Iris Ranola On Fire at U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships!

Iris who? Well, it seems the Asian invasion continues on the Women's Pro Billiard Tour. Iris Ranola of the Philippines, who upset #1 ranked defending champ Allison Fisher in the first round of play, has continued to make tracks through the undefeated side of the bracket.

Ranola defeated another newcomer, Aileen Dimmick in round 2, 9-2, then stunned fans by taking down another former U.S. Open champion, Helena Thornfeldt, in round 3!

But wait... Three hours later she beat yet another champion, Ga Young Kim of Korea, in a 9-8 thriller that put her into the final eight and the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open! She'll face Brit Sarah Ellerby today.

Other quarter-final match-ups include Irish Karen Corr vs. Korea's Yu Ram Cha (who defeated GenerationPool.com champ Xiaoting Pan of China last night); Jeanette Lee (coming off a solid 9-3 victory over Austrian Jasmin Ouschan) vs. Pam Cimarelli, formerly Pam Treadway (who defeated seasoned Brit Kim Shaw!); and Vivian Villarreal (winning over top 4 ranked Monica Webb) vs. Kelly Fisher!

And what happened to the defending champ? Sadly for Oklahoma fans, top ranked Allison Fisher, playing out of the one loss side after her 9-8 loss to Ranola, lost another 9-8 heartbreaker to midwest native Sarah Rousey. This marks Fisher's lowest recorded finish on American soil...