Deborah Cervantes and Angela Williams
The Midwest Ladies’ Regional Tour (MLRT) held the second stop of the tour season at BankShot Billiards in Louisville, KY on May 16th. The turnout was tiny, but the competition was huge.
The first round saw Jennifer Swenson, Deborah Cervantes, and Angela Williams jump out with impressive wins (7-4, 7-4, 7-3, respectively.) Cervantes and Williams continued their winning streak to play each other in the semi-finals; Williams won 7-2 to take the chair.
The loser’s bracket was just as monstrous; Laura Semko and Jennifer Swenson shut-out their opponents Tonya Wiser and Tabitha Carmack, 6-0. Unfortunately, Semko had an emergency, so she was unable to defend her place, forfeiting to Angela Mears, who had lost to Williams in the second round (7-6). Mears then lost to Swenson (6-3) in the quarter-finals on the B-side.
Swenson’s impressive record made her the favorite to win the B-side battle with Cervantes, but conceding the 9-ball lost her two games, and put Cervantes in position to strike, and strike she did. Cervantes won that match 6-2, putting her in position to play for payback against Williams in the finals.
Williams and Cervantes both came out swinging, but Williams took an early lead 5-3. A few long, defensive matches later, Cervantes picked up a couple wins to tie it on the hill. In the end, Cervantes pulled out the win in the first set!
A wicked second set ensued with both players visibly fatigued and struggling to focus, pulling no punches, and bearing down hard. Over the first hour, the two players traded games to tie the match at 3-3, but then the tables turned…on Williams. She bobbled two key nine-balls to put Cervantes on the hill. The last game was intense, Williams playing hard defense, but Cervantes pulled out an impressive 7-8-9 close to the match for the win! A double-tap for the ages.
MLRT Stop #3 will take place on June 6, 2015 at Snookers’ Pool & Pub in Livonia, MI. For more info, see their website at www.midwestladiestour.com and/or contact the tour directors at director@midwestladiestour.com.
