Gerda Hofstatter
After an absence of almost ten year, Gerda Hofstatter has returned to the WPBA Winners Circle with an undefeated run at the 2010 San Diego Classic. It was Hofstatter's first win since the 2000 BCA Open 9-Ball Championship, and she did it with style.
Hofstatter's run in this event started with wins over Lisa Davids, Angel Paglia and Kyoko Sone to earn her place in the final sixteen. Hofstatter's first match in the final sixteen was former #1 ranked Monica Webb, and she made quick work of Webb 9-3. Next up was current #1 ranked Ga-Young Kim, who fell 9-4.
Hofstatter broke open the first TV match of the day on Sunday against Karen Corr. The match was close early, but Hofstatter took control and cruised to a 7-4 win.
The other side of the tournament board was all about newly crowned Regional Tour Champion Shu-Han Chang. Chang dropped her second match of the tournament, a 9-6 loss to Karen Corr, but came back with wins over Miyuki Sakai, Lisa Marr and Helena Thornfeldt to qualify for the final sixteen redraw.
After the redraw, Chang eliminated 2009 Player of the Year Jasmin Ouschan, Jeanette Lee and then Xiao-Ting Pan in the second TV match of the day 7-5.
Chang held an early 2-1 lead in the finals, but Hofstatter regained the lead at 4-3. The turning point of the match might have been in rack eight when Hofstatter's miss on the 6-ball left and open rack for Chang. Chang missed the first shot and Hofstatter ran out for a 5-3 lead. From there, it was all Hofstatter with a 7-3 win.
The win was worth $12,700 for Hofstatter, while Chang settled for $7,800 in second place prize money. Karen Corr and Xiao-Ting Pan earned $5,100 for their third place finishes.
