Fisher on WPBA Pay-Per-View Web Casting For The 2008 Tour Championships

The Women’s Professional Billiard Association announces that for the 2008 WPBA Tour Championships, pay-per-view service will be available on www.wpba.com for select matches on Thursday November 13th and Friday November 14th, along with exclusive player interviews, match commentary, sideline reporting and updated statistics.

This marks the first time that a WPBA event can be viewed live on the internet. For $30 for both Thursday and Friday, or $20 for Friday only, fans can log in and watch select matches from the last tournament of the WPBA 2008 season live from the Seminole Hard Rock Casino & Resort in Hollywood, Florida.

Fans will have access to exclusive interviews with the WPBA’s top Professionals including Kelly Fisher, Allison Fisher, Jeanette Lee and many others. Sideline reporting will enhance the viewers’ perspective on matches in progress and statistics will provide further insight into how players stack up against each other. Coverage will include live scoring and constant feed from the tournament.

Carolina Classic Final Four

The WPBA Carolina Classic is down to the final four players, and those final four are definitely surprising names. There are no Fisher's, Corr's or Asian players to be found this time.

The final four are Jasmin Ouschan, Vivian Villarreal, Jeanette Lee and returning star Line Kjorsvik.

Ouschan is coming off an amazing third place finish at the Predator World Straight Pool Championship and has bounced back nicely from her third round loss to Sarah Rousey at this event. Ouschan bounced #1 ranked Kelly Fisher and Asian sensation Xiao-Ting Pan to make it to Sunday's match against Vivian Villarreal.

Villarreal has not seen an ESPN TV match since February of 2007 in the 07 Carolina Classic. Villarreal dropped a third round match to Karen Corr, but came back with wins over Rousey and Helena Thornfeldt on Saturday.

Unlike Ouschan and Villarreal, the other 2 players in the final four are undefeated all week. Jeanette Lee has looked practically untouchable all week with dominating wins over Anna Kostanian, Dawn Hopkins and Karen Corr to her credit.

Lee will need all the skills she has as she takes on Line Kjorsvik. Kjorsvik has wins this week over Xiao-Ting Pan, Kostanian and Allison Fisher to earn her place in the final four.

WPBA Final Sixteen

The WPBA Carolina Classic is down to the final sixteen players and the event has progressed into the single elimination stage.

The 7pm matches are...

Kelly Fisher vs Jasmin Ouschan
Gerda Hofstatter vs Xiao-Ting Pan
Sarah Rousey vs Vivian Villarreal
Ga-Young Kim vs Helena Thornfeldt

And the 8:45 matches are...

Line Kjorsvik vs Anna Kostanian
Allison Fisher vs Kyoko Sone
Jeanette Lee vs Dawn Hopkins
Karen Corr vs Miyuki Sakai

First Round Complete in Carolina Classic

The first round of the 64-player WPBA Carolina Classic is complete. Hosted by American Tobacco Historic District Campus in Durham, NC, the event began Thursday morning and will conclude Sunday afternoon.

Defending champion Ga Young Kim came through unfazed in the first round, sending Colorado’s Bonnie Plowman to the one-loss side 9-3. Kim’s next challenge will come from Holly Sholes, who just defeated Joanne Ashton in a hill-hill match.

Former WPBA number one, Allison Fisher, squeaked by her match with Brittany Bryant 9-8 and will next have to face Yu Ram Cha, who came in third place at the WPBA U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships. It was at this event where Fisher fell from first place to sixth on the WPBA ranking systems.

View the WPBA Carolina Classic double elimination brackets

The new number-one player, Kelly Fisher, skated through her first-round match with Janet Atwell 9-3 and will next face Gail Grecar, who just bested Megan Minerich 9-5. Ranked second on the tour, Karen Corr came through her match against Kim Jones 9-6 and will play Kim White in the second round.

Xiaoting Pan, ranked third on the tour, won her first match against Lisa D’Atri 9-3 and will move on to play Melissa Herndon, who eked through a double-hill match against Maureen Seto. Anna Kostanian, the young gun from New Mexico, also pulled off a win in her match against Ewa Laurance 9-7.

Classic Tour Heads Back to Carolina

After a tumultuous WPBA U.S. Open in August that saw two unseeded players advance to the semis while Allison Fisher went two-and-out, the top-ranked players have reestablished themselves in the opening rounds at this weekend's Carolina Classic held through Sept. 14 at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, N.C.

Kelly Fisher, in her first event as the No. 1 seed on the Classic Tour, had no trouble in her first two matches, beating Janet Atwell, 9-3, and Gail Grecar, 9-2. Other favorites, including Karen Corr, Ga Young Kim and Xiaoting Pan, also remain unbeaten as play began on Friday.

Allison Fisher narrowly escaped a first-round upset bid from Brittany Bryant by taking the case game, 9-8. Fisher then sent Yu Ram Cha, surprise semifinalist from the U.S. Open, to the left side with a 9-4 second-round victory.
Iris Ranola, the other Cinderella story from last month, will have a long road ahead of her on the left side. The U.S. Open runner-up beat Stacy Hurst, 9-5, then lost to Tiffany Nelson, 9-6.

Allison squeaks by Bryant for WPBA first round win

The 2008 WPBA Carolina Classic kicked off on September 11th in Durham, North Carolina, at the American Tobacco Historic District Campus and day one has already seen it's fair share of close matches.

All eyes were on Allison Fisher after her "two and out" showing last month in San Diego. Fisher's opponent in the first round was Canadian Brittany Bryant. The match was tied at 8-8 with Bryant breaking, but a missed bank shot on the 2-ball was the end of Bryant's upset dreams. Fisher could have her hands full with Yu-Ram Cha in round two.

One of the big stories of the year so far, Anna Kostanian, came back from a 5-2 deficit to defeat The Striking Viking, Ewa Laurance 9-7. Kostanian will face Melissa Little next.

Other results of interest were new #1 ranked Kelly Fisher's 9-3 win over Janet Atwell, Liz Lovely's 9-6 win over Debbie Schjodt and Line Kjorsvik's 9-8 win over Julie Kelly.

Top women's billiards players compete in Durham

Sixty-four of the best women’s billiards players in the world will be at Bay 7 on the American Tobacco Campus for the Carolina Classic Billiards Tournament starting Wednesday.

The Carolina Classic, organized by the Women’s Professional Billiards Association, has a $95,000 purse and is one of seven qualifying tournaments leading up to the Tour Championship in November in Hollywood, Florida.

Ewa Mataya Laurance – nicknamed the Striking Viking - will join the world’s best women billiards players, including Jeanette Lee (the Black Widow) and North Carolina residents Allison Fisher and Kelly Fisher. Kelly Fisher is currently ranked No. 1 and holds the 2008 US Open 9-Ball Championship title.

Tickets to the events are available. The events begin with a Pro-Am Wednesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. Also Wednesday, there is a trick shot contest from 8 to 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Green Room on Broad Street in Durham. Donations are $10 and benefit the Duke Children’s Hospital.

The tournament begins Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. and runs through Sept. 14. ESPN will record the championship Sunday for later broadcasts.

Tickets available:

• The Green Room, 1108 Broad Street, Durham, NC 27705. (919) 286-2359.

• Brass Tap and Billiards, 3316 Capital Blvd # 0, Raleigh, NC, 27604 (919) 876-2382

• The Durham Visitor Information Center, 101 East Morgan Street, Durham, NC 27701 (800) 446-8604 or securely online at www.billiardsindurham.com

Coffee with the Duchess: A conversation with Allison Fisher at the Derby City Classic

As the winner of 50 major titles, Allison Fisher stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest women athletes of all time. She was the number one player on the women’s tour last year, the number one player in 2006, number one in 2005, number one in 2004 – and, well, you get the idea.

But besides the victories and accolades, Fisher also has gained a reputation for impeccable sportsmanship. She’ll trounce a out-classed player in an open tournament, and then offer a few words of encouragement or advice. And if she gets beat, she’s just as likely to offer a hug as a handshake.

So what does the role model’s role model think about the all the action at Derby City? What does the woman who best exemplifies all that’s classy about pool think about the carousing, the late-night gambling, and all these men behaving ever so badly? I caught up with The Duchess midway through the 2008 Derby City Classic (that American tournament that most embodies pool’s reckless side) and asked her about all manner of things very un-Allison.

RD: So, what do you think about the tournament so far?

Fisher: Having been here my first year, I’ve been very impressed with it. It’s not what I thought it was going to be. It much better than I thought it was going to be and I’ve enjoyed it.

RD: Why do you say it’s better than you thought it would be?

Fisher: Because of the reputation it has had — the gambling and drinking. What people have said about it. It has had a bad rap, I think.

RD: Pool has had this gambling association for it’s entire history. Do you see this as a good thing, or a bad thing or are you indifferent to it?

Fisher: I don’t think it helps it at a time when we’re trying to get corporate sponsorships. We’re trying to bring in companies and bring pool more money. But every movie that has been made about pool has been about hustling and gambling. There hasn’t been a (movie about a) success story where someone comes up through tournaments to become a winner.

And the thing I don’t like about gambling is that a lot of the time it’s about who can stay awake the longest. You might not always be playing the player. He might be taking something to stay awake. I think it can bring along a lot of the wrong clientele.

RD: Pool has been very male dominated. Now all that has changing. You’re obviously evidence of that. But when I was in the action room, I noticed that there was a lot of testosterone in there. It seems like a male kind of thing. Do you have any sense for that?

Fisher: Definitely. Definitely. I don’t have any interest in it. But there are a few women who do like to gamble a little bit. I’m not going to say it’s perfect on our tour. We’re not allowed it our arenas or anywhere near our tournaments.

Maybe in a tournament environment like this, it might be safe. But if you go into a poolroom and there is a lot of action going on you might not be in a safe environment, right? If you win, you might have to be very careful when you leave. You heard these stories from old players. You hear these stories from gamblers. It’s not really an environment for a women to be in, if you have to watch your back.

RD: In any other sport, if you’re caught gambling you can get banned for life, but it’s very different here. It’s very accepted in pool.…

Allison: In England. We have bookies all over the place. You can gamble on sports. …

RD: But soccer players are not supposed to be gambling on soccer games?

Allison: How would anyone know if they are if somebody put some money on for them? How would anybody know? If somebody walks into a bookie and says I want to put such and such on team — you don’t know, do you, where the money comes from.

But there were some players on snooker who … were gambling on matches and they went to jail for it. So, in the sport I came from (the potential implication) was severe. You could be fixing matches. The gambling shops — they set the odds for the matches — and I guess the players had to decide if they were going to make more money if they dump. They were working that, and so they went to jail for it.

RD: You’ve got this action that’s very exciting here at Derby City, but you’ve also got the finest players in the world playing in the tournament. Is the tournament at Derby City something you have enjoyed?

Allison: I really have. You know, I don’t play one-pocket and I don’t play banks. But I did the straight pool. I did a bit there. And I really enjoyed it. It fired me up to do another thing.

RD: Did you try the one one-pocket?

Allison: No, but I’m enthused about practicing some more straight pool and banking and stuff like that – things I’m not great at. It made me enthusiastic to play more. We did a little straight pool challenge and I was real excited about doing it. I’ve played it maybe five times in my life, something like that. But what I’m saying is that from doing that, it makes me enthusiastic. If I put my mind to it, I’d be great for me. I’d learn a lot.

RD: I assume you have not gotten this far in the sport without feeling confident I your abilities. When you came to Derby City this year, did you expect you had a chance of winning it?

Allison: I never look at any (tournament) like that — whether it’s women’s or an open. But I would say that my confidence probably wasn’t where it should be, because it is the beginning of the year and I haven’t played since our nationals, which was a month and half ago. That was another reason I haven’t been interested in coming here before. It’s right after Christmas. It’s a bit early for me. I just got back from England and I wasn’t feeling great. I wouldn’t say I came with the best confidence in the world or the best preparation. That was what has put me off before, because it was right after the New Year.

RD: You say you don’t gamble?

Allison: No.

RD: You haven’t set foot in the action room?

Allison: I think the first day when we were navigating around, I stuck my head in for five minutes.

RD: You don’t plan on sticking your head in again?

Allison: Not really. I’ve been playing a lot and when I haven’t been playing, I have been resting. I think all that stuff goes all through the night and so I haven’t been up through the night. I like a routine. I like to go to bed at a certain time and get up at a certain time. … I like normal hours.

RD: Where to from here?

Allison: We’ll look for some little tournaments, won’t we? Our first ladies tournament is in March. So I bet we’re going play in some other little events in advance. Part of the reason for coming here is to have some match preparation. I know that Karen (Corr) plays a lot of events during the year besides the WPBA tour, and I (also) think I want to start improving my game by playing some more matches. You’ll see me around.

Fisher on Predator 9-Ball Tour

This coming weekend, September 6-7, will be the final open stop before the finale, which will be the First Annual Empire State Championship. The Predator 9-Ball Tour still will have an A/B/C/D stop on September 27-28 at Raxx in Long Island before the finale.

Please keep in mind that the only way to pay the normal entry in the finale is to play in three or more regular tour stops. Otherwise, you will have to pay double the entry.  All new registrations will also owe the $20 registration fee.

This weekend’s event will be a charity event to benefit the Michael Magro foundation. Michael Magro was a 13-year-old boy who died from leukemia, and it’s the Predator Tour’s honor to do this special event for these wonderful children who deserve an opportunity at life.

Tell everyone about this event as Allison Fisher, Gerda Hofstatter, Jeanette Lee, Jasmin Ouschan, and Mika Immonen will be attending this special tournament to help raise money for kids with leukemia.

Allison Fisher Nominated for Sportswoman of the Year

Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) superstar Allison Fisher has been nominated for “Sportswoman of the Year” award for her exemplary performance in billiards by Women’s Sports Foundation.

The selection process was not an easy task this year with the consideration of all the Olympic athletes, so this is a particularly high honor for Allison to be nominated among the individuals selected. Allison Fisher gathered more top honors to add to her already crowded collection.

In August of 2007 Fisher won her third consecutive Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) U.S. Open Championship, earning an unprecedented 50th WPBA title. Fisher came in second place at the WPBA Midwest Classic (October). In November of 2007 Fisher won her eighth WPBA National Championship in Lincoln City, Ore., solidifying her sixth consecutive Player of the Year award. Fisher started out 2008 on the same foot, winning the first WPBA event of the year, the San Diego Classic (April). She also placed third at the WPBA World 9-Ball Championship and won her second WPBA title of the year at the WPBA Great Lakes Classic times (June).

About the Women’s Sports Foundation

The Women’s Sports Foundation is an educational nonprofit (501(c)(3) charity) organization founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King. Its mission is to advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity.

One of the top five public grant-giving women’s funds in the United States, the Foundation distributes $10,000-20,000 per week from operating dollars to provide opportunities for socioeconomic underprivileged and inactive girls to participate in sports and physical activity.

The Foundation’s advocacy efforts have directly affected the amount of scholarship dollars supporting educational opportunities for female student-athletes in the United States. In 1972, women received only $100,000 but now receive $617 million a year.

About Allison Fisher

Allison Fisher is universally regarded as the most successful billiards player in history. Since winning her first world championship at age 17, she has amassed more world, national, and professional titles than any other sports star—male or female. Her personal achievements, industry contributions, and dedication to the less fortunate have transformed her into a true champion in sport and life, and her good natured elegance has endeared her to millions of fans around the world.

Allison was born in Cheshunt, England, on February 24, 1968. She began playing billiards at age seven and credits her parents, Peter and Christine, for enabling one of sports’ truly remarkable careers.
Today Allison dominates women’s cue-sports. She won 80 national and 11 world titles, and became a household name in Great Britain before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1995. Since immigrating to the United States, she has added 53 Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) “Classic Tour” titles and an unprecedented 21 international championships to her record.

Defending Champ Fisher Upset in First Round

The Women’s Professional Billiards Association’s (WPBA) U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships kicked off July 31 with a full 64-player field. This event will conclude August 3 and is hosted by Riverwind Casino in Norman, OK.

Top seed Allison Fisher was all set to defend her title against her first-round competitor, Iris Ranola, but in a stunning turn of events, was sent to the one-loss side after a nail-biting double-hill match. Ranola, who hails from the Philippines, has only appeared on the WPBA Tour twice but has been making quite an impression on the regional women’s tours around the country for the past few months. Her next match was against Aileen Dimmick, who bested Sarah Rousey 9-6 earlier, and Ranola also sent Dimmick to the west side of the chart 9-2.

Karen Corr, Xiaoting Pan, and Ga Young Kim are all tied in the WPBA rankings for second place. Pan, having made quick work of Zinnie Panju 9-4 and Ewa “The Striking Viking” Laurance 9-5, will next face off against Jeanette Lee, who has notched two strong 9-2 victories over My-Hanh Lac and Melissa Little. Corr also advanced, defeating Line Kjorsvik of Norway 9-4 and Joanne Ashton 9-4 to meet Vivian “The Texas Tornado” Villareal next. Finally, Kim won her first-round match against Michelle Rakin 9-5 and her second against Tiffany Nelson 9-6. Her next match will be against Ireland’s Julie Kelly.

Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan won her match with Tina Larsen 9-3 and then sent Alice Rim west 9-4. Ouschan’s next challenge will come from Kelly Fisher. Ranked fifth on the tour, Fisher has won her first two matches against Amanda Lampert and Kim White, both 9-3. However, sixth-ranked Anna Kostanian, though she won her first-round match against Lisa D’Atri 9-5, lost her second to Caroline Pao 9-4 and will have to fight her way through the one-loss side.