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POOLTOWN<br />
Striking Viking Named APA League Operator<br />
Ewa “The Striking Viking”<br />
Laurance (strikingviking.<br />
com) has associated<br />
for years with the American<br />
Poolplayers Association (APA) via<br />
its sponsorship of the Women’s Pro<br />
Billiard tour. Ewa has traveled to<br />
various APA Leagues around the<br />
country conducting exhibitions,<br />
and Mitch, her husband and ESPN<br />
billiard commentator, can often be<br />
heard promoting APA during the<br />
ESPN coverage of the Women’s Pro<br />
Billiard Tour. Now Ewa and Mitch,<br />
along with daughter Nikki Graham,<br />
will own and operate the Coastal<br />
Jeanette Lee and Ewa Mataya Laurance are<br />
the undisputed champs when it comes<br />
to attracting attention for our sport! Both<br />
pool greats with multiple titles to their respective<br />
names, both ESPN commentators, they now have<br />
another pool feather-in-their-cap in common: A<br />
desire to see more people play in APA leagues!<br />
Laurance is the American Poolplayers Association’s<br />
newest league operator, taking over operations in<br />
coastal Carolina from Myrtle Beach to Wilmington.<br />
Lee is the tour’s newest spokesperson!<br />
8<br />
Lee & Laurance!<br />
P&BÊA ugustÊ2009<br />
Carolina APA League.<br />
“I’m really excited about<br />
taking over APA operations<br />
in the Coastal Carolina area,”<br />
said Ewa. “This is really a<br />
perfect fit for me, and an<br />
extension of my involvement<br />
in the sport. Mitch and I will<br />
be marketing and promoting<br />
the league, and we believe<br />
there is a major opportunity<br />
for growth here. Being<br />
able to do this as a family<br />
makes it even more special<br />
given that Nikki will handle<br />
day-to-day procedures,”<br />
Photo by Dale Shank<br />
Golf & Pool Pair Up<br />
Two Stooges Billiards in Fridley,<br />
Minnesota hosted a twoperson<br />
Golf & Pool Open<br />
June 27, hopefully the first of many crosspromotions<br />
to come.<br />
The event kicked<br />
off at the Majestic<br />
Oaks Golf Course<br />
in Ham Lake with a<br />
1:30pm shotgun start<br />
for the 14 teams in the<br />
two-man scramble.<br />
“Once you’re finished<br />
golfing, we’ll meet<br />
over at Two Stooges for<br />
the pool tournament,”<br />
announced tournament<br />
director Randy Byrne.<br />
After 18 holes, the<br />
team of Chad Johnson<br />
and Brad Ronayne<br />
captured the golf title<br />
with a score of 4 under par. After the<br />
golfers reconvened at Two Stooges, the<br />
team of Brian Brekke and Josh Burbul<br />
had no problems transitioning from one<br />
green field to the other, slicing through<br />
the field to claim the title for the pool<br />
said Ewa Laurance.<br />
Ewa, a WPBA and BCA Hall<br />
of Fame player, plus multiple<br />
winner of World 9-Ball and Trick<br />
Shot Championships, joins other<br />
renown trick shot artists Bruce<br />
Barthelette and Andy Segal<br />
as fellow APA operators.<br />
The APA has more than 260<br />
League Operators throughout<br />
the U.S., Canada and Japan.<br />
The APA and its championships<br />
are sponsored by Cuetec Cues<br />
and PoolDawg. For more on the<br />
American Poolplayers Association,<br />
visit www.poolplayers.com.<br />
tournament which also secured them the<br />
lead for the overall Golf/Pool Champs.<br />
The total prize fund was distributed 30%<br />
to each of the top finishers in pool and golf<br />
and 40% to the overall winning<br />
teams. “ The format is fantastic because<br />
we found ourselves playing pool matches<br />
against teams that had placed higher in the<br />
golf, so it gave us a chance for the overall<br />
title,” said Burbul of the winning team.<br />
ÊÊÊÊwww .poolmag.comÊ
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