Melissa Herndon
Melissa Herndon is a professional pool player on the Women’s Professional billiards Association (WPBA) Tour. She was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana but resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Melissa Herndon started playing on the WPBA Tour in 2000 and turned pro in 2002. She has earned the nickname of Dragon Lady from her fellow pros and known for her strong presence both on and off the table.
Stylish, vivacious, and outgoing, Melissa currently is sponsored by CFR Productions and Morris Custom Cues. With her number of television appearances on the rise, this list is destined to grow. Her highest finish to date was third place at the 2005 WPBA U.S. Open Championship.

Final Four Set for Cuetec Cues Florida Classic
by InsidePOOL Staff
billiards News - The 64-player field of the Cuetec Cues Florida Classic has wound down to their top 4, with Allison Fisher, Melissa Herndon (pictured right), Xiaoting Pan, and Ga Young Kim emerging as the top competitors. The event is hosted by the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, FL.
After scorching through the winners’ side, Allison Fisher arrived in the top four via victories over Cathy Metzinger 9-2 and Jennifer Chen 9-5. In her match with Austria’s Gerda Hofstatter, who earlier defeated Julie Kelly 9-4 and then Karen Corr 9-7, Fisher squeaked by with a hill-hill win.
In the same bracket, L.A.’s Melissa Herndon whizzed through her bracket, notching wins over Ga Young Kim 9-6 and snooker player Sarah Ellerby 9-7 to reach the final four. In her next match against Atlanta’s Helena Thornfeldt, who bested snooker player Kelly Fisher in a double-hill match and then won 9-4 over Cathy Metzinger, Herndon triumphed 9-7. Herndon will play Allison Fisher Sunday afternoon in the semifinals.
Xiaoting Pan is still going strong and in the final four, by virtue of her wins over 9-2 win over Kim White and then Atlanta’s Monica Webb 9-7. Webb had earlier defeated Vivian Villareal 9-4 and Lisa D’Atri 9-2.
Meeting Xiaoting Pan will be Ga Young Kim, who had a tough road to the finals in having to defeat Dawn Hopkins twice in a row. Once she escaped that, though, when she bested Kelly Fisher 9-7, it was smooth sailing. Pan will meet Kim in Sunday’s semifinal rounds.

Usual Suspects Lead in Cuetec Cues Florida Classic
by Inside pool Staff
billiard News - The Women’s Professional billiard Association’s (WPBA) Cuetec Cues Florida Classic is busy winding down to the final 16 players in Hollywood, FL. Hosted by the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, the event drew a full 64-player field.
Number one on the WPBA, Allison Fisher did not disappoint her strong fan base, winning her first two matches against Ellen Van Buren 9-2 and Liz Ford hill-hill. Gerda “The G-Force” Hofstatter is also going strong, having defeated Susan Williams 9-4 and Megan Minerich 9-5. She will next play Ireland’s Julie Kelly, who has notched wins over Rachael Abbink 9-7 and Miyuki Sakai 9-4.
Winner of the WPBA’s first tour event this year, Ga-Young Kim is still a contender as well, with victories over newcomer Yu Ram Cha 9-4 and Melissa Little 9-3. Her next match will be against Melissa Herndon out of L.A., who defeated My-Hahn Lac 9-5 and Anna Kostanian 9-4 to make it thus far.
Kelly Fisher is poised to meet Helena Thornfeldt, who just defeated her road partner, Val Finnie, 9-2. Xiaoting Pan has scorched through her first two matches, scoring wins over Caroline Pao 9-2 and Laura Smith 9-3 to reach her next match with Kim White.
Atlanta’s Monica Webb has also done well so far, with victories over Debbie Schjodt 9-4 and Tracie Hines 9-5 to meet up with the effervescent Vivian Villareal, who earlier defeated Liz Lovely 9-0 and then Jennifer Barretta 9-3.
Sarah “Velvet” Ellerby stands poised to strike in the next round, having vanquished Gail Grecar 9-3 and Alice Rim 9-5. Her next match will be against Dawn Hopkins, who whitewashed Joanne Ashton 9-0 and then bested Tiffany Nelson in a tough double-hill match.
Ireland’s Karen Corr is still going strong as well, with wins over Maureen Seto 9-1 and then Angelina Paglia 9-6. She will next play Kim Shaw, who bested Stacy Hurst 9-2 and Janet Atwell 9-6.
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BCA pool League Signs Shane Van Boening

billiard News - The BCA pool League is pleased to announce a sponsorship agreement with rising billiards star Shane Van Boening. Recently, Shane has made the televised finals of the Enjoypool.com Open in Las Vegas, NV where he was defeated by Filipino phenom Dennis Orcollo. Weeks later, he captured the Predator World 10-ball Championship in Jacksonville, FL. He currently finished runner up at the billiard Factory World Summit of pool in Las Vegas, NV. Basically, in his last 3 pro events Shane has captured two seconds and one first place finish.
Shane Van Boening was born in 1984 and is considered by most to be the next in line and heir-apparent to the throne of being the best pool player in the U.S. Shane currently resides in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where he is a partner in Lucky’s, a billiard establishment, located in downtown Sioux Falls.
Shane can trace his billiards skills back to his family and their obvious love for the game. His grandfather, Gary Bloomberg, was a trick-shot artist and his grandmother, Jeanne Bloomberg, was a BCA national champion. His mother, Timi Bloomberg, was a BCA national champion and his aunt, Gari Jo Bloomberg, a three-time BCA national champion.
Though he started playing when he was 2 years old, Shane did not waste his time becoming an accomplished player. With poise and composure not seen in players twice his age, Van Boening, a three-time VNEA national eight-ball champion, has advanced from a young prodigy to become one of the most feared players in the world by the time he was only 22. Van Boening was one of 8 players to earn a bonus of $5,000 for breaking and running six consecutive racks in tournament play. Shane was one of only 10 players to earn their IPT tour card by finishing in the top two spots of one of 5 qualifiers. Shane won the second stop held at the pool Room in Altanta, GA.
Visit the Shane Van Boening image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Players/shane_van_boening/)
Shane is a hard working, clean cut young man with a desire to play pool at a professional level for years to come. His recent sponsorship by the BCAPL (headed by CEO Mark Girffin) has attracted industry interest and it looks like many more will follow. It looks like Shane Van Boening is on his way for total pool world domination and we have a ring-side seat.

Frideres Outshines All at ACS Nationals
billiard News - During the week of June 7-16, battles on all sorts of green felt abounded at the Riviera in Las Vegas at the American CueSports Alliance (ACS) Nationals. 9-ball, 8-ball, snooker, wheelchair, artistic, speed pool, carrom, amateur, professional – the Nationals showcased it all. And no player had a better run through the various divisions than did Jessica Frideres of Ft. Dodge, Iowa. Jessica hauled in the hardware in no fewer than six divisions of play – Women’s 9-ball Singles (2nd), Women’s Masters 8-ball Singles (1st), Master Scotch Doubles (1st), Women’s Open 9-ball Team (2nd), Women’s Master 8-ball Team (2nd) and Women’s Speed pool.
Bar whiz Jesse Bowman (E. Moline, IL) rebounded from lackluster 2006 singles results to claim the Men’s 9-ball Singles title, but again placed out of the money in the Men’s Masters 8-ball Singles – won by newcomer Shannon Ducharme of Winnipeg, Canada. Katrina Dennis (Ridgefield, WA) scored the Women’s 9-ball Singles crown, and claimed a strong 3rd place in the Women’s Open 8-ball Singles as well. Injuring her leg in transit to Las Vegas, Jean Bartholomew (Portland, OR) continued to add on to her impressive resume in the Senior Women’s 8-ball Singles by claiming yet another national title.
Blake Byrket (Muscatine, IA) took down the Men’s Standard 8-ball Singles title, while his seventeen year old daughter, Rachel, took 4th in the Women’s Open 8-ball Singles and 1st on the winning Leisure Time Bratz team in the Women’s Master 8-ball Teams. The FCB Willis team from Omaha, Nebraska claimed both the Men’s Open 9-ball and Men’s Open 8-ball team titles, while Canadian teams continued their dominance in the Men’s Standard 8-ball Team division - Mad Dogs of Calgary, Alberta, being the latest hoisters of the crown.
Visit the ACS Nationals image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/ACS_nationals_07/)
In other events, Brad Rautio (New Westminster, BC) surprised the field in the NWPA-sanctioned “Las Vegas Open” wheelchair event to take the crown, while 13-year old Austin Murphy (who placed 9th in the pro 9-ball event) outlasted all challengers for the ACS National Artistic pool Championship, sponsored by Tom “Dr. cue” Rossman. In the 2nd Annual “Can-Am Snooker Challenge,” Team USA avenged its 2006 defeat by Team Canada on the beautiful 12-foot green baize to claim the challenge trophy by a 12-8 margin over Team Canada. Canada regained some sense of satisfaction when its 2-man team of Alain Robidoux and Don Chomiski took down the $500 winner-take-all “UPA vs. Canada” snooker challenge over pro 9-ball and former pro snooker players Tony Crosby (UK) and Lee Chenman (Hong Kong). Former World 9-ball Champion, Alex Pagulayan (Canada), outlasted Shane Van Boening (Rapid City, SD) 7-5 in the ESPN-televised $25,000 added “World Summit of pool” for the pro 9-ball championship. Kudos to Dragon Promotions on promoting a very successful event.
The 2008 ACS Nationals will again return to the Riviera, June 7-14, and will include a few changes: 1). no Master team divisions; 2). 4-person women’s teams; 3). Scotch doubles play in 8-ball only; and 4). 9-ball team divisions and 8-ball team divisions scheduled on the same dates (different times), so that teams can play to their heart’s content in two separate team divisions! The ACS inspires as much play as possible at the Nationals in many divisions, so that a player has the time of his/her life; that is, if they are not allergic to green baize.

Complete Results: $205,300 Total Prize Fund

Men’s 9-ball Singles
128 x $65 = $8,320 + $1,500 added = $9,820 total prize fund

1st Jesse Bowman (East Moline, IL) $1,500 + Trophy
2nd Dustin Gunia (Omaha, NE) $1,100 + Trophy
3rd Kenny Tran (Frankfort, KY) $800 + Trophy
4th Robert Rodriguez (Firestone, CO) $620
5-6th Justin Whitehead (Tucson, AZ) $500
Saturnino Jesusa (Arabi, LA)
7-8th Kevin Peterson (Tucson, AZ) $400
Anthony Wilson (East Moline, IL)
9-12th Mark Reynolds (Decatur, IL) $300
Andrew Twitchen (Mills River, NC)
Danny Roach (Gorin, MO)
Glen Bird (Calgary, AB)
13-16th Zack Willis (Papillion, NE) $200
Larry Wilson (Victoria, BC)
Tommy Hernandez (Rock Island, IL)
Danny Barnes (Newport, MI)
17-24th Bill Trimble (Jeffersonville, KY) $150
Jerry Watts (Shelbyville, KY)
Anthony Garcia (East Moline, IL)
Jack Davis (Virginia Beach, VA)
Ben Conway Jr. (Brandon, FL)
Bill Mason (Virginia Beach, VA)
Pat Schumacher (Portland, OR)
Fernando Villanueva (West Fargo, ND)
25-32nd Jamey Bowman (East Moline, IL) $100
Bill Duggan (Virginia Beach, VA)
Jim Prchal (Lavista, NE)
Darrell Hilliard (Midland, TX)
Isaac Runnels (Hopkins Park, IL)
Rich Bideaux (Moline, IL)
Mike Henderson (Colfax, IA)
Troy Berget (Castle Rock, CO)
Visit the ACS Nationals image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/ACS_nationals_07/)
Women’s 9-ball Singles
43 x $65 = $2,795 + $1,000 added = $3,795 total prize fund

1st Katrina Dennis (Ridgefield, WA) $1,000 + Trophy
2nd Jessica Frideres (Ft. Dodge, IA) $745 + Trophy
3rd Samantha Patton (Richmond, KY) $500 + Trophy
4th Barbara Allen (Surprise, AZ)…