The final round of 16 players has commenced at the WPBA Carolina Classic, hosted by the American Tobacco Historic District Campus in Durham, NC. The event will crown a winner Sunday afternoon during the ESPN-taped matches.
View the WPBA Carolina Classic double elimination brackets
View the WPBA Caorlina Classic single elimination brackets
The one-loss side winnowed to 8 players who returned in the draw for the final 16. Dawn Hopkins bested Jennifer Chen in a double-hill match to face Jeanette Lee in Saturday’s evening rounds, while Jasmin Ouschan dealt a 9-2 death blow to Melissa Little to advance and play the WPBA’s number one, Kelly Fisher.
Relative unknown Kyoko Sone made it through to the final 16, defeating Tiffany Nelson 9-7 to play Allison Fisher. Helena “The Sledgehammer” Thornfeldt routed Melissa Herndon 9-2 to advance to play against defending champion Ga Young Kim.
Vivian “The Texas Tornado” Villareal soared through to the next round with a 9-2 victory over Maureen Seto and will next play Sarah Rousey. New Mexico’s Anna Kostanian also advanced, besting Brittany Bryant 9-2 to face off with Line Kjorsvik.
Japan’s Miyuki Sakai came through with a strong 9-4 win over Monica Webb to play Karen Corr, ranked second on the WPBA. And Xiaoting Pan eliminated Belinda Calhoun 9-3 and will next have to face Gerda Hofstatter.
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