 Naomi Williams, Brian bedford, Marie St Germain and Marina Linguerri |
On April 14 - 15 2007, the Tiger Canadian Women's Pool Tour held its first WPBA Qualifier of the season at Dunlop Billiards in Barrie, Ontario. Dunlop Billiards, owned by Brian Bedford, hosts its second CWPT event and it was another great success.
With $1,500.00 added, the event was sponsored by Tiger Products, Jason Lockhart Custom Cues and Repairs, Millennium Financial Mortgages and Dunlop Billiards and the room was filled with great players from as far as Ottawa and the United States.
Sunday saw the return of the top eight players: Marie St. Germain, Naomi Williams, Penny Devos, Corrine Johnson, Danielle Morris, Jen Dong, Brittany Bryant, and Marina Linguerri.
The match for the hot seat was a tough one, with Williams pitted against Linguerri, but Williams pulls it off and sends Linguerri to the B-side to wait for her opponent in the B-side final.
On the one-loss side, the field grew smaller as St. Germain defeats Devos (7th/8th), and Bryant, who settles for 5th/6th. The B-side match semi-final match garnered spectator interest as St. Germain is matched up with Linguerri who is a fresh up-and-coming player who has her sights set on a future with the WPBA. The match begins with St. Germain coming out extremely strong with 3-0 lead. Linguerri doesn't give up and takes advantages of missed key shots by St. Germain, taking four racks and she needs one more to lead in the match, but St. Germain fights her way to the hill and manages to finish cleanly. With this win match, gives her a one-way ticket to the A-side final match. According to the WPBA Rules, St. Germain is not eligible to win the WPBA package, which then was passed to Linguerri who happily accepted, the package invitation.
St. Germain now faces Williams, who has earned her touring pro status with the WPBA, and is now ineligible for the spot. Williams starts off a great start with 4 - 0 score, and doesn't leave St. Germain any opportunities to get into the match. In the 5th frame, St. Germain leaves Williams with a 2-9 kick but she rattled a safety shot leave for St Germain. The tables turn around for St. Germain after a fatal scratch shot by Williams while shooting the 2-ball. St. Germain takes advantage and runs out the rack. The score is 4-1, and in the next rack, the table was tough as both players play safe and to see who will break out of it. In this match table, St Germain plays a perfect hook shot. Although Williams was able to kick it out, it failed to land safe and St. Germain runs out the rack. The score is 4-2, still in favour of Williams. St. Germain breaks a perfect rack, and it looks like a run-out but she felt short on the 6-ball. St. Germain decides to play safe leaving the cue ball on the rail. It was a long shot and Williams carefully checks what way to make a kick shot into the corner. With confidence, Williams slams the 7-ball in the corner to go up 5-2 in the match. "Nice shot!" said one of the spectators.
Williams wins the next rack to get on the hill and now it is her break. She slams a great break with an open table. She runs out but rattles on the 6-ball in her attempt to get perfect shape for the 7-ball. St. Germain takes her shot but it was a tough leave and she missed landing cue ball safe. Williams runs out the rack and wins the event undefeated. Two for two this year, Naomi! And Marina Linguerri: Good Luck at the Florida Event!
