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Classic Tour Heads Back to Carolina
Sep 12, 2008, 1:39 PM

Fisher and Monica Webb will meet with the winner advancing to the final 16.

After a tumultuous WPBA U.S. Open in August that saw two unseeded players advance to the semis while Allison Fisher went two-and-out, the top-ranked players have reestablished themselves in the opening rounds at this weekend's Carolina Classic — held through Sept. 14 at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, N.C.

Kelly Fisher, in her first event as the No. 1 seed on the Classic Tour, had no trouble in her first two matches, beating Janet Atwell, 9-3, and Gail Grecar, 9-2. Other favorites — including Karen Corr, Ga Young Kim and Xiaoting Pan — also remain unbeaten as play began on Friday.

Allison Fisher narrowly escaped a first-round upset bid from Brittany Bryant by taking the case game, 9-8. Fisher then sent Yu Ram Cha, surprise semifinalist from the U.S. Open, to the left side with a 9-4 second-round victory.

Iris Ranola, the other Cinderella story from last month, will have a long road ahead of her on the left side. The U.S. Open runner-up beat Stacy Hurst, 9-5, then lost to Tiffany Nelson, 9-6.

Brackets at www.wpba.com will be updated throughout the weekend.