Last night's 8 p.m. matches were two runaway 7-0 wins; Jeanette Lee bested Loree Jon Jones and Oliver Ortmann trounced John DiToro.

Though these two games were the only two shut-outs of the tournament thus far, today's early matches were also fairly easy victories. At 10 a.m., Nikki Benish beat Bonnie Arnold 7-1, and CJ Wiley beat David Howard 7-2. Despite his victory, Wiley says he w as unhappy with his game. "I was really hot and uncomfortable under the lights," he says. "I had a hard time keeping my hands dry, and as a result it was really hard to accelerate through the cue ball."

Throughout today's matches, other players complained about the heat from the lights; before her match against Robin Dodson, Lee kidded that she had an advantage just from the fact that Dodson was wearing long sleeves. "She'll be sweating so much she won't be able to see," Lee joked.

Long sleeves didn't slow down either Allison Fisher or Taiwan's Kun Fang Lee, winners of today's noon matches. Fisher easily dispatched Nesli O'Hare 7-2, and, in a match that seemed like deja vu from the semifinal of October's World Pool-Billiard Associat ion's World 9-Ball Championships, Lee bested Germany's Ralf Souquet 7-4.

Today's 3 p.m. match produced one of the closest battles of the tournament. Lee and Dodson battled to the hill, trading safeties and shots throughout the match. By the final game, adrenaline and stress levels were high; at one point Lee viewed the table, throwing up her hands in frustration and she searched for a shot. After a long shot on the 6, Lee took control of the table and ran out the rest of the rack. Afterwards, she held her stick high above her head, smiling in both relief and happiness. "I don' t think I had any more lives left after that one," she said of the final game.

On the men's side, Roger Griffis got one step closer to next year's final after his 7-3 win over Allen Hopkins. A disagreement early in the match after Griffis disputed a foul call didn't seem to slow him down; he dominated the table throughout the match. After winning, Griffis entertained the crowd with his jubilant cheering.

Lee will meet the winner of today's 5 p.m. match between Vivian Villareal and Gerda Hoffstatter at 10 p.m. tonight, and Benish faces Allison Fisher at 8 p.m. On the men's side, Wiley and (Kun Fang) Lee play at 8 p.m., and Griffis will battle George Breedl ove at 10 p.m.