Melanie Koger (2nd place), Mindy Cohen (owner) and Noriyo Yurino (1st place)
40 women came to compete on April 7th and 8th at Legends Billiards in League City, TX. 12 of the women paid the extra $50 to have a chance at winning the WPBA qualifier and it was a hard fight to get it. Five of the top 8 finishers were in contention, but in the end it was Noriyo Yurino (who is from Japan, but currently lives in Canada) who came out on top. Noriyo won $750 and the WPBA Qualifier.
The weekend was well-hosted at Legends Billiards where room owner and Tournament Director Mindy Cohen made us all feel welcome, as always. Her many pool tables allowed us to not only get play done early, but also had practice tables available for us. Thanks Mindy! Mindy had the help of Jimmy Moen, Dennis Strickland and Chuck Mills calling shots. We also had WPBA Professional Belinda Campos visit our tournament over the entire weekend. Thanks Belinda!
A big thank you to Wes Hunter for his continued support of the Hunter Classics Tour. Dwight Brookland won the beautiful Hunter Classics Custom Cue valued at $1900. This time the cue was of Brazilian Rosewood, Tiger Maple and Ivory Inlay with a Black Linen Wrap! Also raffled off where autographed cue balls by Vivian Villarreal and Johnny Archer.
After the smoke cleared on Saturday, 12 women came back to play in the big event on Sunday. The rest of the ladies competed in the Second Chance Tournament. LaDonna Ulrich (local favorite) came out on top of the Second Chance Event with Trish Kaston (from Missouri) coming in 2nd, Kelly Harmon coming in 3rd (who had a great main event finish as well!) and Karen Smith (from Denver) coming in 4th.
On the other side of the room, Michelle Cortez, Julie Stephenson, Nicole Bacon and Deanna Kniola were waiting for the winner's brackets matches. On the winners side it was Shayla Neris (this was Shayla's first time to be on the winners bracket on Sunday!), Sherri Hudson, Melanie Koger, Leslie Rogers, Sybil Wingard (great tournament!), Lisa Marr, Noriyo Yurino and Brenda Plantz. As play went on, Melanie Koger beat Noriyo for the winners bracket hill-hill, running out nicely.
Noriyo then had to play Brenda Plantz (who had just beat Lisa Marr and Deanna Kniola). Noriyo won 9-4. It was time for Melanie to play Noriyo again. After being tied 5-5, Noriyo came out on top with a score of 11-9. Congratulations to Melanie for another great finish and for Noriyo on her first Hunter Classics win and the WPBA Qualifier. On their way to the finals, Noriyo beat LaDonna Ulrich 7-2, Tasha Salandanan 7-1, Kim Mills 7-3, Sybil Wingard 7-3, Lisa Marr 7-4, lost to Melanie Koger 6-7 for the winners bracket, beat Brenda Plantz 9-4 and Melanie Koger 11-9. Melanie had a bye and then beat Gail Lave 7-2, Teresa Hayes 7-1, Leslie Rogers 7-2, Shayla Neris 7-2, Noriyo Yurino 7-6 and then lost the in the finals to Noriyo Yurino 9-11. Looks like it was only Noriyo that could get past 2 games against Melanie! Great tournament ladies!
Other news surrounding the tournament was the missed group of San Antonio G.rls, who were competing in a city tournament back home. Some of the Dallas/Fort Worth girls were also missing, playing in their own league tournament as well on this weekend. A special note to Crystal Livingston (all of 12 years old), who won her first match in the Second Chance Tournament 5-1!
Again, a big thank you to Wes Hunter who is thought of every day of the year that the ladies get to play the sport they love. And, don't forget to visit Wes and the Hunter Classics Tour at www.hunterclassics.com.
