Jennifer Kraber and Vivian Villarreal
Vivian Villarreal, who'll be spearheading her own Tornado Open tournament at the end of the month (September 30 - October 4), took time out from what must certainly be a flurry of activity in preparation, to chalk up her third straight Texas Open title on Labor Day weekend. The $2,000-added Ladies event drew a full field of 32 entrants, and was run concurrently with a $7,000-added Open event that drew a full-field 128, and was won by Skyler Woodward (separate story).
Villarreal's march to the winners' circle was almost (a relative word, of course) derailed in the finals by Jennifer Kraber, a frequent 'flyer' on the OB Cues Ladies Tour, and payout lists for 15 years. Kraber's threat came from deep on the loss side, as she lost her third round match, double hill, to Belinda Calhoun, and embarked on a five-match winning run to get to those finals.
Calhoun, in the meantime, advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Villarreal, while always-a-threat Liz Lovely faced Kim Sanders in the other one. Combined, Lovely and Villarreal gave up a single rack in those semifinals (Lovely gave it up to Sanders). Villarreal kept the trend alive by giving up only a single rack to Lovely in the hot seat match. One win away from her third straight Texas Open, the Texas Tornado idled in the hot seat, and watched as Kraber completed her loss-side run.
Kraber had defeated Julia Rapp 7-3 and Gail Eaton 7-2, when she ran into Sanders, coming over from the winners' side semifinal. Calhoun, coming over, picked up Ming Ng, recent winner over Nicole McDaniel 7-3 and Chris Fields 7-5. Ng eliminated Calhoun 7-4, as Kraber got locked up in a double hill fight against Sanders. Kraber prevailed to face Ng in the quarterfinals.
Ng came within a game of forcing Kraber into her second straight double hill match, but Kraber advanced 7-5, to get locked up in a double hill battle versus Lovely in the semifinals. Kraber advanced again, this time, facing a Tornado, she was going to have to defeat twice to claim the event title.
In a tight match, Villarreal and Kraber battled, while Charlie Bryant and Robb Saez were competing at an adjacent table in the semifinals of the Men's event. Villarreal reached the hill at 6-4, and in the 11th rack, was shooting at the 9-ball. It rattled (or, as PoolActionTV commentators would often say, "boinged') in a corner pocket, allowing Kraber to sink it and draw within a game of double hill, and two, to force a second set. Villarreal put a stop to any such notion and finished it at 7-4.
