US Am Prelim Match Updates

The truest test for me yesterday was to maintain a consistent level of intensity throughout the tournament. Although there were only four players and I knew I was “supposed to” win and the favorite, often times that added pressure can make it worse. Also, the better player doesn’t have to win in a short race to five games.

MATCH #1

I played a lady called Virgie from New Mexico. I was excited to play someone that I’d never seen or met and didn’t know anything about. Right out of the gate, she explained that she was new to this and didn’t understand all the rules. I didn’t mind. I’m always happy to educate a new player on the game. I just had to make sure I didn’t let it affect my killer instinct. I did have to explain to her half way through the match that she shouldn’t be chit-chatting with the guy sitting behind her while I was down on a shot right in front of her. Of course, it wasn’t until I admittedly let it distract me first.

Immediately, I knew I could be in trouble. It started off as just one of those matches. In Game 1, she broke dry and I took an aggressive attempt at the 1 ball and missed. On her turn, she took a flyer at the 1 and smashed in the 9 ball out of no where.

Game 2, I came up short on the 8 ball, had to back cut it with the bridge and hung it. After she made it rail first, letting the cue ball wildly fly around the table, she ended up on the 50 yard line for the 9 ball. She made it but scratched.

Game 3, after making a beautiful run but barely missing two attempts at the breakout, I played the below safety which I believed was the “correct” shot. She attempted to bank the 8 ball, double-kisses it, and three-rail banks it into an unintended corner pocket, leaving her straight in on the 9 ball. Beautiful.

Just like that, I’m down 2-1. Had she not scratched on the 9 ball in the second game, I would be down 3-0. She was a good shot-maker, but had no clue where the cue ball was heading. And, in such a short race to 5, I couldn’t afford to make any silly mistakes or bad decisions.

I just decided after that, that I wasn’t going to make anymore mistakes and won the next four games.

MATCH #2

What a battle. I really working on playing better against my friends or people I like. This match was against my former teammate Pam. I started off super strong and struggled in the middle. The final score was 5-4 when she hung the 6 ball at hill-hill.

MATCH #3

I had a feeling I would be playing Pam again. Before our match, I got some food and found an open table and just ate and hit balls for about 45 minutes before we started. I felt relaxed and super confident and believe it really made a world of difference.

The final match was a single set race to 9 games. I won the lag, chose to break first, and she choose 8 ball. I started off strong, running the first couple racks. To go up 4-0 came the most memorable shot of the match. I overshot position for the 13 ball, attempting to play it in the side pocket, feeling loose and confident, I jacked up, visualized it going into the pocket and just speared that sucker right in! I couldn’t even believe my eyes when it went in. It was pretty surreal. The cue ball caught the long rail and just trickled into position.

It was an exciting shot, but I was most proud of when I walked over to see that the cue ball was on the rail, I forced myself to go back over to take a sip of my water and calm down a little bit before shooting it in. I NEVER do it. Not that I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t but my heart was pounding out of my chest from the adrenaline. Whew!

I lost some focus there in the middle, but started and finished pretty strong with a final score of 9-4.

I can’t wait for Hot-lanta!

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