Kelly Fisher (File photo courtesy of Anne Craig)
The field at the Yalin Women's World 10-Ball Championship has now been whittled to a power-packed final four players.
The biggest surprise coming out of the group stages was the elimination of Allison Fisher. Hill-hill losses to Akimi Kajitani and Eun Ji Park, combined with a 6-4 loss to Dou Dou Zhou, led to a 2-3 record for the Duchess; which was not enough to see her into the single elimination stage of the event.
Four players emerged as undefeated from their groups; Taipei's Pei Chen Tsai, Great Britain's Kelly Fisher, China's Han Yu and Austrian Jasmin Ouschan. Byes in the single elimination stages was the reward for these players, as well as Yu Ram Cha, Akimi Kajitani, Tan Ho Yun and Jia Li.
Only three of the eight "seeded" players with byes escaped their first matches as Tsai, Cha, Tan, Yu and Kajitani all lost in the second round of the stage.
The third and final round on Thursday saw eight players left in the hunt for the title, and four lopsided matches. The closest match of the four saw Kelly Fisher end Jia Li's title hopes 8-3. Ouschan eliminated Karen Corr 8-2, while Amit sent Line Kjoersvik back to Norway by an identical 8-2 score. The last match saw Ga-Young Kim defeat Eun-Ji Park 8-1 to set the stage for the final four players on Friday.
In one semi final match, reigning champion Rubilen Amit will face Ga Young Kim and in the other semi final match it will be Kelly Fisher vs Jasmin Ouschan. After that, the two winners will face on to crown the 2010 Yalin Women's World 10-Ball Champion.
