Seoul, Korea - A packed standing room audience stood and watched Jasmin Ouschan of Austria pocket the winning 9-Ball at the first Annual MBC ESPN Womens World Pool Cup at the City Center Terminal in Seoul, Korea. Dragon Promotions were the producers of this new event which included some of the most beautiful talents around. In the finals, Ouschan faced two opponents, Monica Webb(USA) and Yu Ram Cha(KOR), in a "Queen of the hill" format where she outlasted the other two finalists.
In the preliminary rounds, each woman would play 2 matches. Then the top 3 records would advance to the finals. The day started with Webb's drubbing of Tiffany Nelson 4-0. Next 18 year old Eun Ji Park of Korea looked primed for an upset as she led Ouschan 2-0. Then Jasmin got her bearings and zoomed past Park the next 4 games to win 4-2. Park got a chance to redeem herself in the next match with a thrilling 4-3 win over Japan's WPBA pro Miyuki Sakai. Yu Ram Cha of Korea defeated newcomer Shanelle Loraine of Guam 4-1 while Nelson put up a fight against Ouschan but still lost 4-3. Jeanette Lee failed in her match against Sakai 4-2 and that put Sakai in 3rd place position for the finals along with the undefeated Ouschan. Only matches left would be Cha vs Webb to reach the finals and Lee vs Loraine for pride.
In a match filled with errors and nerves, Jeanette Lee missed the 9-Ball the first game. Then she won the next 3 against Loraine before missing her second 9-Ball. In Game 6, Lee left an opening on the 6 Ball but Loraine left herself long later on the 8-Ball near the spot with the cue ball nearly frozen to the rail and a backwards cut on the 8-Ball. She fired it in and then left herself almost identical on the 9-Ball and she made it again to the gasp of the audience to tie the match 3-3. Lee's nerves were showing as she missed another out and left Shanelle the final 3 balls in which the young Guamaniam made her first career TV win over an international superstar 4-3.
"This feels so good right now. Probably won't hit me till way later. I was so nervous on that last 9-Ball even though it was so easy. It wasn't a picture perfect win, but it's still a win!" said a jubilant Loraine.
"All I did there was bang balls into the rails. At least the rest of my trip I'll be doing the same on purpose in the up coming 3 Cushion events!" said Jeanette Lee good naturedly after her loss.
Cha and Webb would battle it out to get to the finals. If Webb would win 2 games, she would secure her spot even if she lost. Cha would need to win at least 3. Webb kept control of the match until 3-2 where she missed an off angle but makeable 9-Ball. This left Cha with a long rail bank on the 9-Ball. If she missed and lost, Sakai would hold to 3rd place into the finals along with Ouschan and Webb. If she made it, she would overcome Sakai. Cha fired the bank in and though it caught the rail a little high up, it still managed to slide into the pocket to the delight of the fans.
In the final match, Ouschan took the first game against Webb and then the next against Cha. Webb then answered back with a win against Ouschan and then Cha. Ouschan came back again with 2 games back to back to win the title with Webb finishing 2nd Place and Cha in 3rd.
The entire event was aired live on Korea's #1 sports channel MBC ESPN and was the number one sports show of the day.
