WPBA DR POOL JACOBY TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dale Elliot Central WI Conv and Expo Center, Maggie Jacoby, Jacoby Custom Cues, Dean Roeseler, DR Pool Promotions, Inc. Pia Filler Runner Up, Kelly Fisher Champion, Todd Holzer and Ruth Geier from On the Hill Billiards Club.
It began on Wednesday with 48 players vying to make the cut to Stage 2. A mixture of foreign players, touring pros and first timers provided some great action. A few of the new players made quick impressions. April Gonzales, Elise Qiu, and two WI players, Veronica Lyon and Bonnie Hunkins. They all advanced and battled Thursday to make it to Friday.
Thursday evening provided a great social time with the Annual Banquet. Highlights of the night were Billie Billing’s induction into the WPBA Hall of Fame. Also, the Tournament Director’s award went to Lonnie Fox Raymond for her dedicated efforts to provide high quality streaming. Walter Harper took down the Presidents Award, for his many hours behind the tournament desk, assisting with bios and monitoring the match scores. A brief player meeting followed, the evening ended with players preparing to kick things off at 10am Friday with some practice time.
Runner-Up Pia Filler, Champion Kelly Fisher
Strong fan support was evident throughout the day on Friday to encourage great play. The opening round constated of 32 players, of which 16 advance to play the top 16 seeds and 2pm and 4 pm. Elimination rounds began at 7pm and 9 pm. Most noticeable players with early exits were Chihiro Kawahara, Kennedy Meyman and Brittany Bryant. The first two losing on the hill.
On Saturday the money rounds began. The spotlight was on Elise Qiu who defeated Allison Fisher, defending champion Borana Sarac, and April Larson. She then ran into Margaret Fefilova who finally sent her packing. Payouts began with 25-32nd collecting $600. The 6 rounds of play began at 10am and fan turnout did not disappoint. The final 16 on the one loss side looked like a winner’s side! The final elimination was two matches at 9 pm to determine who made it to the final six on Sunday. Margarita Fefilova defeated the Sofia Mast 8-5, and Kristina Tkach outlasted Eylul Kibaroglo 8-7 to also advance.
The finals kicked off Sunday morning to determine the top 4. Kelly Fischer and Kristina Tkach battled it out in one of the matches with Fisher finally notching an 8-6 victory. The other match saw Margarita Fefilova getting the best of Kaylee McIntosh 8-5. Both Tkach and McIntosh took home $3500 for their 5th place finishes. This set up the two winners to see who would advance on. Kelly Fisher won a thriller of a match 8-7 when it could have been either one advancing. Margarita took home another top finish and $4500.
Simultaneously, the battle for the chair was going on over on the stream table. “The twins” as they are sometimes being called, went to the younger twin Pia Filler (Although Jasmin said they were about the same age!) with an 8-4 score. Jasmin cashed out in 3rd place with $6500. This led to the one set race to 10 finals between Kelly and Pia. It was a great match, never being more than a couple of games apart. In the end, it was Kelly’s day again fresh off her World Heyball championship to take home the title 10-8. Pia Filler won $9,000 and Kelly Fisher took home $14,000. Congratulations to all the players who cashed and we are already looking forward to starting of 2026 at Iron City Billiards with ICB VI! Hope to see some of you there with your support.
Written by Dean Roeseler
WPBA President
