(Duluth, GA) September 30, 2010: Match play for the WPBA Atlanta Classic began on Thursday with very few surprises. With two rounds of the winners bracket completed, the usual top guns are still going strong. Most notably, Kelly Fisher has a great day of play shutting out both of her opponents 9-0. Other top 10 ranked players also have maintained their position in the winners bracket.
24th ranked Angel Paglia, fresh from the tournament trail in Asia, opened strong in this tournament with a first round win and a second round upset over 14th ranked Tracie Majors. Paglia will face Ga Young Kim Friday evening. The other notable upset was RTC Qualifier Emily Duddy who defeated 15th ranked Melissa Little. Duddy later suffered a second round loss to Nicole Keeney and will return on Friday. Perhaps the biggest upset of day 1 was the second round match with 60th ranked Naomi Williams over 5th ranked Gerda Hofstatter. Williams will go on to face Kim Shaw Friday evening with a chance to make her way into the final 16 single elimination bracket.
Kyoko Sone recently made her first WPBA TV match appearance in Oklahoma which brought her into the top 10 rankings. She will face 6th rankEd Kelly Fisher on the winners side. Many other exciting winners bracket matches are scheduled for Friday evening, including Vivian Villarreal vs. Monica Webb, Jasmin Ouschan vs. Julie Kelly, Karen Corr vs. Ewa Lawrence, and Xiaoting Pan vs. Line Kjorsvik.
Semifinals and Finals coverage of the 2010 Atlanta Classic will air Sunday, Nov. 14, 1-4pm EST on ESPN2.
For continuing live coverage of the Atlanta Classic tune into the web stream on wpba.com provided by PoolDawg.
WPBA extends many thanks to its sponsors: American Poolplayers Association, Cuetec Cues, Simonis Cloth, Delta-13 Rack, Diamond Billiards, SalucSA/Aramith, Pooldawg, and Mueller Recreational Products.
