Makiyama & Lu Win Andy Cloth WIPC Qualifier

Dec 11, 2014

Makiyama & Lu Win Andy Cloth WIPC Qualifier: Russian & Dutch Champs Debut in USA
Young, beautiful, and dangerous with a pool cue, Nathalie Seichter of Holland will be planning on doing plenty of damage in her first trip to the United States. Photo courtesy of Melissa Rademakers
Story by Brook "Heart of Hard Times" Thomason
Los Angeles, California- Once again California ladies came out in full spirit to support women's pool in America drawing the biggest qualifier field in the USA. Hard Times Billiards Bellflower began with 17 women from 3 states all vying for 2 spots to NYC for the Andy Cloth Women's International Pool Championship, to be held at Steinway Billiards Cafe. The qualifier event was organized by Brook Thomason and hosted by Eddie Arreguin, owner of Hard Times Bellflower.
In addition to the California finalists, Europe is sending some new up and coming guns to the US. Russia's #1 and European Gold Medalist Anna Mazhirina makes her debut on American soil playing her first pro event here. Joining her is teenage sensation Nathalie Seichter of the Netherlands. Seichter, a former German Junior Championship winner, has already reached the finals of the Dutch Pro Championships 5 times and quickly risen to the #12 ranking on the European Women's Pro Tour. Mazhirina will take the #3 seed in NYC with a showdown against #14 seed Ewa Mataya Laurance and also a must see match against throwback veteran Mary Kenniston, all taking place in Group 3. #7 seed Seichter will have a fan savory match against the "Texas Tornado" Vivian Villarreal in Group 7.

This prestigious 10-ball event will be bringing world class women’s pool to New York City for the first time in over 12 years, benefiting the pool world with another fantastic event! Dragon Promotions is bringing big time, world class women's pool back to the United States with this new event that is also featuring qualifiers all over North America. The main event takes place December 16-21, 2014 featuring 64 elite women from around the world and hosted by Steinway Billiards Cafe in New York City, the epicenter of American culture. The Women's International Pool Championship format will be very challenging beginning with an 8 women round robin with every player playing a guaranteed 7 matches. The field is cut in half and then moves onto the knockout rounds in a race to 10. The quarter-finals goes to a race to 11, and then the semi-finals race to 13. The WIP Championship Finals will be a race to 17. The eventual tournament winner will have played 12 world class opponents. The event is sanctioned by the WPBA and brought to you by Andy Cloth, J.Pechauer Cues , Viking Cues, Steinway Billiards. , Olhausen Balls, Pool & Billiard Magazine & Focused Apparel . Patron sponsors include Dr. Greg Diehl, Tom Gleich, and Dr. Michael Frank. Media partners include PKE Partners, IB Sports, NYC Grind, Gotham City Technologies, Nona Photography, and Charles Eames Photography. 7 days of live pool will be filmed and streamed by Inside Pool TV. Pay per view on www.Dragonpromotions.com for only $10 a day or $50 for the entire week ! Including the Battle of the Billiard Beauties special TV event on December 14th!
Back to the LA Qualifier, there were no easy draws in the event. The highlight first round match up was local favorite Trinh Lu against Ashea Erdahl, a top player from Las Vegas NV, from which Trinh emerged victorious. Trinh then beat Lisa Just (6-2), Vicki Wade (6-0) before falling to Bernie Store (6-4). A few other notable wins were Tina (Palowski) Malm over Brook Thomason (6-4), Stacy Novak over Lila Woodland (6-3) and Vicki Wade over Amanda Pulley (6-4).
Bernie Store made her way to the hot seat match with victories over Claudia Justus (6-2), Tina Malm (6-3) and Trinh Lu (6-4), Hiroko Makiyama earned her's with wins over Lara Rossignol (6-1) Stacy Novack (6-1) and Jenny Lee (6-3). Hiroko's hot seat win over Bernie secured her one of the NYC spots. Bernie hit balls and stayed warm as she waited to see who would battle through the one loss side to play her for the remaining spot.
Trinh Lu came from the top half and from the bottom half came newcomer Maryann Osias, who overcame a first round loss to Jenny Lee (6-1) to fight through Gigi Callejas (5-4), Vicki Wade (5-1), Lila Woodland (5-2) and Jenny Lee (5-3). Trinh came out firing, not giving Maryann many chances and won 5-1. You could see Trinh wanted the opportunity for payback agains Bernie, who had knocked her into the one loss bracket.

Both Bernie and Trinh started the match strong, games going back and forth to make it 3-3 at which point Trinh pushed ahead to win 5-3 and secure the second spot.
Hiroko and Trinh are both able to accept their invitations and will be representing SoCal at the NYC event.
Overall it was a great day for west coast women's pool as newcomers and seasoned players came together to support our sport and each other. Thank you to all who attended and helped make this event a success.
(For finishing so high MaryAnn Osias and Bernie Store were both issued invitations and will also be attending the women's international 10 ball event. )
From Seattle to Quebec, and Tampa to New York City, there was a multitude of opportunities for players to qualify. The ones who won will get to play a guaranteed 7 matches in the round robin! Not bad for a $50 entry fee and taking a crack at the $14,000 1st place prize. A very big opportunity for up and comers looking to gain experience on the women's pro tour scene.
Become a FAN Sponsor of the WOMEN's INTERNATIONAL POOL CHAMPIONSHIP for only $200! and get a ton of benefits including FREE pass to watch: click http://dragonpromotions.com/sponsors.html
OR Order the EARLY BIRD Special ALL week event Pay Per View in advance for $80 and save $20 now! click http://dragonpromotions.com/ppv.html
Main event Dec 16-21, 2014 in New York City at Steinway Cafe-Billiards. Special PPV Pro Event Invitational on Dec 14th.
Sponsorships are available for industry members and fans. For advertising packages or for interest in marketing and branding your company, business, or events please contact Orlando Synergy at 1-407-782-4978 or email support@dragonpromotions.com