The WPBA Midwest Classic took place at a new venue this time around
over the week of October 3-7, 2007. The Riverwind Casino in Norman,
Oklahoma welcomed the event with open arms and in return, they had a
spectacular turnout of talent, including rising stars Ga Young Kim,
Jasmin Ouschan and Xiaoting Pan. Not to mention the veteran players
such as Karen Corr, Allison Fisher, Monica Webb, Kelly Fisher and the
list goes on.
The final sixteen players ended up being many of the same faces, however,
one was not as familiar – Joanne Ashton. Ashton had a great
tournament and remained on the winners side of the bracket into the
final sixteen with wins over Belinda Calhoun 9-7, Kim White 9-8, Kim
Shaw 9-7, only to fall shortly after the re-draw to the mighty Kelly
Fisher 9-2. One of the other up-and-coming players that continues
to make her way to the elite sixteen, Anna Kostanian, took a turn to
the one-loss side in the third round by her opponent Karen Corr 9-6,
but after a hill-hill match with Melissa Little, regained her spot into
the final group.
In addition to these ladies, the remaining fourteen included Allison
Fisher, Jasmin Ouschan, Kelly Fisher, Helena Thornfeldt, Rachael Abbink,
Sarah Ellerby, Dawn Hopkins, Xiaoting Pan, Jeanette Lee, Ga Young Kim,
Gerda Hofstatter, Monica Webb, Karen Corr, and Vivian Villarreal.
From the time of the re-draw, we saw the titans emerge on top and into
the final round – Allison Fisher defeated Jasmin Ouschan 9-7 (Ouschan
was sent to the one-loss side by Fisher as well 9-5), Kelly Fisher,
and Sarah Ellerby. While Karen Corr took down Vivian Villarreal
9-6, Monica Webb, and Ga Young Kim.
Both Fisher and Corr seemed to be on a collision course towards each
other most of the day and it finally came about. Fisher and Corr
battled back and forth in the final round and at 6-5, the crowd saw
Corr jump on the hill first. Corr would not give up her lead and
ultimately ended with a final score of 7-5.
File photo courtesy of Roberta Case
