Jennifer Kraber and Jennifer Yo
Jennifer Kraber went undefeated the first several rounds of this past weekend’s Gulf Coast Women’s Regional Tour 9-ball event held at Skinny Bob’s Billiards on Sunday, August 24th, 2014. The hot seat match revealed an unexpected surprise with newcomer Jennifer Yo appearing from virtually nowhere to defeat Kraber, 6-2. It was a long haul for both players, as Kraber defeated Michelle Yim, 6-4, Robyn Petrosino, 6-0, and Kim Pierce, 6-2. Yo was a complete mystery to everyone except her traveling companion, Laura Coplin, who convinced Yo to compete in her first-ever, WPBA Regional Tour competition. Not a bad showing for the APA player who defeated D’Andrea McQuirter, 6-5, April Flores, 6-2, and veteran player Teresa Garland, 6-5. On the one loss side, after suffering a first round loss to Nicole McDaniel, 6-3, Tam Trinh made her way to 5th-6th position with wins over Diana Cardona, 5-4, Gail Roles, 5-1, and Petrosino, 5-2. Last year’s tour champion, Gail Eaton, took an early hit from Pierce, but made her way through the one-loss side defeating newcomer Michaela Parmer, 5-0, McDaniel, 5-2, and Yim, 5-0. Garland and Pierce lost their bids for the hot seat, suffering losses from Kraber and Yo, 6-2, 6-5, respectively. West side action saw Garland take out Trinh, and Pierce overcome Eaton, a second time. Pierce fell to Garland, 5-3, and Garland in turn to Kraber, 5-2, earning the popular local a rematch with Yo. During the first set, Yo had an opportunity to put Kraber away, but scratched on an unassuming, corner pocket cut on the 9-ball. Yo was defeated the first set, 6-5, but far from finished. In overtime, Yo jumped ahead 3-1, while Kraber answered back with 3 games of her own. It was 4-3, Kraber’s way, when Yo scratched on a second 9-ball, surrendering the game and the set, 5-3.
The Gulf Coast Tour would like to welcome all of its new, 2014 members; Jennifer Kraber, Jennifer Yo, Nicole McDaniel, Michaela Parmer, April Flores, Tam Trinh, Robyn Petrosino, and Emma Davis. Special thanks to John and Sue Cielo, owners of Skinny Bob’s Billiards, and their remarkable staff, for hosting another first-rate event. The Gulf Coast Tour is proudly sponsored by Delta-13 Rack and the APA of North Harris County. The next event is the tour finale, October 4th, 2014, at Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar, Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/gulfcoasttour.
