Rachel Walters
When the 2nd Annual Ladies Delaware State Barbox Championships got underway on Saturday, June 24, which would be replete with rematches from the inaugural event last October, it appeared that the ladies took a little time to warm up. Of the eight opening-round matches (eight competitors were awarded byes), three went double hill, three almost went double hill (6-4) and the remaining two went 6-0 and 6-2. From that point, the eventual winner, Rachel Walters (one of the opening-round 6-4 winners) advanced to the hot seat match by chalking up a three-match, aggregate score of 18-2. The event’s defending champion and eventual runner-up, Tina Malm, who’d defeated Walters in a winners’ side quarterfinal of the inaugural event, was awarded one of the opening-round byes, opened with a 6-4 win and got into the hot seat match without giving up another rack. The event drew 24 entrants with Fargo Rates of 630 and under to Milford Billiards in Milford, DE.
Walters first appeared on AZBilliards’ radar last year, when in a little over a month, she finished as runner-up to Ashley Benoit at the inaugural Women in Pool Championships at Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT and then, finished 4th in the inaugural DE State Ladies Barbox Championships. Her trip to the winners’ circle went through Susan Kimble (4), Debbie Graleski (1) and Stacy Outten (1) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Sandy Labar, whom Walters had shutout in the 5th/6th matches of the inaugural event. Malm, in the meantime, after her opening round bye, downed Lai Li 6-4 before shutting out Dawn Renee and arriving at her winners’ side semifinal against Nicole Nester, who’d shut out Walters in the quarterfinals of the inaugural event.
Walters and Malm both shut out their opponents (Labar and Nester) to get into the hot seat match, where things tightened up a bit. In yet another almost double hill match, Walters claimed the hot sea over Malm 6-4.
On the loss side, Labar picked up wily veteran Liz Taylor, who’d lost a third-round match to Nester and come over to down Tracy Tull 5-2 and shut out Christine Ward. Nester drew Lai Li, who’d followed her loss to Malm with victories over Kim Dougherty (1), Stacy Outten (0) and Jennifer Tully (3).
Li ended Nester’s day 5-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Taylor joined her with a 5-1 victory over Labar. Li turned her loss-side trip into a five-match winning streak with a 5-2 win over Taylor in those quarterfinals.
Malm stopped that streak in the semifinals 5-3. The second verse of the Walters/Malm pool ‘song’ was the same as the first. In what proved to be the only set necessary in a true double elimination final, Walters, who is sponsored by Integrity Cues (Kevin Stir) claimed title to her first ‘major’ event, the 2nd Annual Ladies Delaware State Barbox Championships 6-4.
In addition to thanking all of the ladies who competed, tour director Tarek Elmalla thanked Ray Natta and his staff at Milford Billiards for their hospitality, as well as his Tuff Cuts organization that provided the event’s streaming services.
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