Edison, New Jersey – Sunday November 23, 2014 marked the day that several cue toting women would come out to Sandcastle Billiards from various states ranging from Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and even as far as Virginia to compete in an attempt to qualify for a spot in the largest and most prestigious women’s event being held in the United States, the inaugural Andy Cloth Women's International Pool Championship !
This prestigious 10-ball event will be bringing world class women’s pool to New York City for the first time in over 12 years, benefiting the pool world with another fantastic event! Dragon Promotions is bringing big time, world class women's pool back to the United States with this new event that is also featuring qualifiers all over North America. The main event takes place December 16-21, 2014 featuring 64 elite women from around the world and hosted by Steinway Billiards Cafe in New York City, the epicenter of American culture. The Women's International Pool Championship format will be very challenging beginning with an 8 women round robin with every player playing a guaranteed 7 matches. The field is cut in half and then moves onto the knockout rounds in a race to 10. The quarter-finals goes to a race to 11, and then the semi-finals race to 13. The WIP Championship Finals will be a race to 17. The eventual tournament winner will have played 12 world class opponents. The event is sanctioned by the WPBA and brought to you by Andy Cloth, J.Pechauer Cues , Viking Cues, Steinway Billiards. , Olhausen Balls, Pool & Billiard Magazine & Focused Apparel . Patron sponsors include Dr. Greg Diehl, Tom Gleich, and Dr. Michael Frank. Media partners include PKE Partners, IB Sports, NYC Grind, Gotham City Technologies, Nona Photography, and Charles Eames Photography. 7 days of live pool will be filmed and streamed by Inside Pool TV. Pay per view on www.Dragonpromotions.com
" J.Pechauer Cues is thrilled to be joining Dragon Promotions in putting a major championship on US soil. The Andy Cloth Women's International Pool Championship has created so much buzz already, and it's only going to get better. These kind of activities really help boost billiards, and we need to get people excited again", said Joe Pechauer, President of J.Pechauer Cues. While J.Pechauer Cues can meet nearly every price point of any customer or mass market, Pechauer Cues made it's name through custom cue making and till this day it remains a core part of their business.
In the Sandcastle qualifier, what would typically be the “hot seat” match in a double elimination tournament was actually a match for the first of two qualifier slots being awarded out. This brought two thus far undefeated ladies to the table. Caroline Pao and Jai Li would face off for the first slot. Caroline showed her true speed and tenacity at the table as she jumped out to a 5 game lead in the race to 6. As Caroline sat comfortably on the hill, Jia would put two games up on her side of the score beads before Caroline closed out the set at 6-2 and claimed the first spot! Jia would be sent west to await her next worthy competitor and a second chance to earn a spot into the Women’s International Pool Championships. Already happening on the west side of the charts, the ladies were battling for survival.
Listed below are all the match-ups and results of those that participated this past Sunday:
Julie Ha -vs. - Diana “Snooky” Rojas; 5-6
Caroline Pao –vs. - Andrea Shiffman; 6-0
Dawn Fox -vs. - Amy Acera; 6-2
Pam Ogarek -vs. - Denise Reeve; 6-4
Samantha Barrett -vs. - Debra Pritchette; 6-3
Jia Li -vs. - Cheryl Pritchard; 6-5
Round Winner’s Side Results 2nd
Pao vs. Rojas; 6-2 Ha vs. Shiffman; 5-2
Ogarek vs. Howell; 5-2 Pritchard vs. Pritchette; 5-3
Fox vs. Rios; 6-0 Acera (bye)
Li vs. Barrett; 6-3 Reeve (bye)
Round Winner’s Side Results 3rd
Pao vs. Ogarek; 6-3 Barrett vs. Reeve; 5-0
Li vs. Fox; 6-3 Rios vs. Ha; 5-3
Both 4th round matches were a nail biting hill-hill melee with Samantha Barrett victorious over Annie Rios 5-4 and Amy Acera victorious over Cheryl Pritchard 5-4 as well.The next round of competition was not nearly as close as the last round with a well rested Dawn Fox shutting out Samantha Barrett 5-0 and Amy Acera keeping her momentum going after exchanging the first 4 racks back and forth until then pulling away with a 5-2 victory over Pam Ogarek. Round 6 brought Dawn and Amy to yet another hill-hill battle as the two ladies exchanged racks the whole way and fatigue started setting in. Ultimately it was Dawn Fox taking the final rack in that set ending Amy’s great run and sending herself to face off once again with the patiently waiting Jia Li who had sent her west earlier.At first it seemed as if the in-stroke Fox would run away with this final set of the
tournament as she jumped out to a 4-1 lead to get on the hill against the cold Li and avenge her loss from their fist set this day. Jia would not let it be that easy as she then won the next 2 racks cutting Dawn’s lead down to one at 4-3. Unfortunately it was not enough to put Dawn on ice as she won a very tough safety battle in rack #8 to claim the
other of the 2 slots being awarded into the main event.
A very well deserved congratulations goes out to Caroline Pao of New Jersey and Dawn Fox of Pennsylvania as we wish them luck and good shooting in the inaugural Women’s International Pool Championships next month.
Thank you to all the ladies that came out to compete on Sunday. We wish you luck in the future qualifiers and perhaps we’ll see you after all in New York!
From Seattle to Quebec, and Tampa to New York City, there was a multitude of opportunities for players to qualify. The ones who won will get to play a guaranteed 7 matches in the round robin! Not bad for a $50 entry fee and taking a crack at the $14,000 1st place prize. A very big opportunity for up and comers looking to gain experience on the women's pro tour scene.
Become a FAN Sponsor of the WOMEN's INTERNATIONAL POOL CHAMPIONSHIP for only $200! and get a ton of benefits including FREE pass to watch: click http://dragonpromotions.com/sponsors.html
OR Order the EARLY BIRD Special ALL week event Pay Per View in advance for $80 and save $20 now! click http://dragonpromotions.com/ppv.html
Main event Dec 16-21, 2014 in New York City at Steinway Cafe-Billiards. Special PPV Pro Event Invitational on Dec 14th.
