NWPA's Opener Won by Hartsell

By InsidePOOL Staff

The first NWPA tour stop of 2005 kicked off April 16 at The Cue Ball in Salem, OR. The event featured some great amateur action, and the $500-added money certainly helped to grow the excitement of this anticipated event, which had been postponed in March.

The top play of the weekend came from Mary Hopkin and Martha Hartsell, but both ladies took different paths to the finals.  o­n Saturday, Hartsell sent Hopkin to the o­ne-loss side, but that o­nly charged her up more, as she ousted Julie Valdez and Linda Carter to reach the semifinals.

In the winners' bracket, Hartsell was o­n a roll, as she reached the hot seat match against Deby Welfringer.  The two players traded games back and forth until the match reached 5 apiece, but Hartsell took four of the last five games to claim the victory.

Welfringer took her game to the semifinals to face the hot stroke of Hopkin, who kept her winning streak alive with a 7-2, helping her advance to the finals.  In the final match, Hopkin was looking for some revenge against Hartsell, but early o­n, all she could do was watch as Hartsell built a 4-1 lead.  Hopkin went o­n a small run to make it interesting, but Hartsell closed it out for the 9-6 win. 

Results:

1st Martha Hartsell $325

2nd Mary Hopkin $200

3rd Deby Welfringer $130

4th Linda Carter $70

5th Kerry Impson, Julie Valdez $45

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