U.S. pool champion to visit Bangor Sunday

Loree Jon Jones of Hillsboro, N.J., the current United States Open Women’s Straight Pool Champion whose accomplishments have landed her in the Guinness Book of World Records, will make a Bangor appearance Sunday at Topspot Billards on Broadway.

Jones will be featured in a three-hour exhibition from noon to 3 p.m. which includes a race-to-five, 9-ball match with Maine’s own pool whiz, 12-year-old state junior champion Tiffany Nelson of Madawaska.

The first hour of the program will feature Jones, followed by the match with Nelson and matches with other players who wish to try their luck against a former world champion. The event is open to the public.

Jones was invited by owner Gary Jenkins to participate in the grand opening of Skillful Sales, which is located on Broadway.

In 1981 at age 15, Jones was included in the Guinness Book of World Records after becoming the youngest person, male or female, to win a world title in the World Straight Pool Championship. She was named the 1981 Player of the Year.

Her first title, the Ruth McGinnis Challenge Cup Championship in 1979, was followed by several city, state, and regional titles sandwiched between her first world championship in ’81 and succeeding ones in ’84, ’86, and three separate world titles in ’88 when she was also named Player of the Year.

In 1989, Jones was again named Player of the Year after winning both U.S. titles. Two more world titles and the WPBA national championship belonged to Jones in 1990, and she won the McDemott Master’s 9-ball title in 1991 before claiming the U.S. title this year.

Jones’ abilities with a pool cue have not been limited to competition. Along with exhibition matches and tournaments, she has appeared often on national television.

Jenkins said Jones’ 64-ball run in winning the national title this year set a U.S. high-run record for women.

Tiffany Nelson’s fledgling career is receiving national attention.

Like Jones, she learned to play the sport at the age of 4. In June, she became the top junior player in the state, male or female, and was the first female to compete in the Junior National Pool Championship in Kansas City, Kan.

Her father, Richard Nelson, said Tiffany is approaching the upcoming exhibition match with Jones in a most calm manner.

Already, he said, she has competed against top professional woman players in New England and, when she was in Kansas City, participated in exhibition matches with some of the sport’s best players, such as Joanne Mason, Mike Siegel, and Buddy Hall.

Richard Nelson said Tiffany knows “she has a ways to go” when it comes to competing with the likes of Loree Jon Jones, but that she will enjoy the experience.

Nelson, by the way, doesn’t limit her spare time to pool. She is also a brown belt in taekwondo and, at Madawaska Middle School, is a member of the band and competes in softball, soccer, and basketball.