World Nineball Tour boss Emily Frazer has expressed her desire to turn American teenager Savannah Easton into a superstar following her recent showing at the UK Open Championship.
Easton, a runner-up at last year’s World Girls Championship in New Zealand, reached the semi-finals of May’s Jayson Shaw Junior Open in Telford, England and was only stopped by eventual winner Felix Vogel in a deciding rack.
The 15-year-old from Las Vegas attracted attention from Frazer after her exploits in the UK as she followed in the footsteps of Rhaki Constantino of the Philippines in reaching a WNT junior semi-final as a female player.
“Sometimes I can’t hide my facial expressions, obviously I was rooting for her to get to the finals,” smiled Frazer whilst in conversation with the Boom and Freezer podcast.
“There’s only been two occasions in the junior events where girls have reached semi-finals – the last one was in Hanoi. To have a young female in the final would be a massive progression for the sport.”
Frazer also revealed that the first time she ever met the young American prodigy was in Philadelphia and her personality immediately shone through as well as her confidence around the table.
“I properly met her for the first time at the Super Billiards Expo in April, and I just loved her attitude towards the sport,” Frazer added. “Her words to me, and we were both on the same vibe as this, and I’m yet to meet someone who was on the same vibe.
“I said if I was going to compete then I want to compete against the best and I want to be the best in the world, and she said the exact same thing. I obviously loved her the minute that I met her.
“When she was in the UK and she was playing in our warm-up the evening before and when she was at the arena, the sass and the attitude that she has I absolutely love.
“I want to turn her into the queen of nineball because she’s got so much talent, she’s got a great brand, she’s got so much personality and she’s got that fire. I can’t wait to see more of her.
“I know the US world have seen a lot of Savannah in other tournaments. But obviously there’s age restrictions on our main events and until she reaches 16 she can’t compete, so let’s get her into the juniors and get her prepared.”
Easton could compete in the SVB Junior Open at the US Open Championship in Atlantic City this August after she has represented the USA at the World Games in Chengdu, China.
