Nicolle Cuellar, Gary Gilsanen and Crystal McCormick
Ft. Pierce, FL (Jan. 12, 2013) – Tired of being the proverbial bridesmaid, Crystal McCormick finally made it to the winner’s circle at the Flamingo Billiards Tour 2013 Kick-off event on Saturday after four second-place finishes in 2012. This event, held at Ultimate Billiards in Ft. Pierce, Florida, was also a Qualifier for the WPBA Masters at Soaring Eagle. Winning the Qualifier was the icing on the cake for McCormick on this special night.
Thirty-two players including one from Georgia came to play and play tough they did resulting in several hill-hill matches throughout the day. It wasn’t an easy day for any of the players including McCormick, losing to Jessica Barnes in her first match. Not to be stopped, Crystal fought her way back through the one-loss side sending several players home along the way, including Renee Vassallo, Cathy Sparling, Darlyne Petrovit and Chris Fields, to make it to the final single elimination board of eight.
Christie Cloke, Sue Roberts, Jessica Barnes and Nicolle Cuellar were in stroke all afternoon making it to the final board without a loss. Newcomer Jessie Nixon, Jennifer Page and Kelly Coyle joined McComick on the final board from the one-loss side.
In the quarterfinals McCormick stopped Cloke 7-1, Roberts lost to Page 7-4, Barnes lost to Coyle 7-5 in a revenge match, and Cuellar stopped Nixon 7-1. In the semifinal matches, McCormick defeated Coyle for a spot in the finals. Cuellar defeated Page to fill the spot against McCormick, but it was McCormick who took the final match, her first win on the FBT and the Qualifier spot.
On a sad note, this was the last tournament at Ultimate Billiards as the pool room closed its doors Sunday night. The owners, Bill and Joann Mallen, and Gary Gilsanen, were like family to the players and will be greatly missed. A huge thank you to Gary, Bill and Joann for always being great hosts and supporting the Flamingo Billiards Tour.
A very special thanks to Janis Sessions who surprised the players with her Fabulous Florida Foxy Flamingos 2013 calendar with pictures of the players going back to 2009 when the FBT first started. Janis obviously spent endless hours making the calendar and the collection of photos.
