2024 ARCHIVES
2024 EVENT 1
March 9-10
Shooters Family Billiards
Wayne NJ
- 32 player field -
1st $725 Briana Miller
2nd $525 Rachel Lang
3rd $350 Joann Mason Parker
4th $250 Giovanna Napolitano
5th $120 Kia Burwell
$120 Melissa Jenkins
7th $ 75 Jay Pass
$ 75 Linda Cheung
Briana Miller
MILLER GOES UNDEFEATED TO WIN 2024 SEASON OPENER OF J. PECHAUER NORTHEAST WOMEN’S TOUR
~ Skip Maloney, AZBilliards, March 14, 2024
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Adopting the idea that 'a picture is worth a thousand words,’ we offer the graphic representation of what Briana Miller has accomplished on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) over the past two years, during which time, she has also been the tour’s director. Last year’s accomplishments are in the top row (l to r) and the year before, the bottom row.
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2023
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Oct Nov Dec
1 1 13 1 1 split 2 1 1 1 5
2022
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Jul Aug Oct Nov Dec
1 1 - 1 1 2 1 2 1 split
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‘Split’ means there was not a final match. And ‘no,’ we don’t know what happened last May. Translated, it all means that Miller has won 40% of the JPNEWT events (14 of 21, not including ‘splits’) in which she has competed over the past two years. The chart does not include (though the percentage calculation does) that she won this past weekend’s (March 9-10), 2024 season opener, going undefeated at the $750-added event which drew 32 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
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In the four matches that preceded her appearance in the hot seat match (30 games), Miller gave up just two racks; one to Jenn Pederson and another to Bianca Martinez in the first two rounds. She then shut out both Linda Cheung and, in a winners’ side semifinal, Melissa Jenkins.
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Miller’s eventual opponent in the hot seat match, Rachel Lang, had something of a ‘tougher row to hoe’ as she opened her campaign in a double-hill battle against Shuang Gao. She survived that to down Roseann Daw 7-3 before Joann Mason challenged her, double hill, in a winners’ side quarterfinal. She advanced again to up give up a single rack to Giovanna Napolitano in the other winners’ side semifinal.
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Lang chalked up more than twice as many racks against Miller in the hot seat match than all of Miller’s previous opponents combined. It was one of those almost double-hill matches (7-5) that sent Lang off to the semifinals, leaving Miller in the hot seat. If there were a generic, physical JPNEWT ‘hot seat’ – a director’s chair, for example – they could create one with Miller’s name on it and it would be right, most of the time.
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Jenkins came over to the loss side and picked up Mason, who’d followed her narrow loss to Miller with two straight shutouts, over Judie Wilson and Jay Pass.
Napolitano drew Kia Burwell, who’d been sent to the loss side by Bianca Martinez in the opening round and worked her way through five matches that included the recent elimination of Carol V. Clark 7-2 and Linda Cheung 7-3.
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Parker defeated Jenkins 7-1, as Napolitano sent Burwell home 7-4. Parker then defeated Napolitano 7-3 in the quarterfinals, before suffering the same 7-3 fate at the hands of Lang in the semifinals.
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Miller tightened the racks-against screws in the finals. She gave up two less (3) than she’d given up in the hot seat match, completing her undefeated run to claim her 14th JPNEWT title and her first of the new season.
Miller, in her role as tour director, thanked the ownership and staff at Shooters Family Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, InTheBox Sportswear, PA Pro-Am Pool, Mezz Cues and George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor).
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For its next stop, the JPNEWT will return to the city/town of Somersworth, NH (it’s officially recognized as both) on the state’s southeastern border with Maine. The $1,000-added event, scheduled for the weekend of April 6-7, will be hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth.
2024 EVENT 2
April 6-7
Busters Billiards
Somersworth NH
- 38 player field -
1st $825 Briana Miller
2nd $615 Emily Buddy
3rd $410 Ashley Benoit
4th $300 Stacey Tonkin
5th $160 Sandy Cheng
$160 Donna Switzer
7th $100 Jane Im
$100 Mindy Maialetti
Emily Duddy, Briana Miller
Jane Im, Emily Daddy, Ashley Benoit, Stacey Tonkin, Donna Switzer, Briana Miller, Sandy Cheng, Mindy Maialetti
MILLER WINS 17TH JPNEWT IN THE PAST THREE YEARS AT A STOP IN THE GRANITE STATE
~ Skip Maloney, AZBilliards, April 10, 2024
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In a way of figuring out how to say, yet another time, that Briana Miller won a stop on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT), we searched for the Numerology significance of her latest victory – #17, earned over the past three years. She picked up that 17th win this past weekend (April 6-7), going undefeated at a $1,000-added event that drew 38 entrants to Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.
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Turns out, according to the Affinity Numerology Web site that 17 is a “business number, specifically an independent business. People with that number in a major position on their numerology chart tend to be focused on building things intended to last for many generations, either material or social, and doing the building in their self-determined way.”
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Sounds about right, as Miller, in her second full year as JPNEWT’s tour director, has arguably done as much in that position as she’s done at the tables for all 17 of her wins; the tour being in New Hampshire over the weekend being one of many ways that she’s impacted the ‘business’ of the JPNEWT, while simultaneously ‘building’ on her own skills at the table.
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Miller was challenged twice in the event by WPBA compatriot, Emily Duddy. Miller opened with victories over Mindy Maialetti 7-2, Amanda Connolly 7-1 and Erica Testa 7-4 to draw Duddy in the first of their two in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Ashley Benoit, in the meantime, got by Hannah Leedberg and Emily Smith, both 7-3 and then, defeated Amanda Laverriere 7-5 to pick up Stacey Tonkin in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Miller defeated Duddy the first time 7-3, as Benoit advanced to join her in the hot seat match with a 7-1 victory over Tonkin. Miller and Benoit battled to double hill before Miller closed it out to claim the seat.
On the loss side, Duddy opened up against Donna Switzer, who came into the match with four loss-side wins that included the recent elimination of Laverriere 7-4 and Jane Im 7-3. Tonkin drew Sandy Cheng, who’d lost her opening match to Laverriere and was at the tail end of a six-match, loss-side streak that had recently eliminated Erica Testa 7-4 and Mindy Maialetti 7-3.
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Duddy and Tonkin ended both loss-side streaks. Cheng put up a double-hill fight versus Tonkin, but it was Tonkin who advanced to the quarterfinal. Duddy downed Switzer 7-2 to join her.
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Duddy won the next two matches 7-5, defeating Tonkin in the quarterfinals and Benoit in the semifinals for a second shot at Miller, waiting for her in the hot seat. Miller concluded her ‘business-like’ undefeated run with a second victory over Duddy 7-2.
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In her role as TD, Miller thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s along with title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, InTheBox Sportswear, PA Pro-Am Pool (livestream), Mezz Cues and George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor). The JPNEWT will be back in New England for its next stop. Scheduled for the weekend of May 18-19, the $1,000-added event will be hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
2024 EVENT 3
May 18
Yale Billiards
Wallingford CT
- 24 player field -
split $650 Joann Mason Parker
$650 Briana Miller
3rd $350 Rachel Lang **
4th $270 Stacie Bourbeau
5th $125 Ada Lio
$125 Shuang Gao
** WPBA Qualifier | Soaring Eagle
Briana Miller, Joann Mason Parker,, Ada Lio, Shuang Gao,, Rachel Lang, Stacie Bourbeau
PARKER AND MILLER SPLIT TOP PRIZES ON J. PECHAUER NORTHEAST WOMEN’S TOUR
~ Skip Maloney, AZBilliards, May 20,, 2024
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New York’s Joann Mason Parker has ‘retired’ from pool on a number of occasions, the latest being a 10-year hiatus from 2011 to 2021; all based on earnings recorded, which in those 10 years amounted to ‘none.’ She did it the first time in 1993 to raise a family. Most of her major titles were earned before AZBilliards went on-line in 1998 and there were a bunch of them: 1988’s McDermott Masters, 1990’s US Open 9-Ball Championships (at which she got by both Ewa Mataya Laurence and Loree Jon Jones). She was 1991’s Runner-up at WPA World 9-Ball Championships and 1992’s Runner-up in the International Open 9-Ball Championships. Before all of that, she was the New York State Champion from 1987-1992, the Big Apple 9-Ball Champion from 1988-1991 and the New England 9-Ball Champion from 1990-1992.
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There are more, but she’s been back at the tables now, fairly steadily, since 2021, when she showed up to win a stop on the Garden State Pool Tour, finish in third place on the Predator Tri-State Tour and then, at the Triple Crown Women’s Invitational at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach (November) finished as runner-up to Monica Webb in 14:1 Straight Pool, third to Liz Taylor and Kaylee McIntosh in 10-Ball, and fourth, behind Monica Webb, Julie Cone, and Janet Atwell in One Pocket. It was a multi-disciplined return to the tables and her best recorded earnings year since 1999, at least as far back as we’ve been able to track those earnings.
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This past weekend (May 18-19), in search of her first recorded win of 2023, Parker ran into the juggernaut of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour’s director and top competitor, Briana Miller, who was looking for her 18th win on the tour over the past three years. They met once, in the hot seat match and early on Sunday morning, opted out of a final. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat at the time, Parker was the official winner, while Miller had to settle for the split, something that has only happened twice over her three-year, sustained reign as the tour’s top competitor. The $1,000-added event drew 24 entrants to Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
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Parker opened up with a shutout over Carol Clark, downed Ashley Benoit 7-3 and gave up just a single rack to Erica Testa, all of which put her in a winners’ side semifinal against Rachel Lang. Miller, in the meantime, opened with a shutout, as well, over Jacqueline Loving. She then sent Angie Simpson (3) and Dawn Luz (4) to the loss side and drew Ada Lio in the other winners’ side semifinal.
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Miller shut Lio out to earn her spot in the hot seat match. Lang, coming off her best recorded earnings year (’23), was looking for her first win of 2024 and put up a fight against Parker, chalking up five against her before Parker edged out in front to win 7-5. As might have been expected the battle for the hot seat did go double hill and Parker claimed it.
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Lang came over to the loss side and picked up Shuang Gao, who’d lost her opening match to Dawn Luz before embarking on a four-match, winning streak that had recently eliminated Lara Won 7-5 and Ashley Benoit, double hill. Stacie Bourbeau, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Lang, survived a double-hill match against Carol Clark, and defeated Erica Testa 7-3 to pick up Lio.
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Lang defeated Gao 7-4, Bourbeau eliminated Lio 7-5 and the quarterfinal Lang/Bourbeau rematch was on. Lang had given up 4 to Bourbeau in the winners’ side match. She reduced that number to one in the quarterfinals and advanced to face Miller in the semifinals.
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Miller and Lang had faced each other twice in the tour’s season opener back in March. Miller had won them both; hot seat and finals. In that same opener, Lang had defeated Parker twice, once in a double-hill, winners’ side quarterfinal and again, 7-3, in the semifinals. So, while Lang was in the position she was in as a result of a loss to Parker in a winners’ side semifinal, her prospects, though not guaranteed, looked pretty good if she could just put Miller to rest for a shot at Parker in the finals.
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Didn’t happen. Miller gave up just two racks to Lang, just before opening negotiations for a split of the top two prizes with Parker. Because both Miller and Parker have already qualified for upcoming WPBA events, Rachel Lang became the recipient of this event’s qualifying slot for a future WPBA event.
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With her ‘tour director’ cap on, Miller thanked the ownership and staff at Yale Billiards for their hospitality, along with title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, In the Box Sportswear, PA Pro-Am Pool, Mezz Cues and George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor). The next stop on the JPNEWT, scheduled for the weekend of June 8-9 and hosted by Capital City Billiards in Concord, NH, will be a $1,000-added, 8-ball event. It will serve as a qualifying event for the WPBA’s Capital City Billiards Invitational in November.
2024 EVENT 4
June 8
Capital City Billiards
Wallingford CT
- 35 player field -
split $713 Ashley Benoit
$712 Briana Miller
3rd $450 Savannah Easton
4th $300 Stacie Bourbeau
5th $130 Amanda Soucy **
$130 Erica Testa
7th $ 80 Shuang Gao
$ 80 Sandy Cheng
** WPBA Qualifier | Capital City
l-r: Stacie Bourbeau, Ashley Benoit, Savannah Easton, Briana Miller
BENOIT AND MILLER SPLIT TOP PRIZES ON JPNEWT STOP IN CONCORD, NH
~ Skip Maloney, AZBilliards, June 10,, 2024
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For the second event in a row, Briana Miller, tour director and top competitor on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT), opted out of a final match against the competitor who occupied the hot seat at the ‘closing bell.’ Last month, at Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT, that competitor was Joann Mason Parker. This past weekend, June 8-9, it was Ashley Benoit, who’s in the midst of her best recorded earnings year (of three) and defeated Miller in a winners’ side semifinal. Miller’s two previous tour stop wins, in March and April, allowed her to stay atop the JPNEWT leaderboard, ahead of Benoit, whose finish moved her ahead of Rachel Lang and Parker in the standings. The weekend’s $1,000-added, 8-ball event drew 35 entrants to Capital City Billiards in Concord, NH.
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In races to 5, Benoit got by Kennedy Dunn (1), Diane Casey (0) and Sandy Cheng and drew Miller in their winners’ side semifinal match. Working from the opposite end of the bracket, 13-year-old Savannah Easton, who’s been recording payouts here on AZ since she was 10 years old, recorded her best recorded earnings year so far in 2022, missed beating her 2022 earnings in 2023 by $20, and is well on her way to making this year her best, set out to join Benoit in the hot seat match. She defeated Rachel Lang (2), Mindy Maialetti (2) and shut out Hannah Leedberg, to draw Stacie Bourbeau in the other winners’ side semifinal.
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Benoit and Miller locked up in a double-hill battle that did, eventually, send Benoit to the hot seat match. She was joined by Easton who shut out Bourbeau. Benoit gave up just a single rack to the teenager and claimed the hot seat.
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On the loss side, Miller would face three opponents in her quest to get back to the finals and give up just a single rack to each one of them. She started out against Erica Testa, whom she’d defeated in the
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second winners’ side round. Testa moved over and won four straight to meet her a second time. In races to 4, Testa recorded every possible score against her four opponents; Susan Brooks (0), Rachel Lang (3), Stacey Tonkin (2) and Shuang Gao (1). Bourbeau drew Amanda Soucy, who’d lost her winners’ side quarterfinal match to Miller and then won two straight, double-hill battles vs. Carol V. Clark and Sandy Cheng.
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Miller gave up her first single rack to Testa and advanced to the quarterfinals. Bourbeau joined her after giving up only two to Soucy. Miller defeated Bourbeua 4-1 and completed her loss-side trip with a third 4-1 win, over Savannah Easton.
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Negotiations got underway between Benoit and Miller to split the top two prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat (and having defeated Miller earlier), Benoit became the event’s official winner.
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In addition to the cash prizes, the event served as a qualifier for the WPBA’s Capital City Invitational, scheduled for Nov. 21-24 at the same location. With other competitors already qualified for that event, Amanda Soucy was awarded the qualifying spot.
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In her role as Tour Director, Miller thanked the ownership and staff at Capital City Billiards for their hospitality, along with title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, In the Box Sportswear, PA Pro-Am Pool, Mezz Cues and George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor).
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The JPNEWT will host another WPBA qualifying event at its next stop, scheduled for the weekend of July 13-14. The winner, or the highest finisher not already qualified, will earn an invitation to the WPBA’s Cuespeed NAPA Invitational, set for Oct. 10-13, at Railyard Billiards and Sports Pub in Louisville, KY.
2024 EVENT 5
July 13
Shooters Family Billiards
Wayne NJ
- 27 player field -
split $635 Ashley Benoit
$635 Briana Miller
3rd $350 Joann Mason Parker
4th $250 Caroline Pao
5th $100 Rachel Walters **
$100 Rachel Lang
** WPBA Qualifier | Cuespeed Napa
l-r: Joann Mason Parker, Ashley Benoit, Briana Miller, Caroline Pao
MILLER AND BENOIT SPLIT TOP PRIZES FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT TIME ON JPNEWT STOP
~ Skip Maloney, AZBilliards, July 15,, 2024
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It was the third time, this year, that they’d faced off in a hot seat match and the second time they’d opted out of playing a final match. In their first hot-seat meetup, back in April, the tour director of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour, Briana Miller, who was looking for her 18th win on the tour at the time, defeated Ashley Benoit (pronounced Ben-wa), who did not return from the semifinals. They met again in June and just this past weekend (Sat. July 13). In both of those events, Benoit claimed the hot seat and in the end, negotiated a split of the top two prizes with Miller. Both times, as occupant of the hot seat at the time, Benoit became the event’s official winner. This past weekend’s stop (#5) on the JPNEWT was a $750-added event (9-ball on 9 ft. tables), which drew 27 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
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It’s way too early to start talking about a rivalry that’s ‘storied’ or even ‘fierce,’ but in the somewhat tight, geographic zone of JPNEWT competition, even as a newly-emerging rivalry, people are aware of it. Thanks to digitalpool.com, JPNEWT competitors and streaming fans are likely to notice if and when the two names are scheduled to merge in a given bracket (at a JPNEWT or other event), and watch, either in person or on a live stream. So begins what’s known in the sports world as a fan base, fueled by (among other things) rivalries between two singular or team entities and critical to growth in any sport.
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Racing to 7, the two rivals set out from opposite ends of the 32-player bracket, which meant that if they were going to matchup at all, it’d be in the hot seat match, and they did. To get there, Benoit, with a 608 Fargo Rate, played two opponents with lower Fargo rates and defeated them (Amanda Andries 7-5 and Mindy Maialetti 7-2) before coming up against her next three opponents, all with higher Fargo Rates. She and Caroline Pao (639) battled to double hill before Benoit advanced to face Joann Mason Parker (656) in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
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Miller (672), competing against lower Fargo Rates
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throughout, downed Nicole Adams (441) 7-2, Giovanna Napolitano (557) 7-2 and Rachel Walters (581) 7-4 to arrive at her winners’ side semifinal against Rachel Lang (597).
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Benoit advanced to her first meetup versus Miller with a 7-5 win over Parker, as Miller was engaged with sending Lang to the loss side 7-2. In what would prove to be the deciding match of the event, Benoit and Miller battled to double hill before Benoit claimed the seat.
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​On the loss side, Rachel Walters had followed her loss to Miller with a shutout over Maialetti and a 7-5 win over Edwidge Cavanna 7-5 to draw Parker. Pao had followed her winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Benoit with a shutout over Ashlee Trinci and a 7-1 win over Carol Clark and picked up Lang. Pao and Parker advanced to the quarterfinal with identical 7-3 wins over Lang and Walters, respectively.
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Parker took the quarterfinal 7-3 over Pao and was eliminated by Miller 7-2 in what proved to be the final match of the event. Miller and Benoit negotiated their split and JPNEWT’s Stop #5 went into the books.
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The event was a qualifier for an upcoming WPBA’s Cuespeed NAPA Invitational, scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 10-13 at Railyard Billiards & Sports Pub in Louisville, KY. With other competitors finishing ahead of her in the event either already qualified or not planning on attendance, Rachel Walters won the qualifying spot.
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Tour director Briana Miller thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards for their hospitality, along with title sponsor J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, In the Box Sportswear, PA Pro-Am Pool, Mezz Cues and George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor). The JPNEWT will return to the Granite State for its next stop, scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 7-8, the $1,000-added event will be hosted by Strokers Bar & Billiards in Pelham, NH.
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2024 EVENT 6
September 7
Strokers Bar & Billiards
Pelham NH
- 19 player field -
split $620 Briana Miller
$620 Erica Testa
3rd $320 Ashley Benoit
4th $220 Jane Im
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l-r: Erica Testa, Briana Miller, Ashley Benoit, Jane Im
MILLER AND TESTA SPLIT TOP PRIZES ON JPNEWT IN PELHAM, NH
~ Skip Maloney, AZBilliards, September 9,, 2024
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After two straight stops on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour at which the tour’s top two competitors – Tour Director Briana Miller and Ashley Benoit – split the top two cash prizes, a new ‘voice’ was heard on the field. This past weekend (Sat., Sept. 7), it was Erica Testa, appearing in her third event on the 2024 tour, who earned the right to face Miller and then, by mutual agreement, opted out of a final match. The $1,000-added event (Stop #6) drew a short field of 19 entrants to Stroker’s Bar & Billiards in Pelham, NH.
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Miller has so far either won outright or split with a potential final-match opponent in every one of the tour’s six, 2024 events. That figure was eight in 2023 and six in 2022. She has played a final match on the JPNEWT 14 times over the past three years, against 12 different opponents. Kia Burwell was runner-up three times. Miller lost only three final matches in that same stretch. Bean Hung defeated her in 2023. Kia Burwell and Caroline Pao did so in 2022.
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A third, potential matchup in the finals between Miller and Benoit at this latest stop on the tour was ‘in the cards’ until the semifinal. Benoit had claimed the hot seat in June before negotiations to split, while it was Miller who grabbed the hot seat last month.
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They set out on a bracket that assured that if they were to meet on the winners’ side, it was going to be in the hot seat match. Miller defeated Amanda Laverriere 7-4, Sharon Klardie 7-1 and played her first, and as it turned out, last match against Testa in one of the winner’ side semifinals. Benoit, in the meantime, opened with a 7-3 win over Kennedy Dunn, followed by shutting out Logan McLeod and then, sent Emily Smith to the loss side 7-4. She drew Jane Im in the other winners’ side semifinal.
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Miller downed Testa 7-2, as Benoit was at work defeating Im 7-1. It took a double-hill match to do it, but it was Miller who broke the ‘battling for the hot seat’ tie between her and Benoit. ​
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​On the loss side, Testa arrived to pick up Emily Smith, who’d followed her loss to Benoit with a victory over Rebecca Teese 7-4 and a double-hill win versus Laverriere. Jane Im drew Rachelle Rainey, who’d lost a winners’ side quarterfinal to Testa and then, defeated Karen Faucher 7-1 and Sharon Klardie 7-3.
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Testa and Smith battled to double-hill before Testa prevailed and advanced to the quarterfinals. Im defeated Rainey 7-3 to join her. Testa won the quarterfinal 7-3 and then, spoiled Benoit’s plans for a rematch versus Miller by defeating her 7-4 in the semifinals. Negotiations for a split of the top two prizes were initiated and Stop #6 on the JPNEWT was done.
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As tour director, Miller thanked the ownership and staff at Stroker’s for their hospitality, along with title sponsor, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, In the Box Sportswear, PA Pro-Am Pool, Mezz Cues and George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor).
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The next stop (#7) on the JPNEWT, in collaboration with PA Pro-Am Pool and scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 5-6, will be the $1,500-added, 2nd Annual Pennsylvania State Women’s 8-Ball Championships, to be hosted by Blue Grass Billiards in Philadelphia.
2nd Annual Pennsylvania State
Women's 8-ball Championship
(with PA Pro-Am Pool)
October 5-6
Bluegrass Billiards
Philadelphia PA
- 34 player field -
1st $1200 Ashley Benoit
2nd $875 Karen Corr
3rd $615 Skylar Hess
4th $425 Lai Li
5/6 $275 Dawn Luz
Rachel Walters
7/8 $125 Briana Miller
Rebecca Hilton
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Ashley Benoit
Benoit downs Corr twice to claim JPNEWT/PA Pro-Am Pool’s 2nd Annual 8-Ball Championship
~ Skip Maloney, AZBilliards, October 7, 2024
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As human beings, we do like our ‘underdog’ stories, which can trace their distinctly Western- culture origins back to the Old Testament’s David and Goliath. We fast-forward through to the ragtag crowd of farmers, blacksmiths and shopkeepers who defeated the mighty British Empire that created out nation and onward, to Dorothy and the witches of Oz and much later, the sports battle between the Giants and Patriots in Superbowl XLII.
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To the best of our knowledge, Ashley Benoit and Karen Corr had never met, at the tables, prior to this past weekend’s (Oct. 5-6), 2nd Annual Pennsylvania State Women’s 8-Ball Championships. Benoit went undefeated and Corr was runner-up at the $2,000-added event, a collaborative effort of the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) and PA Pro-Am Pool, which drew 34 entrants to Bluegrass Billiards in Philadelphia. In its inaugural year, the event crowned Briana Miller as its first champion, with Elise Qui as runner-up and Skylar Hess finishing third. Ashley Benoit finished in the tie for 13th.
Benoit’s ‘David’ credentials begin with the fact that she’s only been recording her wins and payouts with us here at AZBilliards for the past three years, recording her first cash payout and her first regional event win at the inaugural Women in Pool’s 9-Ball Championships at Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT (2022). She has, since that time, recorded 17 cash finishes, including six (two wins) on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour and seven at events of the WPBA, with whom she is currently ranked at #22. She was in the midst of her best recorded earnings year before she showed up in Philadelphia.
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Karen Corr’s ‘Goliath’ resume dates back to five months after AZBilliards went on-line in 1998. In her best recorded earnings year (2006), she chalked up 16 cash finishes and won three WPBA titles. In those three WPBA finals, she defeated Kelly Fisher, twice (WPBA’s Carolina and Midwest Classic) and Allison Fisher in that year’s WPBA Florida Classic). Corr went on to cash in four other WPBA events that year while competing and cashing in other regional events, like the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour (three times) and its Turning Stone competition (Numbers VI and VII, at that point in time). Her runner-up finish in Pennsylvania was, however, her first cash payout in 2024 and her first shot, competing in a final match at an event title, since she was defeated by JPNEWT’s tour director and top-ranked competitor, Briana Miller, in April of 2023. She recorded her last ‘official’ event victory in 2022, when she and Miller both went undefeated to the finals of a JPNEWT event that employed a Round Robin format, allowing both, through later single-elimination play, to reach the final without a defeat. They opted out of playing that final match and shared the recorded win.​​​
In Philadelphia, they met in the opening round of play and battled to double-hill. Benoit sent Corr to the loss side, where she began an eight-match march back to the finals, which ended up including the defeat of another metaphoric ‘David,’ junior competitor, Skylar Hess in the semifinals.
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​​​In races to 5, following her victory over Corr, Benoit followed up by shutting out Kaley Sullivan and defeating Amanda Laverriere (2), to draw Lai Li in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Hess, in the meantime, downed Carol Clark (3), Mindy Maialetti (1), and shut out Anna Marks to draw Rachel Walters in the other winners’ side semifinal.
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Identical 5-3 scores sent Hess (over Walters) and Benoit (over Li) to the hot seat match. Benoit and Hess battled to double hill in that match, until Benoit prevailed and claimed the seat.
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Karen Corr played 25 games over the five matches she played to reach Rachel Walters. She won 20 of them, which included the elimination of Giovanna Napolitano 4-2 and Briana Miller 4-1. Lai Li came over from the winners’ side semifinal loss to Benoit and picked up Dawn Luz, who’d lost her third-round match to Walters 5-2 and then defeated Kaley Sullivan, double hill, and Rebecca Hilton 4-2.
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Corr gave up just a single rack to Walters, as Li was busy shutting out Luz. For personal reasons, Lai Li (who’d finished in the tie for 5th in last year’s event) withdrew from the quarterfinals, allowing Corr to leapfrog into the semifinals against Skylar Hess, who was looking for her first professional win on either a regional tour/event or the WPBA. Having finished third in this past August’s MD State Ladies 9-Ball Championships (behind Briana Miller and Tina Malm), Hess was competing to appear in her first (recorded) professional final. Corr defeated her 4-1 and advanced for the rematch against Benoit.
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It was shaping up as another race-to-five, double-hill battle but didn’t quite make it. Benoit edged out in front at the end and claimed the PA State Women’s 8-Ball title 5-3.
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Tour directors Briana Miller from the JPNEWT and Frank Maialetti from PA Pro-Am Pool thanked the ownership and staff at Bluegrass Billiards for their hospitality, along with sponsors J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Kamui, Crossroad Cues, MindForge Nutrition, M & TS Billiard Instruction, Cue Pocket, LLC, Perceptive Lighting, InTheBox Sportwear, Marty Magee’s Irish , The Players’ Choice Pool Table Repair, Matchroom Pool and Trophy Smack.​​