The ladies of the JPNEWT Tour
Linda Shea hasn't been competing as much this year as she did last year, when she won three stops on her J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour, and finished second in five more. With two stops behind her (finishing 7th in April and 3rd in May), she came into the July 27-28 stop in fourth place in the tour standings (behind Yomaylin Feliz, Brianna Miller and Siming Chen). In the absence of Feliz, Miller, and Chen on this weekend, her undefeated run through a field of 18 moved her to the top of those rankings. The $1,250-added event ($500 of it distributed among the top three finishers by Coins of the Realm), was hosted by First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.
It was a five-match march to the winners' circle for Shea, who began with a 7-4 victory over Kathy Friend, a 7-1 win over Nicole Fleming and a 7-2 outing against Pauline Mattes. Kia Sidbury joined her in one of the winners' side semifinals, while Ji Hyuen Park and Nicole Nester squared off in the other. Shea defeated Sidbury 7-5, and in the hot seat battle faced Park, who'd survived a double hill match against Nester. Shea sent Park to the semifinals 7-2 and settled into the hot seat.
It was Nester advancing on the loss side who ended up facing Park in the semifinals. She started out with a match against Dawn Fox, who'd gotten by Suzanne Sellet 7-2 and Mattes 7-5. Siidbury drew Tricia Tennant, who'd defeated Susan Shin and Judy Wilson, both 7-5. Nester and Tennant advanced to the quarterfinals with 7-2 victories over Fox and Sidbury.
Nester took that quarterfinal match against Tennant in another 7-2 win, and then ran into Park. Park stopped Nester's two-match, loss-side run 7-4 and earned her second shot at Shea. In the extended race-to-9 format final match, they battled to double hill before Shea closed it out to capture her first 2013 title on her own tour.
"She did very well, "said Shea of Park's effort. "It was the best I ever saw her play."
Shea thanked the ownership and staff of First Break Cafe ("They always treat us like royalty," she said of their hospitality), as well as Coins of the Realm for the money they added for the first three finishers. The next stop on the JPNEWT, at a date to be determined, is scheduled to be hosted by Atlantic City Billiards in Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
