BCA Open 9-Ball Championships Kicks Off

Viva Las Vegas! The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) Open 9-Ball Championships kicked off at the Riviera Hotel and Casino on Sunday, May 11, 2003, with a full field of 64 players in both the pro men's and women's events. The annual BCA event draws the upper echelon of the professional field, and this year is no exception. Both events are limited to 64 players, and first place is a whopping $15,000. Headlining the women's event are Allison Fisher; Karen Corr; Lori Jon Jones, last year's Hall of Fame inductee; Jeanette Lee, the Black Widow; Texas Tornado Vivian Villareal; Helena Thornfeldt; and Monica Webb, along with the other top women players. Earlier today, Robin Dodson played a tight match with Jeanette Lee and ultimately won the hill-hill battle 9-8.
Ewa Laurance defeated California resident Jenny Lee 9-0; Line Kjorsvik won her match against another Californian, Stephanie Boch, by the score of 9-7; Fran Crimi defeated Vicki Paski 9-6; and Atlanta, GA, resident Monica Webb won against Darlene Stinson 9-8.The women's matches on Monday promise to hold excitement, with Megan Minerich matching up with Nicole Mancini, Belinda Campos versus Romona Dokovic, Jennifer Chen against Pam Bell, and Dawn Hopkins versus Romona Biddle.And of course, most of the top male pros are present. Corey Deuel; Rodney Morris; Nick Varner; Jim Rempe, last year's inductee to the Hall of Fame; Ismael "Morro" Paez; Johnny Archer, who has won two large tournaments in the span of a month; Jimmy Wetch; Dennis Coulter; Trump 10-Ball champion Danny Hewitt of Canada; "Machine Gun" Luc Salvas; Earl Strickland; defending champion Charlie Williams; Ronnie Wiseman; Scott Frost; Jose Parica; "Mad Max" Eberle; U.S. Open champion Ralf Souquet; Mika Immonen; Francisco Bustamante; and Shannon "The Cannon" Daulton are all on hand to vie for the $15,000 first-place prize.Rodney Morris, runner-up in last month's Valley Forge tournament, defeated Nick Vandenberg in a hill-hill match 11-8 on Sunday. Danny Harriman had another hill-hill match and came out on top against S. Park 11-8. Troy Frank won his match against H. Hinokiyama 11-6; Santos Sambajon, Jr., defeated A. Toshikawa 11-7; and Earl Strickland bested Jeff Kennedy in yet another hill-hill match 11-8.InsidePOOL Magazine will be present at the BCA event and will be reporting every day, as well as posting dozens of pictures from the event. Stay tuned for the latest info available.Visit InsidePOOL for the latest from the sport of billiards and pool.

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