Karen Corr
For a number of different reasons, Karen Corr had not appeared on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour in a couple of years, so tour director Linda Shea was happy to hear from her when she called about attending the WPBA-qualifying New York State Championships on the weekend of September 15-16. Corr was welcomed back, and proceeded to work her way undefeated through a field of 18, on-hand at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY for the $1,500-added event.
While the defending champion of the event, Megan Smith, was not on hand to defend the New York State title, some tour regulars followed Corr into the winners' side semifinals. Corr faced Brianna Miller, as Borana Andoni squared off against Kim Meyer. Between the two of them, Corr and Andoni gave up only three racks over 17 games of those winners' side semifinals; Corr downing Miller 7-2 and Andoni dispatching Meyer to the loss side 7-1. Corr gave up two more in her subsequent match against Andoni, and sat in the hot seat, awaiting the return of what turned out to be Miller.
On the loss side, Miller picked up Kia Sidbury, who'd defeated both Judy Wilson and Sharon O'Hanlon 7-4. Meyer drew Linda Shea, who'd gotten by Dawn Fox 7-2 and survived a double hill match against Shanna Lewis. Meyer and Miller advanced to the quarterfinals; Meyer with a 7-4 victory over Shea, Miller 7-5 versus Sidbury.
The 17-year-old Miller then downed Meyer 7-3 in those quarterfinals and was a single match away from a second meet-up with Corr. Borana Andoni was the only obstacle in her way. The two battled back and forth to double hill in the semifinals. In the deciding rack, after a series of safety shots at the 1-ball, Andoni sealed her fate.
"I had a brutal scratch (shooting at the 1-ball) that kissed off the 5," she told Facebook friends, "and Brianna made a nice 2-9 combo to win it."
The youngster and the veteran squared off in the modified race-to-7 finals. Corr gave up only a single rack to win the New York State Championships. Corr was already qualified for the 2013 WPBA US Open, so the event's qualifying spot in that event went to Miller.
The next stop on the JPNEWT is scheduled for October 13-14 at Top Hats in Parkville, MD, to be followed by an event at Cosmos Billiards in Scranton, PA on the weekend of October 27-28. The final event of the tour's season will be held at Triple Nines in Baltimore on November 10-11.
