Eleanor Callado and Mary Rakin
The West Coast Women's Regional 9-Ball Tour (WCWRT) kicked off its second season on July 10-11 at Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento. Playing in Hard Times' cool, spacious tournament room with its freshly recovered Gold Crowns was a real treat. Owner Karen Markulis not only welcomed us warmly to her room--she joined right in the fun, playing in both the main event and second chance tournaments!
Twenty-nine players from Washington, Oregon and California started the day Saturday and 24 returned Sunday, either as one of the eight remaining players in the main event or as one of the 16 players entering the second chance event. In the main event, Eleanor Callado defeated both of the powerhouse Rakin sisters, Michelle (7-1) and Mary (7-2), to get to the hot seat. The Venus and Serena of the WCWRT then battled each other for the right to take El on again. Mary got an early lead 4-1 but, to no one's surprise, Michelle brought the match to hill-hill before Mary prevailed in the case game.
Back at the table for the finals, Eleanor and Mary engaged in a seesaw contest that also went to hill-hill. Mary took the game, but the tournament being true double elimination, the two players faced off again. The turning point came in the ninth game of the second set when Eleanor made a one/nine combination to go up 5-4. When she got to the nine in the next game she spent a long time lining up her shot, but after sinking that she visibly relaxed, running the table with smooth efficiency in the last game to take the final (6-7, 7-4).
During presentation of the commemorative vases and prize money, an exciting announcement was made. An anonymous donor, who loves pool and loves to support the game by adding money to tournaments at Hard Times, added an extra $500 to the prize money for the top four places. That, along with the sponsorship money of Hard Times and Capitol Billiards (a Sacramento retailer of billiard equipment and supplies), made the main event at WCWRT's first stop a $1,000 added! Thank you all!! The winning players were, of course, all extremely grateful.
The extra cash will help winner Eleanor Callado, a WPBA rookie, with her expenses as she travels to Norman, Oklahoma to play in the US Open, where fellow tour member Kim Benson will also compete. Here is the complete list of the final eight and payouts:
2010 WCWRT Stop 1, Hard Times, Sacramento
Main Event, Results and Payouts
1st Eleanor Callado $640
2nd Mary Rakin $380
3rd Michelle Rakin $250
4th Kimberly Kirk $185
5th/6th Kim Benson $95
Linda Carter $95
7th/8th Emilyn Callado $60
Carolin Koo $60
Meantime, two women playing for the first time on the WCWRT, made it to the finals of the second chance tournament. Tiffany Finnan took first place (5-1).
Second Chance Tournament
1st Tiffany Finnan $80
2nd Brenda Clark $55
3rd/4th Ginger Bowen $35
Jessica Skye $35
We want to thank Hard Times and all participants for a tremendous start to the 2010 season. Get well wishes to Tour Coordinator Christina Piona who is battling pain from fibromyalgia and was forced to leave early. Many thanks to Tess Callado who pitched in Sunday to help keep things running.
With 8 new players at our initial stop of 2010 and a number of returning players with scheduling conflicts for this first date, WCWRT is looking forward to a good turnout and a great tournament at its second stop, Aug. 7-8 at The Broken Rack in Emeryville, CA.
Each main event on the tour is a guaranteed $500 added, with additional money going to our second chance tournaments and end-of-season point prize fund.
Women can join the tour at any stop. You don't need to be a great player to join; you just need to enjoy playing competitive pool with other women.
Check out our ad on page ___ and our website www.westcoastwomensregionaltour.com for more information. We always welcome new players and encourage fans of the game to come and watch. You'll see women playing some exciting pool.
