On a cold afternoon where most players didn't bother to take off their jackets inside the Taipei Gymnasium on Nanjing East Road, 48 of the world's best women pool players began an intense competition to determine who would be the world's best.
Taiwan's top-ranked player, Lin Yuan-chun, was in a gruff, almost irritable mood minutes before her first match. Her attitude belied her nickname, "Female Assassin," as she has made a habit of staring down opponents with her stealth-like game.
With a WPA ranking of No. 6, Lin is one of the early favorites in this four-day tournament. Today she played well, but not well enough to put her in a good mood.
A product of Taoyuan area pool clubs, Lin began playing at the age of 17, and has been a professional for six years. She routinely plays against men, including World 9-Ball Champion Wu Chia-ching.
Lin has appeared on televised tournaments in Taiwan, gaining the skills to compete against the world's best.
Formidable competition, in fact, is close at hand, as Jennifer "9mm" Barretta of the US entered the gymnasium in a pair of cowboy boots and an iPod strapped to her belt. The cold, humid weather didn't affect her. She quickly stripped off her coat to reveal a pink stretch top that accentuates her blond hair and her pin-up figure.
Her opponent, Estelle Bijnen, a tall blond from the Netherlands, didn't seem to be distracted by Barretta's good looks.
Bijnen suffered early losses in Kaohsiung last year, quickly knocking her out of the competition.
Bijnen needs better early results this year to advance to the single elimination round of 24 players.
"The humidity affects play a little bit -- it makes the cue ball stick a little more and everything is a little slower," Bijnen said.
For those unfamiliar with women's 9-ball, matches typically take one hour to play, much slower then men's matches, which can be over in less than 30 minutes in a race to five format.
"The difference between men and women is in the head," Bijnen said. "Women think of everything while men simply concentrate on the shot ahead of them."
She admitted that some matches can proceed slowly, as women like to use defensive plays while also taking plenty of time to line up shots.
Still, the slow play isn't expected to hurt turnout. While admission is free, organizers will limit the audience to 5,000 spectators a day, on a first come first served basis.
"This tournament has always been very successful and has always drawn a large crowd," Robert Huang, organizer of the Amway Cup, said. "There will be no less than 3,800 spectators a day during the tournament."
Over the past eight years, the tournament paid for travel expenses and appearance fees for top-ranked players such as Allison Fisher, and Jeanette Lee, the Korean-American sensation also known as "The Black Widow."
This year, however, the event is doubling as the Women's World 9-Ball Championship, and prize money is taking the place of appearance fees.
"Jeanette Lee's appearance fee rose to US$10,000 per day this year," Huang said. "We weren't prepared to pay that type of money for her to play."
While some fans may regret the loss of such high profile players, this year's Amway Cup will feature attractive and talented Asian players such as up-and-coming South Korean challenger Kim Ga-young and China's Pan Xiaoting.
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