Caukin Takes Ladies Fury WinBy J.A. Barnes  The Ladies Amateur Fury Tour began its second year with its season opener on January 29 at Fast Break Billiards in Longwood, FL. Helene Caukin came through undefeated against a small but talented field of Florida's finest players to collect her first Fury win.
Caukin started her day of with a hot stroke, sending Lisa Ashton, Amylyn Farrell, and Jessica Barnes to the west side. In the other winners' bracket, Amy Poulter was doing pretty much the same thing, as she breezed through with some impressive play of her own. Poulter and Caukin finally met in the hot seat match, and Caukin kept her winning streak alive, besting Poulter and earning the queen of the hill title for the final match. Poulter's opponent in the semifinals was Niki Rasmussen, who had fought her way through the one-loss side after an early-round loss to Patti Mitchell. Poulter took an early lead, but Rasmussen battled back to put the match at hill-hill. In the decisive game, Rasmussen had all but sealed the victory, but a miss on the 8 gave Poulter new life, which she quickly capitalized on to win the match and force a rematch with Caukin in the finals. Caukin, who didn't taste a Fury Tour victory in 2004, was determined to earn the victory as quickly as she could, and she started out exactly that way. In the race-to-9 final, Caukin took leads of 3-0 and 5-1 before Poulter stole the momentum. After she put together three straight wins to get within one game of the lead, Caukin bounced back with a win. But down 6-4, Poulter took advantage of two straight late misses by Caukin to put the match at 6 apiece. In the thirteenth rack, Caukin again gained control but was hooked on the 6 ball after a safety by Poulter. Caukin missed the kick shot, giving ball-in-hand to Poulter with an easy 6-9 combo left on the table. Poulter regained the lead at 7-6, but Caukin took two out of the next three racks to put the match at hill-hill. In the final game, Caukin had control of the table and wasted no time pocketing the last few balls to win her first Fury event 9-8. Results: 1st Helen Caukin $270 2nd Amy Poulter $160 3rd Niki Rasmussen $100 4th Patti Mitchell $60 Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the Fury Florida Ladies 9-Ball Tour.
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