Mueller Recreational Products West Coast Classic Kicks OffBy “Fast Mike” McCafferty Sixty-four of the world’s top women 9-ball players got down to business in the opening round of the Mueller Recreational Products West Coast Classic, and the sparse crowd of loyal fans were treated to some big surprises. In a major upset, crowd favorite and eleventh-ranked Jennifer “The Silencer” Barretta just could not get going against Helene Caukin, and with the score 5-0, it looked hopeless for Barretta. Caukin was playing flawlessly despite a weak break, but the tide turned and Barretta picked up a couple of tentative wins. Caukin allowed Barretta to recover some ground, but the final score was 9-6 Caukin, sending Barretta to the one-loss side. Across the room, number two-ranked Karen Corr was having severe difficulty with Liz Schwartzreich, who fought gamely to tie the score at 5-5, and it looked as if she just may be able to pull off the surprise win of her career, but in the end Corr closed the door and went on to win without any further trouble. Jeanette Lee had virtually no sweat whatsoever with her first match, rolling over Ellen Van Buren 9-2. Allison Fisher won, of course, but gave up three games to Kim White. It was a great day for the Irish as Julie Kelly showed no mercy whatsoever as she dominated Britain’s Val Finnie 9-0. Melinda Huang, although undefeated in the Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour in January and an awesome shot-maker, just could not get anything going against Ga-Young Kim. The reigning U.S. Open champion Kim ruled 9-1. The popular San Diego favorite amateur Tina Pawloski threatened number nine-ranked Vivian Villarreal by tying the score at 5 games each, but that’s when Villareal got serious and went on to close out the match without any further difficulty. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the Mueller Recreational Products West Coast Classic.
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