Okay, I’m in Texas now for my next tournament. I finished 5/6th in this year’s U.S. Amateur Championships. That’s the best I’ve ever done in this tournament but coming into it, I really felt like I was playing well enough to win. I started this post over a week ago, but I think I’m finally ready to complete it (especially since I’m already in Texas preparing for the next event). After much reflection (along with some Tampa sun), here are some candid thoughts, emotions, and highlights from the trip:

First, this was a somewhat unique experience for me since not only is it rare that my significant other joins  me somewhere to support me in a tournament, but we made a bit of a play-cation out of it. I was together/engaged for four years with my ex and never once did he overcome his fear of flying to travel with me to support me at a tournament. Mike being there last week, even for only one of the two days, really meant a great deal to me.

Truthfully, I had some anxiety about it initially since I was combining such a new experience with such an important tournament. I admit I had brief, very brief, moments where I questioned whether or not I was doing the right thing. But I knew it wouldn’t matter. Yeah, the only time he really sat right at my table and sweated my semi-finals matches I lost both and won zero games to finish third, but I’m a different person now. I’m tougher, I’m confident, and I welcomed the challenge.

Match #1 vs. Tracy

Okay, so the format goes: Race to 5 for the ladies. Winner of the lag chooses to either break first or which game to start with. You play a max of 3 games of 8-ball and 6 games of 9-ball until someone wins 5 games first. In my preliminary qualifier to get here, most of the girls were APA 8-ball players so my strategy there was to begin with 9-ball and just crush ‘em. Well, since the prelim qualifier in Denver, I had been playing a TON of big table 8-ball. I’ve been working really hard on my 8-ball patterns, safeties, and shot-making and just running a lot of racks of 8-ball.

Well, I’m not proud of this fact, but when I saw Tracy screw together her pink and purple ribbed, dooley Stealth cue, I couldn’t help but to “Oh, she must be an APA 8-ball player,” and when I won the lag, I chose to start with 9-ball. Well, shame on me. I’d like to make a public apology right here and now for judging the book by the cover because Tracy shot very well and ran the first couple racks of 9-ball. I believe I was down 2-1 before she started making some mistakes. She had a very confident stroke and didn’t miss often. All I could do was make sure I didn’t miss either and take advantage of the opportunities that I had. After 6 games of 9-ball, I broke and ran the first rack of 8-ball for the match.

Final score: 5-2

Match #2 vs. Michell

Truth be told, I did not feel that confident going into this match. Michell my friend / previous US Amateur Champ / multiple top-3 finisher / seasoned WPBA’er was playing on the table beside me during my first match and every time I looked over, she was running out or kicking in a ball or banking a ball or just winning a game somehow. Though I felt I was playing well coming into the match, I still felt she had the slight edge.

I won the lag and this time chose to start with 8-ball. The balls were getting gritty and filthy and the tables were playing tricky. In fact, I completely (unintentionally, of course) crap-racked Michell at least twice in our match! I hate that! Obviously, it sucks when it happens to you, but I also hate when I do it to my opponent. One was really bad but she still made balls and stayed at the table. In fact, she won those games. She’s a true competitor. We both knew it but neither one of us reacted or let it distract us. Sometimes, it just happens. I did make a point to apologize to her about it after the match and she accepted like the first-class player that she is.

Well, I was right. She jumped to 4-1 lead. I was preparing the closing words in my head. “Should I say ‘nice shooting’ or ‘good match?’” Until… wait a minute! She made an unexpected mistake. She missed a 7 ball to put me away. I couldn’t believe it! I was thrilled at the opportunity and took advantage of it. I had three tricky balls, but just focused purely on my mechanics as I shot each of them. The next couple games would be a similar story. A couple times she got ‘got’ by the equipment, but I could see her losing her focus right before my eyes. I could feel her pain but I couldn’t even look at her. I didn’t allow my emotions or our friendship to stop me from the task at hand…. making the balls.

I did end up winning. It was an incredibly intense match. I wanted to cry afterward from the wave of emotions during the whole thing. I just shook her hand, thanked her for the match, took a huge breath of relief, packed up my belongings, and turned in my score sheet. That win bought me a wonderful dinner with Mike and an extra two hours of sleep (which meant that I got to check out the kick-a$$ fitness center at the hotel).

Final score: 5-4

Match #3 vs. Mary

My third match was against the adorable Mary Rakin. Now, not to spoil the ending, but this one was a real heart-breaker.

Mary may not know this, but a little birdie told me that she questioned my decision against Michell to start with 8-ball. Don’t worry, Mary. I won’t hold it against you. I don’t think she understood why, most of us being predominantly 9-ball players would want to start with 8-ball. Well, this was also Mary’s first trip to this tournament. What she also may not have known is that prior to my match with Michell, I’d just had a heart-to-heart with my friend Betty (who happened to win the thing and finished in the two three the past three consecutive years) and Betty’s strategy has always been to start with 8-ball. I thought I’d give it a go.

I won the lag so I chose to start with 8-ball. I ended up winning two of the three 8-ball games, maneuvering through one tricky little rack when the same thing began happening in our match. Mary began making some unexpected misses. She missed an 8 ball in one rack and didn’t get out in another. The next thing I knew, I was ahead 4-2. But then……

The tables turned and in the following three games, I made some silly mental errors. I missed, I hooked myself, I scratched. In the final rack, at hill-hill, she broke dry. I played a smart safety and got ball in hand. Unfortunately, another careless, mental error led to me getting bad position on the 3 ball in the side pocket which I had to hit perfectly and didn’t. I didn’t get out and she did. The rest is history. After the match, she said, “You play good 8-ball.” I just smiled.

Final score: 4-5

Match #4 vs. Lori

I’ve never seen Lori before, but her mechanics are flawless and her stroke is great. Once she learns to play smarter patterns, she’ll be deadly. Again, I won the lag and started with 8-ball. I was up 4-0 and missed a jacked up 6-9 combo. When I didn’t get out the following THREE racks, she did. She fired balls in from everywhere. I was quite impressed with her shot-making ability and even got  slightly nervous that I was letting her back in the match. It’s so easy how that can happen. One simple error or lapse in concentration can result in three games. I could tell I was beginning to struggle but I forced myself to give every single shot everything I had. One more game I just kept telling myself.

Final score: 5-3

Match #5 vs. Amy P.

I’ve played Amy, owner of Amy’s Billiards, in this tournament before and she’s a true competitor. I love her tenacity and viciousness at the table. She plays super smart patterns and really makes me earn the win. This particular match was on the one of two Diamond pro-am tables. I was SOOOOOOO happy. I wish I could’ve played ALL of my matches on that table. I missed some shots in the initial two games but I don’t think I missed a ball after that. Instantly, my confidence was back and I felt like I was back at Mike’s house on his Diamond. Man! I love those tables!!!

Final score: 5-2

Match #6 vs. Amy C.

When I saw my next match was against reigning champ, Amy Chen, I was very excited. Amy and I are friends but we have never played and I was really looking forward to playing her. Unfortunately, I was unable to give her my best game. It was really quite a shame. All that hard work over the past 45 days had boiled down to a two day performance and that two day performance all came to an abrupt halt because of this one sour match.

We always hope to learn from every experience so that we can evaluate what happened and hopefully prevent it from happening again. I had missed so many shots and was unable to capitalize on her mistakes. She was struggling too but was able to work through it in the end. We were the final match on that table for the evening. After it was all over, I just sat in my seat and watched a player jump on the table to practice. I tried to attempted to analyze the match.

Was I nervous? No.
Was I hungry? A little.
Was I tired? Yeah.
Did my mechanics feel off? No.
Was I focused? No. I felt very distracted.
Was I confident? No. I struggled with the speed and pockets after coming off the Diamond table and allowed it to effect my confidence.
Any other distractions? My eyes were BURNING from the cigarette smoke. It was way smokier on that half of the room.

Final score: 5-0? 5-1? Darn it! I can’t remember.

Overall Tournament Experience: I’m not completely disappointed with 5th place but took away so much from the experience. In the end, it was definitely a shame that my one horrible performance outshined some of my stellar runouts and smart lock up safeties. It just stinks that I was unable to maintain that consistency that I worked so hard for. There were moments where I feel I played my best. I gave that match everything I had. The next step is to learn how to do that as frequently as possible.

I was very impressed with the pool scene in the Bay area and Jose, one of the owners, was quite hospitable and certainly knows how to run a successful pool room. If you’re ever in the area, stop by either Strokers and make sure you order the shrimp or the grouper. You can’t beat it when one of the owners also owns a shrimp boat. Mmmmmmm…..

Complete 2009 Coverage
Men’s Bracket
Ladies’ Bracket
Photos from Day 1
Photos from Day 2
2009 US Amateur Champion Underway
Sessions Succeeds at the U.S. Amateur Championships
Parks Prevailed as 2009 Men’s U.S. Amateur Champion

Well, as I mentioned I’m currently in Texas preparing for the final OB Cues Tour stop of the year at Legends in League City. This will also be my lats tournament for the year before I become a working woman in December and have no pool life. I’m really looking forward to seeing all my Texas friends.

Also, tune in for the live streaming at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ob-cues-ladies-tour

Share on Facebook