Liu ShaSha of China successfully defended her title and proved to the world that she is the best in women’s pool by snatching the World 9-Ball Championship title for a third time. A tight tug-of-war would be expected between the defending champion and the current Euro Tour champion Jasmine Ouschan (Austria), but the final resulted with a rather surprising and preposterous score of 9-4.
When the battle reached the semi-finals, Liu was then the only player from China left in the field. If she goes out at that stage, record would be made for the first time ever that no Chinese players were in the final since the tournament had moved to China in 2009. Immense pressure then on Liu’s shoulders.
Nervousness also came from other sources, such as being in the final again, the burden of defending the title, the desire to lift the trophy up for the third time, the possibility of winning the most world titles amongst team China players,… all these contributed to Liu’s tension and it was shown on her face during the final match.
“All along I was playing from behind throughout the whole tournament. I did not perform well. The thought of defending the title had been haunting me. Too much nerves and pressure. My coach was trying to adjust my thoughts by asking me to focus on one ball at a time; but with him being on the bench not much could be changed anything while I was out there at the table…” said the champion after the match.
The night before the final, Liu was telling us about her desire to defend the title in Guilin. “70% of the performance will depend on psychological, if I could clear my mind then I could play well. Judging on the regular training, being in the top 4 is already satisfactory. The final tomorrow will be mere expectation. Whether win or lose I’ll just play my game.”
In the double-elimination stage, Liu beat Bai Ge and Han Fang to move into the next round. After that, she knocked out Akimi Kajitani of Japan (9-0), Wei Zih-Chian of Chinese Taipei (9-5), her Chinese colleague Gao Meng (9-2), and then the 3-times Amway Cup champion Chieh-Yu Chou in the semi to reach the final against Ouschan.
In the group round, Jasmin Ouschan won over Jennifer Barretta and Kelly Fisher with 7:5 and 7:3 qualified for the single-knockout stage. After that, Ouschan defeated Park Eun-Ji (KOR) 9:4、Chezka Centeno (PHI) 9:8、Pan Xiaoting (CHN) 9:6 and Chihiro Kawahara (JPN) 9:8 to booked her seat in the final.
Having successfully defended her title, Shasha had already won the World Women 9-Ball Championship three times, passing Kim Ga-Young of Korea (2), and fell short with just one from the all time legend the “Duchess of Doom” Allison Fisher of England.
Thorsten Hohmann had an impressive run in late summer. He’ll be one to watch in 2014 for sure!
The shrinkage that pro pool underwent in 2013 was perhaps forecast by the WPBA. In 1993 the WPBA had seventeen professional events. By the end of the decade they were a fixture on ESPN and the best women in the world were coming to America to be part of the growing feminine pool scene. The men were often chastised for not just following in the footsteps of the women. They were on TV, they had big-money sponsors, they had a real tour with real money and the future was looking bright. In 2003 they had eight events and they were all on ESPN. The following year they went up to eleven events and most of them were televised as well. But in 2005 Brunswick pulled up and that brought the beginnings of trouble. By 2010 the Tour was down to three events and it stayed down thee until 2013 when it went down to just two. Both of those, Soaring Eagle Masters and the Ultimate 10-Ball Championships were won by Ga-Young Kim. The WPBA website calendar for 2014 lists two events for 2014. One is not a pro event, the Regional Tour Championships, but the other one is and that is the Soaring Eagle Masters in February. We are told there are several other events in the planning stages and we will let you know when we receive details.
One player who will look back upon 2013 with a smilie is Thorsten Hohmann. Hohmann’s game intensified to the point he looked unbeatable, and for a while there he was. Between the middle of August and the end of September Hohmann won four consecutive major pro events. He won the Accu-Stats 14.1 Invitational, the World Tournament of 14.1, the Maryland 14.1 Championships and, just to show he is not mono-disciplined, he crowned the run with a World Championship when he won the WPA World 9-Ball Championship. Hohmann had a very consistent year. He enjoyed fifteen top-ten finishes and ended it with a win at the Kremlin Cup.
Other events of note in 2013 included the move of the CSI US Bar Box Championships to the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno. As with many CSI events this one goes out of the way to be inclusive as it has 8-Ball and 9-Ball and 10-Ball events for both Men and Women as well as an Open division.
In May the Worlds elite players met in Shanghai for the China Open. Lee Vann Corteza pocketed $40,000 for that win over Che-Wei Fu and in the Women’s Division Sha-Sha Liu grabbed $30,000 for her victory over Siming Chen.
Every four years we have the World Games where pool gets as close to the Olympics as it has ever gotten. This year the event was held in Cali, Colombia in late July. Chieh-Yu Chou of Chinese Taipei won the Gold medal in the Women’s Division with a squeaky 9-8 victory over Ga-Young Kim. The Men’s Crown fell to Darren Appleton by the same narrow margin as he got past Jung-Lin Chang 11-10. Marco Zanetti took the Gold for Caroms and Aditya Metha became the Snooker Champion.
September grabbed our attention with the World Cup of Pool. This doubles-format event is produced by Matchroom Sport and it is a very popular event in those countries where it is aired live on TV. This year Team Philippines consisting of Dennis Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza snapped off Team Holland of Niels Feijen and Nick Van Den Berg to split the $60,000 first prize. This event, as with all the Matchroom events, is not afraid of being a bit different. This year they awarded $500 to the team of Karl Boyes and Darren Appleton for being the ‘Best Dressed’ team!
Niels Feijen had taken down fourth place at the U.S. Open and he was hungry for a win. He found it at the World Pool Masters when he bested Darren Appleton 8-6 in the final to claim the $20,000 first place prize. It is fitting that this was the crown he took as he and his teammate Nick Van Den Berg had come in second only weeks before in another Matchroom showpiece, the World Cup of Pool. With is year-end win at the Mosconi Cup, he added yet another Matchroom trophy to his collection when he was awarded the prestigious 20th Mosconi Cup MVP award. The 'Terminator' showed his place is on the big stage once and for all.
The Women’s World Ten Ball Championship was held once again in Manila and this time a home-town girl grabbed the honors. Rubilen Amit defeated the very formidable Kelly Fisher 10-8 to own the World Title. It was a very special moment for Amit to win in front of the home crowd and when the last ball dropped she actually jumped up into the arms of Kelly Fisher to celebrate. You have to love moments like that. Amit followed this up a few days later with another win in a Dragon Promotions event as she and her team of Captain Ga-Young Kim, Pei Chen Tsai and Siming Chen won the inagaural Queens Cup by beating the team of Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher, Jasmin Ouschan and Vivian Villareal.
This year’s version of the longest-running event in pro pool, the All-Japan Open was won on the men’s side by Pin-Yi Ko while the Ladies winner was Akimi Kajitani.
…And 2013 folded it’s tent and went home. 2014 will be challenging for the professional game. But challenges present opportunities and perhaps this time the game can grab one that won’t slip away. Several different ‘Reality’ shows around pool are being talked up and there is the possibility that the professional game could be organized by a group that could provide leadership and care taking to help generate more events.
To say the least, 2014 will be ‘interesting’.
To read the previous parts of our 2013 Review, click on the following links:
USA’s Newsome is one of the dark horses of the Worlds
Manila, Philippines- USA has the largest contingent of players ever to the World 10-Ball. And the results are showing. On the first two days of the Worlds, the five American ladies have made some sizable dents into the strong international field. Kim White-Newsome of Texas in her first ever appearance in the Philippines shocked defending World Champion Ga Young Kim 6-5. No American lady has ever won the World Championship since 1991. No American has ever won the World 10-Ball or even made it to the top quarter finals. That could change this year. Dragon Promotions brings the greatest women's tournament in the world once more to the Philippines with the 2013 Yalin Women's World 10-Ball Championship! This year's edition will take place October 28th – November 4th,2013 to luxurious Resorts World Manila, an upscale hotel and casino adding onto the dynamic atmosphere of the coveted championship. An elite 48 world class lady pros, the best of the best from 20 countries, will attend the event to decide who is the World Champion. Matches will air live daily from 11pm – 8am EST on www.insidepool.tv and broadcasted worldwide by ABS-CBN Sports and affiliates.
Former #1 ranked Vivian Villarreal of Texas defeated European Champion Czuprynska of Poland 6-3 and then Villarreal downed Taiwan's Zhi Ting Wu 6-3. Villarreal needs one more win to lock up her spot in the field cut the next stage of the Worlds.
"Everyone told me I have the hardest group out of the 8. If I win tomorrow I might even have a chance to win my group and get the bye", said Villarreal.
New York City's Jennifer Barretta is in her second appearance at the World 10-Ball and got unfortunate to have a winning record last year and not make the cut. This year though, she already has big wins over India's Thakur, Philippines Gillian Go, and a heart tester 6-5 win over 2x Amway Cup winner Chou of Taiwan.
"I'm not thinking ahead of myself or how I'm going to do. I'm just focusing on each match one by one and what I need to do in my technique", explained Barretta on her strategy.
Even qualifier winner and newbie pro American players Emily Duddy of NYC and Rebecca Wagner of Las Vegas have made some buzz. Duddy pushed Beijing Open winner Yu Ram Cha of Korea to a 6-5 decider and Wagner defeated Norway champ Ine Helvik and barely lost a 6-5 heat with Japan's Champion Akimi Kajitani who finished 3rd at the Worlds a few years back.
"I'm excited to play. I'm still 5 years out from being a serious contender but it's a good experience being here", said Duddy.
The coup de grace came last night when Kim White-Newsome, a top 10 ranked in USA, came against red hot Ga Young Kim, the reigning World Champion. Kim was playing fast and furious and jumped to an early lead at 4-2. But Newsome clawed her way back into the match. Kim made aggressive decisions on offense which did not pay off and Newsome was happy to capitalize. After winning a safety battle exchange, Newsome won the deciding match rack 6-5.
"I'm having a great time here in the Philippines!', said Newsome on her maiden voyage here.
Villarreal, Newsome, and Barretta statistically are looking good to qualify and make the cut to the third stage of the Yalin World 10-Ball.
Www.womensworld10ball.com has complete group results.
The YALIN Women's World Championship is a recognized World Title event by the WPA World Pool Association.
The Yalin World Championships will be live streamed on www.insidepool.tv and sponsored by www.JBET.com , Official Table YALIN www.Yalin.cn , Official Cue is OB Cues, Official Balls by Aramith, Official Cloth Championship, Official Chalk Master by Tweeten Fibre, Official Magazine Pool & Billiard Magazine, Star Paper Corporation, and www.BaseGameph.com .
The Women's World Championship is produced by Dragon Promotions and filmed by ABS-CBN Sports airing on BALLS, Studio 23, and a dozen other networks in countries worldwide. With massive media and global networks covering the Yalin Women's World 10-Ball Championship, it will continue as still the biggest and most watched women's billiard event in the world.
Chinese Taipei’s Pei Chen “Penny” Tsai is looking to improve on her Silver Medal from last year
Manila, Philippines- If anyone thought Taiwan has lost any of its touch as one of women’s pool dominating forces, you would be seriously mistaken. Out of the 9 players Taiwan started with in the Yalin World Championship group stages, a staggering 8 have qualified through. Taiwan had 3 spots into Stage 2, and sent a small army of 7 Chinese Taipei ladies to the qualifiers in Manila at Star Billiards. 6 of the seven ladies won their tournament to enter the final group stage of the main event. It is an incredible stat when comparing to Europe who sent 9 women into the main stage (not the qualifiers) and only 2 remain.
Twenty four players remain in the event making the halfway cut. The army of Taiwanese women is taking up 1/3 the field left includes : CHOU, Chieh-Yu; TSAI, Pei Chen; YUAN, Chun Lin; L. H. SHAN ; Y. T. CHAN – ; H. Y. TAN -; H. C. LIN ; T. C. WEI
The Dragon Promotions produced 4th Annual Yalin Women’s World 10-Ball Championship is the most followed women’s event of the year. In the host country of the Philippines, it is the biggest female sporting event of the country. The event is supported by Asian table mammoth Yalin Billiards, advanced cue engineer OB Cues, long lasting Championship Tour Edition Cloth, top playing Aramith Balls, and #1 TV network broadcaster ABS-CBN. Star Billiards and Pool & Billiard Magazine are also proud supporters. This year’s edition will take place August 20th-24th once again at Robinson’s Galleria Mall, which has now become synonymous for creating the dynamic atmosphere of the coveted championship. Robinson’s Galleria is connected to the host hotel Crowne Plaza Galleria. With massive media and global networks covering the Yalin Women’s World 10-Ball Championship, it will continue as still the biggest and most watched women’s billiard event in the world.
Japan also hasn’t escaped the attention of the event. Though not winning any of the top spots in the group stages, Japan has managed to maintain 3 players into the final cut of the event. Ironically, all three players are qualifier winners with Japan’s top Stage 2 women eliminated early in the round robin stage. Kyoko Sone, Kimura Maki, and Akimi Kajitani will carry the Japanese flag into the final stage of the event. Kajitani is the most successful of the women left, a former Bronze finisher in the 2009 World 10-Ball Championship.
As of yet, no Japanese woman has ever won a World Championship in pocket billiards. These three ladies have earned their shot in changing that in the next 48 hours.
This is the biggest women’s sporting event of the year in the Philippines, with the host country featuring the best players from Italy, Japan, China, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, India, Iran, Netherlands, Sweden, Venezuela, England, Norway, Taiwan, Austria, and Singapore.
Follow the ladies at http://www.facebook.com/womensworld10ball For more info email womensworld10ball@gmail.com Complete info and news visit http://www.yalin.cn/
Results and brackets can be found at www.womensworld10ball.com
An elite 48 world class pros and international women superstars are fighting it out in Manila. With the one goal in mind: to become the World Champion of 10-Ball.
Rubilen Amit Congratulates Pei Chen Tsai, Foto by Emille Soriano
Manila, Philippines– 2011 will be the year where people remember no one has a stranglehold on the World 10-Ball Championship. All that remains now are one player each from the four countries of England, Korea, Taiwan, and China. Kelly Fisher, Ga Young Kim, Pei Chen Tsai, Yu Han. None of the players remaining have ever been a World Champion save for Korea’s Ga Young Kim in 9-Ball, but even she has been eluded twice the chance to become the World 10-Ball Champion. Today at the Yalin Women’s World 10-Ball Championship, it will be decided the new face of 10-Ball in women’s pool in the sport’s hardest game and tournament to win. It all takes place today at 2pm inside Robinson’s Galleria .
Full brackets and results at www.womensworld10ball.com
The pride of England Kelly Fisher, who was the #1 seed into the final stage of the event, continued her undefeated run thus far towards the Championship win. She easily dismantled Japan’s legendary Akimi Kajitani 8-2 in the live televised match. She then defeated H.S.Lai of Taiwan 8-5 in the quarter-finals and will today face China’s Yu Han in the first semi-finals.
“My goal has always been to be the World Champion of pool”, stated Fisher.
“Out of all the matches and players I’ve seen this week, Kelly Fisher has definitely put on the best performances and been the most consistent”, said Bob Guerroro, TV analyst and commentator for the event.
Pei Chen Tsai of Taiwan played the villain last night in a huge match against home country favorite Rubilen Amit. She had earlier defeated China’s Dou Dou Zhou 8-6. The match see-sawed back and forth with Amit taking the early lead at 2-0, but watching that falter as Tsai won the next 4 games. At the end, Tsai was up 7-6 needing one game to close out the match but faltered on a unexpected miss on the 9-ball. Amit made a beautiful bank shot to set-up an easy 10-Ball , with the crowd roaring behind her. The final rack would decide the match, and Amit could be seen closing her eyes and giving a holy sign to God before her break shot. She rammed the break but lost control of the cueball and it nearly flew off the table. Tsai had a chance now to runout the rack, but she put herself into trouble again forcing herself to make tough shots. After a tricky combination shot, she cut an easy 5ball into the pocket only to see it stop in the pocket. The crowd gasped. A second later, as if by fate, the ball dropped. She continued her run and on the final 10-Ball, which seemed completely routine, again she wobbled the 10-ball and it seemed to ponder on going in as it hit both sides of the pocket three times before dropping. Tsai collapsed to the ground with a smiling Amit hugging her.
“I knew it was going to be really hard to face the Philippines #1 tonight. When the 5-Ball and 10-Ball both stopped, my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest”, said Tsai. She had won a qualifier the day before the main event started, and has made full use of the spot she earned to get to the semi-finals.
“I did my best and I had a good tournament. I really want to thank all the people who have supported me”, said Amit.
Fairly unknown Yu Han was the surprise sole Chinese left in the event. She will carry the hopes of heavily favored China especially with the big guns out of the way including names like World #1 Siming Chen, 2009 World 9-Ball Champ Sha Sha Liu, and 2010 World 9-Ball Champion Xiaofang Fu. Han defeated a tightly contested 8-6 match with Canada’s #1 Brittany Bryant. She then eliminated fellow teammates Xiue Chen 8-6, and also reigning World 9-Ball Champion Zi Qing Bi 8-6. Yu Han, a winner of the All Japan Championship, will be slight underdog in her semi-finals against Fisher today.
Last but not least by far, is Korea’s powerful Ga Young Kim. Considered by many as the best all around woman’s player, Kim has taken only one loss in the entire event, which ironically came at the hands of her semi-finals opponent today. Kim defeated fellow Korean Eunji Park 8-3, and then easily controlled #2 seed Norway’s Line Kjorsvik 8-4. In what would seem to be a good match-up, Kim completely annihilated one of China’s top bets Sha Sha Liu in a 8-1 blowout.
“She has the kind of game where players can really fear her. She can do that to you”, said Allison Fisher as she watched from afar. Fisher herself was upsetted by Taiwan’s Lai 8-5 in an earlier match.
Kim, though playing against worthy opponents, was not even close to being tested in her three matches yesterday. Perhaps she seems on a mission to redeem herself from last year’s World Championship finals where she saw a 4-0 lead disappear into the hands of Austria’s Jasmin Oushcan. She will also have to avenge her 6-1 loss in the group stage of this year’s event against Tsai, whom she will face in today’s semi-finals.
Play continues today with live coverage on Balls and Studio 23 of ABS-CBN.
The Yalin Women’s World 10-Ball Championship is additionally sponsored by ABS-CBN Sports, Robinson’s Galleria, Predator Cues, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Top147.com, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls, Magic 89.9, and Crown Plaza Galleria Ortigas. The event will be airing on ABS-CBN and internationally on ESPN Star Sports. The event will be broadcasted live for all five days of the main event with 25 hours of broadcast television coverage. Stories, complete info and updates will be on www.WomensWorld10Ball.com .
With these global network and media partners the Yalin Women’s World 10-Ball Championship is still the biggest and most watched women’s billiard event in the world.
Park Hungry For World Title. Photo by Emille Soriano
Manila, Philippines– The final day of the group stages are completed, and two great Koreans have been eliminated, while two great Korean players move on. Yu Ram Cha and Yun Mi Lim will join the ranks of strong players pushed to the wayside while Ga Young Kim and Erica Park advance. Meanwhile, Japan’s fantastic four of Miyuki Fuke, Chihiro Kawahara, Keiko Yukawa, and veteran Akimi Kajitani are rising the hopes of Japan. The 2011 Yalin World 10-Ball Championship which will take place November 2-6 at Robinson’s Galleria Robinson’s Galleria. An elite world class pros only field of 48 international superstars of the world’s greatest women’s players will attend the event to become the World Champion of 10-Ball. This year’s event is again title sponsored by Yalin Tables, one of the premier billiard table manufacturers of the world.
One of the top pre-tournament favorites, Ga Young Kim breezed through her group with relatively easy wins. Including over roomate and fellow Korean Yun MI Lim. Kim took one loss to Taiwan’s strong Pei Chen Tsai in a bad 6-1 match. But was never threatened to not qualify. On the otherhand, Eunji Erica Park lost two tough hill hill 6-5 matches against USA’s Jennifer Barretta and UK’s Kelly Fisher. This forced her to have to win against China’s Xiue Chen in a do or die. Park took a 3-0 lead, but saw Chen come back to level at 3-3. Park forced the issue and took over the match to win 6-5, after Chen missed an easy 10-ball under the pressure. Chen was forced to wait for the outcome of Fisher vs Barretta to see if she would qualify. An unenviable position to be.
“The World 10-Ball Championship is the one tournament I really want to win badly”, said Kim in a past interview.
But the strong reputed Koreans took losses in Yu Ram Cha and Yun Mi Lim. Both players have had high top 4 and top 8 finishes in World Championship events along with big title wins. Cha had a miserable event as she lost 4 out of 5 matches. Lim had a chance at the end, but needed to not only win against Japan’s Fuke, but hold her to 3 games only. Lim won the match 6-5, but was not enough to make it through even with her 3 win and 2 loss record.
Japan had great results, bringing four players into the final stage of the World Championship. Japan #1 Kawahara was not surprise, though she was in danger with only a 3 win and 2 loss record. Miyuki Fuke, a former Japan champion, played solid with her 3 wins and 2 loss as well. Legendary Asian Kajitani played great despite having to qualify and earn her way through the Stage 1 phase. Kajitani won 4 out of her 5 matches, with only one loss to UK’s Allison Fisher.
The surprise player is Yukawa who has no real accomplishments to date, but played well enough to defeat Yu Ram Cha 6-3, and a bewildering 6-2 rout of World #1 Siming Chen of China.
Unfortunately for Korea, only one of their players will make it to next round as Kim and Park faceoff each other today. Park was ranked #15 seed after the group stages while Kim was ranked #18. Kim actually knocked Park out last year during the final stage. Park will be fighting to change history from repeating.
Play continues today with live coverage on Balls and Studio 23 of ABS-CBN.
The group stages are complete at the 2011 Amway Cup and the field has now been cut to just twenty four players.
While the news all across the world was the Tsunami in Japan, at the event it was the Japanese players making news.
Japan's Chihiro Kawahara scored upset wins over Shin Mei Liu and Monica Webb to earn her spot in the final stage of the event. With the loss to Kawahara and back to back 7-1 losses to Liu and Allison Fisher, America's Monica Webb failed to advance from her group.
Another Japanese veteran, Akimi Kajitani, squeaked by to advance from her group with a 2-3 record in group play. Kajitani will face Line Kjorsvik in the first round of the single elimination stage of the event.
2008 Champion Yuan Chun Lin looks to be back in form as she advanced undefeated from her group. Lin will relax with a bye in the first round of single elim play and will then face the winner between Yu Ram Cha and Yun-Mi Lim.
Both Allison and Kelly Fisher are looking strong in this event. Both players were undefeated in their groups and earned first round byes in the single elim stage.
Rubilen Amit's losses in day one of the group stages left her in a position that she couldn't shoot out of as ended up with a 2-3 record, which was only good enough for a 4th place finish in her group. Amit's fellow Filipino star, Iris Ranola, did not fare any better with a 2-3 record in her group.
Follow the event with the online brackets on the official website.
Day one at the 2011 Amway Cup included a handful of surprises as well as the usual list of top players winning their opening matches. All of the day one matches saw the top three players in each 6 player group facing the bottom three players.
Group A
Group A went as expected with the top three players all going undefeated on day one. Of note is Yu-Ram Cha's 3-0 performance. Day two will be interesting, as the top three players will be facing each other.
Group B
Group B see's Taipei's Ya-Ting Chan with a 2-0 record. Chan had wins over the #2 and #3 seed in her groups, Jasmin Ouschan and Yun-Mi Lim. Chan was the only player to upset a top 3 seeded player.
Group C
Group C had the top three players going undefeated, although #3 seed Akimi Kajitani only played one match.
Group E
Group E went well for Chihiro Kawahara on day one as she swept her matches against #2 seeded Shin-Mei Liu and #3 Monica Webb. Kawahara and #1 seeded Allison Fisher are the only undefeated players in the group.
Group F
Group F did not go as planned for Filipino Rubilen Amit. Amit lost both of her matches to lower seeded players. A 7-0 loss to Korea's Bo-Ra Jung and a 7-6 loss to Dou Dou Zhou left Amit in serious jeapordy of failing to advance from the group stages. Amit was not the only player to be upset by Zhou on day one as Zhou also scored a 7-3 win over #1 seed Shu-Han Chang.
Group G
Group G went as expected with the top three players going undefeated.
Group H
The lone upset in group H was Tzu Chien Wei's 7-1 surprise win over #1 seed Ga-Young Kim.
Fans can find all of the results from the event at the official website (scroll to bottom of page for group standings)
Taipei's Chieh-Yu Chou is the 2009 Amway Cup Champion.
Chou advanced from Group B in the group stages with a 4-1 record, only losing to qualifier Akimi Kajitani. Kajitani and #1 ranked WPBA Player Monica Webb also advanced from Group B.
As the #1 player in her group, Chou earned a bye in the first round of the single elimination stage of the event. While Chou was resting with the bye, a handful of dangerous opponents were eliminated from the event. 2007 Champion Xiao-Ting Pan lost to local favorite Yu Han and former WPBA #1 Kelly Fisher lost to Gerda Hofstatter.
The next round of play saw the remaining sixteen players in action. 2008 Champion Yuan-chun Lin was eliminated by another local favorite Hsian-Ling Tan, Monica Webb was beaten by Taipei's Shu-Han Chang, Shin-Mei Liu lost to Karen Corr and Jasmin Ouschan lost to Gerda Hofstatter.
The quarter finals saw Chou defeat Tan, Chang defeat another local favorite Xiao-Chi Lin, Karen Corr over Ga-Young Kim and Allison Fisher eliminating Gerda Hofstatter.
Chou cruised into the finals with a 9-3 win over Chang in the semi-finals, and Karen Corr earned a 9-5 win over Allison Fisher to book her place in the finals.
The final match was a real marathon lasting until midnight on Sunday night. Corr was looking for her first Amway Cup title after four years not competing in the event, while Chou was looking for the biggest title of her young career. Chou ran out to a 5-2 lead, but a miss on the 2-ball allowed Corr to get back into the match. Corr led 9-8 when a miscue on the 7-ball gave ball in hand to Chou and Corr could do nothing but sit and watch as Chou ran the final three racks for the 11-9 win.
Chou earned $20,000 for first place, while Corr took home $10,000 for second. Shu-Han Chang and Allison Fisher pocketed $5000 for 3rd place.
Day two of the Amway Cup has seen its share of upsets that put many of the top players in doubt as to their chances of surviving through to the final four. The day began with Shu-Han Chang defeating Karen Corr 7-5. Wendy Jans then polished off Akimi Kajitani 7-3. A major upset occurred when Yuan-Chun Lin dominated Allison Fisher. Yuan-Chun won the first game of the set in a back and forth match, but then took control and ran four straight racks while Allison could only watch from her chair. The next time Allison stood at the table was after nothing fell on the sixth break of the set and she by then trailed in the race to seven 5-0. Even the great Duchess could not overcome such an advantage and Yuan-Chun soon celebrated a 7-3 win over Fisher.
Jennifer Barretta then proved she is much more than just a pretty face by destroying the defending champion Shin-Mei Liu 7-3 and Jennifer Chen won out over Jeanette Lee 7-5. Karen Corr's troubles worsened next when she lost her second match of the day to Jasmin Ouchin 7-4. Shin-Mei Liu regained her balance in the next match by besting Ga-Young Kim 7-6 and Allison Fisher rebalanced her score sheet by taking down Wendy Jans 7-4.
Jennifer Barretta continued her comeback with another impressive win, taking out Shu-Han Chang 7-3 as Yuan-Chun Lin triumphed over Jennifer Chen 7-1. Akimi Kajitani finally tasted victory by defeating Jeanette Lee 7-4 while Ga-Young Kim rolled over Jasmin Ouchin 7-2.
Allison Fisher then gained revenge for her earlier loss today by blanking Jennifer Chen 7-0 in an effort that saw Allison running 5 racks in a row. Wendy Jans continued her winning ways by showing the door to Yuan-Chun Lin 7-2. Our final two matches of the day found Karen Corr strengthening with a 7-6 squeaker over Ga-Young Kim and Jasmin Ouchin took out Jennifer Barretta 7-1. Play will continue on Sunday beginning at 10:30 AM.
We have updated our scoring lines to reflect the system used in Taipei whereby a win is worth three points and a loss garners one point. Please note that not all players have played the same amount of games and so the point totals do not reflect an equal number of contests between all players.
