San Diego Classics in Alpine/CA

From April 19^th till 24^th 2007 almost all women top players of the world met this week in the Alpine Casino to attend at the San Diego Classic tournament organized by WPBA.

Ouschan, qualified because of winning a tournament in Canada last year, starts as an unseeded player in this event. The draw made her face the “Black Widow” Jeanette Lee in round one.

„Jeanette Lee is for sure one of the most popular and extrovert female player in the world. This time it is the first head to head between us and because she is also using a very aggressive style I think it can be an open battle. The conditions here are pretty fine and because of the very tight pockets it will advance me and give me the chance to get used of my technical abilities.”

Ouschan had a good head start and was able to take a short lead till her concentration broke. She was out of her rhythm and gave Jeanette Lee way to many chances. Jeanette Lee, who got stronger after every miss of the Austrian, took over the table and managed to beat Jasmin Ouschan with a clear 9:4 score.

“At the beginning of the match I was able to follow the speed and performance of Lee but in the middle of the match I lost contact and so I was pressed out of the match. Of course it hurts to loose this prestige duel between two very offensive players but I am still in the tournament. I still feel good and will attack tomorrow again”

On Day 2 Ouschan faced Leslie Anne Rogers (USA) who just lost 9:8 to the former world champion Julie Kelly. The match was balanced till Ouschan managed to win close with 9:7. In the second Match she faces the experienced Helena Thornfeldt. Right at the beginning Ouschan got in her aggressive way of playing and showed up her skills at a very high level which brought her a clear 9:4 victory.

In Match Nr. 3 of the day it came to the emotional and prestige battle against the “exile Austrian” Gerda “G-Force” Hofstätter who left Austria 15 years ago to be a professional pool player in the US .

Hofstätter, former world champion and Nr. 9 at the WPBA Tour, missed two easy shoots at the beginning and allowed Ouschan to take the lead. Ouschan herself played again on a very high level and was able to expand her lead, despite alternating break, to a comfortable 7:1 score. In the end Ouschan beat Hofstätter with a score of 9:4.

„That’s the way like it should go on for me in this tournament. After the bad first match I found back to my aggressive way of playing 9Ball and now I am feeling really back in this tournament” Ouschan analyses the second day.

The Austrian proceeded in the morning session to the 1/8 finals with a sovereign 9:4 victory over Angel Paglia from US. With a destroying 9:0 against Janet Atwell Ouschan went straight to the quarterfinals.

In the Quarterfinal match Ouschan faced the top favourite player of this tournament Allison Fisher.

Fisher, several times World champion and most successful women player of all times swore revenge after loosing the last year Enjoypool.com Open final (BCA Open) in Las Vegas against Ouschan.

Untouched by this statement Ouschan performed where she stopped her last matches and did not give Fisher much air to breathe. With Pool on the highest level Jasmin Ouschan won game per game and earned an 8:2 lead over Fisher.

After missing a match winning 8Ball, Fisher was able to make three more racks. Because of alternating Break Ouschan took her next Break to run-out and win this match with a score of 9:5. 

“It was a great match and I am really satisfied with my performance. Playing Allison Fisher reminds me of playing with the men. You are just not allowed to make that many mistakes because if you do you have a problem and that’s the way women pool is supposed to be”.

In the semi-final Ouschan has another big player to face:

World champion and winner of the last WPBA tournament Xiaoting Pan from China .

In the first TV semi-final match (ESPN) Ouschan showed that she has no fear playing the new world champion. With a strong and consistent performance Ouschan put a lot of pressure on Xiao Ting Pan and was able to take control over the table. She crushed the world champion with a flawless performance and a clear 7:3 score.

In the final Ouschan faced the former Snooker World Champion, and Nr. 3 in the current WPBA ranking Kelly Fisher who won this event in two consecutive years. Ouschan who beat Fisher at the world championship started with a few unforced errors which gave Kelly Fisher the chance to take a rapid 3:0 lead.

After this nerve-raking start the balls were not rolling Ouschans way and Fisher took the opportunity to win her third San Diego Classic in a row with a hefty 7:0 score.

„All in all I am satisfied with this result. First I was able to kick the Nr. 1 ranked player of the WPBA out of tournament and then I beat the new world champion as well. Tough matches like the final can happen and I just have to cut this match out and focus on my next goals and then the balls will roll my way again.”

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