|
Current Issue
Next Page >
The Time is Right
Long among the game's elite, Kelly Fisher takes her first world championship in Manila.
Story by BD Staff
|
Fisher was golden in her first world championship final. |
WITH DOZEN, sometimes hundreds, of players chasing a single title at an event, professional pool is a notoriously fickle beast. Fortune can shine on an individual only for so long before adversity returns. On the other side of that equation, there are those players who consistently perform well on the big stage - knocking off a national championship here and a major invitation there - while continually missing that one victory to fill a hole in a career's resume.
Take Francisco Bustamante, a recent Hall of Fame inductee who has been among the game's top talents for the better part of two decades. It was hard to believe that for the first 15 years of his career, the Filipino legend never won a world championship. With his versatility in 8-ball and 9-ball (and, later, 10-ball), it seemed unavoidable that a world title eventually break his way. So, when he prevailed at the 2010 World 9-Ball Championship, he crossed his name of the list of the best players without a world title.
With respect to the women's side of the game, Kelly Fisher and Karen Corr had to have been considered tops on that same list before the World 10-Ball Championship, running Nov. 2-6 at the Galleria Mall in Manila, Philippines. Both multiple-time champs on the Women's Professional Billiard Association's Classic Tour, the snooker converts have been among the best in the game since moving to U.S. to pursue pool (Corr in 1998 and Fisher in 2004).
While Corr was not in the 48-player field, Fisher established herself as an early favorite in the group stage. The players divided into eight groups of six for a full round robin, with the top three competitors from each group advancing to a final knockout round. The 33-year-old Brit easily conquered her flight and finished with a 5-0 record, which included wins over Jennifer Barretta and Korea's rising star Erica Park. With each group winner getting a bye in the first round of single-elimination play, Fisher took the No. 1 overall seed, joined by Norway's Line Kjorsvik as the only other unbeaten player.
In what has recently become a growing trend in the women's game, the Asian players, specifically the Chinese contingent, dominated the opening stage. Just six North American and European players advanced to the knockout bracket, while eight players hailed from China. If the World 10-Ball crown was going to leave Asia, the pressure was on Fisher. While Kjorsvik and Fisher received byes into the round of 16, the two would find themselves the last Westerners in the field.
Allison Fisher, Monica Webb, Brittany Bryant and Jasmin Ouschan all crashed out in the opening round. And while Fisher easily topped Japan's Akimi Kajitani, 8-2, for a spot in the quarterfinals, Kjorsvik had no answers for Korean star Ga Young Kim, who prevailed, 8-4. Fisher then booked her spot in the semifinals with similar ease against Taiwan's Lai Hui-Shan, 8-4. In other action, Kim ousted China's Liu Shasha, 8-1; Yu Han outlasted reigning World 9-Ball Champion Bi Zhu Qing, 8-6; and Tsai Pei-Chen edged the Philippines' Rubilen Amit, 8-7.
Next Page >
Top |
|