Ranola Visits the West Side
Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour / Tucson, AZ
by Skip Maloney
Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) U.S. Open runner-up Iris Ranola is now terrorizing the west cost players with her presence. Her latest effort landed her a victory at Pockets in Tucson, Arizona.
Iris Ranola defeated Emily Wilmoth twice to take first place in the Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour stop Labor Day weekend. The two were among 26 entrants who signed on to the $500-added event at Pockets in Tucson, AZ.
The matches played out among the tournament’s final 12 players, including six double-hill struggles. This included the two that Ranola and Wilmoth played; first among the final four winners and later, in the finals. It was Michelle Micik, however, who won a hill-hill battle over Nicole Keeney to advance to the hot seat match against Ranola. Ranola sent Micik to the semifinals 7-3 and awaited the result.
Earlier in the day, Sara Miller, Susan Williams, Lois Schmitt, and Mary Meonch advanced out of the final eight on the one-loss side of the bracket, with Schmitt and Meonch winning hill-hill struggles to do so. Williams and Schmitt dropped Miller and Meonch into a tie for seventh place and then faced Keeney and Wilmoth over from the winners’ side. Williams battled to hill-hill before advancing past Keeney, while Wilmoth dispatched Schmitt handily 7-1.
Wilmoth and Williams came within a game of a double-hill match, but Wilmoth won it 7-5 and advanced to the semifinals against Micik. She defeated Micik 7-4 and headed back to meet Ranola in a true double-elimination final that went only one set. The two battled back and forth to a 4-4 tie before Wilmoth called for a break. They took one, and when they returned, Wilmoth surged ahead by two to reach hill first. Ranola came back to take the next three and the first-place prize.
Results:
1st Iris Ranola
2nd Emily Wilmoth
3rd Michelle Micik
4th Susan Williams
5th Nicole Keeney
Lois Schmitt
7th Sara Miller
Mary Moench
9th Noel Rima
Kathleen Lawless
Liz Bernreuter
Anne Gray