Donna Mae Bulanadi and Khanh Ngo
For the finale of the 2024 season, The West Coast Women’s Tour brought in 36 players from around the Bay Area and beyond to compete at Jimmy’s Billiards in Milpitas, CA on November 2. Across the seven monthly tour stops that ran from May to November, a total of 83 individual players participated through the year. Several of the tour’s 2024 champions made their way to the final event at Jimmy’s, including Gigi Callejas, Meadow Klingler, Khanh Ngo, and Emilyn Callado. The first six stops each featured a different winner, but at the final stop of the year, Khanh Ngo would be the one to become a two-time champion for the season.
On her run to the top, Khanh Ngo claimed wins over Krysta Marsee (5-0), Gigi Callejas (5-2), Shawn Modelo (5-2), and Mary Dughi (5-3) to land in the hot seat match. In this winner’s bracket final, Ngo faced off against one of the tour’s regular competitors, Donna Mae Bulanadi, who played in every 2024 tour stop and finished #3 in the season’s standings. Bulanadi previously defeated Emilyn Callado (5-2) in the final four, before falling to Khanh Ngo (5-3).
Coming through the loss side, the season’s #2-ranked player Gigi Callejas made a strong push after her loss to Ngo, defeating Carla Macias (3-1), Christie Lee (3-1), Motoko Siguenza (3-0), Michelle Fraser (3-1), and Mary Dughi (3-1). This run landed Callejas in the quarterfinal, where she fell to Emilyn Callado by a close 3-2 score. In the semifinal, Callado rematched against Donna Mae Bulanadi, which resulted in a 3-0 win for Bulanadi. Moving on to the final, Bulanadi had her second shot at Khanh Ngo, in a match that ended as a shutout win (5-0) for Ngo to remain undefeated for the day. This win also secured Khanh Ngo’s #1 position in the 2024 season’s final rankings. This runner-up finish for Donna Mae Bulanadi would also mark her record-best performance since she began playing on the tour in 2022.
In the second-chance event held for the players knocked out in the early rounds, Cheryl Hoffman took the top spot out of 14 competitors after defeating runner-up Patty West in the final. The third and fourth place positions were claimed by Naomi Manuel-Callado and Vivian Fong. Additionally, a beautiful custom cue donated by local cue maker Robbie Lyng was raffled at the final event and won by Robin Roderick, while a Poison case was won by Sharon Whitted.
The West Coast Women’s Tour would like to acknowledge all the players who committed their time throughout the season, along with the 2024 host rooms for opening their doors for us. TWCWT would also like to give special thanks to tour sponsor Adam Stickles and tour director Cony Mendoza for their combined $500 donation to the player fund at Jimmy’s. Additional thanks go out to sponsors Tina Mendoza from Diablo Vally Pool Leagues and graphic designer Annette Wood creating our fliers.
To follow upcoming news and announcements on The West Coast Women’s Tour’s 2025 season, visit http://www.facebook.com/twcwtour/ For inquiries on how to become a tour sponsor or host an event, send an email to twcwtour@gmail.com
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