The Finals were set as two fierce competitors entered the arena, ready to do battle for the title of the 2009 WPBA Tour Champion. Jasmin Ouschan is coming into this final poised to win her third WPBA title of the season, and Xiaoting was looking for her first win since the 2008 BCA Generationpool.com event. The crowd was amped up and ready for a great match as the competitors stepped into the arena for the lag which Jasmin won.
She broke and pocketed two balls; the table layout was wide open with one exception, the 2 ball which was tied up with an unmake-able combo so Jasmin elected to play safe. Xiaoting kicked at the 2 ball, hitting it but leaving Jasmin an open shot for the side pocket. Jasmin ran out to take the first game of the match. Xiaoting broke and was forced to play a safety, and after a short exchange, Jasmin gained the advantage by making a tough cut on the 1 ball. She earned decent position on the 2 but missed it, perhaps thinking too much about getting to the 3 ball. Xiaoting took advantage of the error, running out to the 7 but she snookered herself behind the 9. She jumped and made the 7 in the side but the cue ball came right back around behind the 9 again! She chose to kick at it 2 rails and missed the ball entirely giving Jasmin ball in hand for the easy 1-2 punch to go up 2 games to nothing.
Jasmin broke in game 3, pocketing two balls with a touchy little cut on the 1 ball to start the rack. Nailing the shot beautifully, she sent the cue ball back and forth 3 times between the two side rails with position for the 2 ball up-table. From there it was just a matter of intense focus as Jasmin ran out to take a 3 game lead, 3-0. Xiaoting made the 1 ball on her break and after a tricky little cut on the 2 ball, continued on with the 3. She had left herself a long cut shot into the opposite corner pocket with only 4” separating the 3 and the cue ball and she undercut it slightly. She got another opportunity though when Jasmin missed the ball. Xiaoting made the 3 with great position on the 5 ball and ran out to
WPBA 2009 Tour Championships – Final Match
take her first game of the match, down 1-3. Jasmin had the break advantage in game 5, making the 1 and 3 balls with position for the 2 and put together her 3rd break and run of the match to go up 4-1.
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