona went on to face Allison Fisher in the 2nd round and was defeated 9-2.
Last year’s dark horse, Pam Cimarelli, is back again this year at the US Open and won her first round match against Liz Ford. She went on to face The Black Widow, losing 9-7. Both Ramona and Pam come back on Friday to continue through the 1-loss side. Sarah Rousey and Miyuki Sakai competed versus each other in the first round, and it was close all the way, with Sarah emerging victorious 9-7. Another tight match was the 2000 World 9 Ball Champion Julie Kelly vs. veteran player Stacy Novack. The match went hill-hill but Stacy pulled ahead in the end winning 9-8.
Michell Monk
Helena Thornfeldt
Top 40 Exempt Pro, Brittany Bryant from Canada played versus Florida Regional Tour player, Michell Monk and their match also went hill-hill. Michell triumphed in the match to move on to her 2nd round match against Helena Thornfeldt but Helena proved too much and Michell lost 9-4.
Jasmin Ouschan, who was one of 5 players traveling directly from the World Games in China to Oklahoma for our event, was feeling the effects as she went toe to toe with last year’s Regional Tour Champion, Susan Mello. Their match also went hill-hill but Jasmin toughed it out to win. Jasmin faced Kim Shaw in the second round but lost 9-3 as Kim played very well.
Jasmin Ouschan
Kyoko Sone, who was the #40 Ranked WPBA Player at end of year 2008, faced off versus Norway’s Line Kjorsvik in the 2nd round. Line was also one of the players coming from The World Games and Kyoko made quick work of the match, winning 9-1.
Second round excitement came in the form of the match between Ga Young Kim and Jennifer Barretta. Jennifer, coming back on tour after taking a year off to care for her son, gave Ga Young a run for her money, taking the match hill-hill. The end result favored Ga Young Kim who won 9-8.
Eight players were eliminated Thursday; Sharon O’Hanlon, Liz Lovely, Susan Mello, Dawn Fox-Hutchinson, Sueyen Rhee, Maureen Seto, Caroline Pao and Melissa Little.
Day two began early at 10:00am with all players, fans and staff knowing the long day they faced ahead of them. Early round matches included players such as Ewa Laurance, Miyuki Sakai and Val Finnie who were all defeated in their second round winner’s matches the day before.
Nicole Keeney, the 2008 Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour points Champion, had a strong tournament, finishing tied for 17th after defeating such notables as Ewa Laurance and veteran Ramona Biddle. She also had a great match against the youngest competitor in this event, Briana Miller, who at age 13 years and 10 months is the 2nd youngest ever to play in a WPBA event. Briana herself finished in the money and has a bright future in our sport. Michell Monk, also finished tied for 17th. A veteran of the Florida circuit, Michell defeated Top 40 Exempt Pro Brittany Bryant in their first round. After losing to Helena Thornfeldt, Michell played tough to win her next two matches before being stopped by Kelly Fisher. Other’s who tied for 17th include last year’s Runner Up, Iris Ranola, who was summarily dismissed by Vivian Villarreal in the winner’s side, and Norway’s Line Kjorsvik on the 1 loss side; Yu Ram Cha, who came into the Open with the #6 ranking, lost to Jeanette Lee and Jasmin Ouschan; Megan Smith, Brittany Bryant, and Kim Shaw.
Tracie Hines
Tracie Hines continues to shine this year after having taken 2008 off. Once again she finished in the top 16 after beating Val Finnie and Sarah Rousey in her first two matches before being knocked into the 1 loss side by Karen Corr. She then defeated Megan Smith to move into the redraw, but matching up against Gerda Hofstatter proved too much as Gerda won 9-3. Angel Paglia, was among several players who had outstanding finishes, tying for 9th place along with Kim White, Kyoko Sone and Line Kjorsvik. Jasmin Ouschan and Jeanette Lee were disappointed to finish tied 9th. Jasmin lost to Kim Shaw early on in the 2nd round, but stormed through the one loss side before facing Ga Young Kim in the final 16 redraw. Ga Young played very well winning 9-6. Jeanette Lee went undefeated to the final 16 before facing Xiaoting Pan. Xiaoting had lost to Helena Thornfeldt but defeated Jeanette to move into the final 8.
Gerda Hofstatter
Kelly Fisher, defending US Open Champion, looked to be rolling along until she came upon the road block known as Allison Fisher. Allison, having just come from Kaohsiung, China where she won the Gold Medal at the 2009 World Games, had had no trouble dispatching her first two opponents before facing Kelly. Allison continued with her strong play, defeating Kelly 9-6. Kelly made it to the redraw, but incredibly, drew Allison Fisher! Would Allison muster the game to beat Kelly twice in a row? The score was close the entire match, although Allison reached the hill first, up 8-7. She looked to be running out but jarred the 7 ball, allowing Kelly the opportunity back at the table. Kelly made the 7 but missed the 8 as the crowd gasped, and Allison ran out to advance into the Quarterfinals. With the exception of Xiaoting Pan, the remaining Final 8 players came into the Quarterfinals undefeated.
Karen Corr
After a long week of intense competition, the finals of the 2009 WPBA US Open featured two players who haven’t won a WPBA Title in several years. Karen Corr, who’s reached the TV rounds more than a handful of times since her last win in early 2007, defeated Allison Fisher in Semi Finals #1. Meanwhile Ga Young Kim was looking for her first win since 2007. It’s interesting to note that these two have played each other twice before in a WPBA US Open Championships, with a record of 1-1. This would be the tiebreaker!
Ga Young won the lag and immediately showed her strength by successfully jumping to make the 1. She proceeded to run out to the 3 ball, but missed the combination to the 5 ball. Karen played a similar combination, and then ran out to win the first game of the finals match. Karen broke in game two, pocketing a ball but was left with nothing but the option to play safe which she did so, beautifully. Ga Young’s masse shot fell short of the mark and Karen took ball in hand, running out to the 6 ball where she missed shape. She played a safety but it didn’t prevent Ga Young from pocketing the ball and running out to tie up the match 1 all.
Ga Young broke and to the crowd’s delight, she pocketed four balls! She even had shape on the first object ball, the 2, and easily ran out the remaining four balls to take a 2-1 lead. Karen came up dry on her break, but the layout she left was tricky. Ga Young made a nice 1/8 combination, then pocketed the 1 with shape onto the 2. She came up short on the 4 ball, but with her excellent shot making ability, she was able to compensate, making the 4, 5 and back into line on the 6. She continued pocketing all balls and took game 4, up 3-1.
Ga Young broke and ran out to the 9 ball. She left herself very poorly on the ball, with both the cue ball and the 9 lined up with the center spot on the bottom rail. But she stretched out over the table and made a great cut shot into the corner to take a 4-1 lead.
It was Karen’s turn to break and she knew she had to make something happen, and fast. She pocketed 2 balls but to her chagrin, had no open shot on the 1 so was forced to push out. As she debated which way she would go, she took her extension. She finally made her choice, and Ga Young gave Karen the option back quickly.
Karen missed the tough side pocket cut, but so did Ga Young! Karen finally had an open shot and she steadied her nerves as she nailed the straight in 1 ball. Leaving herself elevated over the 7 for the 5 ball didn’t faze her and she gained good position on the 6, to the 7 and finally the 8 to post her second game of the match, still down 2-4.
Ga Young Kim
Game 7 saw Ga Young break but fail to pocket a ball. Karen was left with a tough 1 ball cut which she hung in the pocket, giving Ga Young another chance at the table. The layout was less than idea though and Ga Young played safe. Karen could see the ball and did hit it, but left Ga Young with a tough but makeable shot. Ga Young continued on to the 4 ball but had no real shot as she nearly scratched off the 3. She missed the 4, giving Karen an open pocket and she took advantage by running out to get back within one game, down 3-4.
Karen went into game 8 with the break and a chance to tie the match and she pocketed one ball on her break. Shape from the 1 to the two was touchy as she left an angle that would run the cue ball into the 9/6 balls that were near each other by the foot spot. She played it perfectly, neatly nudging the 9 out of the way, stopping her cue ball but had no open shot for the 3. She played a great safe instead, hiding the cue ball behind the 9, forcing Ga Young to break out her jump cue. She struck the 3, sending the cue ball far up table and leaving Karen with no open shot and she had to kick one rail. She played it softly but didn’t get a good result, leaving Ga Young with a routine cut shot. She ran out to the 6 where an easy 6/9 carom presented itself and she had no problem making it, taking back a 2 game lead, up 5-3.
Ga Young had the break advantage in game 9 and although she made 2 balls, had no open shot on the 1 which ended up by the corner pocket. She tried a soft one rail kick to sink the ball but it didn’t go. Karen had nearly the same kind of shot but farther away than Ga Young’s, and made it easily with shape on the 2. She nearly jawed the ball but it did drop in and Karen continued through the rack. The key shot in the match was the 7 ball which was tied up with the 8 but it was set up for an easy combination. She hit it perfectly with excellent position back onto the 7, then to the 9 and got back to within one game, down 4-5. Karen broke but came up dry. Ga Young’s position off of the 1 was poor and she snookered herself for the 3. She missed the ball entirely giving Karen ball in hand and she looked to run out to tie up the match yet again. It was down to the 9 ball with a simple spot shot angle and the crowd applauded as she made the ball. We were now at 5 all!
Ga Young broke in game 11, made a ball but was forced to push out. Karen made the ball and continued to run out with a wide open table. Everyone gasped as Karen miscued on the 5 ball as she was trying to apply severe draw on the cue ball. Ga Young took advantage of the error and ran out to reach the hill first, 6-5. Karen broke in game 12 and although she made a ball, she was forced to play a safe on the 1. She left Ga Young with a long, straight in shot nearly corner to corner but Ga Young fired it in with her cue jacked up. Her cue ball landed short of the mark though, but the crowd cheered as she kicked 2 rails, nicked the 2 and sent the cue ball up table which snookered Karen behind the 6. Karen went airborne with her jump cue, nearly banking it in the bottom corner pocket but instead the 2 ball crawled up by the side pocket giving Ga Young an open shot. She made the ball, coming around 2 rails for position on the 4, needing only the remaining 5 balls to win her first title in 2 years. She kept her composure and ran out to take the title of the 2009 US Open 9 Ball Championships. With this win, Ga Young earns the WPBA’s #1 ranking for the current season while Karen moves into the #2 position.
