After coming in 3rd in the US Open, there were quite a few groans when the players of the Tiger, Bay Area AMATEUR Tour saw Yu Ram Cha walk through the door. Some of the players assumed they would have to settle for second. Yu Ram, in her quiet, polite and friendly manner proved them right. Not everyone believed Yu Ram would walk away with the win quite so easily.With a star studded cast of players like ex-pro Jeannie Seaver, up and coming pro tournament players like Michell Monk and Stephanie Mitchell, and the one quietly taking top or near top honors on the BAAT tour every month Leslee Davis-Blaikie, Yu Ram still had her work cut out for her.
When most of the dust had settled, Stephanie Mitchell and Stacey Lantz had settled for 5th place and $75 each. A new smiling face to the tour, Samantha Huber took fourth place and $100 after losing to seasoned veteran of the game, Leslee Davis-Blaikie. Davis-Blaikie was our first player to come in the top three 3 times to move up to an eight, and she has since come in the top three again to move up to our highest ranking of a nine! Congratulations Leslee! That's an amazing feat!
Leslee had to settle for third place and $150 when Niki Rasmussen decided she wanted to be the one to make Yu Ram fight for first place. Niki had a week of soul searching after last week's loss in the US Amateur Open (won by Stephanie Mitchell), and her soul must have told her to keep on fighting. That is exactly what she did! Taking no prisoners and battliing all the way for her right to play in the finals against Yu Ram. Niki played near flawlessly with two back to back runs in 8-ball and almost a third which would have given Niki a victory in the first set of 5-2. But she hit an eight ball a little too hard and instead of being stright in on the nine, it was Yu Ram's chance to show her calm under pressure. That missed 8-ball shifted the momentum and Yu Ram methodically racked up the games to end the set with a 7-5 win. Niki received $250 and Yu Ram scored $350 for first place.
Both of our players that came one out of the money, Heather Cook and Shanna Lewis received gift bags containing presents from some of our fantastic sponsors. These sponsors are Tiger Products, www.FuryCues.com, Strok-in-style gloves, Ray Martin, Stroke It Wear by Tony Crosby, Old Chicago and ID card express.
Thanks to Jose of Stroker's Billiards for hosting this event, we can't wait to see you again in October. Our next event is in Cape Coral at Diamond Billiards. If you would like some information about the tour please check out the website at BAATtour.com. We are always looking for new friends to join the tour as players or sponsors
