The team competition always creates a special atmosphere at the European Championships each year. Players all gather together and support their own national team. That was the situation today at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in Kyrenia, North Cyprus.
Several upsets can be reported from today’s lineups. In the women’s division, team Switzerland with Klaudia Kunz and Christine Feldmann defeated clearly favored team Poland with 2:1. Feldmann lost 4:7 in 9-ball to Katarzyna Wesolowska but her teammate Kunz defeated Oliwia Czuprynska in 8-ball 6:2. The shootout was won by the Swiss team which booked them a seat in the semi-finals already.
The other semi-finalist in the women’s division is team Norway, consisting of Line Kjoersvik and Martine Christiansen. They defeated team Germany 2:0, then team Bulgaria with the same result. In the winner’s qualification round, the Norwegians had to deal with team Russia which is composed of Ana Mazhirina and Darya Sirotina. Mazhirina lost 9-ball 4:7 to Christiansen while Sirotina defeated Kjoersvik with 6:5 in 8-ball. The shootout went in favor of the Scandinavian ladies. Norway as well as Switzerland are waiting in the semi-finals for their opponents to be determined tomorrow.
In the men’s division, the defending Champions Netherlands had a thriller going on against long-time rival Germany. Nick Van Den Berg made a quick 1:0 lead for the Netherlands, winning the 8-ball with 8:4 over Andreas Roschkowsky. Ralf Souquet had a heartbreaker in 9-ball against Niels Feijen which he won with 9:8. At that time, Sebastian Staab was down 2:6 to World 10-ball Champion Huidji See in 10-ball. But Staab was able to turn the tide in the match. he took 6 racks in a row and won his match with 8:6. Germany takes a spot in the quarter-finals while The Netherlands need to win another match on the loser’s side over the winner Poland v Great Britain.
Team Austria is the second quarter-finalist of the day. With victories over Norway 2:1, Croatia 2:0 and Russia 2:1, the Austrians with Albin Ouschan, Mario He and Jürgen Jenisy are looking forward to get their opponent drawn from the loser’s side tomorrow. Team Spain with David Alcaide, Francesco Diaz and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz are also in the quarter-final round. The defeated Switzerland 3:0, Poland 2:0 and their neighbors Portugal 3:0. Strong performance by team Spain for today. The final quarterfinalist is team Finland. The boys from the far north around Petri Makkonen, Aki Heiskanen, Jussi Iivonen and Abbas Al-Marayati have earned their spot through victories over Belgium and Sweden. In the first round, team Finland had a walk-over.
Play will commence tomorrow morning 09:00 local time with the team competition. All results and more info can be found on www.epconline.eu. LIVEStream can be viewed at www.kozoom.com.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or contact our press officepress@epbf.com.
The 10-Ball competition at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in Acapulco Hotel and Resort, Kyrenia, North Cyprus, has provided the spectators with some unexpected results today.
A total of 98 men, 46 women and 17 wheelchair players have lined up today to see who will eventually snatch the title from the current Champions.
Ruslan Chinakhov came up with the first upset of the day. He defeated David Alcaide (ESP) in a tight thriller with 8:7. In the next round, Chinakhov went ahead and also sent Serge Das (BEL) to the loser’s side.
Defending Champion Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) was another famous victim of today’s play. He lost his opening match to Daryl Peach (GBR) with 7:8. Peach proceeded into the single elimination round of the final 64 players while Sniegocki takes the long way.
Dutch „El Nino“ Nick Van Den Berg (NED) won his first two appearances over Sebastian Staab (GER) 8:6 and David Zalman (CZE) 8:1 and had smooth sailing so far into the final stage which will be played tomorrow.
Francesco Diaz (ESP) sprung for another upset in defeating Chris Melling (GBR) with 8:7. Melling then went to the loser’s side where he completely unexpected lost to underdog Roger Rasmussen (NOR) again with 7:8.
Germany’s Ralf Souquet (GER) fulfilled the hopes of the German Federation so far and won his two openers with 8:5 over Imran Majid (GBR) and Aki Heiskanen (FIN) with 8:4. Last year, the German team finished the EC in Portoroz, Slovenia, without having won a single medal. That was something that they probably do not want to repeat this year. However, in straight pool the medals were grabbed by other nations so far.
Marko Lisnic (CRO) double dipped Fabio Petroni (ITA) with 8:6. Just like Melling, Petroni lost his next match on the loser’s side completely surprising with 6:8 to Denmark’s Bahram Lotfy (DEN).
In the women’s division, defending Champion Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) is in the zone. She won her first two matches over Viktoria Nagorna (UKR) and Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) and is waiting in the single elimination stage of the final 16 women for her opponent.
Newly crowned straight pool European Champion Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) made short work of her opponents today and handed both of them a doughnut, winning 6:0 over Sara Rocha (POR) and Claudia Kunz (SUI).
Today, the wheelchair athletes have joined the event. Defending Champion Kurt Deklerck (BEL) is right on track. He won his opener over Per Brovold (NOR) with 6:0.
Play will commence tomorrow morning 09:00 local time with the 10-ball competition. All results and more info can be found on www.epconline.eu. LIVEStream can be viewed at www.kozoom.com.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
The day started rather stormy. The sea which is normally inviting the people for a nice swim was rough and capricious. Maybe that was a presage for today’s straight pool matches. 95 men and 45 women had taken up the challenge to see who will wear the crown in European straight pool in 2014. Defending Champions were Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and Nick Van Den Berg (NED) and they knew that it will not be an easy task to claim the title again this year.
Van den Berg had a tough opening match against Daniele Corrieri (ITA). The Italian stood out at recent Euro-Tours by always making it to the final stages of the event. So the match was expected to be a tough fight… and it was! Van den Berg made a mistake at 4:0 and allowed Corrieri to enter the table with a clear shot. The Italian thanked him and made 56 balls. Racing to 100 points, that was more than half the points he needed for the victory. Then, van den Berg ran 28 balls but allowed Corrieri again back to the table with a shot. It looked like Corrieri would run the match but he scratched at 74:32 and allowed van den Berg to the table with ball in hand. That was all the Champion needed to send out a signal. He ran the needed 68 balls without allowing Corrieri back to the table. 100:74 was the final result in favor of van den Berg. Corrieri obviously lost too much energy in this match. He lost the next straight match to unheralded Dino Cerimagic (BIH) with 79:100. Van den Berg got Jürgen Jenisy (AUT) in the single elimination round of the final 64 players. Again, things did not look too bright for him in the beginning of the match. In fact, he was trailing 54:99 when Jenisy made a mistake. That brought van den Berg back into the match and woke his killer instinct. He did not allow his opponent any more clear shot in that match; to the contrary, Jenisy only managed to commit two more fouls while van den Berg was able to decide the match in his favor. 125:97 was the final result that puts van den Berg one round further where he will face Aki Heiskanen (FIN) while Jenisy will have to settle for 33rd place.
Niels Feijen (NED), van den Berg’s teammate, did not have a good start. He played Jakub Koniar (SVK) in the winner’s qualification round and was leading 92:78 when he made a mistake. Koniar kept calm and pocketed ball after ball, sending favored Feijen to the one-loss side.
Even BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) could not get through this day unwounded. He lost to David Alcaide (ESP) with 1:100 with Alcaide running 101 balls on him.
As the tournament went on, more tight matches came around. Nicolas Ottermann (GER) just managed to win over Murat Teker (TUR) with 100:96 and get to the single elimination stage of the final 64 players.
In the single elimination, Albin Ouschan (AUT) set a new record for the event. The race was raised to 125 points. Ouschan used only one (1!) inning to win over Mindaugas Salkauskas (LIT) with 125:0. That was an exclamation mark set by Ouschan. Aki Heiskanen (FIN) ended Chris Melling’s hopes for a straight pool title, eliminating him with 125:50. Another big name fell in the first single elimination round. Ralf Souquet (GER) got ousted by Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz with125:77. However, Sanchez’ journey ended in the next round when he unexpectedly fell to Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE) with 95:125.
The results in the men’s division prove the high standard of the event. One mistake is very often enough to decide a whole match.
In the women’s division, tight matches could be found very often. Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) had to give her first round match away to Sara Rocha (POR) with 74:75. The same result was final for Ina Kaplan (GER) in her match with Oliwia Czuprynska (POL). Kaplan was leading 74:68, being at the table with a complicated but possible layout. She needed one more ball to win the match. The cue ball was lying in a cluster but a shot at an object ball in the side pocket was possible. Kaplan missed that shot and left an open table for Czuprynska. The young Polish went to the table and pocketed the remaining balls, sending Kaplan to the loser’s side with 75:74. There, Kaplan was able to recover and eliminated Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) with 75:41 from the straight pool competition.
Defending Champion Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) had no mercy with her opponents. She defeated Martine Christiansen (NOR) with 75:53 and then Kristina Schagan (GER) with 75:7 to book her seat in the single elimination field of the last 16 women. She will be joined there by Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) who won a tough fight over Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) with 75:64 in the loser’s qualification round. Another big name in the round of the final 16 women is Louise Furberg. She won with 75:66 over Anna Mazhirina (RUS), then 75:45 over Zrinka Antonijevic (CRO) and finally 75:37 over Silvia Gaudino (ITA). Line Kjoersvik (NOR), Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS), Ana Gradisnik (SLO) and Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) complete the names of the women who made it through the winner’s round. The other eight names will be determined after the 09:00 round on Monday, March 31st.
The action will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
The first titles at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes have been assigned. In the women’s division, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) defended her title from last year and won the final match over Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) with 75:19. In the men’s division, Niels Feijen (NED) prevented his teammate Nick Van Den Berg (NED) from winning three straight pool titles in a row and defeated him 125:50.
Ouschan started her day with a clear 75:28 walk over Melissa Rademakers (NED). Then she faced a tough opponent in the quarter-final. Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) proved to be hard work for Ouschan who stayed on top of the match, winning it with 75:54. In the semi-final match, Ouschan eliminated Line Kjoersvik (NOR) with 75:46. These victories booked her a seat in the final match. Oliwia Czuprynska started her day with a 75:44 victory over Kristina Grim (GER). She then finished Sara Rocha’s (POR) hopes with 75:39, just to meet her friend and teammate Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) in the semi-final. 75:48 was the final results in favor of Czuprynska.
The final match was pretty single-sided in Ouschan’s favor. She hardly missed any shot and left no chance for Czuprynska. That is clearly demonstrated by the high final score of 75:19 for Ouschan. Jasmin Ouschan took her 30th title on European level. She managed to defend her title in straight pool from last year. What a promising start for the Austrian superstar player.
Niels Feijen started his journey to glory, wiping the floor with Josip Susnjara (CRO) 125:6. Then, he finished Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) with 125:71. He continued in the quarter-finals with his splendid form, leaving no chance to Finland’s Petri Makkonen 125:17. In the semi-final, he stopped Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) with 125:50 to make it to the final match.
Defending Champion Nick van den Berg took care of Aki Heiskanen (FIN) with 125:25. Then he marched on and defeated Mariusz Skoneczny (POL) 125:42. His next opponent was former World 9-Ball Champion Daryl Peach (GBR). But also Peach had no chance against van den Berg who took the match clearly with 125:14. In the semi-final, the Dutch ousted Tomasz Kaplan (POL) with 125:77. That match was almost a replay from last year’s final with the same winner.
The final match between Feijen and van den Berg was filled with ups and downs. Feijen ran 96 points on van den Berg and took a 111:12 lead. However, he then missed a makable break shot and allowed van den Berg back to the table. But the defending Champion was sitting in his chair for over 30 minutes and had to watch Feijen making point after point. Both players made some errors and in the end, Feijen was the more consistent player when he potted the final ball to win the match with 125:50. Feijen ended van den Berg’s winning streak in straight pool.
It can be noticed here that team Poland came out quite unlucky today. They had 4 players in the semi-final matches and had to settle for 3 bronze and 1 silver medal. However, it can be stated that the Polish contingency had a good start; just like the Dutch players. It will be interesting to see how the event will continue.
Play will commence tomorrow morning 09:00 local time with the 10-ball competition. All results and more info can be found on www.epconline.eu. LIVEStream can be viewed at www.kozoom.com.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
32 PLAYERS ADVANCE TO THE KNOCKOUT STAGE AS CLIFFHANGERS ABOUND AT THE WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP IN QATAR
(Doha, Qatar)–There was something special in the air throughout the day today at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, and it wasn’t the crisp cool air conditioning offering comfort to fans and players alike.
It was an intangible, what we used to call on the east coast of the USA, “that certain something,” an unknowable, hard to describe feeling, when you know something is good, but you can’t quite figure out why. You just know it’s good, and it’s only going to get better. You just know it.
Perhaps it was the sheer volume of high quality and tight matches that took place, the incredible talent on display that is as good as has ever been seen in pool, all combined with the fact that on Day 3 of the 2012 World 9-balll Championship, the gravity of the moment, of the stakes involved, started to dawn on players and fans alike.
This part of the tournament is all about getting through to the next round. 32 players did just that today as they cashed in their chips to the next stage, the single elimination knockout round of 64 which will begin on Wednesday June 27. Some had it easy, others not so much. But all who made it breathed a massive sigh of relief. Just get through, wipe the slate clean, and start fresh on Wednesday.
“It’s like a battle field out there,” said a England’s Darren Appleton, clearly relieved after beating Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Rahman Al Amar and advancing. “You just want to get through. There’s a lot of great, great, great players in this event. In years past you kind of knew who would get through. But not anymore. There’s a lot of surprises, but no shocks. I’m just happy. These tournaments are getting tougher and tougher.”
With 17 Filipinos in the field of 128 players, including the legendary Efren Reyes, and Francisco Bustamante, the venue is never short of large and vocal crowds of Filipino overseas workers and this certainly spices up the already pressure filled atmosphere. They came out in force today as the winners of each group faced off for a quick chance out of the danger zone of the group stage and into the final 64, including Reyes who played in the first session.
Reyes did his part as he easily defeated Kuwait’s Badr Al Awadi 9-2 to advance to the next round. Afterward Reyes offered his patented line for why he won.
“I get lucky,” he said with his toothless grin. “He’s a good player but the break is against him, he never get a shot. Me I always get a shot after the break.”
Several players clearly stepped up their game early on. Malta’s popular Tony Drago sprinted past the Philippines Ramil Gallego, 9-6. Afterward, pool’s version of Speed Racer said he’s primed and ready to wreak havoc in the coming days and welcomes the pressure that is sure to come.
“I’m playing fantastic,” Drago said. “I’m enjoying myself. I like coming to the Middle East. The people are fantastic. I know pressure, and I know how to handle pressure. So I’m ready.”
2003 World 9-ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann put in a solid performance, as did France’s Vincent Faquet, who fought back from 4-2 down to beat the Philippines very tough Jundel Mazon, 9 – 5. Scotland’s Jason Shaw, a former English 8-ball World Champion, smothered China’s Fu Jian Bo, 9-5.
A great story has developed out of New Zealand as 24 year old Matthew Edwards continued his fine run in this year’s tournament, advancing to the knockout stage with an impressive 9-5 win over Malaj Nikolaos of Albania. Edwards, who’s playing in his first world championship, first took down the USA’s Shane Van Boening. He now becomes the first ever Kiwi to make it this far in a world championship.
“Nobody’s an easy player,” Edwards said. “This whole tournament is everything I thought it would be. There’s a lot of excitement here.”
As the day wore on the matches just got better, tighter and more pressure packed. World 8-ball Champion Chang Jung Lin came back from 8-6 down to Naouki Ohi of Japan, and won 9-8. 2007 World 9-ball Champion Daryl Peach of England was 5-0 down to Croatian Bozo Primic but clawed back to win a thriller, 9-8. Taiwan’s Chang Yu Lung and Austria’s Albin Ouschan, the brother of women’s star Jasmine Ouschan, went all the way with Chang prevailing 9-8. The USA’s Hunter Lombardo had the Philippines Ronnie Alcano on the ropes, but lost a cliff hanger 9-8.
One of the more entertaining matches happened between Greece’s Nick Ekonomopoulos and China’s Liu Haitao, two very solid rising talents. Ekonomopoulos was down 7-2 but ended up winning 9-8. The confident Greek, who’s playing in his first world championship, looks to be an interesting dark horse in this event. He recently won the Austrian Open on the Euro Tour. He was so confident in his abilities that he flew to Qatar without an entry into the tournament and entered the brutally tough qualifiers, where he won one event and made it into the main draw. With the pressure way too intense late his match with Liu, he looked positively deadly.
The surprise of the evening was Dennis Orcullo going down to Hong Kong’s Andrew Kong, 9-5. Kong advances while Orcullo has to come back Tuesday for one last try.
That’ll happen on Tuesday, Judgement Day, when all matches will be do-or-die. As the action heats up inside the Al Sadd Sports Club, the nerves will surely start to fray, easy pots will become testers, and dreams will be made and shattered on the smallest turn of the balls.
The WPA will be providing full up to the minute coverage of the 2012 World 9-ball Championship via its website at www.wpapool.com. There you can follow the action through our live scoring platform, articles with insights and analysis, and updated brackets. Fans can also get updates via the WPA Twitter page, @poolwpa.com.
*The World Pool And Billiard Association(WPA) is the international governing of the sport of pocket billiards.
Day 3 Results All Matches Winners Side of the Brackets Winner advances to the round of 64, loser goes to the losers side of the bracket for one last chance
DAY 1 AT THE 2012 WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP PRODUCES SURPRISING UPSETS AND SOLID OUTINGS FROM THE GAME’S BEST
(Doha, Qatar)–With 128 of the world’s best pool players on hand contesting the 2012 World 9-ball Championship, and all playing a slew of matches in their groups and trying, over the next few days, to whittle the field down to 64, it’s nearly impossible to predict who exactly will emerge as the new king of 9-ball.
But as day one here in blazing hot Doha, Qatar has come to a close, certain important trends have already revealed themselves. Perhaps most important among them is the fact that the talent level throughout the world of pool has risen dramatically in the last few years.
We all know that the Philippines, Taiwan, England and many European countries produce serious pool talent. But what about not so known hotbeds of pool such as Iran, Lebanon, Finland, Albania, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, New Zealand, UAE and right here in Qatar?
The first 48 matches held Saturday inside the Al Sadd Sports Club have proven one thing and that is that the sport of 9-ball has literally gone viral, with solid players emerging from the most unlikely of places. Which means known players cannot take any match for granted. And that, of course, brings to us another trend we will witness this week in Doha; fans should prepare themselves for lots of upsets.
The first surprising result of the day came in the very first group out of the gates, when Kuwait’s Badr Al Awadi defeated former World 10-Ball champion Huidji See of the Netherlands, 9-7. It should be noted that Kuwait seems to be one of the big beneficiaries of the presence of big time pool tournaments being played year after year in the Middle East. Many of the Kuwaiti players are very competitive out on the table and seem to be gaining confidence with each passing year.
Also during the first session another upset caused waves around the arena, this one coming from Down Under. 24 year old Matthew Edwards from New Zealand knew his odds against American great Shane Van Boening were long. And at 5-1 down in the race to 9, alternate break match things were looking bleak indeed for the young Kiwi. But a massive fight back coupled with plenty of heart brought Edwards back into the match. He ended beating Van Boening 9-7 for the biggest win of his career.
Afterward, as many of the players do, Edwards went straight to his Facebook page to tell the world about his accomplishment. His comments are printed as is because, well, they speak volumes about how fascinating the sport of 9-ball at the professional level can be.
Edwards wrote: “I came into the match feeling very excited and a little out of depth… After our 5min warm up I was shocked to find out how tight the pockets were and how different the cushions reacted!!! What a confidence blower the warm up was 🙁 ! It was clear that Shane was more than comfortable on the American made Diamond pool table! Shane jumped out to a 5-1 lead without me doing too much wrong… I then kept telling myself I would stick to my initial game plan and never give up , try my best and fight to the end! At 5-1 I remember only seeing the ball in front of me and focusing on the sinking the ball! As weird as it sounds I was so nervous I was afraid to miss which drove me to focus harder and harder… I knew I didn’t know the cushions well enough so I would play basic position even if it meant playing a longer tougher pot on relying on my potting skills! I ended up winning 9-7!! I was very happy to beat such a great player and happy with myself that I didn’t give up and fought right to the finish line !!! I was playing on all heart despite the odds! I kept the belief in myself no matter what!!”
Folks, if you can’t get excited about the excitement of Matthew Edwards then it’s time to turn to following competitive hot dog eating to get your thrills.
As the day wore on, a few more surprising results kept coming in. Aki Heiskanen, a fresh face out of Finland, handily defeated Dutch star Niels Feijen . 9-4. Kuwait’s Omar Al Shaheen got the crowd pumped up with his nervy 9-8 win over Belgium’s Serge Das.
Many of the games big names had solid outings on day one. The Philippines Efren “Bata” Reyes beat Croatia’s Philipp Stojanovic, 9-3. Defending champion Yukio Akagariyama of Japan won 9 – 7 over Dominic Jentsch of Germany. 2010 World 9-ball Champion Francisco Bustamante beat Taiwan’s Lo Li Wen, 9-6. 2007 World 9-ball Champion Daryl Peach of England prevailed 9 – 7 over a very tough Sniegocki Mateusz of Poland. Current World 8-ball champion Chang Jun Lin of Taiwan defeated Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland, 9-7. Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann, the 2003 World 9-ball Champion, beat Taiwan’s Hsu Kai Lun 9-5.
Two time US Open Champion and former World 10-ball champion Darren Applenton of England nearly made it to our upset list as he had a very difficult time with Hamza Alsaeed of Eritrea, coming back from a 6-4 deficit to win 9-7.
Several high quality matchups produced some interesting results. Malta’s Tony Drago was leading Finland’s great Mika Immonen 7-1, only to see Immonen storm back to tie the match. The two went to the hill where Drago broke and ran the last rack for the win.
The Philippines talented but underrated Jundel Mazon beat England’s number one Chris Melling, 9-7. Two time World 9-ball Champion Fong Pang Chao of Taiwan beat China’s Le He Wen, 9-7. Taiwan’s Yang Ching Shun returned to competitive pool after a several year hiatus and beat the UAE’s Hanni Alhowri, 9-2.
In a result that won’t get too much attention outside of Tirana, Malaj Nikolaos notched the first ever win for Albania in the World 9-ball Championship when he squeaked by Qatar’s Abdulatif Fawal, 9-8. Nikolaos is actually a rising talent on the European scene. In 2011 he won the Kremlin Cup, defeating Mika Immonen in the final, an event that was sponsored by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The 2012 World 9-ball Championship continues in the group stages on Sunday. All first round matches will be played as will several on the losers’ side bracket of each group.
The final 64 will begin single elimination play on June 27th. The semi-finals and finals will take place on June 29th. The winner will receive $40,000, while the runner up with take home $20,000.
The WPA will be providing full up to the minute coverage of the 2012 World 9-ball Championship via its website at www.wpapool.com. There you can follow the action through our live scoring platform, articles with insights and analysis, and updated brackets. Fans can also get updates via the WPA Twitter page, @poolwpa.com.
Fans can also access live scoring through the official website of the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation at: http://www.qbsf.net/en/live_score.php.
*The World Pool And Billiard Association(WPA) is the international governing of the sport of pocket billiards.
Results from Day 1, Group Stages Winner goes to winner’s side of the bracket and needs one more win to advance Loser goes to losers side of the bracket and needs two wins to advance
Group 1 Badr Al Awadi(KUW) 9 – 7 Huidji See(NED) Efren Reyes(PHI) 9 – 3 Philipp Stojanovic(CRO) John Morra(CAN) 9 – Hwang Yong(KOR) Loyme Vicente(PHI) 9 -4 Mohammad Berjawi(LEB)
Group 2 Tony Drago(MLT) 9 – 8 Mika Immonen(FIN) Ramil Gallego(PHI) 9 – 6 Sundeep Gulati(IND) Thorsten Hohmann(GER) 9 – 5 Hsu Kai Lun(TPE) Ali Podel(IRI) 9 – 2 Abdulwahed Al Awad(KSA)
Group 3 Jundel Mazon(PHI) 9 – 7 Chris Melling(GBR) Matthew Edwards(NZL) 9 – 7 Shane Van Boening(USA) Vincent Faquet(FRA) 9 – 7 Aloysius Yapp(SIN) Malaj Nikolaos(ALB) 9 – 8 Abdulatif Fawal((QAT)
Group 5 Fu Chei Wei(TPE) 9 – 8 Do The Kien(VIE) Karlo Dalmatin(CRO) 9 – 2 Mohd Buainain(QAT) Fu Jianbo(CHN) 9 – 7 Marcus Chamat(SWE) Jason Shaw(GBR) 9 – 5 Takashi Uraoka(JPN)
Group 6 Aki Heiskanen(FIN) 9 – 4 Niels Feijen(NED) Khaled Al Mutairi(KUW) 9 – 4 Mohd Al Bin Ali(QAT) Chang Jun Lin(TPE) 9 – 7 Dimitri Jungo(SUI) Naoyuki Ohi(JPN) 9 – Robby Foldvari(AUS)
Group 7 Chang Yu Lung(TPE) 9 – 3 Jalal Yousef(VEN) Albin Ouschan(AUT) 9 – 7 Dan Jingu(CHN) Karl Boyes(GBR) 9 – 5 Ryu Seung Woo(KOR) Yang Ching Shun(TPE) 9 – 2 Hanni Alhowri(UAE)
Group 9 Daryl Peach(GBR) 9 – 7 Sniegocki Mateusz(POL) Bozo Primic(CRO) 9 – 8 Mazen Berjaoui(LIB) Francisco Bustamante(PHI) 9 – 6 Lo Li Wen(TPE) Abdullah Al Yousef(KUW) 9 – 3 Oliver Medenilla(PHI)
Group 12 Jason Klatt(CAN) 9 – 3 Imran Majid(GBR) Ali Obaidly(QAT) 9 – 8 Mohamed Elassal(EGY) Liu Haitao(CHN) 9 – 3 Mario He(AUT) Nick Ekonomopoulos(GRE) 9 – 5 Alok Kumar(IND)
The WPA 2012 World 9-ball Championship, considered perhaps the most prestigious title in men’s professional pool, has gotten underway at the beautiful Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.
The action over the next 8 days promises to be as scorching hot as the weather is outside, where searing hot winds sweeping in off the desert combine with the blazing Middle Eastern sun to send temperatures into the mid-40’s celcius.
Indeed the event has attracted 128 of the best pool players from over 50 countries, who are vying for $300,000 in prize money, with $40,000 going to the eventual winner.
The tournament is run in two stages. The first stage has the players divided up into 16 groups of 8. There the players will play a double elimination format, race to 9, alternate break. The top four players in each group, two from the winners side, and two from the losers side, will advance into the final 64, which begins on June 27th.
From there, the tournament becomes a straight knockout, with all matches single elimination race to 11, alternate break. The finals, which will be played on June 29th, will be race to 13, alternate break.
The list of names assembled here in Doha is a who’s who of the games top stars, with literally dozens of world championships and major victories among them. In all there are 10 current or former world 9-ball champions in the field, including defending champion Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama who won in this very venue last year.
The list of pool champions in the field doesn’t include just 9-ball. Current World 8-ball champion Chang Jun Lin of Taiwan is here. Also vying for glory will be two time US Open Champion and former World 10-Ball Champion Darren Appleton of England, 2011 World 8-ball Champion Dennis Orcullo of the Philippines, 2010 World 8-ball champion Karl boyes of England, 2010 World 10-ball champion Huidji See of the Netherlands, and former US Open Champion and the USA’s number one player, Shane Van Boening.
But of course as in every World 9-ball Championship, part of the fun is witnessing the rise of new talents from across the globe, as the game of 9-ball has spread far and wide over the last ten years. Fans are guaranteed train loads of nerve jangling drama throughout the event, with plenty of upsets sure to rock the Al Sadd and the pool world.
Once again the Philippines has the most number of entries with 16 players. Last year, more than a quarter of the players in the final 64 were from the Philippines. Considering the numbers entered this year, and with the high standard of all the Filipino players, expect a similar scenario this week. It would even be a fair bet to say a Filipino will probably make it at least to the semi-finals.
In order to stop players from soft breaking, the WPA has instituted the Illegal Break rule this year. On the break shot, a player must get three balls past the head string, or get a combination of 3 balls past the head string and/or pocketed.
The 2012 World 9-ball Championship is being hosted by the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation. The official tables are once again Diamond Tables, and the pockets have been set extremely tight as befits a world championship.
This is now the third straight year that Qatar has hosted the World 9-ball Championship. Qatar, which has the world’s third largest natural gas reserves and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, hosting the prestigious pool world championship is adding yet another milestone in its sporting achievements.
Qatar emerged as the leading centre for sports. The country has been a major hub for big time international sporting events, including the 2006 Asian Games, the 2011 Asian Cup Football Championships, and the MotoGP World Championship.
The small but oil-rich country will also host the 2022 FIFA World Cup of Football and the 2015 World IHF Handball Championship.
The WPA will be providing full up to the minute coverage of the 2012 World 9-ball Championship via its website at www.wpapool.com. There you can follow the action through our live scoring platform, articles with insights and analysis, and updated brackets. Fans can also get updates via the WPA Twitter page, @poolwpa.com.
The prize breakdown is as follows:
Champion – $40,000
Runner-up – $20,000
3- 4 – $12,000
5-8 -$8,000
9-16 -$5,000
17-32 – $3,500
33-64- $2,000
65-96 – $1000 (loser of 2nd round in the loser’s bracket of Stage 2)
Total – $300,000
FACT FILE
Sponsored by – Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC)
Co-sponsored by – Simonis (cloth)
Organised by – Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation (QBSF)
Sanctioned by – World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) & Asian Pocket
In the early stage of the match, both players were playing at equal strength and none of the two was able to gain an advantage over the other. That changed after the 9th rack. Heiskanen seemed to have lost his focus a bit and Chamat took his chances, running away with 7:4. In the 12th rack, Heiskanen had the chance to close the gap a bit but he made too many mistakes which were not tolerated at all by Chamat. “Napoleon” went to the table and conquered the match with 9:4. In the other men’s 9-ball semi-final, Francisco Diaz (ESP) remained the upper hand over Nick Malai (ALB) with 9:6.
In the women’s division, favourite Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) got smashed by dark horse Jasmin Michel (GER) with 7:3! Ouschan was not able to perform up to her abilities while Michel was focussed and in the zone at all times. The other semi-final was won by Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) with 7:3 over Line Kjoersvik (NOR).
In The wheelchair division, favoured player Jouni Tahti (FIN) eliminated Fred Dinsmore (IRE) with 7:4. He will play the final against Daniel Luton (GBR) who won against Roy Kimberley (GBR). This final is an exact replay of this year’s 8-ball final.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office
David Alcaide winning for team Spain Foto: EPBF/DK
In the men’s team final tomorrow, defending Champion team Germany will face team Spain.
Both teams had to survive a tough fight in the semi-final matches. Team Germany just overcame a strong Austrian team with 2:1 while the Spanish team won with the same result over team Finland. The deciding matches were won by Ralf Souquet (9:7 over Werner Scheu) and David Alcaide (9:8 over Aki Heiskanen).
In the women’s team event, team Norway will have to deal with the Polish team. While team Poland achieved a clear victory over team Russia (2:0), team Norway had to play the shootout against team Austria and won it with 4:2.
In the 9-ball individuals, the semi-finals will be played as follows:
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
High quality matches during the single elimination stage
Thursday, 22 March 2012: With a very good performance, Niels Feijen (NED) ousts Albin Ouschan (AUT) from the straight pool event with 125:1 . The setup itself was really interesting. On two of the three tables in the final arena we had favourite players playing against “underdogs” that are known to be strong and dangerous. But in all three cases, the favoured player won. Probably the best performance was offered by “The Terminator” Niels Feijen. He made exactly one mistake in the whole match. That was when he was leading 85:0 over Ouschan, he missed a shot. Ouschan came to an open table but missed his second ball already, only to et Feijen run another 40 balls and take the match. Feijen, a 4-times European straight pool champion and one-time World Champion in that discipline, made the game look easy since he played it so solid and strong. He was like a “train on a track”, rolling along without giving anyone the chance to stop him. Ouschan, who just recently won the Dynamic Euro-Tour in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, could only sit in his chair and watch Feijen tear his medal dreams apart.
Next to that table, David Alcaide (ESP) won against Aki Heiskanen (FIN) with 125:105. The match was much closer but not of the same quality as the match next to them. Both players missed quite some shots and Heiskanen was leading 80:39 before Alcaide received the wake-up call. Then, the Spaniard who became European straight pool champion in 2010 in Zagreb, Croatia, played more to his ability and finally was able to turn the tide in the match, winning with a comfortable lead in the end.
Other notable results include Marco Teutscher (NED) beating Manuel Ederer (GER) with 125:47. “Napoleon” Marcus Chamat (SWE) was still waving the Swedish flag in the men’s straight pool division. He won with 125:68 over Dmitry Chuprov (BLR) and continued his quest for glory in the next round when he had to face Artem Koshovyi (UKR). The Ukrainian ended Chamat’s hopes with a clear 125:85 victory.
In the women’s division, Line Kjoersvik (NOR) defeated Sara Roche (POR) with 75:28.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
