Other slight surprises included seeing two of the three women in this open event surviving to the second round and then giving their male opponents more than they wanted. Although being spotted two games o­n the wire as a handicap, both Julie Gabriel of Hazelwood, MD, and Lisa Marr (pictured right)showed clear table skills: Marr bested Hein 7-2 before falling to Richard Pierce in a close o­ne; Gabriel bested John Jeans and then nearly outlasted Sam Baratz before a dry break at 6-all allowed him to run the table for a 7-6 squeaker.

Saturday, the main event kicks off at noon, in a double-elimination, race-to-9 format, concluding o­n Sunday.

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