A Full Day Wears Down Top Players

A Full Day Wears Down Top Playersby Rick DavisFriday’s action at the Cuetec Cues Florida Classic was filled with tough matches, as players set their sights on Saturday. On the winners’ side, Allison Fisher met up with Jennifer Barretta but could not close out the match, leaving Barretta to the top 16 while Fisher needs one more match to get there. The same story unfolded for Jeanette “The Black Widow” Lee, who defeated Vivian Villareal in the night’s final round. Defending champion Karen Corr also managed to stay on the winners’ side. After her match against Tracie Hines, Corr noted, “I struggled to get out of that last rack, but a good safety got me back. I just need another match under my belt to get things moving in the morning.” View the tournament bracket
On the one-loss side, Dawn Hopkins is still alive after taking three matches to come back from an early loss. Also reaching Saturday’s play is Ewa “The Striking Viking” Laurance, who squeaked by in a double-hill win against Megan Minerich and now must play Fisher. All of the others remaining are equally challenging and include Kim White, the current WPBA President; Romana Dokovic, the only player of the day to win 9-0; and Anna Kostanian, the youngest player on tour at 18 years old.This year’s WPBA format takes the top 8 from the one-loss side and randomly matches them against the top 8 from the winners’ side. These players then form a new single-elimination board to continue the event. With only a short time to rest, many players are just waiting to see what happens, like Lee, who said after her last match, “I’m not thinking about tomorrow—I just need food and rest.” Finishing shortly after Lee, Julie Kelly had identical thoughts, saying, “I played three matches today, so I don’t want to play anymore.”Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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