Chieh Yu Chou
Chieh Yu Chou of Chinese Taipei defeated Jasmin Ouschan in the finals of the 2012 Amway Cup to take her second Amway title in four years. Ouschan helped the effort a bit with a pair of scratches that cost her dearly as Chou marched right out to a 5-0 lead in the final. But Ouschan was only waiting her turn. She fought back in her usual take-no-prisoners style to tie the match at 9-9 in the race to 11. When the 7 ball escaped the orders from Ouschan in the next rack Chou had an easy clearance which she followed with a break and run to take the title 11-9.
Ouschan had fought the very good fight to get her seat in the finals. She won her quarter-final and semi-final matches by the same score, 9-7 over both Ga Young Kim and XiaoTing Pan. But Chou may have had an even tougher route to maneuver. She had to get past Player of the Year Siming Chen, once leading 6-0 in that match, and Kelly Fisher, whom she bested 9-7. It was also Chou who sent Jeanette Lee home early in the single-elimination rounds.
The format of the Amway Cup has 48 women beginning in group stages of 6 players in each group. They play round-robin until the field is cut in half. Those 24 players are seeded into the final bracket by their performance in the group stages. The top 8 performers are seeded into the second round of play and are thus allowed to escape the first round of danger.
