Twenty ladies congregated at Fast Eddie's Billiards in San Antonio to scrap it out for “queen of the hill” honors on August 22, 2004 for the eighth stop in The Fast Eddie's 9 Ball Tour with new faces in attendance and the absence of a few regulars. A big welcome to Evanis Dina, Nikki Smith, Christina Delagarza and Angelina Almaraz to the Tour. It's, also, nice to see Raquel Buenrastro, Richella Holbrook, Rene Benton and Yolanda Valdez back on the tournament trail. Audra, Amanda, Sophie and Kawania, you were missed!
There was plenty of skill and talent to go around, though. Top picks were Heather Pulford, Anne Mayes, Kyu Yi, Shayla Neris, Michelle Cortez and Belinda Lee.
The 5-6th positions went to the regular money machine, Kim Pierce of Bastrop, and Kyu Yi, a recent San Antonio transplant from California. Good shooting, ladies!
Jennifer Kraber started her run with victories over Raquel Buenrastro, 7-6, and Evanis Dina, 7-3, before running into Heather Pulford for her first loss, 7-5. From the left side, Jennifer went on to defeat Yolanda Valdez, 5-2, Rene Benton, 5-4, and Kim Pierce, 5-2. Anne Mayes ended Jennifer's run, 5-2, for a great 4th place finish.
Corina Campbell of San Antonio, a new talent on the Tour, started her climb with successes over Nikki Smith, 7-0, Michelle Cortez, 7-5, and Kim Pierce, 7-3, to meet Heather Pulford in the finals of the winner's bracket where she lost 7-3. In the finals of the one loss side, Corina collided with Anne Mayes, with Anne coming out on top, 5-2. Congratulations to Corina on a great 3rd place finish and a great big thanks for her help with the cue raffle!
Anne Mayes, owner and creator of AO Custom Cues of Houston, donated a cue to be raffled with the money collected to make up the add on for the ladies event. Having just completed another eye surgery, Anne still shows the skill which kept her on the pro tour for many years with triumphs over Kyu Yi, 7-1, and Rene Benton, 7-4, before succumbing to Heather Pulford,7-6. Once in the brutal bracket, Anne defeated Kyu Yi, 5-0, Jennifer Kraber, 5-2, and Corina Cambell to make it to the finals.
Heather Pulford of Austin and winner of the January Austin event, appropriated the hot seat with victories over Sharon Townsend, 7-2, Melissa Ann Andrade, 7-2, Jennifer Kraber, 7-5, Anne Mayes, 7-6, and Corina Campbell, 7-3. With Anne Mayes coming off the one loss side, it was set up for an exciting final match.
In the finals, both ladies traded games to 4-4, when Heather jumped out to a 6-4 lead. Anne showed what she had inside and tied it up at 6-6. Down to a race to one, Heather came through and seized the final game, giving her a second Tour victory for the year. Congratulations to both these fine competitors and a nail biting finish!
Thanks to Big Lew, Summer and their staff for hosting a great event. Thanks to AO Custom Cues for sponsoring the ladies event!
See y'all next month in Beaumont on September 17-19! Ladies, keep knocking the backs out of those pockets!
Complete Payouts: 1st Heather Pulford $470 2nd Anne Mayes $320 3rd Corina Campbell $195 4th Jennifer Kraber $110 5th/6th Kim Pierce, Kyu Yi $40
