WWS at OX League Competition #2
On December 4th at 11:00 am, we started our second WWS at OX Competition. The players for this one were— Jocelyn, Bridget, Kaarin, Stephanie, and Marissa.
All players seemed comfortable on the snooker table. During the round-robin sessions there was an air of familiarity from the players, especially the ones who played the previous competition. We had some new faces— Stephanie, Kaarin, and Bridget. They all come from pool and are learning the strategies of snooker. All three have felt the pressure on a pool table and have overcome their nerves to win. Kaarin and Bridget play APA league. Kaarin plays weekly and has been a team captain for APA. Stephanie is the president of the Northwest Women’s Pool Association (NWPA). She was also on the Oregon team vs Washington at The Littman Lights Northwest Cup and earned tournament MVP honors as she was a critical part of Oregon’s massive comeback win. She understands pressure and how to overcome it. This is the first time the three have played in a snooker tournament.
Jocelyn won the first competition and was in form winning her first frame vs Bridget 69 - 7, but did not win another frame, although some were nail bitters. Marissa was shooting well all day and only lost one frame during the round-robin. She beat Bridget 80 - 49, Jocelyn 45 - 34, and Stephanie 53 - 42 with a high break of 32. Stephanie also only lost one frame, beating Kaarin 58 - 47, Bridget 57 - 6, and Jocelyn 55 - 20 with a high break of 23. Kaarin won three frames as well narrowly beating Jocelyn 58 - 57, Bridget 40 - 30, and Marissa 39 - 14. Kaarin’s high break was 9. Bridget had a tough time early on and started playing in form later in the round-robin, but it was too late and not her day. She was not discouraged.
With Kaarin, Stephanie, and Marissa all tied with a 3-1 record, the tie breaker was decided by their highest breaks. Stephanie and Marissa advanced with high breaks of 23 and 32 respectively.
In the finals, it was a race to two frames. Marissa took the first frame from Stephanie in a close battle, 47 - 35. In the second frame Marissa won the tournament with score of 50 - 29. Well done for the twelve-year-old potter winning 2-0!
It was exciting to see the players competing. For the first timers, it was great to see them play advanced snooker shots, aggressive pots, and tough safeties. As mentioned before, with practice these players will be formidable opponents when the real WWS tournament comes to town. Congrats to all who participated, the finalists, and Marissa for winning it all!
If you are a woman cueist and want to participate in this historic event, please send an email. In addition, if you are a coach, referee, sponsor or want to support these players in any way, please do the same.