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Headstring News
Ouschan Dominates on Sunday to Win Carolina Classic
Sep 14, 2008, 9:31 PM
 | | Ouschan dominated when it counted with twin 7-1 victories.[Photo by Anne Craig/WPBA] |
DURHAM, N.C. — Jasmin Ouschan thoroughly dominated a resurgent Jeanette Lee on Sunday to score a 7-1 victory in the final of the WPBA Carolina Classic.
Ouschan, the 22-year-old Austrian who recently recorded a remarkable third-place finish in the men’s Predator World Straight Pool Championship, showcased her ball-control skills in the match against Lee, who has been inching closer to the top of the WPBA pack this season. Picking her way through complicated layouts, Ouschan took a 3-0 lead as Lee played a bit more recklessly and blinked in an important safety battle.
Lee got on the board at 3-1, but Ouschan broke and ran out in the next game. Game 6 was a roller-coaster, as Lee broke dry and Ouschan returned to the table. Ouschan ran to the 3 and missed, followed by Lee, who ran to the 6. Even as she struck the cue ball, Lee knew she had missed, screaming, “Oh my gosh!” That left Ouschan with a side-rail bank shot on the 6, which strayed from the pocket, allowing Lee back to the table for a thin cut. She undercut it badly, finally leading to Ouschan’s runout, 5-1.
Clearly out of sorts, Lee could only watch as Ouschan dominated the next two racks for the victory.
Lee had just come off a tight semifinal battle with Norway’s Line Kjorsvik, who has returned to the WPBA Classic Tour after a two-year hiatus. With the match tied at 5-5, Kjorsvik overshot shape on the 9 ball, leaving herself a thin cut in the side pocket instead of an easy shot in the corner. She overcut it, leaving a long cut for Lee, which she mailed to reach the hill, 6-5.
Lee was in control of the case game as she sank the 7, but her cue ball came to rest on the 50-yard line, requiring a tough cut. Lee played safe instead, sending the cue ball to rest near the corner pocket with the 8 ball uptable on the rail. Kjorsvik attempted a bank but missed. Lee played yet another safety, leaving the cue ball behind the 9. Kjorsvik almost executed the jump shot, but the 8 ball rattled in and out of the pocket. Lee made a great, long cut to get shape on the 9 and win the semifinal.
In the other semifinal, Ouschan had an easier time with Vivian Villarreal. Quickly running to a 4-0 lead, Ouschan made a rare position error and hooked herself behind the 7 ball en route to the 4. Villarreal capitalized with a game-winning runout to cut into Ouschan’s lead, 4-1. But as she would also do in the final, Ouschan responded with a break-and-run that would essentially put the match out of reach. Excellent safety play in the final two games secured the win, 7-1.
With the title victory, Ouschan becomes the fourth woman to win a Classic Tour event this year, along with Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher and Xiaoting Pan. Kelly Fisher will remain the tour’s No. 1 player.
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