WPBA U.S. Open Begins

WPBA U.S. Open BeginsBy InsidePOOL StaffThe WPBA’s U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship kicked off today with a full field of 64 players. Held at the Sandia Casino in Albuquerque, NM, the event will conclude on Sunday, October 24.The first two rounds went off with few upsets. Notably, Tiffany Nelson was upset by Tina Larsen 9-7, sending her to meet Kathy Friend in Friday’s one-loss side matches. Kelly Fisher, who has been the terror of the Northeast regional tour scene lately, sent Ewa “The Striking Viking” Laurance, the most recent inductee to the BCA’s Hall of Fame, to the one-loss side as well with a 9-3 victory. And Hsin Huang, who just took third place in the Cuetec Canadian Classic, defeated Rachael Abbink 9-6 in the first round.
Allison Fisher met Angel Paglia in the second round of the winners’ bracket matches and held a 7-4 lead over the Arizona player. It wasn’t long, however, before Paglia wrestled the score to 7-all. A break and run put Fisher on the hill, and in the final rack, Paglia fouled, giving ball in hand and a dead 1-9 combo to “The Duchess of Doom” to seal her fate 9-7.The WPBA’s number-two ranked player and the defending champion at this event, Karen Corr, matched up with Stefanie Boch of Southern California in the second round. Boch overcame an even bigger deficit—down 6-1, she brought the score to 7-5 Corr. Problems with the rack delayed the game for a few minutes, but when Corr missed a kick on the 3 ball in the next rack, Boch ran out to come within a game of “The Irish Invader.” Corr reached the hill after Boch left her a shot on the 2 ball, but Boch fought back in the next game when Corr left her an easy out, bringing the score to 8-7 Corr. Boch came up empty on her last break, and Corr ran out to the 9 but got out of line. She attempted to play safe but left a dicey cut on the 9. Unfortunately for Boch, she rattled the 9, and Corr speared the long cut she was left with to win 9-7.Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the WPBA U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships.

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