Young ace and aspiring pro Anna Kostanian from Albuquerque, New Mexico won her second Hunter Classics Amateur Women's Tour event of the year in Dallas, Texas at Pugsley's Library on June 10-11. Forty four ladies from Arkansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Canada and of course Texas came to compete in the event. The A/C was fixed Saturday night, so literally there were a lot of matches to sweat on Saturday. However, Sunday matches were very close as the top echelon of the Hunter Tour and many Qualifier-seekers were dueling it out for the first place crown and the WPBA Qualifier.
Traveling from Quebec, Veronique Menard impressed everyone over the weekend in her quest for the Qualifier. Unfortunately, she lost a close match to Houston's Belinda Lee 7-6 on Saturday and then ran into a determined Lisa Brannen Sunday morning who defeated Veronique 7-0. We hope to see her in the future - Veronique is an amazing player with a wonderful personality. Veronique earned $220 for her 4th place finish.
Lisa Brannen (from Arkansas) had all lopsided scores on Saturday - her opponents couldn't win 4 games against her. On Sunday morning, Anna had other plans, though, and defeated Lisa hill-hill. The other winner's side match on Sunday morning was between Amanda Lampert (new resident of Dallas) and Terry Petrosino (of Houston). Terry fought hard, but Amanda was too much and won 7-5. Terry then lost to Veronique 7-5 while Lisa defeated Heather Lloyd (from Austin) 7-3. Terry and Heather placed 5th/6th and earned $150. Amanda and Anna then battled for the hot seat title. Both played well but Anna came out on top winning 7-3. Amanda then defeated Brannen 7-4 to earn her rematch with Anna. Lisa earned $400 for her third place finish.
Amanda and Anna both wanted the WPBA qualifier badly, which was evident when Amanda defeated Anna 7-5 the first set in the double elimination tournament. The second set was just as close and exciting and tied at 4-4, it was anyone's game. Anna was able to reach 5 games first but Amanda won the next game and tied it 5-5. In the 11th game, Amanda played safe on the 2-ball after Anna fouled, but accidentally left a window open for a 2-9 combo, which Anna made nicely. Amanda broke dry the next game and Anna ran the table to win the match 7-5. Anna took home $750 for first place and the WPBA Qualifier for the pro tournament in July in Peoria, Illinois. Amanda earned $550 for her 2nd place finish.
In the second chance tournament, Tournament Board Member Julie Stephenson defeated Anne Mayes for the title. Julie earned $100 and Anne earned $75. Third placed was filled by Jennifer Combs ($50) and Tracie Voelkering placed fourth ($25).
A BIG thank you to Wes Hunter who donated a beautiful $1,800 Hunter Classics Custom Cue for this event. Jillian Valles from Houston was very excited as she received a phone call on her drive back to Houston from the event to hear she won the cue!
Find bios, photos, event information, and even travel tips at www.hunterclassics.com.
Main Event, complete payouts:
1st $750 Anna Kostanian plus WPBA Qualifier
2nd $550 Amanda Lampert
3rd $400 Lisa Brannen
4th $220 Veronique Menard
5th/6th $150 Heather Lloyd and Terry Petrosino
7th/8th $100 Lisa Henderson-Major and Leslie Anne Rogers
9th-12th $70 Michelle Ram, Kim pierce, Belinda Lee and Lisa Miranda
13th-16th $50 Stacy Parker, Tracy Voelkering, Jillian Valles, and Cristina DeLaGarza
17th-24th $25 Betsy Donaldson, Robbie Doughtery, Tara McCracken, Monica Anderson, Anne Mayes, Julie Stephenson, Camille Madison and Snowy Belt
Second Chance Tournament:
1st $100 Julie Stephenson
2nd $75 Anne Mayes
3rd $50 Jennifer Combs
4th $25 Tracy Voelkering
5th/6th $5 Tara McCracken and Jillian Valles
