Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann kept his championship hopes alive after beating Indonesian bet M. Fadly, 6 – 3 in the loser’s bracket of the preliminary rounds of the 2010 Guinness World Series of Pool – 10 Ball Challenge here at the Mal Taman Anggrek Jakarta, Indonesia.

Relegated to the loser’s side after suffering a lopsided defeat from another Indonesian M. Rahmansyah, 1 – 6, at the double eliminations opener, Hohmann needed to win the match against Fadly to remain in the prestigious tournament organized by ESPN STAR Sports.

Both competitors noticeably felt under pressure as Hohmann and Fadly notched unforced errors early on in the match with the German slightly edging out the Indonesian, 2 – 1.

However, a break and run-out at the 4th rack seemingly gave Hohmann a burst of much needed confidence as he pounced on the errors produced by a tentative Fadly to emerge first on the hill, 5 - 1.

Egged on by a supportive homecrowd, Fadly managed to pocket some difficult rail shots in the 7th and 8th frames to get back in contention, 3 – 5.

But just as things were looking up for the local bet, another miscue on the 5ball center pocket attempt saw the German back in the driver’s seat and clean up the table to seal the Indonesian’s fate.           

With his win, Hohmann earned the right to challenge Chinese-Taipei’s boy wonder Pin-Yi Ko, who lost against American Shane Van Boening in their winner’s bracket meeting, 2 – 6, for a ticket to advance to the single knock out round.

Asked about how he felt about his performance in the tournament so far and what he thinks of his chances against Pin-Yi Ko,  Hohmann said: “ Honestly my game is a little rusty as I took some time away from competition. That’s why I think I’ve been having a hard time finding my rhythm. In this race to 6 double elimination format, mistakes really take its toll as you have to be on top of your game from the very beginning. Ko is a very tough competitor and I believe we’ll match up pretty well. Of course I’ll try my best and hopefully I can make it into the next round.”

Meanwhile, Filipino favorites in current world no. 2 Lee Vann Corteza, former 8 ball and 9 ball champion Ronato Alcano, 2007 SEA games 9 Ball gold medalist Antonio Gabica, Raymond Cruz and Victor Arpilleda, who all suffered defeats at the winner’s bracket were still waiting to start their loser’s bracket encounters as of press time. In contrast, 6 other Pinoys have conquered their respective assignments to barge through to the next round. These are: 

Carlo Biado (PHI) defeating Bambang Peodjiono (INA) 6 – 2 and Jimmy Jusman (INA) 6 – 3

Dennis Orcullo (PHI) defeating Jeffrey Andrianto (INA) 6 – 0 and Irsal Nasutio (INA) 6 – 4

Antonio Lining (PHI) defeating Adi Purnomo (INA) 6 – 3 and Raymond Cruz (CAN) 6 – 0

Alex Pagulayan (PHI) defeating Joni Chandra (INA) 6 – 0 and Victor Arpilleda (PHI) 6 – 2

Jeffrey De Luna (PHI) defeating Samuel (INA) 6 – 3 and Lee Vann Corteza (PHI) 6 – 2

Jundel Mazon (PHI) defeating Yusuf Rianto (INA) 6 – 3 and Yoni Rachmanto (INA) 6 – 1

Pool fans can catch the telecast of the 2010 Guinness World Series of Pool – 10Ball challenge, broadcast LIVE on STAR Sports with fifteen hours of exhilarating competition from July 30 to August 01, 2010:

Fri, July 30, 2010                     from 17.00-21.30 (HKT)                         Preliminaries

Sat, July 31, 2010                    from 12.00-18.00 (HKT)                         Quarterfinals

Please visit www.guinnessworldpool.com and www.facebook/guinnessindonesia for more information