Ouschan Sweeps Great Lakes Classic
WPBA Great Lakes Classic / Michigan City, IN
Jasmin Ouschan took home only her second title on the WPBA Tour, winning the Great Lakes Classic over Kelly Fisher in the final match. The four-day event was hosted by the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, IN, and brought out a full 64-player field to compete.
With only one of the final four ladies coming through the one-loss side to reach the final four, it was anybody’s guess who would take home the ultimate prize. Both of the semifinals were rather one-sided, though. In the first, former tour number-one Karen Corr went up against Ouschan and had a rather tough time putting anything together. Two misses in the first two racks put Ouschan up, and then a 9 on the break gave the Austrian another rack before Corr was even on the board. Bearing down, Corr took two racks, masséing the 3 ball and then capitalizing after Ouschan missed the 4 ball. In the ninth game, with Ouschan on the hill, Corr ran out after Ouschan missed the 5, but when Corr scratched on the break in the final rack, Ouschan was able to clear the table to advance to the finals.
Fisher came out swinging in her semifinal match against Xiaoting Pan, breaking and running out the first rack and then clearing the next after a dry break by her opponent. Pan came out the winner of two subsequent defensive exchange to even the score, with Fisher taking the fifth rack after Pan failed to execute a safety. But Pan came back to take the next after Fisher missed a jump shot, making it 3-all. Fisher found her stride then, breaking and running the table and then getting control of the table again after a Pan misstep to make it 5-3. When Fisher got out of line on the 8 ball in the following rack, Pan won her final game of the match. She fouled on a jump shot in the next rack and then lost a safety exchange to Fisher in the last, with Fisher winning 7-4.
In the first rack of the final match, it was already apparent that Ouschan would have an edge. She took advantage of a safety battle and ran out the first rack, and then she pocketed a 2-9 combo after a dry break by Fisher to go up 2-0. Ouschan was left a tough shot by Fisher in the next but made it with no problems, clearing that rack. A poor safety by Ouschan, though, in the next rack put Fisher on the board 3-1, but Fisher returned the favor by missing the 2 ball in the following game, allowing Ouschan to run the table. After hooking herself on the 2 ball and jumping, Ouschan handed an open table to Fisher, which she cleared to bring the score to 4-2. But Ouschan had the prize in her sights, breaking and running the following rack. Fisher cemented the deal when she scratched on the break next, handing yet another rack to Ouschan to clear to reach the hill 6-2. The final rack culminated in a lengthy safety battle in which Fisher ultimately was the first to blink, and Ouschan ran out to win the Great Lakes title 7-2.
Ouschan outlasted Kelly "Kwikfire" Fisher in the finals to capture her first WPBA title this year.
Results:
1st Jasmin Ouschan
2nd Kelly Fisher
3rd Xiaoting Pan
Karen Corr
5th Yu Ram Cha
Ga Young Kim
Vivian Villareal
Allison Fisher
9th Julie Kelly
Jeanette Lee
Laura Smith
Kim Shaw
Tracie Hines
Pam Cimarelli
Miyuki Sakai
Gerda Hofstatter
17th Dawn Hopkins
Helena Thornfeldt
Jennifer Barretta
Monica Webb
My-Hanh Lac
Line Kjorsvik
Melissa Herndon
Melissa Little