$6000 ADDED Grand Casino Hinckley Tournament Results   January 20-22, 2006

Rising Stars (Women’s Open Division-No Masters Allowed)

Melody Diver - 1st Place winner

Surprise Win by Fond Du Lac Woman at Major Midwest Pool Tournament

By Linda G. Johnston

If there ever was a ‘sleeper’ in a competitive event; Melody Diver was that ‘sleeper’ in the Six Arrows Amateur 8-Ball Pool Tournament held from Friday, January 20 through Sunday, January 22 at Grand Casino Hinckley. The tournament had four divisions; two Women’s Divisions and two Men’s Divisions. One of the divisions is for top amateurs and the other for the non-Master level player. The Men’s Divisions are Masters and Open. The Women’s Divisions include an upper division for players who are either ranked as a Master Player or a top AA player. This means they have had a top win at a major state, regional, or national tournament and usually have had a lot of experience in competition. Diver, a 30 year old Fond Du Lac enrollee from Cloquet, MN, was definitely a lower division player having played in only one other regional tournament last September where she did not place or win money. Many of the other women players in her division have extensive experience in tournament competitions. A few, like Diver, didn’t have a lot of experience but they also didn’t place in this event.

Diver started out the tournament by losing her first match on Friday night putting her on the losers’ side. The tournament rules for the Open Division were double elimination race to 4 for each match. Thus the first player to win four (4) games wins that match and moves on.
She struggled through some very competitive matches all day Saturday playing against seasoned players, some of whom have been playing billiards for decades. But Diver ended her 11PM match on Saturday with a ‘sweep’ win; meaning her opponent did not win one game.

Early Sunday Diver woke to a devastating phone call. Her Mom told her that her grandma, Evelyn Reynolds- Jiing Gwaa so no Qwe, passed away early that morning. Diver knew her grandma had cancer and was not going to last much longer due to her age and frailty.

Sunday brought the final tournament matches. Tournament matches become more serious; tougher, as all the best players are remaining in the competition. Diver played back to back matches all day Sunday with her first match at 10AM. She stepped to the table and won two matches in a row giving her opponents each only one game; both matches scored 4-1 in Diver’s favor. In the noon match Diver did not give her opponent one game, winning the match 4-0; another ‘sweep’, as it’s called in billiards terminology.

At 1PM Diver played against Natalie Plumley, who had won a Minnesota BCA “Open” tournament in 2002 and since 2004 has been ranked a top AA player. AA ranked players are just under the Masters ranking. Masters players include many top amateurs. Diver won that match 4-2; giving Plumley 3^rd place in the tournament.

Diver, having played 20 games between 10AM and 2PM; shook her final opponent’s hand, Debbie Eldridge. Eldridge had also won a Minnesota BCA “Open” tournament in 2002 and is well known for competing in the Midwest and Nationally. Eldridge was in the drivers’ seat with no losses so Diver had to beat her twice, or two matches, for a first place win. Diver’s play was solid and calculating as she won her first match against Eldridge with the score being 4-2. Diver went on to beat Eldridge again, 4-2, winning her a first place victory. Later Diver let me know that she had dedicated her play to her grandma that morning. In Diver’s own words, “I just shot my heart out.”

The other piece in this surprise victory is that Diver plays in a league in the Cloquet area but did not know BCA or Valley rules and didn’t know what a ‘safety’ was. As her final opponents played ‘safety’ after ‘safety’ Diver caught on quickly and played a few ‘safety’s’ herself when she didn’t have a clear shot. She commented after her victorious win that all she knew from league play was that, “You get a ball in hand in the kitchen when you scratch”. Diver said, “Every match I played in the tournament was a learning experience because in the small town league I play in we don’t have a ‘safety’ or ‘ball in hand’.”

I was unaware of the family death on Sunday morning as I watched Diver calmly winning match after match, one right after another. She methodically shot the balls in, one by one, shooting left handed and right handed equally well. In an email to her a few days later to congratulate her I asked if she was ambidextrous. She’s the kind of mesmerizing billiards player that keeps you guessing and yet hopeful.

The tournament at Hinckley was coordinated by Six Arrows Pool Tournament Coordinators, a 100% Ojibwe owned business. We are in our fourth season of coordinating major pool tournaments in the Midwest drawing pool players from Idaho to Eastern Ontario and Illinois. Most tournaments are open to all top amateur pool players but one tournament each spring is solely an All-Indian Pool Tournament. The tournament that Diver played in at Hinckley was an open tournament.

Published in the March 2006 issue of the Circle newspaper.