June 19-20, 33 women representing British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota descended on Malarkey's Pool & Brew in Tacoma, WA for the NWPA's third tour stop of 2010. With 33 women, sponsors increased the prize fund from $500 to $750 added.
Located at 445 Tacoma Avenue South Malarkey's has 11 Brunswick Gold Crown 9-foot tables and 10 Valley barbox 8-foot tables, an awesome juke box, and tasty food. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m, there is something for everyone. There are pool tournaments 3 days a week, karaoke on Saturday nights, and Open Mic nights thrown into the mix. The NWPA would like to thank Malarkey's for their gracious hospitality and continuing support of the NWPA by hosting their 2nd event in as many years.
Play began at 10 am Saturday morning and there were several new players that we would like to welcome to the NWPA: Alisha Rogers from Everett, WA, Anne Bounds from Seattle, WA, Jennifer Wishinski from Surrey, BC, Gretchen Szeibert from Steilacoom, WA , and Denice White from Clackamas, OR. After a long day on Saturday, only eight players returned for the main event and six ladies came to compete in a $100 added, $10 entry Second chance event.
Remaining in the winner's bracket were Liz Cole vs. Suwanna Kroll and June Maiers vs. Jana Montour. Suwanna defeated Liz in a hill-hill battle and June defeated Jana 7-4 to advance to the hot seat match, which June won 7-5 to take the point. In the loser's bracket the two matches included Kimberly Kirk vs. Shelby Locati and Regene Wentzell vs. Cindy Sliva. Kimberly and Cindy would advance through their morning matches 7-1 and 7-5 to play Jana and Liz. Jana defeated Kimberly 7-3 and Cindy defeated Liz 7-6 to advance. Jana then defeated Cindy 7-4 and Suwanna 7-1 to play in her second final of 2010. With a runner up performance at the previous event, June was also competing in her second final in as many stops.
The Final: June Maiers (Minnesota) vs. Jana Montour (Alberta)
June Maiers path to the final: Jennifer W. (3), Alisha R. (4), Andreas SM (1), Jana M. (4), Suwanna K. (4).
Jana Montour path to the final: Kathy S. (2), Bonnie D. (1), MiKKi S. (6), loss to June M. (4), Kimberly K. (3), Cindy S. (4), Suwanna K. (1).
Jana won the lag, but straight out of the gate, June was shooting with strategy and patience. Excellent defense and shotmaking lead to June with a 4-0 lead before Jana could even get on the board. Jana won game 5, but then a combination of safety play and luck would see June win the next two racks as well to take a 6-1 lead. Jana was laughing to herself as it seemed that the rolls were not with her.
June left her with very few opportunities through this point in the match, however; Jana ended up taking the next couple racks when June's defensive play left unplanned openings for her to get through (6-3). Continued safety prowess followed by a runout by June gave her a 7-3 lead.
Uncharacteristic misses and a little bit of better luck would have Jana win the next two racks to bring the match to 7-5. It seemed that her luck was changing, but then a runout ended shortly with a scratch on an 8 ball, June was left with ball-in-hand on the 9 to reach the hill first.
Game 14: Down 8-5, June broke pocketing the 7 ball. June pocketed the 1 and then made a rushed attempt on a 2-9 carom for the win. Jana played a three rail safety on the 2 ball, which resulted in June having only a bank shot, which she missed. Jana ran out… 8-6.
Game 15: Jana broke dry, leaving June jacked up over the 6 and 8 balls. June missed a reverse angle cut on the 1, leaving no easy shot on 1. Back to back safeties left Jana shooting a two way shot on the 1, which she made. Jana was left with a table length reverse angle cut, which she missed and then scratched. With ball-in-hand, June took her time and ran out the rack to win her first event on the NWPA tour. Congratulations to June for going undefeated through a tough field to win her first event of 2010.
Thanks to our title sponsors BDA (bdainc.com), Ozone Billiards (ozonebilliards.com), and SanMar (sanmar.com) for continued support of the NWPA, tournament directors Chris and Ford for keeping the ladies in line, and our tour president Tamre for commentating on the Live Stream throughout the event. Special thanks to all of the ladies that took some time to contribute with commentary on the live stream.
