Karen Corr, Champion BIlliards owner Gary Allen and Briana Miller
Karen Corr has a strong reputation on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT). In her past eight tour events, she has won seven of them, and only one of them was a split. That split was against Briana Miller in the final stop of the JPNEWT in 2022. With Miller back in the picture, taking the reins of the JPNEWT from Linda Shea in January, Miller has won eight of 10 on the tour. At this weekend’s JPNEWT stop #2 (April 1-2), these monster players met again in the finals, this time with Miller claiming the title, going undefeated in the $1,000-added event that drew 20 entrants to Champion Billiards in Frederick, Maryland.
The 9-ball tournament format was Round Robin, with four groups of five players. Each player in their group would face the other four group members once. The two players with the most wins in each group advanced to Day 2. The top four players with the highest Fargo Rate were seeded into separate groups for the Round Robin phase; Karen Corr, Briana Miller, Linda Shea and Tina Malm.
The players that advanced to Sunday’s elimination, race-to-8 matches paired Judie Wilson with Nicole Christ and set perennial tour opponents, Linda Shea and Kia Burwell against each other. Corr faced Lynn Richards, as Miller squared off against Gracie Kelly-Casey.
Wilson advanced to the single elimination round by only two racks, while her first-round opponent, Christ, had advanced because while Tina Malm had won in their group, Malm was unable to attend Sunday’s matches. Christ downed Wilson 8-4 to draw Briana Miller, who’d eliminated Kelley-Casey 8-1. Burwell downed Shea 8-4, advancing to the semifinals versus Corr, who’d shut Richards out.
Miller got into the finals with an 8-2 win over Christ. Corr joined her after eliminating Burwell 8-3.
Miller had a rough start at the beginning of the final match. Corr took a four-rack lead at 6-2, but Miller refused to go down without a fight. She started building momentum and didn’t allow Corr to win another. Miller claimed her second straight JPNEWT title 8-6.
TD Briana Miller wanted to thank the owners and staff of Champion Billiards Cafe for their hospitality and taking care of the players, as well as their sponsors J Pechauer Custom Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, PA Pro-Am Pool, Onboard Sportswear, George Hammerbacher, and Turtle Racks by Mezz Cues.
The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for May 6-7, will be hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
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