Tournament Director Chris Rogers, Molina Ortiz, Jana Montour and room manager Dave McDowell.
Among the many things that the Northwest Women’s Pool Association’s (NWPA) 2022 Player of the Year, Molina Ortiz, may not have been expecting when she returned to the tables for the tour’s 2023 season opener was a hot seat and finals challenge from Jana Montour, who hadn’t cashed in an NWPA event in six years or won a tour event in 10. Ortiz weathered the Montour storm though, downing her twice to go undefeated through the field of 64 that had signed on to the $1,500-added event, hosted by Legends Billiard Room in Beaverton, OR.
Ortiz got off to a dramatic start. In three of the four matches she won to get to a winners’ side semifinal against Katherine Robertson, she gave up just a single rack, total. She opened by giving up that single rack to Robin Adams and then, later, gave up none at all to Tammy Shephard and Kathie MacDonald. The ‘fly’ in that advancing ointment was Liz Cole, who, between Shephard and MacDonald, fought Ortiz to double hill, before Ortiz prevailed.
Montour, who’d won that 10-years-ago event in the 2013 NWPA season opener, not to mention the season opener and two other stops on the 2012 tour, did not appear to lose a step, opening her post-hiatus 2023 campaign against Kirsten Marquez 6-2, following it with victories over Raquel Minjarez (2), Susan Andree (1) and Stephanie Drakulic (3) to arrive at her winners’ side semifinal against Linda Massey.
Linda Massey became the ‘fly’ in Montour’s advancement to the hot seat match, battling her to double hill before being sent to the loss side. Robertson battled Ortiz to a game shy of double hill, but Ortiz prevailed to join Montour. Ortiz downed Montour 5-3 in their first of two to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Massey and Robertson ran into something of a double-whammy pair of Cindy Sliva and Liz Cole, respectively. Sliva, who’d been shutout by Robertson in a winners’ side quarterfinal downed Marian Poole and Kathie MacDonald, both 6-2, to meet up with Massey. Cole had followed her loss to Ortiz with a five-match, loss-side streak that had recently included a shutout over Drakulic and the elimination of Regene Lane 6-3 to pick up Robertson.
Sliva did her part to bring about a rematch against Robertson by shutting out Massey. Cole spoiled the quarterfinal rematch party with a 6-1 victory over Robertson. Sliva stopped Cole’s loss-side streak with a double hill win in those quarterfinals. She then had her own modest streak stopped by Montour 6-2 in the semifinals.
An event final between a former and reigning champion of a regional tour is not that rare. What is rare is a 10-year gap between their reigns. The reigning champion, Ortiz, defeated the former champion, Montour, 9-3 in the finals of their tour’s season opener.
A Second Chance tournament, held on Sunday, crowned Evie Hazlett as the winner ($80), with Robin Adams as runner-up ($65). Sarah Myers Mitchell finished 3rd ($55), while Celia Curry finished 4th ($40).
Tour representatives thanked Michelle Bean, Dave McDowell and their Legends staff for their hospitality, along with sponsors Littman Lights, Savage Billiard Apparel, Rose City Billiards Legends, Badboys BP, raffle sponsors RJH Custom Cues, Omega Billiards, John Lee at Hanh Solo Salon and Samantha; owner of Flattop and Salamander. Thanks were also extended to TD Chris Rogers, assistant TD Steve Berry, Sandro Menzel and Aimée Wilson for photography, raffle-gal Elaine Eberly, Michael Deitchman and all of our guest commentators, as well as Graham Sanchez for running the Second Chance event.
The next stop on the NWPA Tour, scheduled for the weekend of June 3-4, will be hosted by Players in Kennewick, WA.
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