With back-to-back hill-hill wins (Shane Van Boening in the semifinal and Anthony Raga in the finals), Wu Jia-Qing has won the 2019 World 9-Ball China Open. Wu actually lost his first match of the event to Filipino Johann Gonzales 9-8 in the group stages, but he came back to defeat Marc Bijsterbosch and Oscar Dominguez to qualify for the final single elimination bracket. In the single elimination bracket, Wu had wins over Naoyuki Oi, Mateusz Stiegocki and Chinese countryman Zheng Xiao Huai before the wins over Van Boening and Raga for his second career China Open win.
In the ladies division, Chen Siming won her third China Open title with an undefeated run that includes wins over Chezka Centeno, Kelly Fisher, World #1 Han Yu and Rubilen Amit in the finals. Chen had won the title in 2017 and 2010.
The wins were worth $40,000 for Wu and $36,000 for Chen.
Women’s Eurotour stars Jasmin Ouschan and Pia Filler are the first two female players to have entered the 2020 US Open 9-Ball Championship, which will take place at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Convention Center from April 13-18.
Ouschan recently won her 17th Eurotour title at the Predator Women’s Veldhoven Open and is no stranger to the Matchroom Pool TV stage having previously represented Austria at the World Cup of Pool.
Filler was in husband Joshua’s corner as he landed his first US Open 9-Ball Championship success in April and such was the magnitude of the event she knew she had to take part in 2020.
“It will be amazing to participate in the biggest pool event in the world and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Filler. “It is going to be a great experience for my career and it will help me to improve and develop my game.
“The US Open was definitely the best event of 2019 so far but everybody who knows the Matchroom crew knows it’s going to be even better and bigger in 2020! Chen Siming performed really well in this year’s US Open and she showed the whole world that women can! This should be a good motivation to all the female players out there to train hard and show it to everybody.
“If female players start to participate in big events such as the US Open we can show everybody how good we can play it could be a new era for women’s pool.”
Emily Frazer, COO of Matchroom Multi Sport, said: “It’s a great standpoint to already have world-class female players like Pia Filler and Jasmin Ouschan excited and registered for the US Open 2020.
“Just four women participated in the event earlier this year but Siming Chen showed an impressive journey throughout – giving women the inspiration to enter in what is the biggest and most prestigious multi-table event in pool industry. Both Kelly Fisher and Han Yu earned their place in the World Pool Masters this March with close and tense matches; it’s time that women competed among men in these global events and there is no greater fulfilment than seeing the confidence shine through from the likes of Ouschan and Filler.
“It’s race to 11, winner breaks, 40-second shot clock and a tough grind; who says female players don’t have a chance to go far in this event? Let’s hope this sparks more women to register because the 256 field will sell out, I guarantee that!”
Player entries for the 2020 Open 9-Ball Championship are open now at www.matchroompool.com. Player entry fees remain at $1,000 and former champions receive free entry to the event. After sold-out crowds, record TV ratings and a full field of 256 players for the 2019 US Open 9-Ball Championship, players are encouraged to enter the 2020 Championship early to avoid disappointment.
Prize money payouts will start from 97th place, with players reaching this stage receiving $1,000. Those who successfully progress from the double elimination stage will earn at least $5,000 with quarter-finalists taking home $7,750, semi-finalists earning $15,000 and the runner-up to be paid $30,000.
Spectator tickets for the 2020 US Open 9-Ball Championship will go on sale on Friday, September 13th with full details including pricing to be announced shortly.
The 2020 US Open 9-Ball Championship will be partnered by Diamond, who supply the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue of the event and Kamui are the Official Chalk and Tip. The US Open 9-Ball Championship is sanctioned by the WPA.
A record number of viewers saw David Alcaide’s dramatic Dafabet World Pool Masters win live on Sky Sports, while over half a million fans saw the tournament unfold around the world on Facebook Live.
Alcaide won his second Masters title with a 9-ball banked down the table at hill-hill, the final shot of perhaps the most thrilling final in the event’s 26-year history. All six sessions of the tournament saw an increase in viewership and the final kept audiences hooked with more than three times as many UK viewers tuning in compared with 2018.
The tournament was also shown live by Matchroom Sport broadcast partners around the world, while a Facebook Live stream was available to fans in nations without a TV broadcaster and reached well over 500,000 users.
Emily Frazer, Matchroom Multi Sport Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted to report that our Sky Sports viewing figures showed a huge increase on 2018. The live viewership increased session-by-session, showing that sports fans were staying tuned in throughout the tournament.
“Expanding the tournament to a 24-player field meant we could bring more top-class players to Gibraltar, and they delivered one of the highest-quality Masters tournaments we have seen. The final itself will live long in the memory but we also enjoyed four other hill-hill matches including a gripping match where Shane Van Boening had to battle back from 6-3 down to defeat the Women’s World No.1, Han Yu.
“We saw great crowds for all six sessions and the response to the event on social media was phenomenal. The Masters has a great history and last weekend proved it has an even greater future. We look forward to returning to Gibraltar next year and this news gives us a great springboard into this month’s US Open 9-Ball in Las Vegas.”
Details of the 2020 World Pool Masters will be announced in due course. The next Matchroom Pool event is the 43rd US Open 9-Ball Championship, which takes place at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas from April 21-26.
2019 Dafabet World Pool Masters was sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplied the Official Table; the cloth was supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls ware Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator was the Official Cue of the event, Kamui the Official Chalk and Tip and Ultimate Team Gear provided all World Pool Masters apparel.
PLAY CONTINUED at the Dafabet World Pool Masters with four of the first round matches the Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar. There was plenty of excitement with two matches going all the way as two-time winner Shane Van Boening came within a whisker of elimination.
David Alcaide enjoyed another 7-3 win as he coasted past defending champion Niels Feijen to keep on track for his second Masters title. The veteran Spaniard, a champion here in 2017, never really looked in trouble as he pulled away from the shaky Dutchman in the latter half of the game.
“This tournament, I remember two years ago I played not perfectly but at 95%. Today, I didn’t have a good break. It is very important when you play close to home to have the support from your home fans. When you play the World Pool Masters every player is a top player in the world so it doesn’t matter who you play.”
The most dramatic match of the session saw two-time winner Shane Van Boening crawl over the line as he narrowly escaped a first-round exit at the hands of China’s Ladies World No.1 Han Yu.
With Han starting the match at as much as 11/1 there were few who gave her much of a chance but she took the opening rack after a long safety battle with the six-ball tied up with the 9.
Van Boening took the next two racks but missed a relatively straight forward two ball to allow Han to level. She then surged ahead and at 6-3 and breaking had every chance of landing the upset. A misjudged safety allowed Van Boening back in and he ran out for 6-4 and he took racks 11 and 12 to make it hill-hill. Han got back to the table in the last but Van Boeing held on to survive a massive scare.
The next match also went down to a decider as Alex Pagulayan made it two wins in two days as he dislodged Ko Pin-yi by 7-6. The plucky Canadian-Filipino had a tough draw – he defeated Wu Jiaqing yesterday and was rewarded with Ko – but was in irrepressible form to dispose of those two world-beaters.
In the final match of the session, yesterday’s giant-killer, Justin Sajich of Australia, failed to make further progress as he was stopped in his tracks by Alex Kazakis of Greece.
Kazakis, who qualified for the Masters by virtue of being World No.1 at the close of 2018, had too much as he closed out the match for a 7-3 win and a quarter-final match against either Konrad Juszczyszyn or Matt Edwards.
Play continues on Saturday evening with the conclusion of the Last 16 matches:
2019 Dafabet World Pool Masters is sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplies the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue of the event, Kamui are the Official Chalk and Tip and Ultimate Team Gear provide all World Pool Masters apparel.
David Alcaide (ESP) 7 – 3 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP)
THE NEW LOOK 26TH annual Dafabet World Pool Masters got underway at the Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar with eight matches over the opening day as the event included 24 players for the first time in its history.
There are eight seeded players who will enter the event in the first round while the other 16 competitors competed today in the preliminary round to determine which eight players went through to face the seeds.
Such was the high standard of the field that there were plenty of 50/50 games on the opening day. Alex Pagulayan, a former winner of this event, beat Wu Jiaqing, one of the favourites for this event, while young Russian Fedor Gorst, the 2017 WPA World Junior Champion, continued his emergence with a big win over Naoyuki Oi.
Albin Ouschan enjoyed a comfortable win over Philippines’ Jeff De Luna and in the final match of the afternoon, 2017 champ, David Alcaide beat compatriot Francisco Sanchez Ruiz. Both players had previously competed at the same venue a couple of weeks ago when they competed in snooker’s Gibraltar Open which Sanchez Ruiz particularly impressing against world ranked snooker players.
The evening saw a comfortable win for two-time Masters champ Shane Van Boening, whilst the opening match featured former world no.1 Klenti Kaci against 1997 Masters winner Earl Strickland. The Albanian ran out a 7-2 winner but Strickland was his usual incendiary self as he bickered with the crowd and did everything he could to unsettle his opponent but ultimately undid himself.
Commented Kaci, “I enjoyed every single moment of the match. I was happy to play Earl because I have been watching him since I was very young, he was one of my inspirations.”
Earl didn’t quite see it that way, “I can’t play I guess, that’s what it is. Those guys over there were sharking me the whole time. They singled me out over there. I’d like to see them do that in golf, they’d put him in jail.
“It is too cold in here for me. You really want to know what I think about this? One, they don’t have the right to sit over there and grab a beer while I’m shooting the 6-ball. Two, this place is way too cold. Don’t say it’s the same for everybody, cos it isn’t. I am 38 years older than him, I wonder if the commentators have mentioned that?
Hitting his stride, ‘The Pearl’ continued, “The guy is a good player. He is not a great player. He has a long life, he is not great yet. He might be.
“I can still play but I am not being given the opportunity to play. I don’t compete because there are no tournaments. Pool is in jeopardy. It’s not hunky-dory. All you want to hear is a reaction, or you want to see me break a cue or something like that. I have watched Serena Williams break a thousand tennis rackets and nobody has condemned me the way I was in the Mosconi Cup when I broke one. Why are you singling me out? The whole world is acting up, not just me.
“I know he is a great kid, but you have to remember I am 58 years old and I need warmer conditions. I won’t be back.”
Young Australian Justin Sajich upset the odds with a terrific win over fancied Finn Petri Makkonen. Australians haven’t enjoyed the greatest of successes at the Masters but Sajich put in an excellent performance.
“The more opportunities we get, we are grateful for the chance to play these big tournaments. It is a dream come true,” said Sajich.
There was more joy for the down under contingent as New Zealand’s Matt Edwards kept himself together to upset an out-of-sorts Chris Melling in the day’s final match.
Melling made too many errors for a match of this standard but full credit to Edwards for stepping up to the plate and asserting himself for victory.
Commented Edwards, “I was supporting Justin there and when I saw he got the win I thought I can’t let him get all the glory so I’ll get out there and do it for New Zealand. This is 9 ball pool, there’s a lot of pressure, anything can happen and you’ve just got to back yourself.”
Play continues Saturday afternoon with four Round One matches:
Niels Feijen (NED) – David Alcaide (ESP)
Han Yu (CHN) – Shane van Boening (USA)
Ko Pin-Yi (TPE) – Alex Pagulayan (CAN)
Alexander Kazakis (GRE) – Justin Sajich (AUS)
2018 Dafabet World Pool Masters is sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplies the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue of the event, Kamui are the Official Chalk and Tip and Ultimate Team Gear provide all World Pool Masters apparel.
By it’s very nature, the AzBilliards Player of the Year awards are meant to acknowledge the best male and female players from the preceding year. On the men’s side though, the 2018 Player of the Year race seemed to be much more of a comment on parity in the game instead of one player’s dominance.
2018 didn’t see any real dominance from one player as it seemed we had as many different winners as we did marquee events. Joshua Filler’s World 9-Ball Championship win made him a candidate, and we expect to see him dominate the game in coming years. Jung-Lin Chang’s win at the International 9-Ball Open, teamed with a 5th at World 9-Ball, certainly put his name in the equation, and Niels Feijen’s World Pool Masters win put his name in contention. In the eyes of AzBilliards though, it was “The South Dakota Kid”, Shane Van Boening, who earned the Player of the Year recognition.
Shane’s back to back US Open 10-Ball and US Open 8-Ball wins back in July were certainly impressive. Prior to that, Shane had wins at the US Open One Pocket and Bank Pool Championships. Add on his August win at Turning Stone and there was also that 3-9 combination with the weight of his country on his shoulders in London. When you expand the scope to top 4 finishes, you have to count his runner-up finish at the World Pool Masters, his 3rd place finish at the World 9-Ball Championship and his 4th place finish at the International 9-Ball Open.
Van Boening’s total tracked prize money in 2018 was just over $110,000, a full $40,000 more than his closest competition, Dennis Orcollo. With the majority of Van Boening’s wins coming in the states, his end of year WPA ranking sits at 8th place. That is with him only competing in five of the eight ranked WPA events.
The race for 2018 Female Player of the Year came down to a three way Chinese photo finish with, Han Yu, Siming Chen and Xiao-Fang Fu all making a case for the honor. While the future of the ladies game still firmly resides in China, we here at AzBilliards really only had the China Open, Women’s World 9-Ball Championship and Amway Cup to figure into our final decision.
Based on her World Title win at the Women’s World 9-Ball Championship, her third place finish at the Amway Cup and her 9th place finish at the China Open, AzBilliards has chosen Han Yu as the Ladies Player of the Year.
Yu just edged past Chen in AzBilliards tracked prize money at $52,700 and sits atop the WPA Women’s rankings.
Van Boening’s win was his third career AzBilliards Player of the Year award, and his first since 2014. Yu’s win was her second and will join the 2016 trophy in her trophy case.
As always, AzBilliards thanks Aramith and Simonis for their invaluable support with this award. Both players will be presented with a trophy created by Aramith and Simonis.
The Philippines' Carlo Biado and Rubilen Amit’s gold medal quest ended on Thursday, September 27, 2018, after they lost in their semifinals of the 2018 China Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) "Beijing-Miyun" 9-Ball International Championship being held at the Miyun Youth and Children's Palace, New South Road in Miyun District in Beijing, China.
Biado bowed out to Kong Dejing of China 3-11, in the men's final four, while Amit succumbed to Fu Xiaofang of China 8-9, in the women's final four. Biado and Amit pocketed each 60,000 RMB ($8,734 USD) for reaching the semis.
Kong Dejing will face Naoyuki Oi of Japan in the men’s finals. Oi downed Xu Xiaocong of China 11-5 in the other semi-final match. In the ladies division. Fu Xiaofang will take on Wang Xiaotong in an all-China finals. Fu edged Chou Chieh Yu of Chinese-Taipei 9-8 in the other ladies final four matche.
The champion in each division (men's and women's 9-ball singles competition) will receive the top prize of 240,000 RMB ($34,939 USD) while the runner-up settles for 120,000 RMB ($17,469 USD) in the event organized by Sports Bureau of Miyun District, Beijing, Sports Federation of Miyun District, Beijing and Billiards Association of Miyun District of Beijing, hosted by China Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA).
Biado made it to the semis after beating Duong Hoang of Vietnam 11-8 in the Round of 16 and Chang Jung Lin of Chinese-Taipei 11-9 in the Round of 8, while Amit toppled Bai Ge of China 9-8 and Han Yu of China 9-5, respectively.
The 2017 China Open gets underway today here in Shanghai. Players are competing over the next two days in Stage 1 to try and gain a spot in the main draw. With so many good players trying to gain a last minute place, competition will be brutally fierce. Winning a spot in these qualifiers means you have played well enough to have won a regular tournament. On Wednesday, after the final spots have been decided, a draw will be conducted for Stage 2.
Defending champions, both Chinese, WU Jiaqing and Han Yu are among the contestants in a field of 64 for men, and 48 for women. Wu is the number 1 player in China and ranked number 8 on world rankings. This remarkable player is a former dual world champion, having won both the 8-Ball and 9-Ball world championships at the tender age of 16. The defending ladies champion, Han is also the current 9-Ball world champion and the current world number 1 ranked player.
Of course neither of these players will be getting any favours from their opposition as just about every top player from around the world is here in Shanghai to try and win this coveted major ranking event. More than 30 countries from every continent around the world are represented here this week.
Day one of the 2017 Yaqi Group Cup Chinese Pool World Championship is complete, and half of the players advancing into the single elimination stages are now known.
Last year’s third place finisher, Darren Appleton, has qualified for the final stage, but it wasn’t easy. Appleton was taken to the hill by Iran’s Mohammad Pordeliri, and then taken to the hill again by AzBilliards 2016 Player of the Year Jayson Shaw. Shaw was running out the final rack and scratched in the side to gift an open table (and a trip to the single elimination stage) to Appleton. Shaw will face England’s Jack Whelan on day two to determine who goes to the final stage and who goes home.
American Corey Deuel turned in two match wins on day one to earn his place in the single elimination final stage. He and Appleton will be joined by such notables as Wu Jia Qing, Pin Yi Ko, Lee Van Corteza.
The ladies division sees a veritable who’s who of ladies pool on the one loss side, fighting for a spot in stage two. Karen Corr will face AzB Ladies Player of the Year Han Yu, Filipino sensation Chezka Centeno will take on Chihiro Kawahara, Kelly Fisher will face Rubelin Amit and Ga-Young Kim will play Claudia Djajalie on day two. Bai Ge, Sha Sha Liu, Siming Chen and Yuan-Chun Lin have already qualified to join eight Chinese women in stage two.
After the first matches of the day finish here in Yu Shan China, the remaining players will be redrawn into a single elimination bracket that will be used to determine the eventual World Champion.
FURY Cues sponsored LIU ShaSha (Sandy) of China came through from winning in the last 24 to be up against Jasmine Ouschan of Austria on TV table. The two played in the televised Chinese New Year Exhibition Match in Beijing this year and Jasmine was the winner. Jasmine had a good opening but Sandy quick made it back to all square at 1-all. When the score stood at 3-3, Sandy started shooting off and won four games in a row. It was a funny interlude when Jasmine went up for the handshake, Sandy did not realise that she had already won the match as she thought it is was a race to nine. At the end of the day, Sandy became the only player standing in the last 8 from the initial line up of 16 runner-ups from the group stage.
The biggest excitement of the day came from the match between FURY’s Kelly Fisher (GBR) and WEI Tzu-Chien (TPE), which was also a replica of the group stage match. Wei had a good start and soon went ahead in the game, but missed an easy 9 then allowing Kelly to catch up. Wei missed another 9 and not long finding Kelly waiting on the hill. Kelly broke for the match, but was unable to clear the table, allowing Wei to match up and a turn to break for the match. Upon hill-hill, Wei broke but was not able to find a connecting ball. Wei pushed out, forcing Kelly to play a hooked shot. Kelly made an excellent jump shot to pot the 1, and then ran the table and made it into the last 8.
The other Fisher (Allison Fisher of GBR) took on FURY’s Agelina Ticoalu of Indonesia, again replicating group B in the round robin stage. Allison went into a quick lead, but when she was only three racks away from winning, Angeline fought back to stay in the game, making it even at 4-4. Just when everyone thought that the game might go hill-hill just like yesterday, Allison suddenly realised the situation and started playing more safety shots as the game went on. This created enough room for Allison to build up her shots and finally made the score stood still for Angeline. With the 7-4 win, Allison will meet Sandy again (yes again!), which also a replica of group B.
Clash of the titans – Chezka Centeno met the all-time great Karen Corr in the last 16 of the tournament. Chezka was the first to make it to the hill when she was leading 6-3. However, Karen cooled down to make it all square, bring the game into a thrilling hill-hill match. In the decider, Chezka failed to escape the hook shot on the 3, Karen then went on the run the table, but leaving a long straight pot on the 9 for herself. With her ultra-strong snooker background, Karen made the winning ball and dropped on her knees with a big scream as she moved into the last 8 of the Amway Cup 2017 by knocking out the defending champion.
Han Yu, the current world #1 in women’s pool, has been surfing through the whole tournament without conceding a single match. In this round, Han kept enjoying her joyride against Veronika Ivanovskaia of Germany. The young Veronica had her chances to keep the score close but failed in doing so. Han, the semi-finalist last year, on the other hand, was sweeping the table as soon as she gets chance to come on to the table. In the end, Han advanced into the last 8 with the final score standing at 7-2.
KIM Ga-Young of South Korea, being another player unbeaten yet in the tournament, faced qualifier WU Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei in the last 16 match. Wu is an experienced player and at one point found herself 5-4 up against the two times cup winner. Nevertheless, Ga-Young was able to kept her cool and turned the game around to win at 7-5. Ga-Young shall meet Han Yu, the current world ranked number one in women's pool, in the last 8 to fight for a seat in the semi-final.
Multiple champion CHEN SiMing of China, the other unbeaten player, seems to be untouchable even when “Hurricane” CHEN Ho-Yun stepped up for the challenge after defeating Grim in the previous round. SiMing was 6-1 before making a critical mistake that allowed the Hurricane to make two games back. However, Ho-Yun’s safety shot in the 10th game was not safe enough for SiMing. After winning this game, SiMing will be playing against Kelly Fisher in the next round, which will be a replica of the World Chinese 8-Ball final last year.
The final match of the day, and could be considered as the biggest encounter of the day, was between the three times cup champion CHOU Chieh-Yu (Rita) of Chinese Taipei and PAN XiaoTing of China. Rita had a loss on TV yesterday, but was able to benefit from a scratch by Pan to square the match at six-a-piece. Alternate breaks meant that Pan had a chance to break for the match but was left with no chance to attack. After exchanging a couple of safety shots, Rita scratched but again Pan found no chance to attack. After careful consideration, Pan decided to play the 1-9 combo and successfully potted the winning ball.
Upon the exit of Rita, and to everyone's surprise, all Taiwanese players were out of the Amway Cup 2017. All the four players from China stayed intact in the final 8, joining them were 3 from the United Kingdom, as well as one from South Korea. What's worthwile mentioning again is that Liu ShaSha (Sandy) became the only player in the last eight that came through as a runner-up in the group stages. Actions shall continue tomorrow at 12:30 (venue address: #10, Section 4, Nanjing East Road, Songshan District, near Taipei Arena)
