Ranola Wins WPBA BCA GenerationPool.com Qualifier

Travels from Philippines to play

Jacoby Cues Great Lakes Tour / Galesburg, IL

by David Hanshaw

During the weekend of April 4-5, Billiards on Main in Galesburg, IL, hosted the Jacoby Cues Great Lakes Tour for the 8th and final stop of the 07-08 season. In a small but talented field, one lady emerged as the player to beat, and that player was Iris Ranola, who traveled all the way from Manila, in the Philippines, to compete in the WPBA BCA GenerationPool.com qualifier.

Ranola started her tournament with a decisive victory over tour season points winner Liz Lovely of Dayton, OH, 7-4, only to follow it up by shutting out her next two opponents, Donna Ferguson 7-0 and Tina Hess 7-0, to take her to Sunday to face Iowa’s Rachel Byrkett in the winners’ side final. Byrkett also failed to stop the determined Ranola, losing 7-4, placing Ranola in the finals. Byrkett, who was also having a good weekend, bounced back with a 7-5 win over Tina Hess in the semifinals to earn a rematch with Ranola in the final. This weekend Ranola would not be stopped and played her way to a 9-5 victory to secure the qualifier and first-place money.

Results:
1st Iris Ranola
2nd Rachel Byrkett
3rd Tina Hess
4th Kassy Werner