Eleven talented ladies showed up at CM's Place in Seminole for the Fury Amateur Ladies tour stop held on September 10, 2005. As there are only a few events left to secure points, the ladies were out to make gains at this, a double-points event.
The day started off with Jennifer Nelson making a strong showing with three landslide wins over Barb Ellis, Stephanie Mitchell and Jessica Barnes, scoring 7-0, 7-2 and 7-1 respectively. Nelson was then met in the hot seat match by Amanda Snell who also dominated her matches with scores of 7-1 and 7-3 winning over Wendy Breton and Karin Johnson. Nelson had been shooting strong and took down some of her toughest opponents on the way to hot seat match and she didn't let up once she got there taking a 7-0 closeout over Snell to secure her place in the finals.
Getting kicked to the B-side, Snell had to face another tough match in Ellen Van Buren who had come through the left side after a first-round loss to Barnes. After four match wins in a row, Van Buren was ready to see the finish line and though Snell played some great shots and defense, Van Buren took the semis 5-3 to make it to the finals.
The finals between Van Buren and Nelson were a rematch from several months ago. In that match, the ladies went hill-hill with Nelson coming out the victor. This match seemed to have a similar agenda as it played out. Tied at 1-1, a miss on the 9 by Van Buren propelled Nelson to 2-1 and she carried that momentum to take the next rack for a 3-1 lead. A safe on the 3 in the next game courtesy of Van Buren led to Van Buren taking a 3-9 combo to go 3-2. Tied at 3-all, Nelson got a shot on the 6 and ran out to lead 4-3. It looked like Van Buren would secure another tie when she broke and ran to the 8 but a miss on the 9 sent Nelson to 5-3. Van Buren secured a three ball out and then a 4-9 combo to again tie at 5. A safe on the 6 by Nelson gave her ball in hand to run to 6-5 and she then took advantage of a scratch on the 5 by Van Buren to lead 7-5. In the next rack Van Buren cooked up a show of cue ball control when she aced a 1-9 carom to get closer at 7-6. When tied at 7-7 a safety battle over the 8 ended with Van Buren pulling ahead to take the lead for the first time at 8-7. A solid run out by Nelson in the next rack got her on the hill to bring the finals to a one game decision. Things got tricky at this point as Nelson broke dry, leaving nothing but a super-tough 1-9 flyer. Van Buren went for the shot but failed to make a ball. Later in the rack, Van Buren almost nudged the 9 in off the 4-ball, leaving it hanging ominously in the corner pocket. Nelson ran the 4 and 5, with shape on a playable 6-9 combo. Nelson put the 9 to rest for a 9-8 win and jumped with excitement after finishing 1st after a strong tournament.
Results:
1st Jennifer Nelson $260
2nd Ellen Van Buren $160
3rd Amanda Snell $100
