Wei-Wei’s Flawless Run Headlines the Strongest Women’s Field Ever Assembled
WPBA Board Member Cathy Tschrumper, Asst TD Randy Fischer, WPBA VP Brittany Bryant, Runner-up Pia Filler, Champions Tzu-Chien Wei, WPBA President Dean Roeseler, and CEO of Soaring Eagle Joe Nayquonabe.
WPBA Soaring Eagle Masters • Mount Pleasant, Michigan – June 5th - 8th , 2025
If the 49-year-old WPBA has taught us anything, it’s that the talent curve keeps bending upward. WPBA analysts reviewed every professional women’s event from the past five seasons and confirmed what the fans inside Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort already felt: this 64-player lineup carried the highest talent ever recorded for a women’s tournament.
Six Storylines That Defined Masters ’25
Wei’s Wire-to-Wire Crown – Taiwan’s Tzu-Chien Wei never left the winners’ side, stringing together victories over Debbie Teichert, Eylul Kibaroglu, April Larson, Yuki Hiraguchi, Seo Seoa, and three-time WPBA runner-up Kristina Zlateva before out-dueling Pia Filler 10-8 in the extended final.
Filler’s Fearless Fight-Back – Germany’s Pia Filler motored past Rachel Lang, Teruko Macklin, Kennedy Meyman, and Sofia Mast, then left herself tree-topped and pushed a ball wide to drop her first loss 7-8 to Zlateva. Dropping to the one-loss side only lit the fuse: she eliminated world-#1 Kristina Tkach, Seo Seoa, and Zlateva (again 8-7) to earn a title shot against Wei.
Hill-Hill Heart-Stoppers – Nineteen matches reached 8-7 this event!
A few key Hill-Hill matches:Winners Round 1 – Sofia Mast 8 – 7 Miina Tani
The 16-year-old American opened her breakout run by out-lasting Japan’s Tani in a rack-for-rack race to the wire.Winners Round 3 – Kristina Tkach 8 – 7 Monica Webb
World-No. 1 Tkach stared down an early loss for the first time all week, edging the veteran Webb to keep her perfect winners-side record intact.Winners Round 5 – Kristina Zlateva 8 – 7 Pia Filler
A see-saw quarter-final that sent Filler to the one-loss side and cemented Zlateva’s path to a third-place finish.B-Side Round 5 – Silviana Lu 8 – 7 Bojana Sarac
Indonesia’s Lu erased a late deficit, banking the final 7-ball and running out to survive another day.B-Side Round 10 – Pia Filler 8 – 7 Kristina Zlateva
In a dramatic rematch, Filler flipped the earlier result, sinking a pressure-packed 8 and 9-ball to reach the championship match against Wei.
Global Final Eight – Seven different flags (AIN, BUL, GER, JPN, KOR, TPE, USA) flew in the quarter-finals, underscoring the WPBA’s worldwide reach.
Youth Alert – Mast’s winners-side victories over Miina Tani, Bojana Sarac, and Wang Wan-Ling powered the teenager to a 9th place finish. Ultimately losing out to Kelly Fisher in tough match till 5-5 when the former #1 pulled away and won 8-5 over Mast.
Scoreline Snapshot – Average scorelines told the pressure story:
winners’ bracket 8 - 4.3
one-loss bracket 8 - 3.9
A Final Worthy of the Hype
Rack-for-rack drama:
In the race-to-10 final, Filler set the tone with a clinical break-and-run, only to see Wei match her shot for shot in rack two. Filler repeated the feat in rack three, eased ahead 2-1, and soon stretched the gap to 4-1. At that point Wei took her lone tactical timeout—an inspired move.
Returning refocused, she rattled off five consecutive racks, with multiple break-and-runs, to flip the scoreboard to 6-4. The two champions then traded heavy blows, each protecting her own break, until Wei reached the hill first at 9-7. Filler answered with her fourth break-and-run to close within one, and when Wei rattled a mid-range ball in rack 18, the door cracked open. Filler pulled the score within one, down 8-9.
In what turned out to be the final rack, Wei undercut a ball, leaving it in the jaws of the pocket, Pia cleared the table’s toughest traffic and positioned herself on the 8-ball, only to miss it wide and leaving Wei two routine pots to seal a gripping 10-8 victory and hoisted the 1st place trophy!
Spotlight on the Stars
Tzu-Chien Wei (TPE) : Wins over Teichert, Kibaroglu, Larson, Hiraguchi, Seo Seoa, Zlateva, Filler - Champion
Pia Filler (GER): Bested Rachel Lang, Teruko Macklin, Kennedy Meyman, Sofia Mast, before losing to Zlateva - Runner-up
Kristina Zlateva (BUL): Five straight on the winners’ side; fell only to Wei and Filler - 3rd
Kristina Tkach (AIN): World & WPBA #1; 4-0 start, defeated by Seo Seoa 8-7, bounced to 5-6th by Filler - Tied-5th
Margarita Fefilova (BLR): WPBA #2 suffered a 1st-round upset to Tina Larsen, battled back before bowing out in L-Round 3 to Jasmin -Tied-33
Silviana Lu (INA): Put together a 7-match streak that featured an 8-7 escape against Bojana Sarac and an upset of Kelly Fisher; bowed out to Seo Seoa in the quarters 8-7. - Tied-5th
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT): Two-time Masters champ lost early to Kelly Fisher; survived two knockout matches before Rita Chou ended the run. - Tied-17
Chieh-Yu “Rita” Chou (TPE): 2024 champion; key wins over Jasmin Ouschan & Chihiro Kawahara, lost to Sakura Muramatsu and Tkach halted the title defense - Tied-9
Players in the Money — $68,800 Total Purse
Tzu-Chien Wei (TPE) – $15,000
Pia Filler (GER) – $8,500
Kristina Zlateva (BUL) – $6,200
Seo Seoa (KOR) – $4,500
5-6. Silviana Lu (INA), Kristina Tkach (AIN) – $3,500 ea.
7-8. Kelly Fisher (GBR), Yuki Hiraguchi (JPN) – $2,800 ea.
9-12. Bean Hung (AUS); Sofia Mast (USA); Chieh-Yu Chou (TPE); Sakura Muramatsu (JPN) – $2,000 ea.
13-16. Ayala Soledad (ARG); Savannah Easton (USA); Chihiro Kawahara (JPN); Bojana Sarac (SRB) – $1,500 ea.
17-24. Brittany Bryant (CAN); Shui Ching Chiang (TPE); Monica Webb (USA); April Larson (USA); Nina Torvund (NOR); Kennedy Meyman (USA); Jasmin Ouschan (AUT); Wang Wan-Ling (TPE) – $1,000 ea.
Up Next
The tour now heads to Green Bay, Wisconsin for a once-in-a-lifetime moment: the inaugural 2025 ONEIDA WPA Women’s 8‑Ball World Championship, July 2-6 at Oneida Casino & Hotel, with an opening ceremony inside Lambeau Field. If Soaring Eagle proved anything, the women’s game has never been deeper—or more thrilling. Our next regular WPBA Tour stop will be back at Felt Billiards in Denver, Colorado, August 21st - 24th.
