A full 32 player field turned out for the $2000-added New Jersey State 9-Ball Championships at Prime Time Sports Bar and Billiards on September 15th and 16th. Kelly Fisher and Val Finnie traveled from North Carolina to battle for the title while Dawn Hopkins drove north in her home state to attempt to regain the title she had won once before.
On Sunday the final six returned to Prime Time with match-ups for 5th/6th place between Liz Ford and JPNEWT POY Caroline Pao, and Alexandra Calabrese and Supadra Boonpasook. Liz and Supadra emerged the winners and since Liz was not eligible for the US Open Qualifier, Supadra won her very first Qualifier. Congrats Supadra!!
The hot seat match commenced at 12:30 pm between Kelly Fisher and Dawn Hopkins. Kelly posted wins over Kathy Friend, Janice Larocca, Val Finnie, and Caroline Pao. Dawn won her matches against Liz Ford, Kathleen Lawless, Gina Lipsky, and Alexandra Calabrese. "Quik Fire" Fisher won the hot seat with a 7-2 score. Dawn then rematched with Liz Ford and won again, 7-3.
The finals may have been a repeat of the players from the hot seat match, but Dawn emerged from her match with Liz with a new determination for the final showdown. In the modified finals race, Kelly had to reach 7 games first to win, but if Dawn reached 7 games first, they had to play out to 9.
Kelly won the lag and the first game, but Dawn won the next two games and from then on Dawn could not gain more than a one-game lead over Kelly in a virtual "catch-up" battle. With the score tied at 6-6, Dawn won the first hill-hill to continue the race to 9. Kelly was able to take the lead, 8-7, in the 15th rack, but Dawn forced a second hill-hill, tying the score at 8-8. In the final rack Dawn came up dry on the break. Kelly faced a half-ball hit on the 1, but took a chance and played a 1-9 carom that split the pocket to win the match and the title for 2006.
JPNEWT thanks Prime Time Billiards and Heinekin for hosting the event. We also thank Pechauer Custom Cues for their continued support. JPNEWT's next event is the $1000-added NY State Championships at House of Billiards in Staten Island, NY.
Complete Results:
1st - Kelly Fisher $1300
2nd - Dawn Hopkins $800
3rd - Liz Ford $500
4th - Supadra Boonpasook $250 + WPBA US Open Qaulifier
5th/6th - Caroline Pao, Alexandra Calabrese $125
7th/8th - Gina Lipsky, Ming Ng $90
