This two-day round begins with five series today, while the other four are tomorrow. Points earned in the first two rounds now determine the shooting order for the first game. We begin with...
Debby Ryan v. Twilight v. Snowball at GE Stadium Events Center, Southridge. Twilight struck first in game 1, taking the highs to defend, and she protected them well. She had a later five-ball run, but also scratched, saving Snowball from the knockout. Twilight would beat Snowball down on her next turn, and took out Debby a shot later for her first win of the series. Twilight kept the pace up at the start of game 2 with her five-ball run in defense of the highs. Debby needed two turns before she could claim the mediums, leaving Snowball with just one low ball. Snowball lasted for awhile, but Debby prevailed, winning on a three-ball run-out that left Twilight with second place this time. Snowball had a big attack against Twilight, wiping her out with a five-ball run. Snowball tried to turn against Debby, but the host had a better strategy in place, defending well and chipping Snowball down until Debby took her second win of the series in three games. Snowball stepped up in game 4 to take her first win of the series, battling strongly with Debby while Twilight placed a distant third after failing to claim a suit on her first turn. Debby countered in game 5 with a four-ball run protect the mediums at the start. Debby and Twilight would quickly combine to take out Snowball before battling head-to-head, a battle which Debby won cleanly for her third win of the series. Twilight had the first good attack in game 6, claiming the mediums. Snowball had a tough position to shoot from but took the highs anyway, and she was the first one out thanks to Debby's relentless attack. Debby tried to defend against Twilight, but it didn't quite work, and Twilight took her second win of the series. Twilight surged through two unchallenged turns in game 7, making a four-ball run and a five-ball run before Debby booted Snowball out by making two mediums. Twilight cut the 15 in to quickly end the game for her third win on her third turn. Twilight saw a five-ball run on her second turn of game 8 do quite a bit of good, helping her knock Debby from the game and put Snowball on the ropes. Snowball nearly countered, but Twilight kicked her 12 in to get the win, her fourth of the series. Twilight had a decent chance with the lows despite picking her suit last in game 9, but a five-ball run by Snowball derailed that as Twilight was eliminated. Snowball couldn't finish the job, and Debby took the win, her fourth of the series, which is approaching its end now. Debby and Twilight had one more epic battle in game 10, ending when Debby missed another tap-in shot on the 8, leaving Twilight to jam in Debby's last low for her fifth win of the series. Twilight will play on Wednesday in the Trifinals.
Bandit v. Katharine McPhee v. Melissa Benoist at Gillette Center, Swordpoint. Katharine had a solid four-ball run to claim the highs in game 1, but Melissa countered to weaken her opponents and Bandit ripped a six-ball run to knock Katharine out. Melissa tried to fight him off, but Bandit picked up the win a turn later, his first win in the series. Bandit thought he had everything figured out in game 2, but a scratch on his second to last turn, followed by Melissa's scratch when both of them had just about won the game, led to Katharine having enough power to beat them both on consecutive turns for her first win. Bandit put up a nice attack after Katharine ripped a seven-ball run from the break in game 3. Bandit took Melissa out temporarily, but scratched her back in to combat Katharine's lows. It worked, and Bandit then beat Melissa at the end for his second win of the series. Bandit had a strong start to game 4 with a four-ball run that challenged both of his opponents. Melissa eventually claimed the highs, leaving Katharine with the lows. Katharine would be the first out on another short run by Bandit, but Melissa defended well and earned her first win of the series when she made the last two shots. Melissa put up a wonderful five-ball run at the start of game 5, pushing Bandit to take the lows as she guarded the mediums. Katharine restored balance to the game late, but Melissa escaped their attacks and won on a three-ball run-out that saw Bandit pick up the extra point for second place. Bandit starred with a seven-ball run in game 6, but Katharine answered on a five-ball run-out, claiming the mediums to knock out Melissa and then beating Bandit straight up for her second win. Katharine pulled out the stops after a scratch by Melissa in game 7, sending Melissa to the bench before outplaying Bandit at the end for her third win of the series in a tight battle. Katharine went down early in game 8, as both Bandit and Melissa coordinated attacks against her, but she didn't stay down, revived by both of their scratches. Melissa then had a nice run to clear things up with Bandit out of the game, and Katharine struck back to take her fourth win of the series. Melissa had a massive eight-ball run on her first turn in game 9, leaving the mediums out and the highs devastated. Katharine would claim the highs, but Melissa made the last two shots in the game for her third win of the series. Melissa kept the attack strong in game 10, surging with a six-ball run with collateral damage from the break. Both of her opponents missed shots on their only turns, as she won her fourth game of the series on a five-ball run-out in the end. Bandit managed to claw himself back into the fight in game 11, watching and patiently guarding his lows as Melissa and Katharine flailed against each other. At the end, Bandit beat them both for his third win, ending Melissa first and then Katharine. Bandit tried to follow it up in a slow-starting game 12, but Katharine and Melissa combined to take him out rather quickly on their second turns. Katharine then turned on Melissa and picked up her fifth win of the series to punch her ticket to the Trifinals.
Shaggy v. Blizzard v. Sally at Samsung Arena, Whitewater. Blizzard led the attack in game 1 in defense of the mediums, ending on a five-ball run-out that saw her spare her sister Shaggy in favor of bumping Sally's lows first. Shaggy followed on the next shot to earn the second place point. Blizzard used a short run in game 2 on a later turn to put Sally's highs in a position of weakness. The play worked well for Shaggy, who offed Sally and then finished the three-ball run-out against Blizzard for her first win of the series. Game 3 finally saw the sisters' partnership fall apart. Blizzard and Shaggy couldn't get things lined up against Sally's highs, and Sally used a six-ball run to push them both to the edge. Shaggy had a later scratch that preserved Blizzard a bit longer, but Sally won on a three-ball run-out for her first victory. Sally had a bad break in game 4, sapping her momentum. Shaggy took the highs, and Blizzard picked the lows, pummeling the mediums nearly out of the game. Shaggy held up better over time, dealing the death blow to Sally on her second turn before besting Blizzard two turns later for her second win of the series. Shaggy started a firm attack in defense of the lows, and Blizzard targeted the mediums, but a scratch would ruin her performance in game 5. Sally struck back on a massive seven-ball run, knocking Blizzard from the game, but Shaggy made a pair of shots at the end to steal the win for her third victory this series. Game 6 saw everything go to Shaggy's plans despite her empty break. Sally stepped in and took the lows quickly, allowing Blizzard her first four-ball run in the game. Shaggy helped to weaken Sally before Blizzard dished another four-ball run. Shaggy would then play to her own strength, poaching the victory as she banked Blizzard's final ball to the top left for her fourth win in the series. Sally tried to stall Shaggy in game 7, but this didn't work, as Shaggy claimed her suit and let Blizzard do more bruising work before coasting in to take the win, clinching her own advancement to the Trifinals, while beating a family member for the third time.
Slinks v. Vladimir Vasilyev v. Cheddar at BMW RockDome, Westside. Slinks started pretty well in defense of the lows, while Vladimir quickly grabbed the mediums. Slinks had a chance for a nice run on her second turn, but her four-ball run saw a scratch negate some of it. Vladimir than knocked Cheddar out with a two-rail bank of her 14 before offing Slinks for his first win. Slinks did well at the start of game 2 as well, pushing her way to claim the highs. Cheddar followed on a five-ball run to take the lows, leaving Vladimir in trouble, and while he counterattacked, he was still the first out thanks to Slinks. Cheddar would get her first win in the end when Slinks couldn't quite finish her off. Slinks tried to eradicate the highs on her first turn, but came up short with a four-ball run to protect the lows. Cheddar would get the mediums, and she balanced things out a bit, but neither of them could get a clear look at Vladimir's last high, and he went on a late four-ball run-out to get his second win in game 3. Cheddar pulled off a pretty strong performance in a tight game 4, battling evenly with Slinks at first as Vladimir lagged behind. Cheddar then took Slinks out with a three-ball run, and beat Vladimir on the next turn to take her second win of the series. Cheddar had an embarrassingly weak break in game 5, leaving Vladimir to shatter the rack a bit more. Cheddar would take the lows on her second turn, while Vladimir followed with the highs. This led to a tight battle for all three players by the end of the game, but it was Vladimir who came through with the win, taking out Cheddar first and then Slinks in his third win. Slinks established herself with the mediums earliest in game 6, after Vladimir went empty on the break. Vladimir took the lows when the time came, and the game went smoothly for him and Slinks until a five-ball run by Cheddar evened things out. Vladimir would take Slinks out but just missed finishing off Cheddar, but he did so on his second try a turn later for his fourth win. Vladimir started with a six-ball run in game 7, weakening both sides, but Cheddar turned things around on him with a seven-ball run-out, protecting her lows as she knocked him out on the fifth shot before denying Slinks a turn in Cheddar's third win of the series. Slinks did everything to get the win in game 8, pushing Cheddar to the edge as she abused the mediums in defense of the highs. Vladimir had the lows, but he fell to a run from Cheddar in the middle of the game, and Slinks beat Cheddar in turn for her first win of the series. Game 9 saw Cheddar play a bit stronger, guarding the mediums this time. Vladimir had a good first turn, but not much else, as Slinks carried the freight in defense of the highs. Cheddar shut them both down on her last turn, beating Vladimir first and then Slinks for her fourth win of the series. Slinks had a four-ball run in game 10 that put a lot of pressure on her opponents, and Vladimir doubled it on Cheddar, knocking her out with a four-ball run of his own. Slinks then shot back on a three-ball run-out to take her second win of the series. Slinks tried to keep things interesting with a strong effort in game 11, but Vladimir and Cheddar proved determine to settle the series in this game. Cheddar took out Slinks on a double-pot with one of Vladimir's balls, and then bested him a turn later for her fifth win of the series. Cheddar heads to Wednesday's Trifinals.
Shelley v. Crystal v. Goldy at Nissan Hall, Infinity. Shelley began with a big six-ball run, completely eliminating the lows. Crystal made sure that was Goldy's problem, and then unleashed her six-ball run-out in response, taking the win while Shelley had to settle for second place this time. Game 2 saw a slower start from Crystal and Shelley, allowing Goldy to crank a six-ball run that left both of them weaker. Shelley wouldn't recover, her mediums soon bumped from the game, but Crystal did just fine on the counterattack, picking up her second win of the series as Goldy couldn't finish her off. Crystal had a shaky start to game 3, and Goldy didn't get much done on her few turns either. Shelley picked up the lows last, but she defended them well, taking the win after offing Goldy and Crystal on consecutive turns. Game 4 saw a reversal of fortunes for Goldy, as her first turn was lacking, but her second turn saw a six-ball run-out for her first win in the series. Crystal and Shelley had fought a bit among themselves, but couldn't do anything to stop Goldy's fierce attack. Goldy had a weak start in game 5, allowing Crystal to claim the lows and Shelley to take the highs shortly after that. Shelley didn't do enough on defense, allowing Crystal to beat her with a six-ball run that ended in a scratch. Goldy took Shelley out for good on a three-ball run-out, also beating Crystal for her second win in the series. Shelley was thought a fool for taking the lows in game 6, but she proved the doubters wrong in the end. Goldy's highs, her other option, were a quick out this time, and while Crystal was tougher to beat, Shelley played good defense and got the win, leveling her with her visitors at two wins each. Game 7 took a bit of time to get going, with Shelley taking the lows but not producing much. Goldy gained the highs, and Crystal had the mediums, which she defended with a six-ball run. Goldy would off Shelley on the next turn, and then she kept her 14 safe from Crystal's attacks until potting Crystal's last two balls for her third win. Goldy put up a solid attack at the start of game 8, but it was the work of Crystal early on and Shelley in the middle that simplified the game. Shelley had a late four-ball run going to endanger each of her opponents, but Goldy shut things down, beating Shelley and Crystal on consecutive shots for her fourth win of the series. Goldy struggled at the start of game 9 as well, allowing a five-ball run to each of Crystal and Shelley. Shelley's run eliminated Crystal from the game, and Goldy answered with a three-ball run against Shelley. She still needed to defend, and she got lucky in the end, making the final ball for her fifth win to end the series. Goldy heads to Wednesday's Trifinals.
That's all for today. This round is scheduled to end tomorrow, and then everything goes down on Wednesday for the fun parts.
No comments:
Post a Comment