The Cue Ball in Salem, Oregon hosted the NWPA's second tour stop of 2011, the 1st Annual Martha Hartsell Memorial, on April 16-17th. Billiards 911 donated a cue for raffle and all proceeds were dedicated to The Shriner in Martha's name. Rail2Rail Productions provided streaming for the event and several new players joined in for the action. Kathi Giles from Ryderwood, WA, Nadia Fay, Diane Krause, and Coryn Walker Oregon played in this event and all plan on playing more events in the future.
The Cue Ball has been open since 1963 and has so much character that all of players on the NWPA look forward to traveling to visit every April. This is the 11th year that they have hosted a stop and the room houses 22 9 foot Brunswick Centennial and Anniversaries, 1 oversized 8 foot Brunswick, 2 5X10 Brunswick Snooker tables, and one Chevillotte 3 cushion table. The room is open 7 days a week and all ages are welcome. The Cue Ball was generous enough to give the green fees back to the NWPA and with 34 ladies; they added $750 to the prize fund. We would also like to thank Mueller for becoming our title sponsor in 2011. Saturday night festivities included heading over to Jake's for Ribeyes and their weekly tournament, and then on to Jammers for karaoke and dancing.
Play started with 34 ladies on Saturday morning. Race to 7 on the A side and race to 6 on the B side made for an action packed weekend. On Sunday, only eight ladies remained in the main event. Surprisingly, Liz Cole and Kim Jones (1st and 2nd from our first stop) had been eliminated on Saturday, so no chance of their repeat performance. On the A side, Deby Welfringer vs. Andrea Saenz Maes and Mona Remedios vs. Mikki Small. Deby and Mona defeated their opponents 7-3 and 7-2 to square off for the hot seat, which Deby won in a hill-hill battle. Mona eagerly waited to see who her opponent would be from the B side to try and earn a chance at redemption. On the B side, Shelby Locati vs. Eve Stockstill and Alisha Rogers vs. Kimberly Kirk. Shelby and Kimberly defeated their opponents 6-4 and 6-2 to advance to the next round. Andrea defeated Shelby 6-5 and Mikki defeated Kimberly 6-2 to square off for 4th place. Andrea defeated Mikki 7-5 to advance to the B side final against Mona. Mona shot extremely well during the match and defeated Andrea 6-2. The finals were set, one race to 9, alternating break: Deby Welfringer vs. Mona Remedios.
The final would prove to be a battle to the very end, with Mona Remedios prevailing 9-8 over Deby. Score was tied at 0-0, 1-1, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, and 8-8. Deby led the match 6-5, but Mona would then take games 12, 13, and 14 to reach the hill first. Deby then showed nerves of steel as she ran out game 15 after Mona scratched on the break and then drilling a 9 ball bank in game 16 to tie things up at 8 games apiece. Fortunately for Mona, she had won the lag, for the final game ended up being the only game of the entire match that was won from the break. Mona broke and pocketed the 7 ball, leaving a 1-9 combination in the corner. Although she missed the shot initially, the 1 caromed off of the 5 shooting the 9 straight into the corner for the win.
Mona has made an amazing return to the NWPA. In 2006 after two severe accidents, Mona was told she would never be able to play pool again. Knowing that her love of the game was strong, she fired her physiotherapist and began a recovery process that took 5 years. When I spoke with Mona about her journey, it moved me to see the passion that prevented her from giving up on a game that she loved so much. Congratulations and welcome back Mona.
Seven ladies returned for the $100 added Second Chance Tournament on Sunday. Kim Jones ended up coming back from an early round loss to Andy Ruth to double dip her in the final in two hill-hill races to 3.
Great tournament ladies. The NWPA's next tour stop is June 11-12 at Malarkey's in Tacoma, WA.
