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Tornado Takes Spirit Win; Jans Takes WPBA Spot by J.A. Barnes The Ladies Spirit Tour started the 2005 season at Cunningham's Pool & Darts in Vero Beach on Jan. 22, with an already tough field and some new visitors. Favorites rolled in from out of town to include WPBA pros Vivian Villarreal and Angel Paglia; and from Belgium came Wendy Jans with her eye on the qualifier. Travel partners Villarreal and Paglia had to match up first round on Sunday and Villarreal sent Paglia left with a 7-0 win, which would eventually lead up to the quarterfinals between Paglia and Hines. Earlier in the tournament, Paglia had sent Hines to the B-side 7-1, but Hines would win the rematch at 7-4 to advance. Meanwhile, Villarreal and Jans took it to the hot seat with Villarreal besting Jans 7-3 to take Queen of the Hill. This sent Jans left to face tour favorite Hines in the semis. In the beginning it was close at 2-2, but Jans pulled up to a 6-4 lead. Jans came out ahead for a 7-4 win and another shot at Villarreal in the finals. In the finals, between top picks Villarreal and Jans, it seemed that Jans had her mind set on winning as she went into the match with 2-1 and 3-2 leads, but Villarreal tied up the score at 3-3. Capitalizing on a miss by Villarreal, Jans pulled ahead again to 4-3. After a safety battle, Jans took a 5-3 lead, which was then followed up by a game-winning shot, making prospects look good for Jans at 6-3. In the tenth rack, Jans broke in two balls but was forced to push out. Villarreal took a glance at the tough shot and with a determined look, fired in the one ball and ran to the five, where she chose to play a tight length-of-table safety. After another kick-safe battle, Jans scratched, giving ball in hand to Villarreal for the out. This game seemed to put Villarreal back in the match, trailing at 6-4. Villarreal ran the next rack to tighten the score to 6-5. In the next rack, Villarreal ran out to the eight but rattled it in the pocket. The tension was high and Jans also rattled the eight, giving the rack back to Villarreal for a hill-hill match. In the case game, both players slowed their pace to try to best the final rack, which was all tied up. Villarreal purposely fouled on the two to tie things up some more, giving ball in hand to Jans. Jans made the two but was unable to finish the rack. This led to Villarreal playing safe on the three and then gaining control of the table to run out for a 7-6 comeback win. Villarreal commented on her first visit to the Spirit tour, “It was my first time playing it; I think it’s a great tour, and I think the women are playing well.” Every Ladies Spirit Tour event this year will be a WPBA qualifier, made possible by sponsor, LTLUniverse.com.
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