Allison Fisher Claims Another Title
Making this her second consecutive win this season and her fiftieth Classic Tour victory, Allison Fisher eked out a double-hill win over Kelly Fisher in the finals of the Cuetec Cues U.S. Open 9-Ball tournament. The event, which started Thursday, August 2, brought out a full 64-player field to Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI.
Kim Shaw experienced some bad rolls and worse luck in her semifinal match against Kelly Fisher. Empty breaks and scratches seemed to plague her throughout, while Fisher was able to sail to the hill 6-2. Since the alternating-break format was in use, it was Shaw’s turn to break. She pocketed the 1, 2, and 3 balls but scratched into the corner. Unable to believe her luck, Fisher cleared the remaining six balls to advance to the final match.
In the second of both lopsided semifinal matches, Allison Fisher met the aggressive Ga-Young Kim. Fisher took an early lead, taking advantage of a scratch by Kim and a neat run-out of her own. Some excellent defensive play added two more racks to Fisher’s score, making it now 6-2 in her favor. A hung 1 ball in the following game narrowed the gap slightly to 6-3, but in the last rack, Fisher countered a safety by pocketing the 1 and getting into position to run out, which she did to win 7-3.
A long and tension-fraught finale unfolded as the players tried every trick they knew to trip the other up. In the 13-rack match, there was only one break and run-out, and that was by K. Fisher in the fourth game. And two games was the biggest lead anyone had throughout, when A. Fisher reached 5-3.
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K. Fisher tied the match at 5 apiece when A. Fisher came up empty on her break and then scratched off the 4 ball in the following rack. Reaching the hill after a hung-up 2 by A. Fisher, K. Fisher was so close she could taste the victory. Especially when she broke and ran out the next rack—almost. But coming off the 8 ball, the cue ball kissed off the 9 and scratched. An unsuccessful safety by K. Fisher in the final game handed the table to A. Fisher, who hooked herself on the 4 ball but kicked it in anyway. A tough leave on the 6 gave her pause, but only for a moment, and then A. Fisher dished up for the 7-6 win.
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