The WPBA San Diego Classic at the Viejas Casino continued into day 2 with several top players having lost either their first or second round matches on the first day. Kelly Fisher and Jasmin Ouschan both felt the sting of defeat but looked towards Friday with the “eye of the tiger”, the fierce determination to prove themselves no matter what situation is thrown at them.
Meanwhile, upstart players such as Eleanor Callado, Holly Sholes, My-Hanh Lac, and Holland native Tamara Rademakers came to show their mettle against some of their more established competitors.
My-Hanh Lac nearly threw Vivian Villarreal for a loop by going hill-hill against the exuberant veteran, but in the end Vivian prevailed. Holly Sholes, the #1 points Champion from the 2007 season of the Arizona Women's Billiard Tour and who qualified for this event, has been playing phenomenal pool, having defeated not one but two Top 10 seeded players. In her 2nd round match versus #7 seed Ga Young Kim, Holly came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Ms. Kim 9-7. She then went on to play #10 seed Helena Thornfeldt and in a tight match, won hill-hill to move into her first Final 16 round in a WPBA Pro Event.
Meanwhile, 4-time Collegiate National 9 Ball Champion, Eleanor Callado, has been playing stellar pool in this event, after defeating #14 seed Jasmin Ouschan in their first round match, she went on to play Tiffany Nelson-Crain and although she lost that match, showed she has staying power by defeating top Japanese player, Miyuki Sakai and will go into Saturday to play Joanne Ashton.
Tamara Rademakers, a qualifier who hails from Holland, is another one to watch out for as she defeated former World 9 Ball Champion Julie Kelly in their first round match. Although she was defeated by Jeanette Lee in the next round, Tamara has heart as she continued on to defeat returning Exempt player Jennifer Barretta and goes on to face Kelly Fisher (uncharacteristically playing in the loser's bracket early in an event) Saturday morning.
A big story at this event was Iris Ranola vs. Karen Corr in the 9:30pm round. Karen, apparently suffering from severe neck pain, forfeited her match when the score was 5-2, Iris. According to Iris, Karen told her it just wouldn't be fair to Iris to try to continue the match, nor fair to the fans. Karen will be looking to get some therapy from a local chiropractor and Reiki treatment from fellow Pro, Laura Smith, to get ready for her Saturday 1-loss side match at 2:30pm Saturday.
Sarah Rousey, who came on so strong last year, is continuing her trend by reaching the final round of 16 after defeating Regional Tour players, Suzanne Smith and Liz Cole, then going on to soundly beat Gerda Hofstatter in their evening feature match, 9-4. Jeanette Lee matched up against Jennifer Chen who had handEd Kelly Fisher a hill-hill defeat in their 2nd round match but couldn't muster the same energy and lost to Jeanette 9-5. Vivian Villarreal, after almost losing to My-Hanh Lac, played against South Korean star, Yu Ram Cha, and was stunned into the one loss side, losing their hill hill match. The Final 8 on the winner's bracket are: Yu Ram Cha, Allison Fisher, Jeanette Lee, Iris Ranola, Sarah Rousey, Monica Webb, Xiaoting Pan, and Holly Sholes.
Stay tuned for more action Saturday!
