As several of the WPBA Sponsors looked on with the capacity crowd at the Blue Chip Casino, Kelly Fisher and Jasmin Ouschan stepped up for the lag in the finals of the 2009 WPBA Great Lakes Classic. Both had won events last year, and were looking to win their first title of the new season. If Kelly won this event, she would vault back into the #1 position by herself. If she came in second, she would be tied for 1st place with Ga Young Kim.
If Jasmin were to win, she’d tie for 2nd along with Xiaoting Pan and Monica Webb. Jasmin won the lag and broke, but found herself embroiled in a safety battle with Kelly Fisher on several of the balls in the rack including the 7. Kelly stuck Jasmin directly behind the 9 but Jasmin was able to kick one side rail, leaving the 7 ball at the foot of the table and the cue ball near the 1st spot by the corner pocket. She attempted to cut the ball, missed but got lucky and left Jasmin hooked, the 7 ball having come to rest behind the 9. Jasmin kicked from the back rail, and the two kept going back and forth until finally Jasmin gained the upper hand and finished out the rack to win the first game of the match.
Kelly broke in game 2 but failed to pocket a ball. Jasmin had a touchy thin cut on the one and the crowd applauded as she made it with positing for the 2/9 combination. Just like that, she earned her 2nd game in just minutes of play to go up 2-0 and into game 3 with the break advantage. She pocketed the 3 ball, but the one proved unmake-able and she chose to play a great safety, striking the cue ball behind the 7 forcing Kelly to kick. She missed entirely giving Jasmin ball in hand, but Jasmin failed to take advantage of the opportunity and missed the 6 ball. As luck would have it, she didn’t leave Kelly an open shot so Kelly sent the 6 ball to the side rail behind the 7. Jasmin could see enough of the ball to play a great cross bank to the side pocket and left herself straight in on the 7. She drew back the cue ball for the 8, giving herself an out and taking a 3-0 lead.
