“The women
are back in town!” called out a young man standing at the bar in
Legends Billiards.His friend, who’d just stepped
through the doorway, blinked as his eyes adjusted from bright afternoon
sunshine to diffused poolroom lighting.
This past
weekend, Brenham, Texas — known for landscaped rolling hills, a
picturesque town square, and addictive Blue Bell ice cream — became the
epicenter of women’s pool.
Members of
the Hunter Classics Women’s Tour made their annual pilgrimage to this
peaceful community in search of approximately $3,000 in total prize
money.The winner of this regional event also would
qualify to play in a national event, the Women’s Professional Billiard
Association (WPBA) tournament to be held in Indiana in March.
Most of the
players who assembled in Brenham had come from Houston, Austin, Dallas,
San Antonio and surrounding communities.The two
local players were also the youngest: Chelsea Dean (15), and Ashley
Taylor (14), the daughter and niece of Legends Billiards owner and
tournament host, Ted Dean.
The player
who traveled the farthest was Pan Xiaoting from Shanghai, China.In worldwide 9-Ball rankings, the WPBA’s Allison Fisher
and Karen Corr are ranked Nos. 1 and 2.Pan
is ranked No. 3.She’s the most popular female
cueist in Asia, but financial limitations have prevented her playing in
the United States before now.Winning in Brenham
would qualify her to begin what she hopes will be a successful WPBA
career.
During a
between-match break, I took the opportunity to interview Pan through
her interpreter, Hawaiian Alyes Wong.I
began by saying I only knew two words in
Chinese: "Yao Ming." (Yao Ming is the 7’ 6"
center on the Houston Rockets basketball team.) Pan broke into a
smile and said, "He is from my hometown of Shanghai.
He is a Chinese hero." I said, "He's a hero here too, but he's no
longer Chinese." She frowned uncertainly. "Now he's a
Texan," I said. She laughed.
Pan and her interpreter had landed in
Los Angeles two days earlier, then headed directly to
Brenham. I asked Pan her impressions of Texas. She replied that the weather is
very nice. Now it was my turn to laugh.I had
to confess that during the summer Texas gets a little warmer than the current,
humidity-free 65-degrees.
Pan went on to say that she was impressed
with how many good players she’d seen in this regional event.Further, she appreciated how friendly everyone had
been, going out of their way to speak to her and make her feel welcome.
Pan is similarly graceful and gracious
when competing.Her reputation preceded her, but
she handles player and spectator interest with modest aplomb.At age 23, she stands perhaps five-feet tall and weighs no more
than 100 pounds, yet her breaks resound like rifle shots. While
her opponent shoots, she waits politely on her stool, a study in
composure. Presented with a shot, she moves
quickly to the table and evaluates the situation.Then
a few warm-up strokes and a slight hesitation, followed by a smooth
stroke that sends the object ball into a pocket and leaves the cue ball
in perfect position for her next shot.
By Sunday, 50
of the original 66 players had been eliminated, but several former
Hunter Classics winners stood between Pan and her objective.Leslie Ann Rogers has been the overall tour champion each
of the past five years.Lisa Marr-Brannen
once had won three tournaments in a row.Eighteen-year-old
pool prodigy Anna Kostanian had won twice in 2005, and Amanda
Lampert and Orietta Strickland had each won once this past
year.
Appropriately,
the American title defense fell to Hunter Classics’ perennial champion
Rogers.Displaying her intense focus and sound
fundamentals, Rogers upset Pan in their first meeting, 7 to 6.Pan 's first match on Sunday edged Kostanian, 7 to 6, in what
many knowledgeable spectators thought was one of the best matches
they’d ever seen.
That night,
the finals took place in the middle of the poolroom.A
crowd encircled the table and cheered both competitors throughout the
two-set match.Rogers put up a stout defense,
but Pan prevailed 7 to 4 and 7 to 3.Both players
received a long ovation at the end of the match.
Pan
received a check for $750, and more importantly, in March she will
become the first Chinese mainland player to compete in a WPBA event.Now her goal is to become the world’s top-ranked woman 9-Ball
player.
Upcoming Hunter Event:
February 18 and 19:The second
Hunter Classics event of 2006 will be held in Austin at Fast
Eddie’s Billiards, 100 Parker Drive.Many of the
women who competed in Brenham will be there.This
tournament will be a qualifier for the WPBA event in San Diego in April.
