Judie Wilson, Linda Shea, Sharon O'hanlon and Nicole Fleming
Linda Shea, tour director of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour (JPNEWT), was runner-up in five of her tour's nine events this year. In the tour's season finale, on the weekend of November 15-16, she came from the loss side to meet and defeat Nicole Fleming in the finals to claim her first tour 2014 event title. The $1,000-added event, including $500 added by Coins of the Realm, drew 20 entrants to Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
Though Shea did not have to contend with either Karen Corr or Jia Li, who, between them, had won the previous eight stops on the tour, she did, eventually have to face Dawn Fox, lurking in fourth place in the tour rankings, and, of course, Fleming, who entered the tournament about 90 points behind Fox in the rankings. Shea's win solidified her position as the tour's top-ranked player.
Shea ran into Fleming for the first time in a winners' side semifinal, as Sharon O'Hanlon and Judie Wilson squared off in the other. Fleming downed Shea 7-2, and in the battle for the hot seat, faced O'Hanlon, who'd survived a double hill match versus Wilson. Fleming, who'd finished third in the tour's first stop in March (same location), guaranteed her highest finish of the year with a 7-4 win over O'Hanlon, and sat in the hot seat for the first time.
On the loss side, Shea ran into Dawn Fox, who'd defeated Meredith Lynch 7-5 and Kathy Friend 7-3 to reach her. Wilson drew Nicole Nester, who'd shut out Colleen Mattes and defeated Lai Li 7-5. Wilson made short work of Nester, shutting her out, as Shea and Fox locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Shea to meet Wilson in the quarterfinals.
Though Wilson would reach the hill first in the quarterfinals, ahead by two, Shea came back to win her second straight double hill match and got to face O'Hanlon in the semifinals. A 7-4 win there, and Shea moved on to make her sixth appearance in a 2014 JPNEWT final. She concluded her first tour win with a 9-6 victory in those finals.
