Oscar Dominguez came back from a hot seat loss to meet and defeat Rodney Morris in the finals of the 20th Annual Jay Swanson (Swanee) Memorial Tournament, held on the weekend of February 20-21. The event's $10,000 prize package drew a full field of 128 entrants to On Cue Billiards in La Mesa, CA.
The tournament came within a match or two of featuring a finals contest between Oscar and his father, Ernesto, who faced separate opponents in the winners' side semifinals. Oscar met up with Amar Kang, as his Dad faced Morris. Oscar defeated Kang 8-5, as Ernesto was sent to the loss side by Morris 8-4. Morris took the hot seat 8-5 and waited on the younger Dominguez' return.
Ernesto locked up in a double hill battle that he won versus Johnny Kang, while Amar Kang fell to Foldes 7-2. Ernesto then downed Foldes in the quarterfinals 7-5, setting up a father-son semifinal, which, by family tradition, they chose not to play; Ernesto allowing Oscar to face Morris in the finals.
"When we first started playing together," Oscar explained, "we were both so bad that it was funny, so we decided that we wouldn't play against each other, and it stuck.
"It's usually me who advances," he added, "because my father always wants me to get more experience."
It paid off handsomely, although there's no way to determine whether it would have paid off just as handsomely if Ernesto had faced Morris. As it turned out, Oscar got his second shot at Morris and delivered, 11-9, to claim the 20th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial title.
After a brutally taxing day of championship pool at the highest levels, England’s Darren Appleton, Japan’s Nayoki Ohi, Germany’s Ralf Souquet and China’s Lee He Wen all made it into the semi-finals of the 2012 World 9-ball Championship in Doha, Qatar.
Both semi-finals carry the classic story line of east vs. west. In one semi-final, Appleton will face off with Ohi. In the other semi-final, Souquet will be take on Li.
The semi-finals will be a race to 11, alternate break and will be played concurrently at the Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha, beginning at 2pm local time(GMT +3). The final will be a race to 13, alternate break and will begin at 6pm.
The Al Sadd heaved with drama and emotion throughout the long day of play today as the field was cut from 32 players down to four. It was a marathon of hard core pool that when combined with the gravity of the circumstances, seemed to tax each and every player to the core. At times the winners of matches came down to a matter of who had the stamina and will power to withstand the constant pressure. Nobody who was there would argue that the last four men standing earned their spots the hard way and are battle hardened and ready for trench warfare.
Perhaps the most impressive player in the field today, and also the one who seemed to best be able to let the pressure effortlessly slide off him was Japan’s Ohi. The 29 year old from Osaka is known amongst fellow players as an affable free spirit and he played like it throughout the day. Ohi came out and completely steamrolled Taiwan’s Chang Jung Lin in the round of 32, 11-3. He then met up with Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann in the round of 16 where he came back from an early deficit and glided to the finish line for a well earned 11-9 victory.
A similar scenario happened in Ohi’s quarterfinal matchup against England’s Karl Boyes. Boyes had been developing a head of steam as he had just beaten Taiwan’s Fong Pang Chao 11-8, and then barely squeaked by young German talent Dominique Jentsch, 11-10.
But while the match was close throughout, Ohi seemed impervious to any of Boyes’ pressure and fought off the Englishman the whole way. Ohi never trailed and advanced with a well earned 11-9 victory.
China’s Lee is perhaps the most unassuming top tier player in the world today. With his bespectacled, urchin-like appearance, he could easily be mistaken for the class nerd. But any attempt to prejudge Li based on looks is done at one’s severe peril. This guy can flat out play.
Lee first took down Canada’s John Morra, 11-8. He then met up with one of the tournament’s surprises, Kuwait’s Omar Al Shaheen. The Kuwaiti’s have made serious advances in pool and the 19 year old Al Shaheen is clearly the face of the new and hungry generation.
Al Shaheen played a fantastic match and had the score even after ten racks. But like all great players, once Lee got the lead, he managed to hold on to it by hook or by crook.
Al Shaheen fought furiously and had the backing of the boisterous crowd. But despite some late errors, the Chinese held on for a tight 11-9 win.
Lee then met up with the Philippines Antonio G.bica in the quarterfinal. Amazingly, Gabica, who is a coach for the Qatar national team, was the last Filipino left in a field that started with 17 on day 1. Four Pinoys had already been shown the exits by the time Gabica met Li; Dennis Orcullo, Efren Reyes, Lee Van Corteza, and Jundel Mazon.
Gabica had just come off a thriller with Mika Immonen, barely beating the Finn, 11-9. Lee, though, looked like a machine in the first half of the match, streaking out to an 8-4, then 9-5 lead. But Gabica used his superbly fluid stroke to crawl back in the match. Lee started to wilt under the pressure. Gabica closed the gap to 10-9 but Lee broke and ran to book his place in the semis.
Another quarterfinal featured two of the games superb talents in Appleton and Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi. Appleton has been playing well which seems to bring out the best in his opponents. Appleton barely got by one of the tournament’s upstarts, New Zealand’s Matthew Edwards, 11-10. Appleton then put in another fine performance against talented Greek, Nick Ekonomopoulos winning 11-8.
Ko had looked positively brilliant all week and he continued his fine run today. In the round of 32, Ko and Japan’s Lo Li Wen engaged in what was arguably the highest quality match of the day, with Ko winning by a hair, 11-10. Ko then put a muzzle on the Philippines’ Mazon, who had looked strong and steady up to that point.
Against Ko Appleton displayed championship form early and went up 8-3. But Ko took advantage of two flukes and closed the gap to 10-9. With the pressure and drama thick and heavy, Ko, tried to jump and pot a basic two in the jaws, when the cue ball flew off the table. Game, set, match for Appleton.
“I played perfect to go up 7-2,” Appleton said. “I feel good overall because he was the man to beat. He was playing better than anyone.”
Although it is surely anyone’s game on Friday, Appleton’s hunger to create history could spell the difference.
“To hold the US Open and World 9-ball at the same time would be nice. It would be unbelievable.”
In the other quarterfinal, Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet went up against the Netherland’s Nick van den Berg. Steady and reliable Souquet had quietly worked his way through the field, first squashing Venezuela’s Jonny Martinez, 11- 7, then Italy’s Bruno Muratore, 11-4.
Van den Berg was playing the Dutch version of steady and solid, first beating China’s Han Hao Xiang, then out maneuvering Orcullo, 11-6.
As expected this match became a total grind. The contest was close throughout, but both players, apparently exhausted, had difficulty deciding on how to proceed on ordinary shots. Over three hours after it began, van den Berg scratched with just the 9-ball left on the table, handing the match to Souquet, 11-9.
“I was drawing a blank,” a clearly relieved Souquet said afterward. “My mind was completely gone. I had eaten after the last match and that drained my energy.”
Souquet last won the World 9-ball in 1996. Since then he’s reached two finals and lost. But when the German legend puts his mind to something, he can never be counted out.
“Yes that’s my goal, to win the World 9-ball Championship again.”
The WPA will be providing full up to the minute coverage of the semi-finals and finals of 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.
Semi-finals, 2PM(GMT +3, June 29th, 2012)
Race to 11, Alternate Break
Ralf Souquet(GER) vs. Li He Wen(CHN)
Darren Appleton(GBR) vs. Naoyuki Ohi(JPN)
Finals, 6pm
Race to 13, Alternate Break
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
The 2012 WPA World 9-ball Championship
Sponsored by – Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC)
Co-sponsored by – Simonis (cloth)
Organized by – Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation (QBSF)
Sanctioned by – World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) & Asian Pocket
32 PLAYERS SAY GOODBYE TO DOHA AS ALL BUT ONE OF THE TOP PLAYERS STAY ALIVE AT THE 2012 WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP
(Doha, Qatar)–32 players saw their dreams of glory crash and burn after a busy day 2 of the 2012 WPA World 9-ball Championship came to a close here in searing hot Doha, Qatar.
The proceedings inside the Al Sadd Sports Club went pretty much to the script, unlike day 1 where upsets were the order of the day. All but one of the sport’s big name players won and will continue on in the group stages.
The day started with Groups 13 through 16 seeing their first action of the tournament. The Philippines’ Ronnie Alcano, runner up last year in this event, easily took down Singapore’s Toh Kian Han, 9-3. The USA’s Hunter Lombardo, one of only two Americans in this year’s championship, sprinted past Morrocan youngster Al Masskini, 9-2.
World number 8, Lee Van Corteza of the Philippines blanked Croatia’s Ivica Putnik 9-0. Japan’s Tohru Kurbayashi defeated New Zealand’s Ceri Worts, 9-6.
The Philippines’s Dennis Orcullo, definitely one of the top five favorites to win this event, had a tight tussle early with the UAE’s Ali Saeed Alsuwaidi, but prevailed 9-6. Also claiming wins were Germans Oliver Ortmann, and Ralf Souquet. The Netherland’s Nick Van den Berg had a tough opening match against the Philippines Joven Alba, but prevailed, 9-7.
All winners in the group stages need one more win to advance to the knockout stage in the final 64. The losers of each match headed over to the left side of the bracket where they would need to win twice to advance.
The rest of the day was given over to that left side of the bracket, where a single roll of the ball can spell ultimate doom for any visions of pool grandeur. In other words, one more loss and you’re history.
The most surprising early exit from this year’s event was from England’s Mark Gray. Gray is one of his country’s and Europe’s top talents and was a semi-finalist here last year, where he played gutsy pool in brutally pressure packed situations. But in his do or die match against Hong Kong’s very capable Lee Chenman, Gray fell victim to that mysterious malady that lurks throughout this sport; play great but the balls don’t behave.
“I didn’t miss a pot today,” Gray said afterward. “But I guess I didn’t get the rolls.” Gray’s only consolation is that he’ll be playing with Team England next week in Beijing at the brand new World Team Championship.
For the rest of pool’s top names, the afternoon and evening session of do or die matches spelled pure redemption. The Netherland’s Huidji See and Niels Feijen, Finland’s Mika Immonen, the USA’s Shane Van Boening, and England’s Chris Melling all put in solid efforts to win handily. All are still on the chopping block but will need one more win to advance to the single elimination stage.
The Philippines contingent, which is backed by a vocal throng of overseas Filipinos who work and reside in Doha, bounced back nicely on day 2. Elvis Calasang, Joven Alba, Israel Rota and Raymond Faraon all won in do or die matches are still alive in the event.
The Al Sadd Sports Club is sure to back packed to the rafters on day 3 as Filipino and world pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes sees action in round two of the winner’s side. Reyes is sure to be received like a rock star by his fellow Filipinos.
The group stages continue on Day 3 with winners’ side matches. All winners of these matches advance to the final 64, while the losers will get one more shot.
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.
*Note: The WPA has experienced technical difficulties with its live scoring platform. We expect to have it fixed by Day 3. In the meantime, 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.
Day 2 Results, Group Stages, Opening Matches
Group 13 Ronnie Alcano(PHI) 9 – 3 Toh Lian Han(SIN) Hunter Lombardo(USA) 9 – 2 Al Masskini(MAR) Antonio G.bica(PHI) 9 – 4 Andrea Klasovic(CRO) Denis Grabe(EST) 9 – 7 Salaheldeen Alrimawi(UAE)
Group 14 Lee Van Corteza(PHI) 9 – 0 Ivica Putnik(CRO) Marlon Caneda(PHI) 9 – 6 Francisco Diaz Pizarro(ESP) Tohru Kurbayashi(JPN) 9 – 6 Ceri Worts(NZL) Majed Alazmi(KUW) 9 – 3 Nguyen Anh Tuan(VIE)
Group 15 Dennis Orcullo(PHI) 9 – 6 Ali Saeed Alsuwaidi(UAE) Oliver Ortmann(GER) 9 – 6 Richard Jones(GBR) Jonny Martinez(VEN) 9 – 8 Raymond Faraon(PHI) Andrew Kong(HKG) 9 – 6 Hori Ryouji(JPN)
Group 16 David N. Anderson(RSA) 9 – 4 Henrique Correia(POR) Ralf Souquet(GER) 9 – 2 Israel Rota(PHI) Nick Van Den Berg(NED) 9 – 7 Joven Alba(PHI) Nayf Abdel Afou(JOR) 9 – 5 Lee Wan Su(KOR)
Day 2 Results, Group Stages, Losers Bracket Winner stays in, Loser is out of the tournament
Group 1 Huidji See(NED) 9 – 6 Philipp Stojanovic(CRO) Mohammed Ali Berja(LIB) 9 – 7 Hwang Yong(KOR)
Group 2 Hsu Kai Lun(TPE) 9 – 4 Abdulwahed Al Awad(KSA) Mika Immonen(FIN) 9 – 5 Sundeep Gulati(IND)
Group 3 Chris Melling(GBR) 9 – 5 Aloysius Yapp(SIN) Shane Van Boening(USA) 9 – 0 Abdulatif Fawal(QAT)
Group 4 Waleed Majeed(QAT) 9 – 1 Rajandran Nair(RSA) Lee He Wen(CHN) 9 – 4 Edwin Montal(CAN)
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
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
