On November 19-20th The Parlor in Bellevue, WA hosted the NWPA's 7th and final tour stop of the 2011 Season. The tournament was ran on 10 9 foot Brunswicks and Rail2Rail Productions provided live streaming throughout the event. As always, The Parlor was a gracious host and even provided comedy club tickets to several of the entrants after the NWPA banquet hosted as a buffet style dinner at The Ultra Lounge. Some of the The Parlor's upcoming events include The Vixen Gauntlet and Country Line Dancing on Wednesdays, Thursday/Saturday football specials with 16 HD TVs and all kinds of door prizes and giveaways, DL Hughley on December 8-10, and Comic Search open auditions on December 15-17.
We would like to give special thanks to our title sponsor MUELLER for their continued support of the NWPA, please show your support to the NWPA by supporting Mueller (www.mueller.com). We would also like to extend a warm welcome to two new players: Clodagh Lancaster from Redmond, WA and Sara Mullenniex from Bellingham, WA.
2011 NWPA Awards were given at the banquet Saturday night and included:
Tour Champion- Liz Cole
Player of the Year- Kimberly Kirk
Most Improved- Stacy Eilts
Also at the banquet, conclusion of our annual raffle took place. Ed & Shelby Locati, Phyllis Fernandez, and Liz Cole all won cues and cases donated by Mueller, Brian Johnson and Alisha Rogers both won NWPA merchandise, and Shawn Graves won the coveted Passion Party basket, donated by Liz Cole's sister.
Fresh off her first top 16 performance at the WPBA's Tour Championship event Liz Cole was the favorite to win. With that performance, Liz earned her 2012 exemption on the WPBA, so whoever earned second in the NWPA's overall standings would prove to be the NWPA representative, along with Liz, on the WPBA for 2012. In contention were Kimberly Kirk and Deby Welfringer, both players would have to have their best tournament of the year to have an opportunity. Kimberly would need to win the event, while Deby would need to finish 3rd.
Twenty ladies came to play on Saturday morning, and unfortunately due to snow, a few of the tours' top players were not in attendance. Matches started at 10 am, and the field was whittled down to 8 players who returned on Sunday. On the A side, Liz Cole squared off against Michelle Hughes (her first Sunday appearance), while Shelby Locati battled against recently crowned 2011 US Amateur Champion, Suzanne Smith. Liz and Suzanne both won their matches 7-4 and 7-2. Liz then defeated Suzanne 7-4 to secure her 6th final appearance of the season. On the B side, Kimberly Kirk played Jessica Orth and Deby Welfringer played Clodagh Lancaster. Both Kimberly and Deby defeated their opponents 7-5, and momentum from their morning wins propelled them through their second rounds where Kimberly defeated Shelby 7-6 and Deby defeated Michelle 7-3.
The next match would prove to be a true test, for if Deby were to advance she would be guaranteed a 3rd place finish and take over 2nd place in the standings. Kimberly had different plans, as she was also in contention for that 2nd place spot, and ended up defeating Deby 7-2. Kimberly continued her superb play and defeated Suzanne 7-4 to secure her spot in the final against Liz.
Path to the Final
Liz Cole: Andy R (6), Shari R (5), Kathy S (2), Michelle H (5), Suzanne S (4)
Kimberly Kirk: Bye, Sara M (0), loss to Michelle H (5), Andy R (3), Jessica O (5), Shelby L (6), Suzanne S (4)
Kimberly won the lag. Straight out of the gate, Kimberly continued stroking the ball well to take a 3-0 lead, forcing Liz to take her break early to regain her composure. After Liz's break, a couple untimely errors by Kimberly allowed Liz to tie up the match at 3 games each. Both ladies were shooting great and the match was alos tied at 4-4, 5-5, and 6-6, however in game 14, with an opportunity to tie the match again at 7, a hung 8 ball by Kimberly allowed Liz to take a two game lead 8-6. Kimberly then scratched on the break for the first time of the set in the next rack and Liz methodically ran out the rack to end Kimberly's hopes of securing 2nd place in the standings. Congratulations Ladies, Great Tournament for you both. Congratulations to Jana Montour as well, who with her 2nd place position in the NWPA's overall standings has earned her tour card. Thanks to all who came out to support the NWPA. It was a great season and we will see everyone (and hopefully more of us) in 2012.
Five ladies returned on Sunday for a $100 Added Second Chance Tournament. A round robin format was used, so each lady played the others five games. Alisha Rogers won the most games to claim top prize, while only 1 game separated 2nd and 3rd places. Sara and Talya ended up tied for fourth position, but since Sara had defeated Talya in their match, Sara received 4th place prize.
Second Chance Payouts
Place $ Player
1st 45 Alisha Rogers
2nd 35 Tamre Rogers
4th 25 Sara Mulleniex
