Joanne Ashton, Brittany Bryant, Eleanor Callado, Beverley Ashton and Emily Duddy
Fresh off her fourth place finish in the North American Pool Tour's Women's 10-Ball Invitational in Herndon, VA, last weekend, Brittany Bryant traveled to Calgary, Alberta to compete in the inaugural Ashton Twins (Joanne and Beverley) Classic, on the weekend of June 11-12. Though challenged twice by Eleanor Callado, Bryant went undefeated through the field of 32 that had signed on to compete in the $2,000-added event, hosted by The Hidden Spot in Calgary.
Following victories over Kathie MacDonald, Liz Cole, and Emily Duddy, Bryant squared off against Veronique Menard in a winners' side semifinal. Callado, in the meantime, who'd defeated tournament namesake Joanne Ashton, Farla Salmanovitch and Janet Atwell, met up with Toni Sakamoto in the other winners' side semifinal. Bryant sent Menard to the loss side 9-5, and in the hot seat match faced Callado, who'd defeated Sakamoto 9-7. Bryant claimed the hot seat 9-4 over Callado, and waited on her return.
On the loss side, Sakamoto picked up Emily Duddy, who'd been defeated by Bryant in the third winners' side round. Duddy opened her loss-side campaign with a victory over Nathalie Chabot 9-1, and just did survive a double hill battle against Kathie MacDonald. Menard drew Janet Atwell, who'd been sent to the loss side by Callado, and then eliminated Liz Cole 9-6 and Sandy Badger 9-7.
Atwell and Menard locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Atwell to the quarterfinals against Duddy, who'd ended Sakamoto's run 9-2. Duddy earned herself a shot at Callado in the semifinals with a 9-6 victory over Atwell.
Duddy, who's in the midst of her best year, to date, as a pro (financially), fought Callado, back and forth, one victory at a time, to a 6-6 tie, and then pulled out in front to reach the hill first, ahead by two. Callado, though, fought back to tie it and force a case game. Callado won that game to earn a re-match against Bryant in the hot seat.
In spite of a relatively long wait, Bryant opened the single race to 11 with four straight racks. Callado chalked up rack #5, but Bryant came back to win four more to take a commanding 8-1 lead. With some applause-worthy shooting in rack #10, from an enthusiastic crowd, Callado chalked up her second. Bryant took racks #11 and #12 to reach the hill, and then closed it out to claim the event title.
The Ashton Twins and Tour Director Stephanie Toy thanked the ownership and staff at The Hidden Spot for their hospitality, as well as sponsors SBI Landscaping, Infinity Mechanical, Inc.,
Sierra Publishing Company, Jenny Lucas from Score Saloon (game by game scoring), Orange Theory Fitness, Nasty Boy Drywall Services, World Sports and Poker.com, Westcreek Consulting, and Randall Morrison for the on-line streaming service.
