Former champion Dana Aft of Marietta, Ga., will attempt to become the fourth woman ever to win a second U.S. Amateur Championship title later today. Aft punched her ticket to the final round with a 5-3 win over Samantha Barrett of Woburn, Mass., Thursday afternoon.
The ladies opened in the 8-Ball set with Aft taking a sizeable 3-0 lead. The deficit hardly seemed to phase Barrett, who responded in kind with three straight wins of her own as the match shifted to the 9-Ball set.
Tied 3-3, Aft regained control of the match, rattling off two straight wins for a 5-3 victory on the streaming table.
If Barrett hopes to exact revenge, she’ll have to do through the one-loss bracket where she’ll face the winner of Tammie Jones and Stacie Bourbeau. The winner of that match will meet Aft in the final at 4:15pm EST.
Only three ladies – Jones, Tina Larsen and Amy Chen – have multiple U.S. Amateur Championships on their resume. Aft will look to become the fourth.