Today is another full-slate day. We will get reasonably close to the end of the round, but we'll save at least two series for tomorrow. The day begins in the afternoon at...
UPS Hall, Maplewood: Fluffina v. Paps. The first series is a set of 10-ball. Pronger's Paps had a trio of scratches at critical points to give Maplewood's Fluffina just enough possession to turn game 1 into a victory, going up 1-0 in the process of taking the sloppy game filled with inaccuracy. The Tridents' Paps used a three-ball run-out in game 2 to answer the Lumberjacks' Fluffina scoring a three-ball run right before, and with the win, Paps tied the series at 1. Fluffina got away with scratching on the 5 in game 3, as Paps couldn't bury the 6, leaving Fluffina set up to tap the 6 in and keep position on the 7-10 combination to the bottom left, which she converted to go up 2-1 in the series. Paps got absolutely dismantled at the end of game 4, after scoring four- and three-ball runs early in the game to dominate possession. His late mistakes included a scratch on the 9 and missed contact after a miss by Fluffina on the 10, ruining his chances as Fluffina put the 10 away for a 3-1 series lead. Fluffina sealed the series in game 5 with a win after Paps missed on the 9, even though Fluffina was penalized for moving an object ball during an attempt to set up for a shot from ball-in-hand. Fluffina took game 6 when Paps couldn't hit the 8, and the UPCL is intervening in the series as it appears the players are out of line emotionally. The league is issuing a warning for game 7, which could result in penalties. As an aside, the fact that this always happens in 10-ball should indicate something needs to be altered to make that particular type of pool more player-friendly. In game 7, the play went cleanly, with two-ball runs the common sight. Fluffina missed at the end on the 10, allowing Paps to tap in to produce a 5-2 final for the series. The #19 ranked player in 10-ball, Fluffina will advance to the semifinals, where she hosts the Tysini Hummingbirds' Princess at this venue. With the loss, Paps finds himself as the ninety-fourth player out of the tournament. Making it this far should be enough to encourage the Pronger Tridents to hold for another season for him. The Tridents also found themselves as the eighth team fully eliminated from the tournament. Fluffina took her third kill of the season in the win. The league has announced a possible solution to the 10-ball problem, called Quidditch rules 10-ball, which would involve the game proceeding like 9-ball until the 7 is potted, at which point the 10 is placed on the table at the foot spot, at which point the game would proceed as 10-ball. The league will vote on the alteration during the offseason.
Nestle's Warriors Hall, Central: Twilight v. Patches. The next set begins a 12-ball doubleheader that could determine the course of the day. Boston's Patches won game 1 with a wild card ball to her name, which helped in her shot selection at the end against a fast-approach Twilight of Central, with the visitor leading 1-0 in the series. The Swifts' Patches took game 2 as well on a three-ball run-out, using early set-up work to make it very easy once she got going, taking a 2-0 lead in the series against a slightly more reckless Twilight of the Warriors. Twilight got dirty in game 3, playing brilliantly flagrant, rule-breaking pool by bumping away Patches' set-ups since she didn't have a better option available to herself. Eventually, Patches missed contact on her final ball near the bottom side, and Twilight made her last two to make it 2-1 in the series after quite the battle from two brilliant strategists. Patches went up 3-1 in game 4 after Twilight narrowly missed on her last ball from a bad angle to the bottom side. Patches again meticulously set herself up, and executed when she needed to for the win. Patches and Twilight both had wild card balls in game 5, but Patches got better position near an open pocket, and despite Twilight's last ditch effort to take the 14 at the top side on a wicked kick that just rattled out, Patches sank her 3 in the top right for a 4-1 series-clinching lead. Patches got away with one miss at point-blank range in game 6, as Twilight couldn't take the second of her two remaining shots from distance, and this allowed Patches the tap-in for a 5-1 series lead after the win. Patches iced the series at 6-1 in game 7, dominating from the start. Twilight did run three balls late, but that just gave Patches the room she needed to finish the game and series. Patches, ranked #115 in 12-ball, will be on the road as her impressive campaign continues into the semifinals. Twilight is the ninety-fifth player to be eliminated, but the Central Warriors will hold onto her for another season after likely earning protection from both sports. Patches collected her second kill of the season.
Pepsi Arena, Lighton: Pounce v. Acorn. An all-Prestige game is up next, a rarity this late in the tournament but a fun series nonetheless. Pounce took game 1 somewhat narrowly, but the shooting did not improve from the previous two series, and the league is considering a halt to play. Acorn did lose a wild card ball early, and that proved costly as Pounce navigated the table for a 1-0 series lead in the win. Acorn took advantage of a wild card ball in a clean game 2, using it to help him out-maneuver a very much stuck Pounce that couldn't get set at the top side, with Acorn's win making it a 1-1 series. When the game switched from set-ups to contact play in game 3, Acorn took control, getting just enough on the 10 late near the top right to disrupt Pounce's angles on the side pockets he needed. Pounce did get contact next, but Acorn took the 10 to the top right to end the game on his next shot, taking a 2-1 series lead. Acorn did almost the same thing in game 4, but more with defensive positioning that Pounce decided to barge through too late, as Acorn made his last shot to make Pounce pay for giving him a wild card ball, taking a 3-1 lead. Pounce roared back with a four-ball run early in the game and consecutive turns with a made ball to win game 5, making it a 3-2 series very quickly with the well-organized win. Pounce did pot a ball illegally, but it stayed in since it was not his last ball. Pounce made an interesting, and ultimately wrong, decision in game 6, attempting to kick the 13 to the bottom side rather than cut it, which went awry when he missed contact, allowing Acorn to take advantage of his wild card ball by potting his last ball in the nearest empty pocket from ball-in-hand for a 4-2 series lead. Pounce had a three-ball run in game 7, capped by a perfect kick off the bottom rail to take the 12 to the top right for the win, making it a 4-3 series. Ranked #72, Acorn took the series 4-3, and he will travel to Westside's BMW RockDome to face his former apprentice, the Rockers captain Misty, in the semifinals. With the loss, Pounce is the ninety-sixth player out of the tournament. His future with the Lighton Prestige is uncertain. The dose of friendly fire was Acorn's fourth kill of the season.
Home Depot Forum, Web City: Rainmane v. Spice. Two highly ranked players go at it in Rotation, with the league ready to halt play should things get ugly. Web City's Rainmane did a good job to pull away late in game 1, getting a double-pot of the 7 and 12 to take the lead, a bank shot on the 8 to add on, and a 9-13 combination as the end of a four-ball run. Victoria's Spice shot back, but couldn't pull close enough, as the final stood at 8-5 for the Spiders' Rainmane, who took a 1-0 lead. Rainmade did good work with a four-ball run in game 2, including a tough bank of the 8 off the left rail to the bottom right with pace and solid positioning to sink the 8-12 combination to the top left earlier, en route to an 8-3 victory and 2-0 series lead. The Spurs' Spice didn't stay down long, bouncing back in game 3 with a four-ball run to tie the game and a two-ball run-out with good positioning for the latter shot to win 8-6 and move to 2-1 in the series. Rainmane shot back in game 4, using a five-ball run-out highlight by a double-pot of the 12 to the bottom left and the 15 to the bottom side to win 8-6. Spice got herself in trouble with iffy positioning. Rainmane played stronger in that realm and also executed efficiently for a 3-1 series lead. Spice ran three balls to tie up game 5, but Rainmane countered with two blistering shots for an 8-6 win and 4-1 series lead, clinching the series with the win. Rainmane saw two equalizers wiped out by scratched in game 6, allowing Spice more possession that she used to take the game 8-5 and move the series to 4-2. Spice used a three-ball run-out in game 7 to win 8-4, moving the series to 4-3 after the display of skill. Rainmane advances to the semifinals with her #1 ranked Rotation bid, hosting another series at this venue. Spice is the ninety-seventh player to be eliminated, but the longtime Victoria Spur is set to return to the team as captain next season. This is Rainmane's second kill of the season.
Gillette Center, Swordpoint: Snowball v. Cubby. In the middle of the map, there's a series of Survival to bridge the afternoon and evening. Swordpoint's Snowball faded hard in game 1, but Maplewood's Cubby had no shot late, allowing the Blades' Snowball to win to start the second rack for a 1-0 lead. The Lumberjacks' Cubby crumbled under a relentless, crafty attack from Snowball, dropping the game in a single rack as Snowball won for a 2-0 series lead. Cubby held on for a decently long time in game 3, but Snowball only faded slowly, and near the end of the first rack, Cubby lost the game as Snowball left him an enticing but poorly-angled shot to pot two balls that he got neither of. Snowball mover to a 3-0 lead in the series. Snowball nearly paid dearly for her defensive snooker shot at the start of the second rack, as Cubby got one off a cluster buster, but on his next turn he missed, allowing Snowball the nail-biting win that put her to safety at 4-0 in the series. Snowball's defensive tactics failed again in game 5, but her lead was big enough to hold off Cubby, as he didn't get any extra lives and lost late in the second rack, making it 5-0 for Snowball in the series. Snowball didn't have her best stuff in game 6, and Cubby played a much stronger game, winning early in the second rack to avoid a sweep and make it 5-1 in the series. The players demonstrated some showmanship in game 7, stretching it to two racks of mostly brilliant play before it all fell apart, and Snowball fell the hardest while squandering a lead. Still, Snowball took the series 5-2, and her #27 ranked Survival bid will host Citrus of the Diamond Gems at this venue in the semifinals. Cubby is the ninety-eighth player to be eliminated, but he may have done just enough in pool to earn another year of time with the Maplewood Lumberjacks. The journeyman would like to stick with the team, as he thinks they are going in the right direction. Snowball recorded her third kill of the season with the win.
Capital City SuperCenter, Capital City: Dani v. Paige. The next series takes us to the capital nearby, where we have 15-ball. Queens' Paige took a 1-0 series lead by winning game 1, a tight game that saw a mistake by Capital City's Dani late in the game tip the scales in the direction they ended up at. Game 2 saw a little more skill late, with the Flames' Paige scoring a three-ball run, only to scratch and have the Sharpshooters' Dani take a three-ball run-out for the win, tying the series at 1. Paige made a late three-ball run in game 3, only to shoot the 15 wide of the top side. Dani also missed it wide at the bottom right, and Paige took it to the top side at a worse angle for a 2-1 series lead on her second chance. Paige made it 3-1 with a game 4 win, taking the last two balls in another tight game for the victory, using very good accuracy as the key in this game. Dani took game 5 on a ball-in-hand shot for the 15, scoring it when Paige scratched to end a four-ball run, which made it a 3-2 series with Dani's win. Paige took the series at 4-2 with a four-ball run-out to win game 6, showing off really good positioning after Dani whiffed on a kick attempt at the 12 that never made contact. Dani continued to have untimely fouls, scratching on the 14 to open things up for Paige at the end, and two shots later, Paige won game 7 for a 5-2 series win. Ranked #76 in 15-ball, Paige will again travel in the semifinals. With the loss, Dani is the ninety-ninth player to be eliminated, but she is a certainty to return to the Capital City Sharpshooters, who are vastly impressed with the pool skills of the former Specter they acquired the rights to this year. The Sharpshooters are the ninth team to be full eliminated from the tournament as well. Paige took her fifth kill of the season to enter a three-way tie for the league lead in that category, a lead that is expected to be short-lived.
Cisco Arena, Tysini: Princess v. Cassandra. The reason that lead is expected to be short-lived comes in this eight-ball series in the southwest. Diamond's Cassandra used a four-ball run to get ahead of Tysini's Princess in game 1, and controlled the game defensively to take a 1-0 lead once she got her last shots taken care of. The Hummingbirds' Princess tied the series at 1 after Cassandra's five-ball run ended in a scratch in game 2. The scratch stifled her momentum and she missed on her next shot on the 9, even as it was lined up nicely. Princess took a three-ball run-out to seal the win. Princess used a lightning bolt four-ball run-out to win game 3, coming after a five-ball run pulled Cassandra back in the series. Princess went from the top right to the bottom left, with both side pocket shots in the middle in the process of her victory to make it a 2-1 series. It could be said Princess feeds off lost confidence and the missed shots of opponents, which is what made it all too predictable that Cassandra would fall in this game after some early shakiness. In game 4, the 1 gave Cassandra absolute fits, as she missed a handful of shots at it while Princess pulled herself back into a game she didn't look great in, winning with a difficult angle shot on the 8 to the bottom left for a 3-1 lead in the series. Princess clinched the series in game 5, working a five-ball run-out on a whole bunch of accuracy, stunning Cassandra after she had potted one of Princess' defensive balls to open things up for herself, yet she never got another shot in the game. Princess went up 4-1 with the win. Cassandra had a brilliant play in game 6, hitting the 12 near the bottom right but with the perfect ricochet to come back to the top left and bump the 13 in on a double-kiss. Cassandra also made the 12, but her miss on the 8 allowed Princess to tap the 2 in and cut the 8 from distance for another win and a 5-1 lead. Princess and Cassandra played a very tight game in game 7, but more late misses from Cassandra kept Princess in it, and her cheeky finish was a spin-cut on the 8 from three-quarters of the length of the table along the top rail to the top left, making it a 6-1 series win. Princess, ranked #8 in 8-ball, advances to host another series in the semifinals. With the loss, Cassandra is the one-hundredth player to be eliminated. This series aside, Cassandra bounced back impressively from a dismal pool debut for the Gems last season. She is expected to be kept if for nothing but the potential she carries. Princess regained the league lead in kills at 6.
Verizon Field Events Center, Pacific: Ms. Kitty v. Princess. The second half of a personal doubleheader for Tysini's Princess is the first half of a doubleheader at home for Pacific's Ms. Kitty, and this series is 12-ball. The Volcanoes' Ms. Kitty struck first in game 1, scoring three balls from the break and wasting little time in getting the other three through careful set-up work, while the Hummingbirds' Princess surrendered her wild card ball and couldn't build up momentum, falling behind 1-0. Princess shot back quickly in game 2, scoring four balls on her first turn in a run, and then setting up the final two. Ms. Kitty greased the wheel a bit, potting one of Princess' two late in an attempt to play defense. The series went to a 1-1 tie, which, if history repeats, is not good for Ms. Kitty. In game 3, Ms. Kitty had to get defensive as her scratch wiped out a big advantage because it took away a side pocket ball, and this defensive approach worked for awhile, but Princess got the 13 lined up at the bottom left and didn't waste the opportunity, potting it for a 2-1 lead. Princess kept going with all the bounces going her way in game 4. She did strong work to get in a good position before Ms. Kitty gave her a wild card ball. Ms. Kitty nearly won the game anyway, but the 15 wouldn't go in the top side. Princess' distance shot on the 2 also stayed up, but Ms. Kitty couldn't touch the 15 on a kick for positioning, giving Princess a ball-in-hand shot to win the game, which she converted easily for a 3-1 series lead. Ms. Kitty got one back in one of Princess' worst games this season, as she surrendered two wild card balls (Ms. Kitty gave one back later), and continually scratched while playing weak defense, allowing Ms. Kitty to go mostly unimpeded for the win to make it 3-2 in the series. Ms. Kitty didn't make it any easier on herself in game 6, giving up two wild card balls, which Princess held onto tightly. Ms. Kitty dropped back into defense, but it couldn't hold after she was only down to the 12 and missed her positioning attempt with a scratch. Princess took the last ball she needed to the bottom left for a straight-in win, moving to 4-2 as she clinched the series. Princess flat-out dominated in game 7, working well from the start and playing accurately later in the game, with a long distance shot to make up for a mid-game scratch ending the game and the series at 5-2. Princess, ranked #71 in 12-ball, will host the Boston Swifts captain, Patches, at Cisco Arena in Tysini in the semifinals.
Verizon Field Events Center, Pacific: Ms. Kitty v. Max. After her drubbing last series, Pacific's Ms. Kitty hopes to stay alive while facing another strong team's player, Max of Queens, in Rotation. Game 1 had a bit of a slow start, but the Flames' Max blew out to a decent lead around mid-game. The Volcanoes' Ms. Kitty roared back over two turns, and the last of those was a three-ball run-out for an 8-6 win to take a 1-0 series lead. Game 2 followed suit in the lazy start department, and the ending wasn't pretty, but Ms. Kitty worked effectively in the middle with a five-ball run to eventually open the scoring, and she cruised from there to an 8-3 win for a 2-0 lead in the series, as Max couldn't get anything going on offense. Max's furious game-tying four-ball run in game 3 served well enough, as Ms. Kitty couldn't capitalize on his miss and he took the 15 on a second try for an 8-7 victory to push the series to 2-1. After a stick violation by Ms. Kitty in game 4, Max used his momentum to work a three-ball run-out from ball-in-hand to ice off a dominant 8-2 win, using a bank of the 10 to the bottom side on his option play that also brought the 12 as a considered shot from the carom. With the win, Max tied the series at 2, keeping things competitive. The pace slowed a bit in game 5, but Ms. Kitty picked it up after a slow start with a four-ball run-out featuring some good positioning and accuracy for an 8-2 win and 3-2 lead in the series. Max had no one but himself to blame for an 8-6 loss in game 6, as he had two chances to tie the game that he missed, and he didn't manage to pull ahead of Ms. Kitty at any point despite plenty of chances to do so. Ms. Kitty secured the series at 4-2. Ms. Kitty stayed dominant in game 7, working around much of Max's poor shooting to cruise to an 8-3 victory that was nearly more than that when her final shot, a cut on the 11 to the top side, nearly potted the 14 in the top right and the 15 in the bottom side off the residual action. Ms. Kitty, ranked #18 in Rotation, will travel to Web City to face the Spiders' star Rainmane at the Home Depot Forum in the semifinals. Max is 101st player out of the tournament, but his comeback campaign with the Flames has been nothing short of impressive as they have showed team strength for a hodgepodge of well-tenured players and last year's rejects. Ms. Kitty grabbed her first kill of the season.
Nike Field Events Center, Commerce: Tigerette v. Tori. Inland a bit, we end the day with 10-ball, hopefully better than the starting series of the day in the same sport. Commerce's Tigerette made an early statement in game 1, keeping Victoria's Tori away from the table with a six-ball run-out for a 1-0 lead. The Tradewinds' Tigerette won game 2 as well, using a carom off the 7 to drive the 10 to the bottom side, and two rails later, the 7 ended up there as well for a double-pot to go up 2-0 in the series. The 10 was the called ball on that shot. Tigerette continued to dominate in possession during game 3, winning after a bit of jostling later in the game around the 9. The Spurs' Tori is still struggling with some accuracy, while Tigerette has been mostly sharp in taking a 3-0 lead. In game 4, Tori was rewarded for running the course of play, as Tigerette missed her one shot at the 10, and Tori mopped it up to make it a 3-1 series. Tori got hot late in game 5, running three balls before a narrow miss on the 10. Tigerette couldn't kick it into the top left, and her weak contact on it preserved a shot to the bottom left for Tori, which she converted to make it a 3-2 series. Tigerette avoided utter collapse after a lazy shot on the 9, as the 10 played hard to get (making the Quidditch rules proposal even more interesting), and after a half-dozen misses between the players, Tori scratched while potting it. Tigerette took the shot from ball-in-hand and made it, going to 4-2 while clinching the series. Tigerette iced the series at 5-2 with a dominant showing in game 7, working around an unmotivated Tori to grab the win. Ranked #41 in 10-ball, Tigerette is set to host Snowball of the Swordpoint Blades at this venue in the semifinals. With the loss, Tori is the 102nd player out of the tournament. The retiring longtime Spur will play in the playoffs either for Victoria or for her Humanity West Club. The Spurs are also the tenth team to be fully eliminated, but they do so with a winning record in hand. Tigerette grabbed her second kill of the season.
After 70 games across a range of quality, the Quarterfinals are nearly finished. Tomorrow is the last short day of the regular tournament season, with just 21 games over three series to play, and then we kick it into high gear Tuesday through Thursday for the Semifinals and Finals.
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