Deja Vu, All Over Again
Karen Corr became the first Women’s Professional Billiard Association player other than No. 1-ranked Allison Fisher to win back-to-back Classic Tour titles since 1997 by capturing the Spring Classic, in Alpine, Calif., April 26-29. The victory, which paid Corr $6,500, once again came against Jennifer Chen, Corr’s final opponent one month earlier at the Cuetec Cues Players Championship in Valley Forge, Pa., March 23-25.
On her path to a second consecutive TV final, No. 2-ranked Corr knocked off Kim White, 9-1, Tiffany Nelson, 9-4, Line Kjorsvik, 9-8, and Vivian Villarreal, 9-2, before her rematch with Chen. Only Gerda Hofstatter as previously been able to string together back-to-back Classic Tour stops in the last four seasons. A native of Taiwan, Chen earned $4,500 for second place.
Lee gives 3-cushion a stab
Women’s Professional Billiard Association attraction Jeanette Lee has announced she will participate in the United States Billiard Association’s next Carom Corner 3-cushion billiards event at World Class Billiards in Peabody, Mass., March 12-18. She will compete in a handicapped event during the tournament, which will feature recently crowned U.S. champion Sang Chun Lee and current world No. 1 Dick Jaspers.
For more information contact the host site at (978) 535-7000.
Lee squares off with ESPN anchor
Pool fans normally accustomed to watching Jeanette Lee on ESPN wielding her cue against the game’s best will discover today that her ESPN appearances aren’t limited to the Women’s Professional Billiard Association Classic Tour.
The Black Widow is featured in the sports network’s newest “This is SportsCenter” spot, which showcases a fearsome showdown against anchor Bill Pidto. To see the debut of the commercial, visit espn.go.com/thisissportscenter/index.html.
Irish eyes are smiling
Although the 2000 World Pool-Billiard Association World 9-Ball Championships in Quebec City, Quebec, Nov. 14-19, brought together the best women players in the world, the finals came down to the Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s two top Irish imports. After a difficult route to the final, Julie Kelly topped WPBA No. 2-ranked Karen Corr to capture first place and her first major tournament title since coming to the United States in 1999.
Kelly, currently ranked No. 18 on the WPBA’s Classic Tour, twice knocked off defending champion Shin-Mei Liu (9-8, 9-6), then Jeanette Lee (9-7), before defeating her countrymate, 9-8 in the final match. Corr reached the final match with a victory over Lee in the quarterfinals (9-5) and a convincing win over three-time World Champion and WPBA No. 1-ranked Allison Fisher (9-2).
Corr Narrows Fisher’s Lead at WPBA US Open
The alternating-break format is continuing to shake up the ranks of the Women’s Professional Billiards Association, but it has yet to break the Allison Fisher-Karen Corr stranglehold on the top two spots. Corr won the WPBA U.S. Open, Sept. 10-14, in Albuquerque, N.M., in a 7-6 hill victory over Korean pro Ga-Young Kim in the finals.
Corr took the hot-seat when two straight scratches on the break let Corr take a 9-8 win. Kim earned a rematch in a 7-5 victory over tour veteran Vivian Villareal.
Corr took home $12,500 for her win, and narrowed Fisher’s lead to 110 points. Kim made her first WPBA television appearance, and took home $9,000 for second place. Villareal accepted $7,000 and third place, while Jeanette Lee settled for $5,500 for fourth. Full brackets can be found at the WPBA’s website, www.wpba.com.
Duchess On Top Again!
Allison Fisher beat down her rivals with a smile.
The new alternating-racks format shook up the charts some, with Corr going to the loser’s bracket care of snooker import Kim Shaw and Lee losing to come-from-nowhere Texan Kim White, both in the second round. Both Shaw and White finished unexpectedly high in the field, with formerly 28th-ranked White taking fifth place, and formerly 19th-ranked Shaw taking fourth place and making her first appearance in the television rounds.
Fisher claimed $9,000 for her win, while Lee settled for $6,500. Taiwanese starlet Jennifer Chen took home $5,000 for third place and Shaw took home $4,000 for fourth. Helena Thornfeldt tied White for fifth place and $2,800.
Allison Takes All
Allison Fisher continued her dominant play of late by defeating Karen Corr in a $25,000 sudden-death playoff in the International Tournament of Champions, held Nov. 6-7 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.
In the finals, each player took a set in the race-to-five format, leaving a single game to determine the champion. Fisher won the lag, made the 1 ball on the break and proceeded to run the table. The champion pocketed $25,000 in the winner-take-all competition.
In the semifinals of the four-player tournament, Corr defeated Helena Thornfeldt, 5-1 and 5-2, while Fisher bested Jeanette Lee, 5-4 and 5-4.
Pool Documentary Now Airing
The Physics of Billiards, the documentary featuring Billiards Digest columnist Mike Shamos and WPBA star Jeanette Lee, will be on the air starting this week. The show, produced for National Geographic TV (www.ngs.org), will air on the following dates on the National Geographic channel at 9 pm EST: Tuesday July 16, Wednesday July 17, and Sunday July 21. The previously announced August 9th air date has been changed. Please note that the National Geographic TV episode listing is entitled “Ancient Poison, Modern Cure,” which is the cover story. The Physics of Billiards segment is in the second half of the show.
Corr Wins Spring Classic
Karen Corr is back on top. Corr won the WPBA Spring Classic, held April 17-21, at Viejas Casino in Alpine, Calif., defeating Jeanette Lee, 7-4. Corr gained a four-game lead at the beginning of the final match, and never fell behind. To reach the finals, Corr defeated Sarah Rousey, 9-2, Ikumi Ushiroda, 9-3, Line Kjoersvik, 9-7, Anita Kuczma, 9-4, Sarah Ellerby, 9-3, and Allison Fisher, 9-6. In the semi-finals, Lee defeated Helena Thornfeldt, 7-4, and then Fisher, 7-5. Corr’s win netted her $8,000; Lee’s second was worth $6,000; Fisher took third and $4,700. The final and both semi-final matches were taped by ESPN and will be shown on ESPN and ESPN2 starting in late June. The WPBA’s next event is the Midwest Classic, Aug. 21-25, at Par-A-Dice Hotel & Casino in East Peoria, Ill.