The first set matched up Allison Fisher and Karen Corr.  At the WPBA U.S. Open in Albuquerque two weeks ago, Corr regained the top spot in the WPBA’s rankings with her second-place finish there.  Tonight, Fisher seemed determined to wreak her revenge and wiped Corr out of the first set with a 5-1 win.  The second set saw the players trade the lead at the beginning of the match, but Fisher pulled into the lead 3-2 after Corr came up empty o­n the break.  She then followed this with a break-and-run to reach the hill.  Corr broke and ran out to put another game under her belt, but Fisher scored yet another break and run to win the second set 5-3.

Defending champion Jeanette Lee met Helena Thornfeldt in the second semifinal match, and while the first set proceeded at a sluggish pace, Lee eventually came out ahead 5-3.  In the second set, Lee reached a 3-0 lead before Thornfeldt got o­n the board after accidentally getting safe o­n the 5 ball and forcing a miss by Lee.  After much safety play in the fifth rack, Lee won to reach the hill, and she looked as though she was out in the next rack until she hung the 6 ball, giving Thornfeldt another game.  However, “The Sledgehammer” kept o­n winning until she won the second set 5-4, sending the players into sudden death.

Lee won the lag, and after a safety battle over the 1 ball, Thornfeldt gained control of the table.  She looked good until she got funny o­n the 4 ball and ended up kissing it of the 5.  With an open table, Lee ran out the remaining balls to go o­n to the finals against Fisher.

 The finals were a rematch of last year’s final match between Lee and Fisher.  The first set went neck and neck until Fisher capitalized o­n a foul by Lee and won 5-4.  The second set saw Lee win the first game after Fisher missed the 5 ball, but then Fisher caught a groove and swept the next five games in a row to reclaim her title as the women’s champion of champions!

This event will be aired o­n January 11 and 12, 2005. 

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