This will not be Briana Miller's last victory; you are sure to see this 14 year old again. Briana sailed through the 23 player field at Castle Billiards Bar & Grill Oct. 11, 2009. The event was a WPA qualifier for the Worlds with $1500 added. Without losing a single match Briana went straight to the top. Her victims were Yomaylin Feliz, Olga Gashkova, Fran Crimi, and twice over Erin McManus. The players that returned Sunday on the 1-loss side were Brenda Heras who continued over Colleen Shoop 7-2 and JiHyun Park- Thompson who beat Olga Gashkova 7-2. The winners side saw Erin McManus over Megan Smith 7-3and Briana Miller vs. Fran Crimi 7-3. Briana Miller's second match was with another up and coming player, Erin McManus for the hot seat. The match went back and forth for the first few games. It was played very quickly 7-4. Erin went over to the one loss side to meet Megan Smith and was very anxious to return and get another shot at the 14 year old wonder. Erin carefully diagnosed her waiting opponent Megan Smith. Megan Smith’s victories over Ji-Hyun Park Thompson 7-5 and Brenda Heras 7-4 were very intense. They were two very worthy opponents. She was ready and waiting for Erin. The match started with Erin jumping out ahead 3 games. It took no time for Megan to catch up trailing 5-3. In the ninth game Erin caught a second wind and won 7-4. After a short break the finals started with Erin winning the lag and breaking and running out. Erin doesn’t make any balls on the second break and Briana comes to the table and runs out. Briana breaks and runs out the next rack also, but doesn’t have a shot on the one ball on the next rack. Erin takes this game to make the score 2-2. The next couple games go into some safty play and Briana take a nice lead at 6-2. In the 9th rack, Briana misses a tough jump shot over the five ball this allows Erin to capture 2 games. She is unable to hold on to the table. Briana comes back to leave her at 4 and takes the win. Thanks to all of our supporters, John and Minnie Trobiano of Castle Billiards and Cuetec Cues, Rick Phillippi, “The MONK” and BeBobPublishing, for all their support of this event. Congratulations to Erin McManus for winning the spot to CHINA, also to JiHyun Park Thonpsom and Rhio Flores they are going to the APA Amateur Nationals. Briana Miller will be going to Nicaragua in November to represent the United States in the WPA Junior World 9-Ball Championship
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It was a great weekend at Hot Shots in Deptford, Nj August 22 2009 where 24 women gathered for a 9 Ball tournament to battle to the top for the chance to play in the WPBA Colorado Classic event in September. A few of our entries came a long way to play including Veronique Menard from Canada, Bora Jeong from Korea. Saturday started off with Veronique sending Bora Jeong to the one loss side in the second round. Sunday the final 8 remain. 1 loss side: Bora Jeoung wins over Linda Shea. Briana Miller knocks out Veronique Menard. No losses side: Pam Cimarelli sends Cadi Rego to the 1 loss side. Kim Smith sends Megan Smith to the 1 loss side. Pam wins the hot seat over Kim Smith. Bora Jeoung is going strong, she ploys through the 1 loss side to meet Pam in the winners circle. The final match was going back and forth for the first few games. Pam was very focused and determine, at 6-8 Pam breaks in the 9 ball but scratches. Bora Jeong comes to the table with ball in hand. The table is wide open except for the one ball is tied up with the six. Bora sets up to play safe and try a combo on the nine at the other end of the table. Amazing shot, she played a perfect safe and made a beautiful combination on the nine..WINNING Click here to view photos from this event

The final day of the J. Pechauer Custom Cues Northeast Women’s 9-Ball Tour (JPNEWT) at Primetime Bar & Grill in Sayreville, New Jersey (www.ptsportsbar.com) has come to a close. Again many thanks to owner Kevin Seltzer and his staff for taking care of all the ladies this weekend! The New Jersey State 9-Ball Championship has been decided with WPBA star Karen Corr coming out on top of the forty-four player field from the one-loss side loosing the hot-seat to none other than Kelly Fisher, with the 2010 US Open qualifier acquired by Pamela Cimarelli. Sunday started off with a dynamic field including such names as Iris Ranola, Karen Corr, Megan Smith, My-Hanh Lac, Kelly Fisher, Julie Kelly, and Pam Cimarelli. Also included in the twelve players returning, Morgan Steinman, Candi Rego, Ji-Hyun Park Thompson, Borana Andoni, and Ashea Erdahl. The no-loss side of the board quickly dwindled down to Corr (d. J. Kelly 7-1) and Fisher (d. P. Cimarelli 7-5), while the one-loss side saw advances from Iris Ranola over Erdahl 7-3, Park Thompson 7-1, and Cimarelli 7-2 before her final loss to Julie Kelly 7-4 (ironically, the same score that put her on the one-loss side and the same player to do it). Lac ended with the same fate against Julie Kelly but her set ended on the hill 7-6. The semis saw Corr and Kelly battle it out to see who would return to the final arena with Fisher - Corr took the 7-5 win to avenge her earlier hot-seat loss. In the modified race final set (race to nine if one-loss side winner hits seven first or to seven if the hot-seat winner gets there first), Fisher jumped out to a 5-2 lead. Corr took a quick break and came back to take the lead and was the first to jump on seven as Fisher sat at six. Next rack, Fisher tied it up 7-7 but in the following game, an unusual miscue on a six ball just six inches from the side pocket allowed Corr to take the hill. The final rack offered plenty of safety play before a missed safety by Fisher and a run out of the final few balls by Corr. Next up on the schedule, August 22nd-23rd at Hot Shots Billiards (hotshotnj.com) in Deptford, New Jersey. This approximately $1500 added stop is slated to be a qualifier for the WPBA Colorado Classic. Then, Castle Billiards (www.castlebilliards.com) in East Rutherford, NJ (approx. $1500 added) on September 26th-27th. The schedule continues to grow. If you are interested in finding out more about the tour, being added to the email distribution list, or sponsorship opportunities, contact Linda Shea directly at email sheaece@aol.com or call (443) 852-0020.
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On Saturday, May 23rd, a beautiful Memorial Day weekend in East Rutherford, NJ, the ladies of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women's Tour could be found heating up Castle Billiards with what is no doubt some of the best women's pool in the Northeast. While many people were out enjoying the holiday, 39 of the toughest players from across the region showed their dedication to the game, and turned out to vie for a WPBA qualifier, including Megan Smith (formerly Minerich), Holly Sholes, Pamela Cimarelli (formerly Treadway) My-Hanh Lac, and 13-year-old phenom Briana Miller. To follow up her 2nd place performance at the Primetime Billiards stop, Pamela Cimarelli, who is sponsored by Hot Shot Billiards in Deptford, NJ, dominated this very strong field of players, running undefeated through the weekend, to claim the title. There were numerous hard-fought battles throughout this event, and nearly as many upsets from some young breakthrough players. For one, Rhio Anne Flores (Jersey City, NJ) had a standout performance, defeating Maryann Giambanis (7-1), Sharon O'Hanlon (7-1), and taking a strong 7-3 victory over My-Hanh Lac. In the following round, Rhio would fall to Megan Smith (7-4), only to come back to beat Holly Sholes (7-5) on the one-loss side, which landed her the WPBA entry. However, Rhio was then ousted by My-Hanh Lac in a one-sided 7-2 match. Ms. Flores, who is currently ranked #8 on the tour, is not only making her mark in the ladies' arena, but also holds the #5 spot in the C+ class on the Tri-State Tour. On the other side of the bracket, up-and-comer Borana Andoni ran through Janice Larocca (7-2), Sherry Pouncey (7-4), Liz Persiano (7-3), to then upset Erica Testa in a hill-hill trial by fire. However, on day 2, Borana fought tooth-and-nail against the firepower of Pamela Cimarelli, who closed out the set 7-5. However, outside of the upstarts, some of the JPNEWT's strongholds were making their mark as well. Megan Smith came through the winner's bracket in true grinding fashion, with wins over Melissa Jenkins (7-5), Holly Sholes (7-6), Linda Shea (7-6), and Rhio Anne Flores (7-4). This run would land her in the finals of the winner's bracket against Pamela Cimarelli. In this match, Pamela would keep an edge over Megan, who stayed hot on her trail. With the score 6-5, Megan lost the chance to go hil-hill after a fatal miscue, and Pamela took the game along with the match. One the one-loss side, a number of other strong players battled it out to see who would come back to compete on Sunday, Day 2 of this rigorous event. Sunday Morning's Matchups: My-Hanh Lac over Leslie Furr (7-3)
Briana Miller over Linda Shea (7-5)
Holly Sholes over Erica Testa (7-1)
Katie Cowan over Supadra Boonparsook (7-4) Following that round, My-Hanh Lac then went on to defeat 13-year-old Briana Miller, in a match that swung back and forth, with the match staying locked at 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4, but My-Hanh pulled away to win 7-5. Holly Sholes also dominated over Katie Cowan of Charlotte, NC with a 7-2 win. However Katie had a strong performance in this event, winning 5 matches on the one-loss side after a 2nd round loss to Erica Testa. In the next round, coming off a winner's side loss, Rhio Flores knocked out Holly in a match that Holly came out leading 2-0. However, Rhio would capitalize on Holly's mistakes in this hard-fought match, to win 7-5, and claim the qualifier. My-Hanh Lac would also eliminate Borana Andoni (7-1) after her loss to Pamela Cimarelli. After a one-sided 7-2 win over Rhio, My-Hanh would match up with Megan Smith for the semi-final. Both ladies had been playing strong throughout the event, but Megan stormed ahead 5-2 in this match, and with My-Hanh ending up hooked, a few times, Megan kept control of the match to win 7-5. The final was a rematch between the undefeated Pamela Cimarelli & Megan Smith. The format was a race to 7/9--since Pam was undefeated, if she got to 7 first, she would win the match, but if Megan got to 7 first, they would go to 9 games. When the score was tied at 2-2, Pamela pulled away to lead the match 4-2, and was looking confident. This was a defining point in the match, as after the players exchanged safeties, Megan made a thin-cut 3 ball while leaning over the 5-ball. This slightly moved the 5, and the cue ball came around 2 rails to pocket it, meaning the shot was interfered with, giving Pamela ball-in-hand, to lead 5-2. But Smith was not going down without a fight, breaking and running out twice and making the most of Cimarelli's errors, to tie at 6-6. In the following game, Megan starts out with a safe on the 1 ball and gets ball in hand, but can't get a shot at the 2. They exchange safeties, but after Pamela makes the 2, the 3 ball is still tied up. Pam misses the safe, and Megan comes back with a lock-up safe on the 4, forcing her to foul. While it looks like smooth sailing for Smith, she ends up with a long shot on the 8 and misses, to turn the match over to Cimarelli. Both of these top players had an impressive weekend, and although Pamela commented that felt like she did not play her best, it was clear that she was the force to be reckoned with at this event. Congratulations to all the ladies who came out to Castle to compete! The next stop on the JPNEWT will be held at Primetime Sports Bar & Grill, in Sayreville, NJ, July 18-19, so make sure to come out to support these talented players.

Raxx Bar & Grill was the host for the J.Pechauer NorthEast Women’s tour with 25 women coming from as far as Turkey to compete for the NY State 9-ball Championship title on May 2nd & 3rd. Holden Chen, the proprietor of Raxx, was a very gracious host. His room features great food with a full menu and full bar. The fantastic food, the equipment, and the friendly wait staff and room management really made this event enjoyable. Raxx added $1500 toward the prize fund, which included a paid qualifier spot for the 2009 United States 9-Ball Open being held in Oklahoma. The competition proved to be challenging right from the start, in which some of the round one the match ups included My-Hanh Lac and Emily Duddy with My-Hanh losing on the hill 7-6, sending her to the one loss side earlier than she is used to. Emily had a great tournament and posted wins over Pam Ogarek, Caroline Pao and Erin McManus. Another round one upset was completed by Mindy Rodriguez (manager at Raxx) who sent Gail Glazebrook to the one loss side 7-6. This was Mindy’s first competition and she finished 9-12th. Congratulations Mindy for a great event. I’m sure we will be seeing more of Mindy Rodriguez. There were many great matches throughout the two day event including Briana Miller with a victory over Linda Shea sending her to the 1-loss side. The hot seat match saw Briana Miller taking on her friend and training partner Megan Smith. Megan took an early lead and Briana started to chip away at that as she learned that she earned the qualifying spot for the US Open when My-Hanh Lac defeated Emily Duddy on the adjoining table. Megan was able to hold off the challenge and won the set 7-4. My-Hanh continued her winning streak on the B side of the chart by finishing off Briana 7-2. The final battled back and forth to 5-5 with both pros determined to become the NY State Champ. My-Hahn fought to extend the race and actually won the battle 9-6. We also had a raffle with prizes awarded to Naomi Fingerhut, Colleen Shoop and Tony! Our next stop will be Castle Billiards May 23th & 24st, but we will hope to return to Raxx Bar & Grill. Come out and join us…See you there!!!!
Click here to view photos from the NY State Championship

full field of 35 participated in the JPNEWT event on the weekend of April 18 - 19 at Primetime Sports Bar & Grill, Sayreville, NJ. This room houses a full resturant, bar and a new comedy club, including 20 Gold Crown's pocket billiard tables. The level of competition was very impressive with Karen Corr, Pam Cimarelli, Julie Kelly. Pam Cimarelli went undefeated into Sunday after sending Karen Corr to the 1-loss side Saturday evening. On the one loss side, Karen worked her way back to Pam Cimarelli playing Cheryl Squire, Liz Ford,, Supadra Boonpasook, Nnew member Rhio Flores, and finally Julie Kelly to go back over and get another shot at the title. Pamela Cimarelli stayed very confident and extremely strong through the entire event. The final round with Karen Corr coming from the one loss side showed some amazing abilities from both players. The final score was 9-2 Karen Corr. Pamela Cimarelli takes the Qualifier spot for the WPBA Classic Tour 2009. Top 8 were Karen Corr, 2nd Pam Cimarelli, 3rd Julie Kelly, 4th Rhio Flores, 5/6th Supadra Boonpasook & Candi Rego, 7/8th Liz Ford and Linda Shea. We want to thank J.Pechauer Cues www.pechauer.com and Primetime Sports Bar & Grill www.primetimecomedyonline.com for all their continued support of women in billiards. JPNEWT's next event will be the New New York State Championships on May 2nd & 3rd at Raxx's poolroom Bar & Grill www.raxxpoolroom.com.