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Fitchner Tastes First Victory  Julie Valdez
Jackie Fitchner scored big when she took her first championship on The Northwest Women's Pool Association tour. Bagging not only a cash prize, Fitchner also won a paid entry into the WPBA Cuetec Cues Canadian Classic in Windsor, ontario, this October. Fitchner beat out a tough field at Jillian's in Seattle, WA, on July 17-18, 2004, to secure her place among the pros.
With some of the tour's top players either absent from the event or knocked out early, the top spots were left wide open. A number of strong players came out to compete in the $500-added event and to try for the WPBA qualifier that was made possible by billiard newspaper The Break.
By Saturday night there were just eight players left. Kim Gates easily moved Fitchner to the "B" side with a 7-2 victory. Determined not to allow anyone to take the prospect of a rematch away from her, Fitchner patiently waited to see who would challenge her for the chance to play in the final.
Deby Welfringer, who played with determination and confidence, made her way to the semifinals by defeating Shari Ross 7-6 and Julie Valdez 7-0, before suffering a hill-hill loss to Gates. She fought her way through the west side of the chart to arrive in the semifinal match with Fitchner, who finally knocked her out of the tournament with a 7-2 win and moved onto the finals against Gates.
Everyone was on the edge of their seats as tour veteran Gates easily took the lead 6-2 in the single race-to-9 final. Regaining her confidence and focus, Fitchner soon tied the match 7-7. Gates took the hill first and had a shot on the 9 to win the match, but she missed, leaving Fitchner a fairly tough shot requiring the bridge to bring it hill-hill. Fitchner then played tough and with lots of determination to come out victorious with a hard-earned final decision of 9-8.
Results:
1st Jackie Fitchner $435 + Paid WPBA Spot 2nd Kim Gates $280 3rd Deby Welfringer $185 4th Martha Hartsell $145 5th Linda Carter, Cindy Doty $86 7th Trish Lee, Shari Ross $66 Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.
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