Tzu-Chien Wei and Allison Fisher
It was Allison Fisher’s first tournament in which she represented the United States of America. Having requested from the WPA and the BCA a change in her “UK” representation status, she was informed just prior to her arrival in Birmingham, AL for the WPBA’s Iron City Billiards Invitational III (Jan. 11-14) that the change from “UK” to “US” had been approved. In the presence of her mother and many of her close friends in the pool community, Fisher went on to go undefeated and claim the event title. As coincidental as the two events were, their proximity was hard to ignore.
“I think it’s quite relevant really, isn’t it?” Fisher asked, rhetorically. “I made a big change and won my first tournament since 2021. It’s quite a big deal, actually. I’m quite proud of (the new US designation) and I’m proud to be back in the winners’ circle, as well.”
“Got a bit of a monkey off my back there,” she added. “There were a lot of (recent) tournaments where I didn’t quite finish the job. A lot of results that could have gone other ways and it was beginning to be a bit of a grind.”
“This,” she said, “was a fantastic way for me to begin this year.”
Shane Tyree, CEO of the BCA, agreed.
“The Billiard Congress of America is thrilled that Allison has chosen to represent the United States,” he said. “Allison is a Hall of Fame player and is also a great woman who is going to add value to what it means to represent America as a pool player, both on and off the table.
“It’s clear that she values her life here in the States,” he added, “and we can’t wait to see her stand on the podium with the stars and stripes waving in the background.”
It didn’t take long. A matter of days, as it turned out. And although there wasn’t a podium, she did take a post-event opportunity to express her appreciation for the community that had helped make her ability to represent the US a reality.
“I think the thing for me is that ever since I set foot in America, I’ve been very well-supported by fans and my sponsors,” she said. “I felt at home here immediately and the support over many, many years has really been something else, really, really good.”
“My children are American and my mother just moved over here, so it’s a family affair, really,” she added. “It all makes sense.”
And in a strange sort of a symbiotic way, so did her undefeated run through a field of 48 entrants, many of whom were an integral component of the support network that led her to make the representation request.
“I’m very happy,” she said. “It’s still sinking in for me. I’m going to think about it and post something (soon) on social media.”
The WPBA’s $15,000-added, Iron City Billiards Invitational III drew a total of 80 entrants to, as you might imagine, Iron City Billiards in Birmingham, AL. In Stage 1 of the event, 48 entrants competed for 16 slots (eight from each side of a double-elimination bracket). Those 16 advanced to join 32 seeded WPBA competitors in a final, double-elimination bracket.
Allison Fisher’s six-match trip to the winners’ circle opened up against one of the unseeded players, Nina Torvund, who’d advanced from the winners’ side of the qualifying, preliminary bracket. An 8-2 win for Fisher led to a win over Susan Williams (4) and in a winners’ side quarterfinal, Briana Miller, who came into this event as Tour Director of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) and winner of 15 of its last 19 events over the past two years. Fisher downed Miller 8-4 and drew Kristina Tkach in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
While Fisher earned the event headline, it should be noted here that eventual runner-up, Tzu-Chien Wei (known affectionately as ‘Wei-Wei’ to her friends), lost her opening match to Turkey’s Eylul Kibaroglu 8-4 and set out on a nine-match, loss-side winning streak. That series of wins fueled a momentum boost that gave Tzu-Chien an early, formidable lead in the finals. Kibaroglu followed Tzu-Chien over when Kristina Tkach defeated her in a winners’ side quarterfinal.
From the opposite end of the final 48 bracket, Canada’s Brittany Bryant set out on her trip to the hot seat match. She opened with an 8-3 victory over Jeannie Seaver, an 8-2 win over Emily Duddy and an 8-3 win over Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva. In the other winners’ side semifinal, Bryant drew Kelly Fisher, who entered the tournament as its #1 seed.
At this point in the proceedings, there was a familiar buzz in the air about a possible hot seat match featuring the two Fishers. Allison, though not inclined to think too far ahead in a tournament (“No point to it,” she would say later), she did think about it. She downed Tkach 8-6, leaving the facility before the Kelly/Bryant match was over, with a ‘soft’ assumption that Kelly would go on to defeat Bryant.
“I did get my head around the idea that I was going to be playing Kelly in the morning,” Allison said. “It was in my mind on Sunday morning.”
Kelly and Bryant had gone on to double hill in their match and was Bryant who advanced to the hot seat match on Sunday afternoon. In the meantime, the loss-side combatants were at it, ahead of the hot seat match.
Tzu-Chien Wei opened her loss-side campaign on Friday night with an 8-2 win over Nicole Keeney. On Saturday, commencing at around 1 p.m., she continued to win by that score through the next three matches, against Stephanie Mitchell, JoAnn Mason Parker (in the first ‘money’ round) and Ashley Benoit. Then, she drew Briana Miller, who delivered something of a surprise to all but those aware of her ascension to the tour directorship of the JPNEWT and her string of victories since that happened. Tzu-Chien and Miller battled to double hill before Tzu-Chien closed it out. Tzu-Chien finished her Saturday with a rematch, 8-5 win over Eylul Kibaroglu.
On Sunday morning (11 a.m.), Tzu-Chien faced her seventh loss-side opponent, a good friend, against whom she had competed (among many other times and places) in what became known as ‘ghost’ matches during COVID, Kelly Fisher. Tzu-Chien ended any further speculation about a ‘two Fisher final’ by defeating her 8-4 and as a result, moving ahead of Fisher into the #1 slot in the WPBA rankings. Meanwhile, Kristina Tkach downed Pia Filler 8-4, advancing to the quarterfinals against Tzu-Chien.
The quarterfinals and hot seat match began at about the same time on Sunday; 1 p.m. Tzu-Chien got by Kristina Tkach 8-4 in the quarterfinals, as Allison was busy downing Bryant 8-3 to claim the hot seat.
“I’d posted on FB the day before that I was remaining patient and looking to see if I could go up a gear,” she said. “Against Brittany, I certainly went up that gear.”
Tzu-Chien and Bryant came into the semifinals with a (presumably) good night’s sleep and a single preceding match in the morning. Tzu-Chien gave up just a single rack to Bryant in those semifinals and turned to face the other Fisher on her ‘dance’ card.
Things did not start out well for Allison in the final match versus Tzu-Chien.
“I was kind of behind, right from the get-go,” she would recall. “I wasn’t breaking well, couldn’t get into a flow, not like the hot seat match against Brittany, where I got off to an amazing start.”
That initial ‘off-balance’ in her game put her down by four racks at 7-3. And then, things started to shift.
“I just hung in there and kept a good attitude,” Allison said, “and Wei-Wei started to miss a couple of balls. That shifted my whole thought process and things started to work better, were working better.”
In the clichéd manner of taking things one ball, one game, one match at a time, Allison began chipping away at Tzu-Chien’s lead. As that lead kept dwindling, commentator April Larson accurately conveyed the excitement, shared by a couple of thousand people watching the live stream on the WPBA’s YouTube channel, that this match was going to come down to a final game. As it did.
“Sometimes,” Allison said, “it just comes together. It’s all about the break and getting shots and the ‘flow,’ but that wasn’t happening until the latter part of the match.”
But it did happen and though Tzu-Chien, leading at 7-3 would chalk up two of the next eight games to force a single, deciding game for the whole (literal) shooting match, she ended up ‘doomed by the Duchess.’ Allison’s exultation was evident, as were the tears in her eyes when she noted, to those who were there and at home, that her mother had been present to watch it happen.
WPBA representatives, including tournament director Jerry Stuckart, thanked the ownership and staff at Iron City Billiards for their hospitality, along with sponsors Diamond Billiard Products, Iwan Simonis Cloth, Servitude Photography, Aramith Billiard Balls, Jam Up Apparel and Outsville. Next up for the WPBA will be the $15,000-added Fairfield Invitational, scheduled for the weekend of March 21-24 and hosted by the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center in Fairfield, Iowa.
In here? Doom