GenerationPool.com Billiard Qualifier Finished

GenerationPool.com Billiard Qualifier Finished
by Skip Maloney
The GenerationPool.com 9-Ball Championship qualifier that kicked off Friday has finished, leaving 32 of the original 64 players returning to the main event Sunday evening.
The second round, overall, proved to be even tougher than the first. As a percentage, the second round saw more matches ending up in hill-hill or 9-7 battles (34% in the first round, 37% in the second), while the average points allowed by the winners was percentage points away from being identical (4.6 in the first, 4.5 in the second round). Saturday¢s most decisive victory on the winners¢ side was Monica Webb’s 9-1 defeat of Angel Paglia.
Karen Corr and Xiaoting Pan had a fairly easy trip to the winners’ side round of 16, with 9-2 defeats of Caroline Pao and Laura Smith, respectively. Number-one-ranked Allison Fisher, Gerda Hofstatter, and Ga-Young Kim advanced as well, keeping the top four from April’s WPBA San Diego Classic intact. Also advancing was Jeannette Lee, who followed her opening-round shut-out over Denise Wilkinson with a much more closely contested 9-7 victory over Liz Ford. Helena Thornfeldt advanced, as well, in a hill-hill victory over Yun-Mi Lin, as did Iris Ranola in a 9-7 defeat of Julie Kelly.

Advancing to the one-loss side’s round of 16 proved to be as difficult as the winners’ side, with one out of every four matches playing to double-hill. Melissa Morris, Alice Rim, Hazel Cook, and Caroline Pao advanced on the heels of their hill-hill victories, while Debbie Schjodt took the easier route with the only shut-out victory of the round against Denise Wilkinson. Also advancing were Melissa Herndon with a 9-4 defeat of Kim White and Val Finnie, whose 9-6 victory ended Ewa Laurance’s tournament run.

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.