The day the cuts are made always comes down to heartbreak and heroics. Twenty-four members of the forty-eight player field in the Amway-sponsored WPA Women's World nine Ball Championship received their pink slips today while the rest remain alive and stroking.
The top eight seeds are allowed to sit out tomorrow, gaining the right to automatic berths in the second round of play which begins on Saturday. The top seed position ended in a dead heat between Jasmine Ouchin (AUS) and Ga-Young Kim (TPE), both of who had perfect 5-0 records and were tied on both total racks won and total racks lost. A blind draw ceded the top slot to Ga-Young Kim while Ouchin is in just as favorable a position at the other end of the bracket.
Third seed honors went to Shu-Han Chang (TPE) who also went through the charts unbroken while one of the players who had to win a qualifying tournament to gain a seat at the table, Chihiro Kawahara (JPN), grabbed the fourth slot with four wins. Indeed, the rest of the top eight places all went to women with four wins. Akimi Kajitani (JPN) earned the fifth spot, Ji Won Hyun (KOR), another qualifying tournament winner, grabbed sixth, while seventh and eighth went to Line Kjorsvik (NOR) and Jeannie Seaver (USA).
Those eight get to rest while the other sixteen finalists go to single-elimination war tomorrow. All matches will be televised live and we begin with Makiko Takagi (JPN) squared off against Meng-Meng Zhou. Then Kelly Fisher of Great Britain takes on Jennifer Barretta of the USA. Next, Tiffany Nelson (USA) faces Akio Otani (JPN). The fourth match shown will be Wendy Jans (NED) against Yukiko Hamanishi (JPN), followed by two ladies from Taipei, Hsiang-Ling Tan vs. Shu-Pin Kao.
By late afternoon Shin Mei-Liu (TPE) will battle another of the cadre of players who won qualifiers, Keiko Yukawa of Japan. The day will end with Melissa Herndon (USA) or Helena Thornfeldt (SWE) going home to pack and Rubile Amit (PHI) and Charlotte Sorensen (DEN) both attempting to avoid the same fate.
The heartaches arrived as well today. Monica Webb (USA) missed the cut based on a single rack lost. Ms. Webb had flown in from the States just the morning of the start of the event because she had competed the previous weekend in a WPBA event in North Carolina. The jet-lag hit her that afternoon and she lost a match badly as fatigue overtook her skills. Had she won only one rack more over two days play she would have still been in the hunt. Jui-Fang Fan (TPE) felt the same racks-lost sting as did Chun-Hua Lin (TPE). It is never easy to accept that a single rack or two can keep you out of the championship stages of the World Title event.
Full Results from First Two Days of Play
Group 'A'
First Round
G.Y. Kim d. M. Herndon 5-3
K. Fisher d. K . Orfanidis 5-0
H.S Lai d. L. Hulley 5-3
Second Round
G.Y. Kim d. K. Orfanidis 5-3
M. Herndon d. L.Hulley 5-2
KL. Fisher d. H.S. Lai 5-1
Third Round
G.Y. Kim d. H.S. Lai 5-4
M. Herndon d. K. Orfanidis 5-1
K. Fisher d. L. Hulley 5-2
Fourth Round
G.Y Kim d. K.Fisher 5-1
M. Herndon d. H.S. Lai 5-1
K, Orfanidis d. L. Hulley 5-4
Fifth Round
G.Y.Kim d. L. Hulley 5-1
K. Fisher d. M. Herndon 5-1
H.S. Lai d. K. Orfanidis 5-3
Group 'B'
First Round
M.M. Zhou d. M. Webb 5-4
C. Feldman-Naeff d. C. Sorenson 5-4
Keiko Yukawa d. L. Marthinez 5-0
Second Round
C. Sorenson d. M.M. Zhou 5-4
M. Webb d. L. Marthinez 5-0
Keiko Yukawa d. C. Feldman-Naeff 5-3
Third Round
K. Yukawa d. M.M. Zhou 5-3
C. Sorenson d. M. Webb 5-0
C. Feldman-Naeff d. L. Marthinez 5-2
Fourth Round
M.M. Zhou d. C. Fledman-Naeff 5-1
M. Webb d. K. Yukawa 5-0
C. Sorenson d. L. Marthinez 5-0
Fifth Round
M.M. Zhou d. L Marthinez 5-0
M. Webb d. C. Feldman-Naeff 5-4
K. Yukawa d. C. Sorenson 5-3
Group 'C'
First Round
M. Takagi d. H. Thornfeldt 5-0
H.L. Tan d. B. De Jonge 5-0
J.F. Fan d. M. Lafranchise 5-4
Second Round
M. Takagi d. B. De Jonge 5-2
H. Thornfeldt d. M.Lafranchise 5-0
H.L. Tan d. J.F. Fan 5-2
Third Round
J.F. Fan d. M. Takagi 5-4
H. Thornfeldt d. B. De Jonge 5-2
H.L. Tan d. M. Lafranchise 5-2
Fourth Round
M. Takagi d. H.L. Tan 5-2
H. Thornfeldt d. J.F.Fan 5-1
M. Lafranchise d. B. De Jonge 5-3
Fifth Round
M. Lafranchise d. M. Takagi 5-3
H. Thornfeldt d. H.L. Tan 5-4
J.F. Fan d. B. De Jonge 5-1
Group 'D'
First Round
J. Ouschin d. S.M.Liu 5-4
L. Horsburgh d. L. Wever 5-0
C.H Lin d. R. Amit 5-4
Second Round
S.M. Liu d. L. Horsburgh 5-0
M. Webb d. L. Marthinez 5-0
C.H. Lin d. L. Wever 5-3
Third Round
S.M. Liu d. C.H.Lin 5-2
J. Ouchin d. L. Horsburgh 5-2
R. Amit d. L. Weaver 5-3
Fourth Round
S.M. Liu d. L Wever 5-0
J. Ouchin d. C.H. Lin 5-0
R. Amit d. L. Horsburgh 5-2
Fifth Round
R. Amit d. S.M. Liu 5-0
J. Ouschan d. L. Wever 5-0
C.H. Lin d. L. Horsburgh 5-3
Group 'E'
First Round
Y. Hamanishi d. Y.C.Lin 5-3
L. Kjorsvik d. V. Finnie 5-3
A.Otani d. A Villar 5-0
Second Round
L. Kjorsvik d. Y.C. Lin 5-4
Y. Hamanishi d. A. Villar 5-1
A.Otani d. V. Finnie 5-2
Third Round
Y.C. Lin d. A. Otani 5-4
L. Kjorsvik d. Y. Hamanishi 5-4
V. Finnie d. A. Villar 5-4
Fourth Round
V. Finnie d. Y.C. Lin 5-3
A Otani d. Y. Hamanishi 5-2
A Villar d. L. Kjorvik 5-3
Fifth Round
Y.C. Lin d. A. Villar 5-3
Y. Hamanishi d. V. Finnie 5-2
L. Kjorsvik d. A. Otani 5-4
Group 'F'
First Round
A.Kajitani d. J. Chen 5-2
J, Seaver d. V. Hubrtova 5-4
C. Kawahara d. D. Wilkinson 5-0
Second Round
A.Kajitani d. J. Seaver 5-2
D. Wilkinson d. J. Chen 5-2
C. Kawahara d. V. Hubrtova 5-1
Third Round
C. Kawahara d. A. Kajatani 5-3
J. Seaver d. J. Chen 5-2
V. Hurtova d. D. Wilkinson 5-2
Fourth Round
A Kajatani d. V. Hubrtova 5-3
C. Kawahara d. J. Chen 5-4
J. Seaver d. D. Wilkinson 5-1
Fifth Round
A Kajatani d. D. Wilkinson 5-2
J. Chen d. V. Hunrtova 5-2
J. Seaver d. C. Kawahara 5-3
Group 'G'
First Round
S.H. Jung d. T. Nelson 5-1
S.H. Chang d. W. Jans 5-4
P.C. Tsai d. N. Surajlall 5-2
Second Round
W. Jans d. S. H.Jung 5-4
T. Nelson d. N. Surajlall 5-4
S.H.Chang d. P.C. Tsai 5-1
Third Round
P.C. Tsai d. S.H. Jung 5-4
T. Nelson d. W. Jans 5-4
S.H. Chang d. N. Surajlall 5-0
Fourth Round
S.H. Chang d. S.h. Jung 5-4
T. Nelson d. P.C. Tsai 5-4
W. Jans d. N. Suirajlall 5-1
Fifth Round
N. Surajlall d. S.H. Jung 5-4
S.H. Chang d. T. Nelson 5-4
W. Jans d. P.C. Tsai 5-3
Group 'H'
First Round
S.P. Kao d. X.T. Pan 5-0
E. Bijnen d. J. Barretta 5-1
J.W. Hyun d. I. Helvik 5-2
Second Round
X.T. Pan d. E. Bijnen 5-0
S.P. Kao d. I. Helvik 5-0
J.W. Hyun d. J. Barretta 5-2
Third Round
X.T. Pan d. J.W. Hyun 5-3
S.P. Kao d. E. Bunjen 5-2
J. Baretta d. I. Helvik 5-1
Fourth Round
J. Barretta d. X.T. Pan 5-4
J.W. Hyun d. S.P. Kao 5-4
Helvik d. E. Bijnen 5-1
Fifth Round
I Helvik d. X.T. Pan 5-3
J. Barretta d. S.P. Kao 5-3
J.W. Hyun d. E. Bijnen 5-4
