There's very little in the way of offseason in this league when it comes to pool. There's more of a doldrums in the middle of the season than there is between seasons. With that said, welcome to the Tournament 2016, the sixth tournament to be held. This is the first three-cue tournament, featuring eight events in two tiers and a brand new finals system that isn't fully cemented in stone yet. The league is wavering between full round robin, which would drastically affect the series losses column, or a ladder style based on seeding, which would make the qualifiers all the more important. The league favors the latter method because it reduces the games load while also preserving the statistic balance (so that a player can't end up with extra series losses). Anyway, that's far enough away to not be an issue yet. We begin qualifiers with mostly 7-ball games early on, beginning with...
Sydney Sierota, the Harrison Specters rookie. The pressure of going first got to the rookie, who stumbled to 19 shots with the red cue for her total, a weak start to her career that will probably see her in the B-level for 7-ball. Sydney made three errors on her turn. Next up, Rainmane of the Web City Spiders, who also used the red cue but let her experience shine through with a 13 shot total and only one error, earning a fairly average score. Noelle makes it three straight for the red cue, and the Central Warriors reigning Champion's Cup winner scored 15, a dangerously low total that may keep her away from the chance to defend her 7-ball championship after one bad error and poor accuracy. Goldy is the fourth name called for 7-ball, and the Everton Eagles player is the first to use the silver cue as an official cue instead of a substitute in action. Goldy took a big step to dispel the notion that the silver cue is second-class, taking the 7-ball lead with a 12-shot performance and only one error. The red cue returns with the new Royal Crown, Marsell, who then shot 10 with no errors to begin his quest for vengeance against the Tysini Hummingbirds for cutting him.
Leading off the next five, the new Southern Monarchs captain Panda brings the blue cue to the party. Panda overcame an early error to score 11 as 7-ball continues to reign supreme. The blue cue gets another turn when Snuggle, the Oceanside Waves captain, used it to score 16 with two errors in a poor showing. Wild Thing brings the silver cue back to the table for his turn, and the newest Whitewater Shore became the first player to end a game early with a glancing kick off the top rail to the 1, caroming to take the 7 at the top left for a score of 2, making a good impression in the quick and error-free qualifier for the Shores. The blue cue comes back with Americus, the new Atlantic Pirate, who shot 11 in her debut with her new team, with no errors. The tenth player to shoot is the Pacific Volcanoes' Leonette, using the silver cue to score 9 with no errors in a strong effort that should quell concerns from the Volcanoes about regression.
The eleventh player called to the table is Commerce Tradewinds rookie Lorde, who will use the blue cue for her 7-ball. Lorde put up a score of 12 with one error, a reasonable league debut in the qualifier stage. Next up is Gabe of the Infinity Torpedoes, using the silver cue for a 20-shot disaster, without an error included. This is a step back for the silver cue after just a game where making shots was a struggle. The red cue comes back to the table with Chicky Phil, shooting 13 with it but also with two errors included in an all-around admirable effort from the Westside Rocker. Neopolitan of the Pearl Surfers got the next turn, attempting to save the silver cue's reputation. She achieved the goal easily, shooting 10 without an error to get the silver cue back in the league's good graces in a season that will see it face a lot of scrutiny. Shooting fifteenth, the returning Atlantic Pirates captain Delila takes the silver cue into her 7-ball qualifier. Delila ended up with a score of 13 and two errors to her name in the reasonable effort that ended with a hard carom off the 6 to tap the 7 in the bottom side.
Going sixteenth is Kavan, the new Victoria Spur, with the red cue in hand. Kavan scored 10 with one error in a strong Spurs debut. Following that, Strut of the Golden Pilots gets his season going with the blue cue, shooting 11 with no errors to enter right into the thick of the competition in 7-ball. The silver cue gets its next action with Sparkles of the Todavía Stills up to shoot. Sparkles didn't do so well, taking 16 shots with two errors in an unlucky game that saw her struggle to get clean shots, which reflected in her elevated score. Next up, Bear of the Whitewater Shores looks to start a better season with the silver cue on his 7-ball qualifier. Bear ended up with 14 after nearly taking the 7 on the break, including an error that complicated things in the game that just got out of hand. Going twentieth, Diamond Gems rookie Pedey scored 11 with a rough pair of errors with the silver cue, turning in a lucky-good debut.
The 21st player to shoot is Amber of the Atlantic Pirates, using the blue cue, and she became the first player to win on the break, earning a perfect score of 0 with no errors to top the 7-ball leaderboard. Shooting 22nd, Puff I of the Modernistic Union uses the red cue for a score of 16 with one error in the unenviable position of following a great performance. The pressure to match clearly hurt Puff I. Next up, the Everton Eagles' Puff III takes the silver cue for 12 while avoiding errors in a solid performance to open her 2016 season. Stealth picked up the red cue for his 7-ball qualifier, scoring 13 with two errors in an unlucky turn of events on the 5 for the new Swordpoint Blade. Shooting 25th for the day, Nightfur of the Royal Crowns tallied 16 with the blue cue in a poor effort with two errors and struggles with getting to the 2.
Going 26th is Sleepy B. of the Archtown Arrows, using to blue cue to score 14 with one error in 7-ball, a strong effort ruined by trouble on the 4. The 27th player to the table is Smudge of the Infinity Torpedoes, who pieced together a score of 14 with one error in the unfavorable distribution from the break. The first non-7-ball game belongs to the first player to go today, Sydney Sierota, who takes the silver cue to score 25 in 8-ball with just one error, shaking the rookie jitters in a fairly convincing manner with this bounce back game, the 28th of the day. Returning to 7-ball, the defending Players Cup champion Princess makes her 2016 debut with the silver cue for the Tysini Hummingbirds, striking 10 with no errors to get off to a good start. Finally, the short opening day of the season ends with the 30th qualifier, performed by Strawberry with the silver cue in 7-ball for the Pronger Tridents. Strawberry struggled with a score of 16 and two errors to her credit, ending an up-and-down day.
More to come in a fuller slate tomorrow.
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