On the weekend of September 17-18, at the ninth stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour, Jia Li lost her opening match and embarked on a seven-match, loss-side run that put her in the finals against the tour's #1-ranked player; its tour director, Linda Shea. Li defeated Shea twice to claim the event title and chalk up her second victory on the tour. The $1,000-added event ($500 from Coins of the Realm) drew 22 entrants to the Top Hat Cue Club in Parkville, MD.
It was Kim Whitman, who came into the tournament with only three tour stops to her credit and ranked at #17 on the tour, who downed Jia Li in the opening round 7-5. Whitman would advance to a winners' side semifinal against Shea, while Sharon O'Hanlon and Tina Malm would face off in the other one. Shea and Whitman battled to double hill before Shea advanced to the hot seat match. She was met by Malm, who'd allowed O'Hanlon only a single rack. Shea claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Malm and waited for Li to finish her loss-side run.
On the loss side, Whitman drew Jenn Keeney, who, like Li, had lost in the opening round (to Kathy Friend), and was in the midst of a four-match, loss-side streak that was about to end. She'd shut out Karen Myers and eliminated Judie Wilson 7-2 to reach Whitman. O'Hanlon picked up Li, four matches into her loss-side streak, the most recent of which had eliminated Tina Marinelli 7-1 and Heather Platter 7-4.
Whitman squeaked by Keeney, double hill, and in the quarterfinals, matched up against Li, who'd downed O'Hanlon 7-2. Li won the re-match against Whitman and the semifinals versus Malm by the same 7-2 score and moved into the double elimination final against Shea.
She took the opening set 9-5. She won the second set by the same score to claim the event title.
In so doing, Li climbed a few rungs on the tour ladder, ending up in fifth place behind Shea, Karen Corr, Kia Sidbury (who finished in the tie for 13th) and Sharon O'Hanlon (5th). The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of October 1-2, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.
