Double vision: Vivian Villareal and
Roger Griffis captured easy victories is tonight's 6 p.m. matches
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Side Rail News
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It might be the first time a tournament was delayed due to a fire
especially a fire that wasn't even in the tournament building. However,
today's noon matches didn't begin until 1:30 as a result of what an ESPN
employee described as a small fire/part meltdown in the power truck.
At first, ESPN intended to fix the part, but when it became apparent that
that was not plausible, they opted to replace it instead. Hence the delay.
That was not the only technical difficulty the day; during the Robin
Dodson/Nadine Mazzola match, Dodson was forced to stop in mid-shot and wait for a cameraman covering the other table.
In tonight's 6 p.m. match, Vivian Villareal jokingly told a cameraman to
watch out as she prepared to execute a jump shot in his direction.
Despite the glitches, ESPN seemed confident about Saturday's live event.
As one employee said about the fire, "at least we're getting this stuff
out of the way before Saturday."
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If any generalization can be made about today's matches, it is that the
women's matches were as close as the men's were runaway wins.
After a one-and-a-half hour delay due to technical difficulties, the
matches scheduled for noon between Gerda Hofstatter and Helena Thornfeldt
on the women's side and Allen Hopkins and Charlie Williams on the men's
side began, setting the precedent for the day.
While Hopkins won a fairly easy 7-2 victory over Williams, Hofstatter and
Thornfeldt battled to the hill. After Hofstatter scratched early in the
rack, it seemed Thornfeldt had the victory wrapped up, until she too
scratched while attempting to sink the 8. From there Hofstatter took over
and won, 7-6.
The 3 p.m. women's match was a brutal battle between Nadine Mazzola and
Robin Dodson. Both women seemed out of stride, missing easy shots. Indeed,
after missing a shot on the 8, Dodson's frustration was apparent as she
told herself and nearby spectators "I'm off."
This match also went to the hill, and, in what must have been a
heartbreaking loss for Mazzola, who had a 6-3 lead earlier in the match,
Dodson took advantage of a 5-9 combination Mazzola inadvertently gave her
after missing the 5. Afterwards, Dodson seemed unhappy despite her
victory. "I'm glad I won because it means I get to advance, but that was
no way to win. I wasn't impressed with myself. I played badly."
On the men's side, George Breedlove followed the example set by Hopkins
and captured a 7-2 win over Dennis Coulter.
The 6 p.m. match on the women's side broke the precedent; Vivian Villareal
cruised to a 7-3 victory over WPBA newcomer Holly Sholes.
On the men's side, Roger Griffis beat David Matlock 7-2. If tonight's
match is any indication, Griffis is in good form for the final on
Saturday.
Villareal's win put her in position to face off against Hofstatter in
tomorrow's 5 p.m. match. Dodson will face the winner of tonight's 8 p.m.
match between Loree Jon Jones and Jeanette Lee, and Hopkins and Griffis
will play each other at 3 p.m. tommorrow. Breedlove will play the winner
of tonight's 8 p.m. match between Oliver Ortmann and John DiToro.
In last night's 8 p.m. matches, Ralf Souquet defeated Max Eberle; he will
face Taiwan's Kun Fang Lee tommorrow at noon. On the women's side, Bonnie
Arnold defeated Jennifer Chen. Arnold will play Nikki Benish at 10 a.m.
tommorrow.
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