The ladies showed in force as 35 players descended on San Antonio for the second event of the 2006 Fast Eddie's Olhausen 9 Ball Tour Sponsored by Schuler Legacy Cues on February 12th. A total of 131 players participated in two divisions making this event the largest in the Tour's history.
Top picks were Amanda Lampert, Helen Hayes, Heather Lloyd, Kyu Yi, Jennifer Kraber, Kawania Watson, Belinda Lee, Mollie Pearl and Sophie Lopez.
Helen Hayes and last month's event winner, Jennifer Kraber, filled the 7-8th positions. Both played well.
Belinda Lee and Anne Mayes, both of Houston, jumped into the 5-6th placements. Solid play by both ladies!
Michelle Cortez of Austin is a nice lady with an infectious smile off and on the table. Her relaxed and laid back style of play can be deceiving as she can come with it when she needs to. Michelle lost her first match to Belinda Lee and ran a marathon through the one loss side to end up with a very respectable 4th place finish.
Cristina De La Garza of Austin jumped into the third spot as she started her run with victories over Letty Mendosa and Shayla Neris before succumbing to Anne Mayes. Hitting the one loss side running, she went through some of the field's top players with wins over Sophie Lopez, Jennifer Kraber, Belinda Lee and Michelle Cortez before her second loss to Amanda Lampert in the finals of the one loss side.
Amanda Lampert of San Antonio, 2005 Lady Player of the Year, and Heather Pulford Lloyd of Austin battled their way through the winner's side to meet for the hot seat match. Heather prevailed, 7-4, sending Amanda to meet Michelle for the finals of the one loss side in which Amanda came out on top, 7-3. This setup a rematch of Amanda and Heather for the final match
The finals, a true double race to 7, started around midnight after a grueling day of match play took its toll on both ladies but especially Heather. Amanda won the first set, 7-0, prompting a second and final set. Amanda jumped out to a quick lead with Heather making a late charge but Amanda prevailed 7-5 and her first victory of the 2006 season. Congratulations to both of these fine ladies!
Thanks to Tracy, Danny and their staff for hosting a great event.
A big thanks to Olhausen Billiards and Schuler Legacy Cues for your generosity and support. Also, our humble thanks to Teodora's Mini-Tacos, The Custom Cue Connection, Mystick Cues, OB-1 Shafts, and the Connoisseur of Custom Cues. Tino, Ron, Jack, Royce and Joe, you add so much to the Tour.
Thanks to Mary, the raffle lady. Your smile makes us smile.
Finally, a special thanks to all players, spectators and supporters for making this the largest event in the Tour's history. We look forward to seeing you all March 25-26 in Lubbock, TX.
Complete Results:
1st Amanda Lampert $750
2nd Heather Pulford $510
3rd Cristina De La Garza $330
4th Michelle Cortez $220
5th/6th Belinda Lee, Anne Mayes $170
7th/8th Jennifer Kraber, Helen Hayes $60
