It was a feast of seconds – the second time in a row that Janet Atwell met Teruko Cuculleli in a MissCues Regional Ladies Tour final, the second time in a row that Cuculleli fought back through the maximum number of games on the loss-side to meet Atwell in the finals and the second time in a row that Atwell prevailed to chalk up the event title. The occasion this time was the $400-added Tour Championships on the weekend of November 5-6, which drew 11 entrants to Michael's Billiards in Fairfield, OH. Though giving way to Atwell in the event itself, her second place finish left Cuculelli in first place in the overall tour standings, granting her exempt-player status for all 2012 WPBA Classic Tour events.
Both Atwell and Cuculleli advanced through the first round of play at these Tour Championships by being awarded one of the five byes in the opening round. Atwell opened her tournament bid with a second round shutout of tour director Becky Todd, while Cuculleli moved west on the heels of a 7-1 victory by Buffy Jolie.
The single victory moved Atwell among the winners' side final four, where she faced Christina Hansen. Jolie advanced to take on Lynn Parsons. Atwell shut out Hansen, as Parsons was busy surviving a double hill match against Jolie. Atwell gained the hot seat with a 7-3 victory over Parsons, and once again, awaited Cuculleli's return from the loss-side.
Cuculleli picked up a bye in her opening, loss-side round, and then defeated Stephanie Goens 7-5 to draw Hansen. Jolie drew Todd, who'd gotten by Teresa Gifford 7-5 and Melody Kuty 7-2. A Cuculleli/Jolie re-match occurred when Cuculleli downed Hansen 7-4 and Jolie had ended Todd's day 7-5. The re-match went Cuculleli's way 7-3, and she turned to face Parsons.
She got by Parsons 7-3, and the second straight Atwell/Cuculleli final was on. Atwell improved on their last meeting, allowing Cuculleli only two racks in a 9-2 victory that sealed her second straight undefeated weekend on the tour.
"Please include a huge thank you to Michael's Billiards for hosting our championships," said tour director Todd. "Great location, staff and fans, and to top it off, they were open 24 hours a day throughout the weekend."
According to Todd, a 2012 event schedule, which will include WPBA qualifiers, is being formulated, and will be released as soon as that schedule is finalized.
