Giovanna Napolitano and Dawn Hopkins
Prior to this past weekend (Dec. 2-3), the last time Dawn Hopkins recorded a win on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour, George W. Bush was the President (’06). Lotta water been flowing under the bridge since she founded the tour in the early ‘90s as an adjunct to a magazine she published (All About Pool Magazine, with a related All About Pool Men’s Tour in Massachusetts). The original All About Pool Ladies Tour (and Hopkins) shifted its base of operations to New Jersey, where it became the Northeast Women’s Tour, while Hopkins and her husband, Allen, started the Super Billiards Expo, which opened for the first time in 1993. Under different leadership, the Ladies tour began its association with and later name-change to the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour at the end of the 2001 season.
Hopkins’ 2006 JPNEWT win made her the NY State Women’s 9-Ball Champion that year. This past weekend, coming from the loss side, her win at the tour’s Season Finale made her one of only three competitors, other than Briana Miller, to claim a JPNEWT title this year. Bean Hung defeated Miller in the finals of Stop #7, while earlier in the year, Rachel Lang won Stop #3, at which Miller finished in the tie for 13th. Hopkins, who opened her campaign this past weekend with a 7-1 victory over Colette Finegan and was then sent to the loss side (double hill) by Miller, got a second shot at Miller on the loss side and was able to chalk her up as her fourth loss-side win of six. The $1,250-added event drew 19 entrants to Players Billiards Café in Eatontown, NJ.
Miller moved on from her victory over Hopkins to down Melissa Jenkins 7-1 and draw Giovanna Napolitano in one of the winners’ side semifinals. From the upper level of the bracket, Carol V. Clark got by Shelah Joner 7-1 and Shuang Gao 7-2 to pick up Ada Lio in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Napolitano, who is recording her first set of payout finishes with us at AZBilliards this year, was making her seventh appearance on the tour, finishing ‘in the money’ at six of them. After previously finishing 9th, 5th (twice), 4th and 3rd, she was about to make this season finale her best finish of the year. Guaranteed at this winners’ side final stage of the game at least another 5th place finish, she needed to start her advance to a better conclusion against the formidable tour director, Briana Miller. And she did, battling Miller to double hill before dropping the final 9-ball and advancing to the hot seat match. She was met by Clark, who’d sent Lio to the loss side 7-4. Napolitano won her second-straight double-hill match, claiming the hot seat and guaranteeing that at this season finale, she would be recording her best finish of the year.
On the loss side, Hopkins was working her way through the field, headed for the finals, the event title and distinction as the competitor who played more matches than anyone else (9). She’d followed her loss to Miller with wins over Bettyanne Mauceri (1), Judie Wilson (3), and Alyssa Solt (3) to draw Miller a second time. In a match that came within a game of double hill, Hopkins eliminated Miller (5) and advanced to the quarterfinals. She was joined by Rona Brown, who chalked up her fourth, loss-side win, double hill, versus Lio.
Hopkins shut Brown out in those quarterfinals and faced Clark in the semifinals. A 7-3 win there (Clark recording her best finish of the year) put Hopkins in the finals against Napolitano.
With the exception of her earlier loss to Miller, no one ended up winning more racks against Hopkins than Napolitano did in the race-to-9 finals. Hopkins claimed the event title 9-6; her first JPNEWT title since 2006 and her first (recorded) anywhere since she won a stop on the Garden State (Ladies) Pool Tour in 2018.
As the JPNEWT’s Season Finale, Miller, in her role as tour director, took steps to assure that it was festive. Everybody got a door prize, whether it was a gift basket, a t-shirt, or a ‘cozie.’ One of the top prizes was paid entry to all of the tour’s 2024 events and tour members might be forgiven for being a little nervous about the fact that it was Dawn Hopkins who won it.
Miller thanked the ownership and staff at Players Billiards Café, along with title sponsor, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, IntheBox Sportswear, Mezz Cues, and George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor). The JPNEWT will hold its 2024 season opener on the weekend of March 9-10, a $750-added event, to be hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
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