1st - Candi Rego + $600 + 2008 US Open Qualifier
2nd - Kim Smith + $425
3rd - Buffy Jolie + $315
4th - Morgan Steinman + $200
5th/6th - Caroline Pao, Barbara Stock + $100
7th/8th - Michelle Li, Erica Testa + $50

With only 10 minutes left to sign up, the usual suspects of the Pechauer NorthEast Women’s Tour began to feel like they had dodged the bullets of the big guns of the WPBA. They were wrong. At 10:50 am, Karen Corr and Julie Kelly crossed the threshold of The House of Billiards to play in the New York State 9-Ball Championships on October 13th and 14th. The sounds of players practicing grew quieter and the groans were audible. “It’s a bit chilly in here – I might have to play with my jacket on”, quipped Julie as she and Karen signed up. “No refunds!!” shouted a joking and laughing Tournament Director Barbara Stock. More groans ensued with a few sighs here and there. But for the luck of the draw, Julie and Karen had to play each other in the first round. Karen lost. And that would be the last time she lost. Karen raced through the 1-loss side posting wins over Naomi Fingerhut, Supadra Boonpasook, and Sharon O’Hanlon before having to meet up with Julie again in the final round for Saturday night. Julie didn’t win this time and had to settle for 7th/8th place. Meanwhile, on the undefeated side of the chart, My Hanh Lac was running through her opponents – Erin McManus, Julie Kelly, and Candi Rego before sending Morgan Steinman to face Karen after winning the hot seat in a 7-4 score. Morgan ended up in 3rd after a 7-1 match with Karen. In the finals, Karen dominated the match, allowing My Hanh only 3 games to her 9, taking back the NY State Title she had held in 2002 and 2003. JPNEWT thanks Room Owners Rob Riccardi, Anthony Stilletto, Joe Zancocchio, and HOB staff Cookie, and Al, at The House of Billiards. The Ladies had a wonderful time and we appreciate your support of not only this event, but for Women’s pool as well!! J Results:

Zinnie Panju almost didn’t get a chance to win the Maryland State 9-ball title. The original venue was cancelled at the last minute, but with the resourcefulness of Ceci Strain, Linda Shea, and Champion Billiards Café owner Gary Allen, the event was rescheduled at Champion Billiards Café in Fredericksburg, MD. Thank you Ceci, Linda, Gary, and Michael Ricciardella who posted up the money for the WPBA Qualifier!! Zinnie ran undefeated through the field posting wins over Kathleen Lawless, My Hanh Lac, Sherry Pouncey, and Buffy Jolie. She then won the hot seat against Supadra Boonpasook with a 7-1 score. Supadra posted wins over Erica Testa, Linda Shea, and Sharon O’Hanlon before being sent to the left side of the chart by Zinnie. Supadra then won 7-2 over Buffy Jolie before meeting up with Zinnie again for the finals. Zinnie would post up 4 games before Supadra got onto the scoreboard. Supadra then answered with 4 games before Zinnie reached the hill. Zinnie won 7-4 to claim the title. Congrats to Zinnie Panju!!

Karen Corr went undefeated in a field of 31 players to win the NJ State 9-ball Championships at Prime Time Billiards and Sports Café in South Amboy NJ. Other WPBA Pros in attendance included Julie Kelly, Kim Shaw, and Gerda Hofstatter, as well as JPNEWT POY Morgan Steinman and POY Runner-Up Caroline Pao, to compete for a prize fund worth over $5000. Karen didn’t have the easiest ride to the hot seat match after her first match win over Carina Lawrence, as she had to play Julie Kelly in the second round and then Gerda Hofstatter in the round after that. Meanwhile, Zinnie Panju was having a strong Saturday by posting match wins over Barbara Stock, Candi Rego, and Liz Ford. When the final eight returned on Sunday it was Karen facing My-Hanh Lac, and Zinnie Panju playing Palma Kogan. Karen won over My-Hanh and Zinnie sent Palma to the left side of the chart as well to set up the hot seat match. With the score tied at 5-5, Karen’s skills and knowledge of the game overpowered Zinnie and Karen won 7-5. On the left side of the chart My-Hanh posted wins over Liz Ford and Gerda Hofstatter to face off against Zinnie for the final match with Karen. My-Hanh won 7-4 over Zinnie. In the finals Karen jumped out to a 5-1 lead before My-Hanh could win another game. Karen finished the match with a 7-2 score for the championship title. Congrats to Karen and congrats to My-Hanh for winning the US Open Qualifier!! JPNEWT thanks Prime Time Billiards Room Manager Adam Seltzer and Room Owner Kevin Seltzer for another outstanding event! JPNEWT’s next event will be the Maryland State 9-ball Championships at Bill and Billies CuesPort in Arnold, MD. This event will feature $1500 and a WPBA 2008 US Open Qualifier.

Bora Jeong won her first JPNEWT event at Comet Billiards on June9th/10th. Bora went undefeated through the field posting wins over Supadra Boonpasook, Amy Walker, Candi Rego and Zinnie Panju to meet up with Caroline Pao for the hot seat. Bora then sent Caroline to the left side of the chart in a 7-3 win. Caroline posted wins over Kiana Clark, Morgan Steinman, Kathy Friend, and Melony Page before losing the hot seat race. Caroline then won 7-2 over Zinnie Panju to rematch with Bora in the finals. The outcome of the finals would be an almost exact repeat of the hot seat match with Bora winning the event and Qualifier with a 7-2 score. JPNEWT thanks Bill and Marcia Haley and the Comet staff for another wonderful event. JPNEWT’s next event will be the 2007 New Jersey State 9-ball Championships at Prime Time Billiards on July 14th/15th with $4000 added with a US Open Qualifier up for grabs.

Fox Takes BCA Qualifier at Prime Time Billiards They came far and wide to compete at Prime Time Sports Bar and Billiard Café on April 14th and 15th – Dawn Fox from her new home in the South, and Meng Meng Zhou from Mainland China. In the end, it was the two that did travel the furthest to play in the finals for one of the last BCA Vegas Qualifiers up for grabs. Zhou cruised through the field undefeated with wins over Kathy Friend, Buffy Jolie and Naomi Fingerhut to match up against the two-tour POY, Morgan Steinman. Zhou dispatched Morgan to the left side of the chart with a 7-3 score. Dawn Fox posted wins over Kiana Clark, but was sent to the left side of the chart by Naomi Fingerhut. Dawn then continued on her way with wins over Erica Testa, Palma Kogan, Pam Ogarek, Naomi Fingerhut, and Buffy Jolie to match up with Morgan Steinman. Dawn left Morgan in 3rd place with a 7-3 win to match up to Zhou in the finals. In the modified race to 9, if Zhou reached 7 games first, the match is over and Zhou wins. If Dawn reached 7 games first, they would have to play out to 9. Dawn built up an 8-4 lead over Zhou, but Zhou dug in to come back hill-hill. In the final rack Zhou made a ball but had to push out. Dawn answered back with a safe. Zhou ran out to the 4, but missed and left Dawn a wide-open table to take the event and Qualifier. JPNEWT thanks Brian and Adam Seltzer of Prime Time Billiards for hosting this event and looks forward to returning in July for the NJ State Women’s 9-ball Championships. JPNEWT’s next event will be June 9th/10th at Comet Billiards for a WPBA Qualifying event.

Morgan Steinman overcame a second round loss to Caroline Pao to win the Pechauer NorthEast Women’s Tour opener at Comet Billiards. Morgan, the 2006 POY of two Regional tours, started off with a win over Naomi Fingerhut, but was sent to the left side of the chart by Caroline in a 7-4 loss. From there Morgan raced through her matches with wins over Susan Schmidt, Carol (Toots) Clark, Gail Glazebrook, Kathleen Lawless, Supadra, Boonpasook, Kathy Friend, and Sharon O’Hanlon before her rematch with Caroline in the finals. Caroline posted wins over Judie Wilson, Morgan, Cyndi Haefner, and Supadra Boonpasook be fore matching up with Sharon O’Hanlon for the hot seat. Caroline won the hot seat with a 7-2 score. Sharon then lost to Morgan for her personal high tour finish of 3rd place. And since Caroline and Morgan were ineligible to win the Qualifier spot, Sharon also won her first Qualifier. Congrats Sharon! The finals started out well for Caroline who jumped to a 4-1 lead, but Morgan came back to rally to lead 7-5 with 3 9-breaks in a row with the alternate break format. Morgan kept up the steam and finished with a 9-6. JPNEWT thanks Bill and Marcia Haley for hosting this event and we look forward to returning in June. JPNEWT’s next event will be a BCA Qualifier at Prime Time Billiards in South Amboy, April 14th and 15th

Morgan Steinman had a stellar year with the Regional Tours, to say the least. She started with a 5th/6th place finish at the January Regional Tour Championships that featured 55 of the top Semi-Pro players in the country. Then Morgan proceeded to win back-to-back events in JPNEWT to secure her POY status. But that wasn’t all. Morgan was also the McDermott New England Women’s Tour POY as well. In the history of the Regional Tours, this is the first time one player captured two tours at one time. Congrats Morgan!! As was the same with November event, Morgan went undefeated to meet up with 2005 POY Caroline Pao. With a first round bye, Morgan then scored wins over Pam Ogarek, and Sandra Pereira before successfully defending a hot seat win over Caroline Pao, 7-4. Caroline Pao scored wins over Barbara Stock, Carol Clark, and Supadra Boonpasook before being sent to the left side of the chart to meet up with JPNEWT rookie Erica Testa. Erica lost her first match to Noell Rima, but surged through the left side of the chart with wins over Melissa Jenkins, Carol Clark, Naomi Fingerhut, Supadra Boonpasook, and Sandra Pereira before succumbing to Caroline Pao. Congrats to Erica on her 3rd place finish in her rookie year!! In the finals Morgan ran up a 4-1 lead over Caroline. Caroline answered back with 5 games to go up 5-4. Morgan and Caroline traded the next two racks with Caroline reaching the first hill at 6-5. If Caroline were to have reached 7 games first, they would have to play out to 9. Morgan regrouped and won the next two racks to make the finals 7-6. JPNEWT thanks Clifton Billiards room owner Lee Kutchenreuther and his staff, Sandy and Michelle for another wonderful event. We also thank J. Pechauer Custom Cues for their continued support.

Morgan Steinman may have started off on a wrong note in losing her first match hill-hill to JPNEWT newcomer Naomi Fingerhut, but that just made her more determined to dominate the left side of the chart on Saturday and Sunday. Morgan slowly but surely gathered steam through the two-day event to rack up her first JPNEWT event win on Sunday in a 9-3 final against JPNEWT’s #1 ranked player Gina Lipsky. Morgan posted wins over Judie Wilson, Barbara Stock, Amy Johns, Erica Testa, Sharon O’Hanlon, Colleen Shoop, and Charlotte Reeder to meet up with Gina in the finals. Gina posted wins over Kathy Fiend, Dee Barbules, Supadra Boonpasook, and Sharon O’Hanlon before meeting up with Charlotte Reeder for the hot seat match, which she won 7-4. Charlotte then lost 7-4 to Morgan to finish in 3rd place. JPNEWT thanks Cosmo Salerno and Amy Johns for hosting an event on such short notice and we look forward to returning next year. JPNEWT’s year finale will be a $500-added event on December 3rd and 4th at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

Dawn Hopkins went undefeated to win the New York State Women’s 9-Ball Championships held on October 7th and 8th at House of Billiards in Staten Island. While the turnout was off a bit, the “Usual Suspects” showed up to vie for the POY title to be determined in December. On her way to victory, Dawn posted wins over Naomi Williams, Erica Testa, and Sherry Pouncey to meet up with Tour newcomer Naomi Fingerhut for the hot seat match. Naomi had her best tournament finish of the year with scoring wins over Melissa Jenkins, Joanne Corbett, and Gina Lipsky be fore getting knocked to the left side of the chart by Dawn in a 7-2 match. Naomi then lost out to Erin McManus for a 3rd place. Congrats to Naomi on her highest tour finish to date!! Erin McManus took a break from life as a college student to come out and play with the tour for the first time two years. Erin posted a win over Kathy Friend before being sent to the wrong side of the chart by Sherry Pouncey. Erin gathered a head a steam and won her next matches over Erica Testa, Gina Lipsky and JPNEWT POY Caroline Pao to face Naomi Fingerhut. Erin won over Naomi 7-3 to match up with Dawn in the finals. All the steam seemed to let out of Erin as Dawn won the first 4 games before Erin got on the board. Erin would only manage to win one more game as Dawn gave a clinic on how to play and went on to win 7-2. Congrats to Erin for winning her first Qualifier! JPNEWT thanks House of Billiards owners Joe Zancocchio, Anthony Silletto, and Rob Riccardi for hosting this event, and we look forward to coming back next year. JPNEWT also thanks Pechauer Custom Cues for their continued support. JPNEWT’s next event is at Cosmo’s Billiards in Dickson City, PA on November 4th and 5th.

A full 32 player field turned out for the $2000-added New Jersey State 9-Ball Championships at Prime Time Sports Bar and Billiards on September 15th and 16th. Kelly Fisher and Val Finnie traveled from North Carolina to battle for the title while Dawn Hopkins drove north in her home state to attempt to regain the title she had won once before. On Sunday the final six returned to Prime Time with match-ups for 5th/6th place between Liz Ford and JPNEWT POY Caroline Pao, and Alexandra Calabrese and Supadra Boonpasook. Liz and Supadra emerged the winners and since Liz was not eligible for the US Open Qualifier, Supadra won her very first Qualifier. Congrats Supadra!! The hot seat match commenced at 12:30 pm between Kelly Fisher and Dawn Hopkins. Kelly posted wins over Kathy Friend, Janice Larocca, Val Finnie, and Caroline Pao. Dawn won her matches against Liz Ford, Kathleen Lawless, Gina Lipsky, and Alexandra Calabrese. “Quik Fire” Fisher won the hot seat with a 7-2 score. Dawn then rematched with Liz Ford and won again, 7-3. The finals may have been a repeat of the players from the hot seat match, but Dawn emerged from her match with Liz with a new determination for the final showdown. In the modified finals race, Kelly had to reach 7 games first to win, but if Dawn reached 7 games first, they had to play out to 9. Kelly won the lag and the first game, but Dawn won the next two games and from then on Dawn could not gain more than a one-game lead over Kelly in a virtual “catch-up” battle. With the score tied at 6-6, Dawn won the first hill-hill to continue the race to 9. Kelly was able to take the lead, 8-7, in the 15th rack, but Dawn forced a second hill-hill, tying the score at 8-8. In the final rack Dawn came up dry on the break. Kelly faced a half-ball hit on the 1, but took a chance and played a 1-9 carom that split the pocket to win the match and the title for 2006. JPNEWT thanks Prime Time Billiards and Heinekin for hosting the event. We also thank Pechauer Custom Cues for their continued support. JPNEWT’s next event is the New York State Championships at House of Billiards in Staten Island on October 7th and 8th.

It took Kelly Fisher all of 30 minutes to send defending Maryland State Champion Tiffany Nelson to the left side of the chart to win the hot seat,7-1. Then it took Kelly only 40 minutes to unseat Tiffany permanently to take claim to the title in the finals with a 7-2 score. Bill and Billies CuesPort held the Maryland State 9-ball Championships on July 15th and 16th for the second year in a row with the J. Pechauer NorthEast Women’s Tour. Room Owner Kurt Ziem generously added $1500 to the prize fund, as well as a US Open Qualifier to be awarded to the highest finishing Semi-Pro player in the field that was open to the WPBA Touring Pros. And the Touring Pros came. Kelly Fisher and Tiffany Nelson drove up from North Carolina with Val Finnie, and Sueyen Rhee drove in from Virginia. On her way to the hot seat, Kelly posted wins over JPNEWT newcomer Cheryl Squire 7-1, JPNEWT POY Caroline Pao 7-2, and fellow Touring Pros Sueyen Rhee 7-1, and Tiffany Nelson 7-1. Tiffany Nelson posted her wins over Val Finnie 7-3, Pam Treadway 7-6, and Ellen Yu 7-5 before losing to Kelly for the hot seat. Then Tiffany faced Val Finnie who had come back from her first round loss with wins over Morgan Steinman 7-6, Kim Sudler 7-5, Caroline Pao 7-4, Ellen Yu 7-4, and Sueyen Rhee 7-5. Tiffany froze Val in her seat with a 7-0 score to rematch with Kelly Fisher. Val won the US Open Qualifier with her 3rd place finish and fine performance. JPNEWT thanks Bill and Billies CueSports' Room Owner Kurt Ziem and his gracious staff for a fantastic event. We also thank Pechauer Custom Cues and Inside Pool for their continued sponsorship. J PNEWT’s next event is the New Jersey State 9-ball Championships at Prime Time Billiards in South Amboy. The event date is September 16th and 17th and is currently scheduled as $3000 added, including a US Open Qualifier. This event is also open to all WPBA Touring Pros.

At JPNEWT’s event at Comet Billiards on June 24th and 25th, Kathy Friend arrived literally seconds before the Player’s Meeting was to begin.A little frazzled from an incident while traveling to the event, she dropped her first match to Tour newcomer Naomi Fingerhut. After that, she regained her composure and that was the last time Kathy lost a match. Coming from the B-side of the chart, Kathy posted wins over Sherry Pouncey, Carol Clark, Erica Testa, and Supadra Boonpasook before returning on Sunday. Tour Coordinator Barbara Stock got a bye to settle down after the first round matches went off and had a chance to warm up a little before her first match. Barbara posted wins over Bye, Allison Mosimann, Erica Testa, and a hill-hill battle with the McDermott NEWT POY Morgan Steinman to return on Sunday for the hot seat match. The Final Four returned on Sunday with Kathy Friend matching up to Morgan Steinman and Barbara Stock playing JPNEWT Tour POY Caroline Pao. There were a few “firsts” that were going to happen on Sunday. Kathy dispatched Morgan in a 7-3 win. Barbara won her “first” hot seat in a 7-4 win over Caroline Pao (note to self, winning on Sunday feels pretty good, try to keep this up!). Kathy was playing strong and posted a 7-4 win over Caroline to head for the finals. This was a “first” time in over a year that two players who have never won a Qualifier matched up in the finals. Claiming a stake to literary license to skip over the gory details of the finals, Kathy won 9-4 over Barbara. Congrats to Kathy Friend for her “first” JPNEWT tour win and winning the Qualifier!! Keep up the good shooting!! JPNEWT thanks Bill and Marcia Haley of Comet Billiards for hosting our second event of the year with them. We also thank Pechauer Cues and Inside Pool for their continued support. JPNEWT’s next event is the $1500-added + US Open Qualifier Maryland State 9-Ball Championships at Bill and Billies Cues Port in Arnold, MD.