Pia Filler Clinches Her First WPBA Title at the 2024 WPBA Capital City Billiards Invitational
The Capital City Billiards Invitational, held in Concord, New Hampshire from November 21st to 24th, saw Pia Filler capture her first WPBA title. This event, enhanced by a $15,000 addition from Capital City Billiards, attracted some of the world's top female billiards talent, delivering thrilling matches throughout the weekend.
Journey to Victory
Pia Filler started strong with an 8-0 win against Suzy Dickstein and maintained her momentum by defeating Emily Duddy 8-1. She faced tough matches against top players Kelly Fisher and Tzu-Chien Wei, narrowly winning each with scores of 8-7 and setting up an interesting match with the 14-year-old phenom, Savannah Easton. The 2 players have split victories the last 2 times they faced off. This match was back and forth and tied at 5-5. Pia broke and ran the table to take the 6-5 lead. Savannah attempted to do the same and did all the hard work down to the 8 ball when she undercut it and left it near the pocket. Pia secured the victory with another table run to advance to the hot seat match. Margarita jumped out to an early lead and held on to punch her ticket to the finals with an 8-4 victory over Pia. After Kelly Fisher dropped her 3rd round to Pia, she went on a deep run on the B side of the board with key wins over Brittany Bryant, Ashley Rice, Veronique Menard, Lonnie Fox-Raymond, Savannah Easton, and Tzu-Chien Wei before losing a close battle with Pia 6-8 to get to the finals.
The Final and Consistent Top Performers
In the final, Filler met Margarita Fefilova, who has been a consistent finalist in recent events, winning a previous tournament in Colorado at Felt Billiards. Fefilova reached the final after impressive wins against strong competitors like Jessica Barnes, Lisa Cossette, Briana Miller, Veronique Menard, and Bean Hung. Despite an initial loss in the hot-seat match, Filler turned the tables in the finals, securing her championship with a 10-7 victory.
Top Finishers and Payouts
1st: Pia Filler - $8,000
2nd: Margarita Fefilova - $5,400
3rd: Kelly Fisher - $4,000
4th: Tzu-Chien Wei - $3,000
5th/6th: Savannah Easton and Bean (Meng-Hsia) Hung - $2,000 each
7th/8th: Kaylee McIntosh and Lonnie Fox-Raymond - $1,500 each
9th to 12th: Kristina Tkach, Monica Webb, Janet Atwell, Veronique Menard - $1,200 each
13th to 16th: Ashley Benoit, April Larson, Ashley Rice, Angela Janic - $900 each
17th to 24th: JoAnn Mason Parker, Briana Miller, Brittany Bryant, Tina Larsen, Lisa Cossette, Rachel Lang, Joanne Ashton, Michelle Cortez - $600 each
Looking Ahead
The WPBA season will conclude with the 2024 WPBA Dr Pool / Jacoby Tour Championship from December 11th - 15th in Rothschild, Wisconsin. This final tournament of the year will feature a celebratory banquet, award ceremonies, and the announcement of election results for two board positions. The Tour Championship will feature 80 of the best Women’s 9-ball Players in an unique 2-stage event over 5 days and will boast a wonderful $40,000 Added prize fund.
For full match details, updated rankings, and information on the upcoming Wisconsin event, visit WPBA Rankings and check out the complete tournament bracket at DigitalPool.com.
Photo Credit: Steve Booth
Written by: Jerry Stuckart
