“Did you get a trophy?” asked my mom when I called her last night.
“No, mom. No trophy. Just cash.” (all in Cantonese of course)
Well, I did it. I managed to pull it off somehow. I’m still basking in the glory of my hard-earned victory from this weekend. Though I’m still in a bit of shock, it came at a time just when I needed it. Just as I’ve been feeling a bit down and out about competing and the point of it all, I proved to myself this weekend that even though I didn’t play perfect, I’m a fighter and I never once gave up. Oh, and getting a little lucky didn’t hurt either.
So maybe it was “just” a tour stop and maybe there were only 13 players but I played 7 matches, 6 were against super tough players who have won something or other, and 3 were hill-hill matches where I came back to win after being down.
“Seriously, you should write an article about that! You’re ‘the comeback kid!’” said Bill MacKinnon (BCA instructor who was also doing the live streaming this weekend).
Nah, Nick Varner’s still the OG ‘comeback kid’ but I suppose if I did write something about it, these might be some possible angles:
- How to get your money’s worth of pool at tournaments
- How to stress your boyfriend out when he’s watching your live streaming matches at home on the internet
- How to make more money for the bar by keeping spectators in their seats for longer
- How staying on the b-side and having hill-hill matches help you stay in stroke
- How to start really slow, build your opponent’s confidence, and then catch momentum to win
- How to get super lucky and squeak out matches from behind
I’ll keep working on it…
Though I found out later that I played most of my matches on the slowest table in the building, I was still very happy with how the tables played this weekend.
Pockets in Tucson was a wonderful room and if you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend you stopping in. The owner, Lenny, really cares about pool and it shows. He even stayed to sweat all the finals matches. His tables are in great shape, he recovers them before their last leg, the staff and regulars are super friendly and go above & beyond the call of duty (they’ll even give you the shoelace right from their shoes), and they have great sandwiches there! They even made me a veggie plate even though it wasn’t on the menu.
Just by circumstance, I played most of my matches on the live streaming table. Amazingly, as popular as streaming has become these days and as many tournaments as I’ve played in, this weekend was my first time being streamed.
I won my first match pretty handily. My second match was against Ashea Erdahl who won the last stop and also beat me the previous time we played each other. She’s been playing great and I knew it would be a tough match. I was down 6-5 and after she missed an attempted 2-9 carom, she left me a combo (at 02:26:44).
My match got recorded at the end of Susan’s match with Sara where Susan played like a complete monster.
I lost my next match 7-5 to Kathleen Lawless and struggled through most of it. My best match of the tournament probably came in the next round when I beat Sunny Griffin. 7-???. I didn’t make too many mistakes in that match. It always sucks playing your travel partner & friend at events but I guess it comes with the territory. Susan, Sunny, and I all traveled together and Sara stayed with us on Saturday night (the 4 S’s).
When I left Saturday night Ashea and Rebecca Wagner (a super strong player from Chicago who now lives in Las Vegas) had just started their match. I would play the winner in the morning.
I arrived to discover it was Rebecca. The loser of this match would finish fourth. I knew it would be tough match and I’m sure I was thinking about it in the beginning. I started off really slow and she completely dominated the match. I made silly, aggressive mistakes and I wasn’t getting out when I was supposed to. I ended up down 5-0.
At some point in there, I took a break, regrouped, and decided I wasn’t going to take anymore chances. I started being more patient and started ducking whenever necessary. Miraculously, I started getting some very fortunate rolls. Even when she was supposed to put me away at 6-5, she got got by the slow table and came up short for the 9 ball. I played a two-way bank on the 9 which would ultimately win me that game for another chance at the hill.
Now, I would await the loser of Susan & Kathleen’s driver seat match. Susan wasn’t playing as well as the day before but she still won and I would face Kathleen. At this point, I’m guaranteed third and for the first time ever, I admitted to Mike that I really wanted it.
I worked through some mechanical stuff during my match with Rebecca and partially through my match with Kathleen. She, again, would end up on the hill first. At 6-5, she didn’t get out and it would be her break at hill-hill. She had a perfect break at hill-hill and played a safety on the opening shot. I decided to go out swingin’ so I broke down my IceBreaker and took a crack at it. It was almost a spot shot and somehow, I made it and didn’t scratch but would end up with another jump show. This one was cake compared to the last one. I was shooting on pure adrenaline at this point. Unfortunately, the first jump shot didn’t get recorded but this clip starts with the second one. I walked away to get my cue after the shot an didn’t realized I’d gotten perfect position until I returned. What a nice surprise!
I was so happy to be playing in the finals. By this point, I truly felt I had nothing to lose. I would face my good friend and roommate Susan for the cash. This means we’d both be getting first & second so either way, it’s a great tournament for both of us.
“I don’t care what happens. I’m just happy it’s you and me,” I said before we started.
I felt pretty good in the finals and believe I played pretty solid. I didn’t make too many dumb mistakes and ended up winning 9-5.
You are so strong! I love how you never give up.
Congratulations, again and again.
You deserve every bit of success!
congrats ms. diep!