WPBAPr

It was Mrs. Paski who gave rise to the Regional Tour System when she introduced the idea of implementing WPBA Chapters across the United States in the form of "Regional Tours", to serve and develop organized billiard competition for women players. "We think it's fun for the last charter member to help out the newest champion!" says Paski. In addition to the Paski's contribution, the winner also receives an invite to all 2016 WPBA Pro Events. On behalf of the entire membership, the WPBA would like to thank Bob and Vicki for their continued support and generosity.

Nestled against the beautiful backdrop of Mt. Pleasant, MI, Soaring Eagle boasts a plethora of unparalleled amenities for casino goers, and includes for the month of February, one of the most prestigious events in all of women's professional billiards; the WPBA Masters.

The WPBA Masters is one of three WPBA majors that include live stream broadcasting by ESPN3, the 4th most watched sports network in the U.S. For the 7th consecutive year, the WPBA will stage the illustrious Masters Event featuring the top, female competitors in the world of professional billiards. A field of 48, elite players will compete for the prestigious title of "2016 WPBA Masters Champion", with matches beginning on Thursday, February 3rd, running through Sunday, February 7th. Players vying for the 2016 title include defending champion, Jasmin Ouschan, two-time champion, "Little Devil Girl" Ga-Young Kim, "KwikFire" Kelly Fisher, "Duchess of Doom" Allison Fisher, and the "Black Widow" Jeanette Lee.

There are nearly 300 player members participating at the professional and regional tour, grass roots level that make up the Women's Professional Billiard Association. Established in 1976 under "Women's Billiard Alliance", this member owned organization provides opportunities for aspiring female players to reach the pinnacle of the sport. In order to participate on the women's professional billiard tour, a player must qualify through a WPBA Regional Tour which cultivates annually, the WPBA Regional Tour Championships and pro event qualifiers, both of which qualify players for the pro-level. The winners of these regional-tour-level events earn the opportunity to compete among the best in the world.

Her competitive accomplishments include winning The Texas River City Open, the 1985 Women's World 14.1 Title, the 1985 WPBA National Championships and the 1985 U.S. Open 9 Ball Championships. In addition, she holds two BCA National 8-Ball Championships titles. She's been named Player of the Year - 1985 by Billiards Digest; Pool and Billiards Magazine named her one of their "All Stars" that same year. Finally, Belinda was credited with running seven racks and out during the 1993 World 9-Ball Championships.

For nearly her entire career, Belinda has served the Billiard community including 6 years on the WPA Board and 20 years on the WPBA Board of Directors, currently serving as our Vice President. She is also the WPBA Regional Tour Committee Chair, Hall of Fame Committee Chair and runs Tiger SMART, a WPBA sanctioned Regional Tour. 

Belinda was inducted into the WPBA Hall of Fame in 2006.  Her induction into the BCA Hall of Fame is well deserved and earned from a stellar 37 year career that continues into the future.

However, the Open was not without its challenges for the #1 world-ranked Kim, who was also the #1-seeded player in the tournament. To start, Kim went into the event struggling with a stye in her left eye, and came up short in her opening match—with a hill-hill upset loss to veteran player Jeannie Seaver, to set her on a course through the one-loss bracket.

Despite a ten-year hiatus from the tour, Florida-based Seaver was in top form, and went on to defeat tour legend Ewa Laurance (9-5). In her following match-ups, Seaver would then be eliminated by two of the eventual semifinalists and toughest names on the tour: Line Kjorsvik and Monica Webb. This performance would land Seaver in the 5th-6th place position for her second-best career tour finish. Along with Seaver, former WPBA “Rookie of the Year” Emily Duddy also had a noteworthy showing, ending up tied for 7th-8th place, her career best finish on tour.

One of the tour’s notable European champions, Line Kjorsvik (of Trondheim, Norway) positioned herself in the semis in undefeated fashion after her 9-3 win over Seaver, to then be met by Ga-Young Kim. After her early loss to Seaver, Kim came back with a vengeance with seven match wins to make it to the semis.

Under the pressure of the ESPN lights and cameras, each semifinal featured two races to four games. If a given player were to win both races to four, they would proceed to the finale, while if each player won one set, a “sudden death” tiebreaker game would determine the match winner.

In the first semifinal, Kim stayed steady and stunned the crowd with impressive kick and jump shots, while Kjorsvik was not able to capitalize on her opportunities. The first set of the semi was a 4-0 shutout, while the second went to 2-2 before Kim closed out with a 4-2 win. For the title match, Ga-Young Kim would face a hungry Monica Webb, who had just come away from a harrowing win over Allison Fisher. Fisher, an eight-time US Open Champion and recent WPBA Masters Champion was the other player to enter the semifinal undefeated, with hopes of a second tour win in 2016.

However, Webb came out of the gate strong and put down a 4-1 win in their opening set. In the second set, Fisher turned things around to win 4-2, which forced the final “sudden-death” game to determine who moved on to the final. Although Webb had an open table to run out in final rack, she lost position on the six and was forced to play a safe. This successful play resulted in a foul from Fisher, and Webb ran out with ball in hand to take the set.

The finale of the 2016 WPBA US Open was then set to feature the two players who had earlier losses on their records, Kim and Webb. With the victory in sight, Ga-Young Kim had a deadly-focused demeanor, which was reflected in her end result. Kim did not allow Webb to win a single game in either of their two sets, as she ran away with matching 4-0 wins to secure the title. In total, Kim won ten straight games on her final run to victory, including the last two games of the semifinal.

For those in attendance at Rivers Casino and watching the live ESPN3 stream, another brilliant display was put on by Ga-Young Kim—which was particularly impressive under the difficult condition of her eye, as WPBA president and commentator Kim White-Newsome explained.

“Ga-Young’s performance was nothing short of amazing, since we all know, as players, the slightest of issues can affect not only our physical, but mental game as well. I believe her resilience is part of what makes her one of the greatest players in our sport,” said Newsome.

The WPBA Women’s Professional Billiard Association would like to give special thanks to its sponsors for their support of the 2016 US Open 9-Ball Championships: Rivers Casino, Simonis/Aramith, Diamond Tables, and Delta-13 Rack. 

Top Finishers:

1st: Ga-Young Kim - $7,500

2nd: Monica Webb - $4,500

3rd/4th: Allison Fisher, Line Kjorsvik - $2,750

5th-6th: Jeannie Seaver, Vivian Villarreal - $2,000

7th-8th: Kim Newsome, Emily Duddy - $1,750

9th-12th: June Maiers, Joanne Ashton, Melissa Little, Ewa Laurance - $1,500

13th-16th: Jennifer Barretta, Jessica Barnes, Helena Thornfeldt, Stacie Bourbeau - $1,250

17th-24th: Beth Fondell, Janet Atwell, Cheryl Pritchard, Sara Miller, Gail Eaton, Sandy Badger, Maureen Seto, Liz Cole - $1,000