4th Hunter Classics Stop of 2004 Visits Paradise

4th Hunter Classics Stop of 2004 Visits ParadiseThe Hunter Classics Amateur Women's Tour drew 34 players to Paradise Billiards in Denver, Colorado July 10-11. In contention was not only the first place prize of $750, but also a qualifier for the WPBA Florida Classic in September. With the field just over 32 players, four players were unfortunate enough to not catch byes in the first round. Two of those players were powerhouses Orietta Strickland and Leslie Anne Rogers (pictured first from the right) who faced each other. Strickland came out on top 7-6 and sent Rogers to the one-loss side. However, this didn't deter Leslie Anne. She has had several tournament wins after losing her first match, and at this tournament she won nine matches in a row to reach the finals.On the winners side, Julia Gabriel (picutred first on left) from Illinois was crushing the field with dominating wins. Gabriel took the hot-seat with a 7-3 win over Ellen Van Buren. Julia was focused and determined all weekend long and three games was the most any player could score against her until the finals.As Gabriel relaxed waiting for an opponent (and trying to find a phone charger so she could make some calls), Leslie Anne Rogers continued her comeback on the left side of the board. A win over local Stacy Jackman set up the semi-finals between Rogers and Van Buren. This tight match went to Leslie Anne 7-6. Stacy Jackman herself had several hill-hill matches, which kept her winning and earning her highest finish yet on the Tour. Stacy won $270 for her fine efforts. Ellen Van Buren, from Florida, won $400 for placing a respectable third. Bonnie Plowman and Julie Schultz won $175 and placed 5th/6th.The finals started out with Leslie Anne on a roll. She won the first three games and looked on her way to a win in the first set. Julia came back with three wins of her own and tied the match at 3-3. From there, the match tightened up with neither player able to grab a lead of more than one game. At 6-6, the three ball landed in a tough spot forcing numerous kicks and safeties by both players. Eventually, Julia navigated carefully a five ball out for the tournament win and the WPBA qualifier. Julia pocketed $750 for the win, with Rogers earning $560. While the tournament was going on, Matthew Kandell, a local college student taking film class, was filming and interviewing players throughout the weekend. All of the footage will eventually be reduced to only a 5 or 10 minute documentary for his class. Melinda Bailey, Tour Board Member, went undefeated and beat Justine Karber from Arizona 5-4 in the finals to win the second chance tournament on Sunday. CueTimes owner, Deb Winter, came in third and Tracie Boles from Fort Worth, TX came in 4th.Visit the Hunter tour next month in League City, TX at Legend's Billiards August 7-8, which is a WPBA Qualifier and will have $2,000 added. Results: 1st Julia Gabriel $750 + Qualifier2nd Leslie Anne Rogers $5603rd Ellen Van Buren $4004th Stacy Jackman $2705-6th Bonnie Plowman and Julie Schultz $1757-8th Orietta Strickland and Christina Hauck $1009-12th Rachel Hurst, Deb Winter, Justine Karber and Chris Honeman $5513-16th Melinda Bailey, Tara McCracken, Laura Seavy and Teresa Frederick $25See the Hunter Tour Current Points Standings as of July 2004 2nd Chance Tournament Results: 1st Melinda Bailey 2nd Justine Karber 3rd Deb Winter 4th Tracie Boles Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the sport of billiards and pool.

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