Val Finnie defeated Romana Dokovic 7-6 to win the NJ State 8-Ball SC and US Open Qualifier. Val won the hot seat over JPNEWT tour favorite and Official Birthday Girl, Carol Clark, 5-1. But Carol's crowning glory was winning the chance to get to play Val by first defeating fellow NYCer and WPBA Touring Pro Romana Dokovic and then sending Kelly Fisher to the left side of the chart in a 5-4 match. Carol then rematched with Romana, but it wasn't as close as Saturday's match and Carol lost, 5-1.
In the finals, it was a battle between the Glaswegian Finnie and Romanian Dokovic to go hill-hill. Val Finnie was down to her last ball when she was faced into a straight-shot with no angle to get on the 8-ball. Val powered-stroked a table length draw shot, but it scratched into the opposite corner pocket. Romana had ball in hand on her last ball, but failed to get position on the 8 and had to do an extreme cut into a corner pocket and dangled the 8. Val pocketed the 8 for the win.
JPNEWT wishes to thank Herbert's Billiards and the owners, Mel and Merideth for a great tournament. And we thank Herbert's very professional staff for their help. We also thank the promoter, Rich Sacco, for organizing this event. And finally, we thank all of our sponsors - Pechauer Cues, The Billiards Workbook, and Inside Pool for their continued support.
Complete Results:
1st Val Finnie $500 + Qualifier to US Open
2nd Romana Dokovic $350
3rd Carol "The Birthday Girl" Clark $250
4th Kelly Fisher $140
5th/6th Morgan Steinman, Caroline Pao $50
