(l to r): Kia Sidbury, Caroline Pao & Karen Corr
In an uncharacteristic path to the winners’ circle, Karen Corr had to come from the loss side to win the August 11-12 stop (#5) on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour. It was Corr’s second straight appearance and win on the tour since it began in March. Though she would advance to the hot seat match, she was sent to the loss side by Caroline Pao (making her first appearance on the 2018 tour). Corr came back from the semifinals to win a nail-biting, double hill match against Pao to claim the event title. The $500-added (by Coins of the Realm) event drew 23 entrants to Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge, MD.
In addition to Pao, Corr had to face the tour’s #3-ranked player (coming into this event), Kia Sidbury, twice. Corr opened her campaign against Sidbury, downing her 7-1, and would meet her again in the semifinals. Corr then defeated Eugenia Gyftopoulos 7-3 and Kathy Friend 7-2 to draw the tour’s #2-ranked player, Linda Shea, in a winners’ side semifinal. Pao, in the meantime, opened her bid for the event title with a 7-3 victory over the tour’s top-ranked competitor, Nicole King. She sent King to the loss side 7-3 and then shut out Leslie Furr to draw Nicole Monaco in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Corr and Shea came within a game of going double hill, before Corr edged out in front to win 7-5 and advance to the hot seat match. Pao defeated Monaco 7-3 to join her. Pao sent Corr to the semifinals 7-4 to claim the hot seat.
Following her loss to Corr, Sidbury embarked on a six-match, loss-side bid for a rematch. She got by Valerie Nolan, Sharon O’Hanlon, Bethany Sykes, and won a double hill match against King to draw Monaco. Shea picked up Elaine Wilson, who’d defeated Lynn Richard 7-5 and Gyftopoulos 7-3 to reach her.
Sidbury and Shea advanced to the quarterfinals; Sidbury 7-1 over Monaco and Shea 7-3 over Wilson. Sidbury and Shea fought a double hill match that eventually earned Sidbury her rematch against Corr in the semifinals. Corr gave up only two racks in that semifinal to earn her own rematch against Pao in the finals.
In the extended race-to-9 format of the finals, Corr had to (and did) reach seven racks before Pao. They traded racks to an 8-8 tie before Corr broke and ran to capture the event title.
The event was a North American Pool Tour (NAPT) Qualifier for the upcoming Desert Challenge, to be hosted by Griff’s Billiards in Las Vegas. With Corr already qualified, Pao picked up the qualifying spot.
The results led to a bit of a shakeup among the tour’s top competitors going into the 6th stop on the tour, scheduled for September 15-16, to be hosted by First Break Café and Billiards in Sterling, VA. Tour director Linda Shea and Nicole King switched places; Shea moving into 1st and King, dropping to 2nd. Kia Sidbury, previously tied with Erica Testa (who did not compete), stayed right where she was. Corr, with her second straight win, moved up to 4th place, as Judie Wilson maintained her hold on 5th place in the tour rankings.
Tour director Linda Shea thanked the ownership and staff at Triple Nines, as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Coins of the Realm, live stream sponsor – angle aim Art, Mezz USA, and Baltimore City Cues.
