Vicki Paski
{{short description|American pool player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox pool player
| name = Vicki Paski
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|10|16|df=yes}}
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| sport country = {{smaller|United States}}
| nickname = Diamond Vic
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| game = Eight-ball, Nine-ball, 14.1
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| website = {{URL|vickipaski.com}}
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Vicki Paski (born 16 October 1955) is a pool player from the United States and member of the Women's Professional Billiard Association Hall of Fame.
Biography
Vicki Paski was born on 16 October 1955.{{cite web |url=http://www.azbilliards.com/people/634-vicki-paski/ |title=Vicki Paski |website=azbilliards.com |publisher=AZBilliards |access-date=1 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911102556/http://www.azbilliards.com/people/634-vicki-paski/ |archive-date=11 September 2016 |url-status=live }} She started playing pool whilst studying for a degree in business at Lansing Community College, when she took the course "Pocket Billiards 101." She continued to practice at the club where the course was held, called the Velvet Rail, and won her first tournament at the age of 18. Paski was one of the attendees at the inaugural meeting of the Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) in 1976.{{cite web |url=https://eu.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/03/28/womens-pool-pioneer-grand-ledges-vicki-paski-still-pro/81643048/ |title=A women's pool pioneer, Grand Ledge's Vicki Paski is still a pro |last=Greco |first=Rachel |website=Lansing State Journal |date=28 March 2016 |access-date=1 February 2020}}
Her playing career included reaching two world championship finals. She was the 1979 World Nine-ball Runner-up and 1981 World 14.1 Runner-up.
Paski served as President of the WPBA, and in 1987 became the first woman pool analyst for ESPN.{{cite news |last=Buczek |first=Joe |title=Billiard hints from the new champion |work=The Morning Sun |location=Mount Pleasant – Alma, MI |date=6 February 2013 |via=NewsBank. Retrieved 1 February 2020.}} Her playing nickname is Diamond Vic.
She became a member of the Women's Professional Billiard Association Hall of Fame, for Meritorious Service, in 2005,{{cite web |url=https://wpba.com/hof |title=Members of the WPBA Hall of Fame |website=wpba.com |publisher=Women's Professional Billiard Association |access-date=1 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711211706/https://wpba.com/hof |archive-date=11 July 2019 |url-status=live }} and was inducted into the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.{{cite web |url=https://lansingsportshalloffame.org/people/vicki-paski/ |title=Vicki Paski – 2011 |website=lansingsportshalloffame.org |publisher=The Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame |access-date=1 February 2020}}
==Ttitles & Achievements==
- 1976 BCA National Amateur Championship
- 1980 All-American Trick Shot Championship
- 1982 BCA National Nine-ball Championship
- 1982 BCA National Team Eight-ball Championship
- 1982 Pool & Billiard Magazine Player of the Year
- 1983 BCA National Team Eight-ball Championship
- 2005 WPBA Hall of Fame
- 2011 Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame