Fisher Surges Forward at ViejasBy “Fast Mikie” McCafferty The weather, as usual, was perfect in San Diego, and while many lucky visitors were enjoying the beaches and sunshine, diehard pool fans chose to inhale the stale and smoky air of Viejas casino to watch the women pros in action. While most of the matches went according to expectations, there were a few contests that richly rewarded the sweators in the stands. Jeanette Lee, favored to win easily over Melissa Herndon, showed up late for her match and soon found herself with a 6-0 deficit before she finally caught a stroke and started to make some headway. But her mind must have been elsewhere as she rattled an easy 8 ball, which Herndon dropped to go on the hill while Lee still needed six games to win. She did win the next three, but it was Herndon’s day to shine as she sent “The Black Widow” to the one-loss side 9-6. Helena Thornfeldt, given her first loss the previous day by Janet Atwell, mercilessly hammered Miyuki Sakai 9-0. Vivian Villarreal also got into the spirit of total domination and shut out Leslie Rogers 9-0 but seemed to have a lot more fun doing it, whistling her trademark bird calls and working the crowd with chatter and smiles. The highlight of the day came as a special treat for the dwindling number of fans who stuck it out for the last matches at 10 p.m. Allison Fisher was up against a very determined Jennifer Chen, and they matched each other win for win until finally they were hill-hill at well past midnight. With all the other matches over, all eyes were on Chen as Fisher relinquished the table with only three balls left. The only problem was that the cue ball was snookered behind the 7, leaving a challenging jump on the 6. But Chen is a superior jump artist and sank what can only be called a spectacular table-length jump/cut. And then there were only two balls holding her back from defeating the top-ranked WPBA player. After the jump, she had a very makeable long cut on the 7, but the pressure must have been incredible, and she missed it, leaving Fisher to finish her off with ease. True to her focus and determination, Chen could be seen practicing that heartbreaker 7 ball several times after the match. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest on the Mueller Recreational Products West Coast Classic.
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