Familiar Look To BCA Finale
Mike Panozzo
Saturday, May 20, 1:25 AM CST

A year later, the stage will look strikingly familiar when the women's title match unfolds at the 2000 Billiard Congress of America Open 9-Ball Championships in Las Vegas.

Gerda Hofstatter earned a shot at top-seeded Allison Fisher for the second consecutive year with a 7-5 win over Jennifer Chen in the loser's bracket finale Friday night. Fisher won the 1999 BCA Open title over Hofstatter.

Friday night's match saw Chen race out to a 2-0 lead. Temporarily disrupted by a camera flash, Chen missed an opportunity to forge a three-game advantage when she jarred the 9 ball. Hofstatter used the shift in momentum to get back into the match, which was tied at 3-3 and 4-4.

Hofstatter gained a 5-4 advantage, then reached the hill at 6-4 when Chen missed her second 9 ball. Chen had a final shot to send the game to the hill when, trailing 6-5, she missed yet another 9 ball. The distraught Taiwanese star conceded the final ball and the match, settling for third place in the 64-player, $80,000
women's division.

"Jennifer was hitting the ball well," said Hofstatter. "I felt bad for her because she missed three 9 balls. I felt pretty good in the match, but I know I was very fortunate." Hofstatter will seek revenge for her '99 title match loss to Fisher Saturday
afternoon.

"I have to ignore who I'm playing," said Hofstatter, whose only loss in Las Vegas was a 9-2 thumping by Fisher in the winner's bracket finale. "Tomorrow I'm going to just pretend I'm playing the guy I practice with in San Francisco. Things will be different this year."