Tara Williams Brings Home the Bacon

April 4^th & 5^th weekend the Billiard Den, Richardson, TX hosted the 3^rd stop of the OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour. Billiard Den is always a favorite stop of the OB Cues tour and hosts Larry & Marci Rothberg and all their staff provided awesome hospitality, service and friendly faces throughout the whole weekend. Thank you for everything that you do for us.

This stop also marked some major firsts for some of the players by overcoming some of their personal bests since playing on the tour. Fifty-six ladies were ready to do battle and even though several of our regular tour players were playing at the WPBA San Diego Classic, there were plenty of fan favorites amongst the crowd. Favorites at this event were Amanda Lampert, Tara Williams, Lisa Marr, and Kyu Yi just to name a few. After all the dust was settled, it would be Tara Williams and Ashley Nandrasy competing for the 1^st place guaranteed $750.

Tara had the toughest bracket to get through and it was predicted if she could get all the way through to the winner’s bracket, she would more than likely take it all. Her first match of the day was against Lisa Marr---always a force to be reckoned with on the tour. Tara soundly defeated Lisa with a 7-1 victory. Then she faced Tori Jones, Shayla Neris, Melinda Bailey, Amanda Lampert, and Ashley Nandrasy for the hot seat. Tara made it all the way to win the winner’s bracket, took a deep breath and awaited her opponent in the finals.

Ashley Nandrasy overcame her previous high 13-16^th place finishes in four previous OB Cues tour stops throughout the years, by gaining a spot in the finals. Ashley defeated Robyn Petrosino, Linda Long, Julie Stephenson, Elissa Jordan and then lost her 1^st match to Tara 2-7 when playing for the hot seat. She then secured a spot in the finals by defeating Lisa Henderson-Major, 7-1 and would have a rematch with Tara for the whole kit and caboodle.

Lisa Henderson-Major from Little Rock, Arkansas and a regular tour player and traveling buddy of Lisa Marr scored her all-time personal best on the OB Cues Tour. In the battle of the Lisa’s and travel partners on Sunday afternoon, Lisa Henderson-Major defeated Lisa Marr 7-6 to get to play for 3^rd place. Lisa lost to Ashley next match and placed 3^rd in the tournament, but earned her highest finish yet! Many, many congratulations Lisa---job well done.

Lisa Marr, after losing her 1^st round match to Tara, was not going to go out easily. She won 9 matches before losing to her road partner, Lisa and finishing 4^th place. Nice work, Lisa.

Additionally, we would like to mention that Elissa Jordan from Houston, Texas scored her highest finish ever by placing 5^th/6^th. Great shooting, Elissa!

As the finals were set with Tara vs. Ashley, it was more of a battle with the tables and rolls for both players in the first set. As both players tried to get something started, Ashley had several 9-ball combinations and fared better with the tables as she would win the 1^st set 7-5. Tara, with a look of frustration, was not out for the count. She dug deep down and pulled it into high gear and controlled the final match 7-2. Congratulations to Ashley for an outstanding 2^nd place finish! Fantastic job, Ashley!

Congratulations to Tara for her first tour win for the 2009 season. It was a lot of hard work and she came through like a champ. Great shooting, Tara!

Special Thanks to our sponsor, OB Cues. Anita, Don, Royce, you all are the best.

Our next stop is Bogie’s Billiard in Houston, Texas, June 13^th & 14^th. See you there.

Tournament Results:

Main Event – 56 players - $2,000 added

1^st – Tara Williams - $750

2^nd – Ashley Nandrasy - $580

3^rd – Lisa Henderson-Major - $415

4^th – Lisa Marr - $285

5^th/6^th– Elissa Jordan, Amanda Lampert - $165

7^th/8th – Kyu Yi, Tracie Voelkering - $120

9^th/12^th – Melinda Bailey, Deanna Henson, Julie Stephenson, Trinh Lu - $80

13^th/16h – Michelle Abernathy, Jennifer Pavlovick, Terry Petrosino, Shayla Neris - $50