Stinger’s Sports Bar & Grill, in Glendale, Arizona, hosted Stop #2 of the Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour on April 14th & 15th. Longtime AWBT favorite, Susan Williams was the winner, 7-3, over Terri Johnson-McCauley. Susan would claim her first title in over a year. For Terri, who traveled all the way from Farmington, New Mexico, it was her highest AWBT finish ever.
With twelve (12) 7’ Diamond tables, Stinger’s was an excellent host for AWBT’s only bar table event for 2012. This tournament was scheduled to get our gals ready to compete in the BCAPL Nationals in Las Vegas in May. We saw several new faces and welcomed back some old friends as twenty-six (26) ladies came out Saturday to play. With such a strong response, this will surely be a yearly event.
Saturday’s play began with races to five in both the winner’s and loser’s brackets. Play was aggressive and games that used to slow matches to a crawl were won in a matter of minutes by strong tactics and accurate shooting. Many layouts were expertly sliced and diced for 8-ball runouts. This was not your Grandmother’s 8-ball game. With all the excellent play on Saturday, only eight (8) would come back for Sunday. On the A-side, it was Susan Williams, Terri JohnsonMcCauley, Leandrea Gaff and Jodie Villegas. On the B-side it was Sara Miller, Veronica Poore, Justine Bishop and Beverly Cook.
Susan would win the hot seat by defeating Jodie 5-1, and then overcome a, 1-3 deficit, and beat Terri. Veronica Poore took time out from her doctoral studies to win 5-4 over Bev Cook, only to lose to Jodie 5-3 and take home a nice 5th-6th finish. Sara Miller excused Justine Bishop 5-3 to finish celebrating Greek Easter. Her next match was with arch enemy Leandrea Gaff who originally put Sara in the loser’s side. These two seem to play each other every tournament. This time Leo was the victor 5-3 leaving Sara in 5th-6th hoping for another chance to beat Leo in the next tournament. Jodie Villegas ended Leandrea’s run by beating her 5-3. Great job Leo! Then it was Terri Johnson McCauley’s turn to stop Jodie 5-3. A nice 3rd place finish might be Jodie’s highest AWBT result to date.
The finals, a single race to 7, would be a rematch between Susan Williams and Terri Johnson McCauley. Terri had come ever so close in the previous match scratching with only the 8-ball left to go up 4-1 only to lose 5-3. Susan knew she had a dangerous foe. The match stayed close up until 3-3 but then Susan pulled away, winning the next four games in a row for the match and the title. Congratulations to Susan on some great runout 8-ball. Congratulations to 2nd place finisher, Terri Johnson McCauley. You played awesome.
The 2nd Chance tournament was taken by Jaye Succo, 4-3 over Alicia Streenz. We had ten (10) players return for the free tournament and even Co-Director, Kristie, put in her $5 dollars to play. Stingers added $50, bringing the redemption tournament prize fund to $145. Jaye received $75 for 1st, Alicia $45 for 2nd and Rayna Gainey, who traveled with Alicia up from Tucson, got $25 for 3rd.
The AWBT would like to thank Stinger’s owner Dale Hanson for hosting and adding a total of $350 to both tournaments. Pool players, come and check out Stinger’s newly remodeled room. With twelve 7’ Diamonds, two 9’ Diamonds and two Valley bar boxes, Stingers has positioned itself as a major room in the Valley.
Thanks to AWBT sponsor Jose Gonzales and LAS GLORIAS GRILL for adding $100.
Thanks to the friends of the AWBT for adding $200. We encourage this type of behavior. Contact Tres Kane if you would like to become a friend of the AWBT.
Thanks to my Co-Director Kristie Ortega for all her hard work in making the tournament run smoothly. Thanks to Scooter for helping set up and teardown of the tournament.
Good luck to all AWBT members in Vegas. Let ‘em know where you come from.
The AWBT’s Stop #3 is Skip ‘n Jan’s in Tempe, June 30th-July 1st. The game is 9-ball on 9’ tables. Come play, have some fun and bring a friend!
