Final Four to Return at Carolina Classic
WPBA Carolina Classic / Durham, NC
The final four ladies remaining in the WPBA Carolina Classic are set to return for Sunday’s matches, which will be taped by ESPN. In the first semifinal match will be Jasmin Ouschan versus Vivian Villareal, and the second semifinal match will feature Line Kjorsvik and Jeanette Lee.
Having gone through the winners’ bracket to reach the semifinals, Lee faced tough opposition, including My Hanh Lac and Anna Kostanian. In the final round of 16, she dusted Dawn Hopkins 9-1 to go on to face off with the WPBA’s number-two-ranked Karen Corr. Corr had just bested Japan’s Miyuki Sakai 9-5 but wasn’t prepared for Lee, who sent her home in a fifth-place tie 9-7.
View the WPBA Carolina Classic single elimination brackets
View the WPBA Carolina Classic double elimination brackets
Lee’s opponent will be Line Kjorsvik, back in action from a hiatus that hasn’t seemed to negatively affect her game. Kjorsvik was one of the few players who went undefeated through to the semifinals, having bested Anna Kostanian in a hill-hill match and then eliminating former number-one Allison Fisher 9-6 in the quarterfinals. Fisher also was undefeated to that point, having just come off a 9-5 win over Kyoko Sone in the final round of 16.
Jasmin Ouschan of Austria bounced back from a third-round loss to Sarah Rousey to return to the winners’ side and face off with Kelly Fisher, currently ranked number one on the tour. She soundly defeated “KwikFire” 9-4 to move on to her quarterfinal match with Xiaoting Pan. Pan had also made a return from the west side of the chart after her third-round loss to Line Kjorsvik 9-5 and routed Gerda Hofstatter 9-2. Up against Ouschan, though, she fell just shy, and Ouschan advanced 9-7.
Ouschan’s opponent, Vivian “The Texas Tornado” Villareal returned from the one-loss side after Corr bested her 9-4 in the third round. She tackled Rousey and ousted her 9-2 to advance to play Helena Thornfeldt. “The Sledgehammer,” back from the one-loss side herself because of her 9-2 loss to Kelly Fisher in the third round. Though Thornfeldt made quick work of defending champion Ga Young Kim 9-3, she fell short in her double-hill match with Villareal.
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