Chau and Cowan Command Tiger Tour

Tiger Pool Tour / Arlington, VA

by Skip Maloney

Manny Chau

Chau began his quest for the tour victory with a narrow hill-hill win over Matt Clatterbuck in the opening round of play before moving on to defeat his next two opponents by 9-2 scores. In a Sunday morning winners’-side match-up against Eric Moore, Chau then pulled out a narrow 9-7 victory before facing Brandon Shuff, who had just sent Richard Keefe to the one-loss bracket with a 9-3 win. Chau took an early lead in the hot seat battle, but Shuff fought back to force a hill-hill match and won it.

On the one loss side, Larry Kressel had forfeited a match to Shane Jackson, while Shaun Wilkie took Paul Adolini 7-2. Matt Douglas sent Joey Ryan into the ninth-place category with a 7-2 win.

Clatterbuck, in the meantime, having worked his way through three opponents after his initial loss to Chau, faced off against Ryan McCreesh, who defeated him 7-5. Wilkie then took on Shane Jackson, defeating him 7-3, while McCreesh defeated Douglas 7-2. Moore and Keefe, fresh from the winners’ bracket, played against Wilkie and McCreesh, respectively. Wilkie took Moore 7-3 and McCreesh defeated Keefe 7-4, setting up a McCreesh-Wilkie battle that McCreesh won 7-3.

With thoughts of his recent 9-8 loss to Shuff still fresh in his mind apparently, Chau wasted little time establishing his game in the semifinal match-up against McCreesh, whom he defeated handily 7-0.

In the single-set final race to 11, Chau took an early 6-1 lead that he never relinquished. Shuff brought it back to within two at 6-4 and traded games over the next couple, but when it was over, Chau had successfully regained that early 5-point margin, winning it 11-6.

Results:

In the $500-added ladies’ event, it was Katie Cowan defeating former pro Linda Shea in a hill-hill match for the $400 first-place prize, plus a WPBA qualifying slot for the June BCA event in Charlotte.

Held on April 13, the tournament drew 17 entrants, including another former pro, Ming Ng, who eventually fell to Cowan in a hill-hill match for a fourth-place finish. It was Rachel Eliazar who faced Linda Shea in the hot seat match, losing 7-4. She went on to meet Cowan in the semifinal match, which, were it not for a 9 ball miss by Cowan, would have ended at 5-0. Eliazar won the single game and brought home third place.

Chanta Cry and Cheryl Squire took fifth place, with Cry falling to Cowan in an earlier hill-hill match and Squire giving way to Ng 5-1.

In the final race to 9, Cowan took a strong 6-1 lead before Shea opted for a short break. Shea came back from the break to tie the match at 6-6. The two traded racks to double-hill, before a miss on the 8 ball by Shea turned the table over to Cowan to sink the final two balls.

Results:
1st Katie Cowan
2nd Linda Shea
3rd Rachel Eliazar
4th Ming Ng
5th Chanta Cry
Cheryl Squire