 All the Angles By Mason King BD's Managing Editor since 2002, King has been around the world and back covering billiards - and around long enough to have an opinion.
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WPBA’s No. 1 Up for Grabs April 10, 2008
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| Can Kelly Fisher win again in San Diego and take over the No. 1 spot? |
THE WPBA kicks off its 2008 season today with the San Diego Classic, an event won for the last three years by Kelly Fisher. (In a weird bit of cosmic tomfoolery, the Classic is in fact the only event that the enormously talented Fisher has won in her pro pool career so far.) So, on Sunday, we may have a new San Diego Classic champion - or we may crown Fisher again and be forced to launch a paranormal investigation into Fisher's weird connection to the host site, the Viejas Casino.
On a more serious note, we also may have a new women's No. 1, now that the WPBA has reset its rankings to zero and essentially is starting over. Allison Fisher (no relation to Kelly, although they're both Brits and former world snooker champions) has had a chokehold on the No. 1 spot for the last 12 years (minus a couple stints on top from Karen Corr). Now, the tour is starting fresh, and I think it's unnecessary and a bit sad.
Allison has earned that top spot over the last decade, even as the tour rejiggered its format several times with the net effect of reducing her advantage (alternating break, altering ranking-points values, jumping from double-elimination to single-elimination with the final 16). Those modifications were fair and good. And good on Fisher, for continuing to win and proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that she's the top dog.
And now the tour wants to start over. I can't say that I completely understand why. There are no substantive changes to the format that would merit such a modification. I can see how the possibility of crowning a new No. 1 would generate some excitement for the first few events of the season - and excitement is good for a sport trying to capture viewers. I can see how the possibility of snaring the No. 1 spot might inspire many of the great new players on tour to ramp up their games. I can understand just wanting to freshen things up a bit - like performing some spring cleaning in your wardrobe.
(Heck, pro golf did the same thing a couple years ago when it transitioned to the FedEx Cup points system. Of course, that was driven by a ginormous sponsorship deal, and I don't think that was the case here.)
But that doesn't change the fact that erasing the rankings points accrued over the last season-and-a-half is insulting to what Allison Fisher has accomplished. And, honestly, it cheapens the No. 1 spot for the winner of the San Diego Classic (if it's not Allison, and there's only a 50 percent chance of that happening). So, that person will be the tour's new No. 1, and will have done nothing more to earn it than win one tournament.
All in all, it's not life-threatening stuff for a tour that does a lot of things right. Eventually, after 10 events, we'll have a rightful No. 1. Does anyone want to lay money that it WON'T be Allison Fisher?
HERE'S SOME bonus material for you. I caught up with two players poised to top the rankings this year - Ga Young Kim and Kelly Fisher - to get a sense of their mindsets heading into the San Diego Classic.
KELLY FISHER
Do you feel pressure to repeat in San Diego?
I don't feel any pressure at the end of the day. Nothing lasts forever, but I'll be there trying my best. If I don't, okay.
You know that you'll walk into the tournament room, and everyone will make a big deal about a four-peat.
Last year, it was, "Can you do the three-peat? Can you do it?" Everyone I passed said that. And I was like, "I'm trying. I'm trying." And sure enough in the final, they're like, "You're going to do it, Kelly." And I'm saying, "I can only try." So it'll be the same way this year. I hope so. That'll be nice. I wish we could play every event there.
What do you like about Viejas Casino?
I have no idea. I don't know what it is. I do like the room that we play in. The weather is very nice over there in San Diego. It's very relaxing. It does help. Maybe there is someone looking over me there. Who knows? It's an Indian Reservation. That was one theory, anyway.
GA YOUNG KIM
Are you excited about the chance at taking over the No. 1 spot this year?
I don't really care about the numbers. In every tournament, whoever plays better gets first place. It's not like I have to be number one. I don't care. I care about my game. I'm always trying to do my best.
What have you been working on?
I practice less, but I work out more at the gym. I'm getting old. Now I'm 25, and I think that a lot of good players take care of themselves. Now I'm more into exercise. I want to make myself healthier so I can play longer. I don't know yet if that's helping my game. It's only been three months since I've been doing weight training.
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