Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Jayson Shaw survived a hill-hill scare in his opening match of the World Pool Championship 2023 in Kielce, Poland as defending champion Shane Van Boening cruised through to Winners Round 1 unscathed live on Sky Sports, Viaplay, DAZN, Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
Van Boening stepped out at Targi Kielce looking to do what only Earl Strickland has ever achieved in defending a world title with Masato Yoshioka offering the first test. The South Dakota Kid was barely troubled by his opponent in a strong showing that saw Yoshioka restricted to few opportunities as Van Boening rattled in a 9-2 opening win. Mats Schjetne awaits tomorrow afternoon for Van Boening in Winners’ Qualification.
Shaw meanwhile had a far from the ideal start being pushed to the final four ball against Italy’s Francesco Candela. Two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Shaw, got off to a comfortable start to lead 5-3 but Candela hit back forcing it all the way to the hill. It was the case of Shaw making plenty of balls off the break but misfortune awaiting at his feet with several in-offs to claw Candela back into the contest. Candela forced a hill-hill finish and looked to have an out after a nervy safety exchange only for the four to be left hanging to allow Shaw in to complete a 9-8 win.
“I played well throughout the match. It was a weird one. Funny little things happened, I am exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open with a lot of pool being played in the last week. I need a good sleep and I will be back tomorrow. I got here at 5 pm yesterday and woke up at 5 pm today! 24 hours, I didn’t know where I was! Hopefully, tomorrow I can be back to where I need to be. I am playing well, there are a lot of good players out here. Hopefully, luck is on your side and you play well. It’s one match at a time for me. Everyone is here to win, we will see what happens.” – Jayson Shaw after beating Francesco Candela 9-5.
Wojciech Szewczyk (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
13 Polish players started their journey on home soil with Wojciech Szewczyk getting the honours of playing the first match on Table 1 with the Warsaw native up against Bashar Hussain Abdul Majeed in front of a packed home crowd.
Nineball World No. 1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz beat So Shaw in a whitewash before coming from 5-2 down to defeat Wu Kun Lin and book a spot in the Last 64 and a day off tomorrow. Joining Sanchez Ruiz in the Last 64 is two-time winner Albin Ouschan who got the better of SVB Junior Open winner Khalid Alghamdi in Winners’ Qualification whilst Niels Feijen, Ko Ping Chung and Max Lechner also made it through early doors. It was also a delight for Nick Van Den Berg on a triumphant return to the Nineball Arena with back-to-back wins.
Action returns from midday local time tomorrow on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA and Italy as well as on Matchroom.Live and broadcasters worldwide. Table 2 and Table 3 are on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube Channels respectively and Viaplay in above listed territories. See where to watch here.
Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Shane Van Boening will begin the defense of his World Pool Championship title against Japan’s Masato Yoshioka in Kielce, Poland from February 1-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics, DAZN in the USA as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
The American will look to become only the second player in history to defend the title following in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in a packed arena at Targi Kielce. 46 countries will be represented in the 128-player field as it is whittled down to the Last 64 over the first two days of action before it’s straight knockout to the end where one will claim the $60,000 first-place prize and the world crown.
The draw was completed with the top 64 players from the Nineball World Rankings against an unseeded player from the other 64 in the hat. Standout first-round ties include 2015 world champion Ko Pin Yi facing James Aranas of the Philippines whilst 2022 semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef faces the tricky prospect of Johann Chua. 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan was unseeded and will meet Michael Schneider.
World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide takes on Billy Thorpe and Shane Wolford‘s mission for a spot on Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup takes on Pia Filler. Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a year to remember last year and will begin his Nineball campaign against So Shaw of Iran.
Double elimination matches are all race to 9, with all matches from the Last 64 a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 13.
Table 1 will be live on broadcasters worldwide including Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA, Canada, and Italy, as well as on Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide. See where to watch here.
Table 2 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.
Table 3 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.
Matchroom Pool is pleased to announce the World Pool Championship 2023 will take place in Kielce, Poland in partnership with the Polish Billiard Association from February 1-5 as the world’s best descend on Targi Kielce Exhibition & Congress Centre live on Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics as well as on Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy with further broadcasters to be announced.
Kielce is no stranger to big Matchroom events and last hosted the 2012 World Pool Masters where it was Poland’s own Karol Skowerski who came out on top. Since then, Poland has become a breeding ground for top Nineball players with 17 currently listed on the Live Nineball World Rankings. Of which, ten are inside the world’s top 100 including World No. 7 Wiktor Zielinski, World No. 15 Konrad Juszczyszyn, World No. 16 Mieszko Fortunski, and Wojciech Szewczyk, Tomasz Kapłan, Karol Skowerski, Daniel Macioł, Sebastian Batkowski, Mateusz Śniegocki, Radosław Babica.
The Polish Billiard Association has worked closely with Matchroom to bring the World Pool Championship to Poland for the first time in the tournament’s history. Partners in Poland include the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Poland, Marshal of Swietokrzyskie Province, Mayor of Kielce City, and Nosan Company.
Tickets are available soon from only 25 PLZ (€5) for a day ticket, and 100 PLZ (€20) for all five days of action in Kielce. Sign up for ticket alerts here.
Defending champion Shane Van Boening will head to the city looking to keep hold of his world crown that he claimed in April 2022 downing Albin Ouschan in the final in the 128 strong field taken from the Live Nineball World Rankings.
The tournament will be the opening Matchroom event on the Nineball World Ranking schedule with the Blue-Ribbon event offering $325,000 in total prize money with the winner taking home $60,000.
Last year saw the introduction of a new double-elimination format to improve the quality of the tournament which will remain in 2023. Fans will be able to sweat the action on three tables with one TV broadcast and two streaming tables available via the Matchroom YouTube channels. Those in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics, and Netherlands will be able to watch on Viaplay. Sky Sports will be the home of the World Pool Championship in the UK and Ireland whilst fans in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy will be able to watch live on DAZN. More broadcasters will be announced closer to the time. Matchroom.Live will be available to those without a broadcaster in their country.
Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer said: “We’re so excited to take the World Pool Championship to Poland, a place that is a hot bed for Nineball. I am looking forward to welcoming the world’s best to Kielce for what promises to be another breath-taking week of action. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Polish Billiard Association and partners for all their hard work already to bring the event to a new country. I believe the production will be the best to date for a multi-table event with exciting plans to extend our coverage further.”
Thorsten Hohmann (Taka Wu – Matchroom Multi Sport)
The inaugural European Open Pool Championship in Fulda, Germany at Hotel Esperanto hit the midway point as the field was reduced to the Last 64 live on the Matchroom Pool Facebook/YouTube and Matchroom.Live.
Joshua Filler‘s encounter with wife Pia was the talk of the tournament as the pair met on the biggest stage for the first time live on the Matchroom Pool Facebook page. Joshua started out strongest to take the opening rack before Pia came back with her own rack to level at 1-1. The contest was played out in great spirit as the pair embraced before lagging with various applause and fist bumps keeping the atmosphere light-hearted despite a spot in the Last 64 resting on the match. It was Joshua who did steal the advantage though as he settled it in a 9-1 win.
Joshua and Pia Filler (Taka Wu – Matchroom Multi Sport)
Pia was back out in the Losers’ Qualification where she ran Chris Melling close up to 6-6 before Melling pulled through to book his place in the Last 64 and send Pia home. Other casualties included US Open runner-up Aloysius Yapp who lost out to Tyler Styer who had taken the inital initiative before Yapp pulled it back to 7-7. Mika Immonen was on the end to a 9-3 defeat to Dimitri Jungo to exit whilst Skyler Woodward faltered in a 9-4 loss to Bader Alawadhi. Alawadhi had been sent to the losers side by Jayson Shaw who came up trumps in a 9-1 win to book his own place in the Last 64.
“I played really good in that match a 9-1 win over a really good player. I tried to stay focused and I did just that. I prepared for about two months for this event. I prepared like I was going for a boxing fight really. I’ve been putting in a lot of time in on and off the table. I feel mentally a lot tougher than I did in previous events and I wasn’t really with it i if I am being honest. I am enjoying it so far.” – Jayson Shaw speaking to Phil Yates after beating Alawadhi
“It’s a really nice place (Fulda), the venue is super nice. The city is really nice too. It’s a good mix to have that around. You can go out and have a walk around. All in all it’s been a good start to the event,” Shaw added.
World Champion Shane Van Boening was made to sweat my Finland’s national champion Jani Uski as Van Boening ensured he remained blemish-free on the way to the Last 64 9-7 whilst it was a similar set of circumstances for Naoyuki Oi who side-stepped past Jan van Lierop 9-6. US Mosconi Cup hopeful Oscar Dominguez progressed with a 9-4 win over Daniel Maciol and 2021 World Pool Masters winner Alexander Kazakis overcame Tyler Styer in a hill-hill thriller to avoid the Losers side of the draw.”
Thorsten Hohmann‘s bid for hometown glory was ended by Karol Skowerski in a whitewash loss for the former World Champion. Hohmann had been left on the losers side of the draw early on after defeat to Senharip Azar and the German was up against it ever since before coming against Skowerski who was in no mood in letting the local man take a hold of things.
The Last 64 draw was made at the completion of play today – see the draw above.
The final two days are available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. See the full where to watch list here.
Shane Van Boening, Joshua Filler, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, and David Alcaide will contest the semi-finals of the inaugural UK Open Pool Championship at the Copper Box Arena, London live on Sky Sports in the UK, Matchroom Pool Facebook in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy, Viaplay in Scandinavia, and the Baltics, as well as Matchroom.Live in selected territories tomorrow, Sunday, 22 May.
Van Boening has found everything in his stride so far this week and that continued in the afternoon session as he overcame Marc Bijsterbosch in an 11-1 demolition job that saw the South Dakota kid go 8-0 up with two golden breaks along the way for good measure. The second time Van Boening has mastered that feat in two events. The newly crowned World Champion set up a meeting with Mosconi Cup teammate Skyler Woodward in the quarterfinals, something he knew wouldn’t come easy in his tightest match to date. The pair could not be separated at two all after Woodward made one of the shots of the tournament kicking the six into the nine to level matters.
It did seem that Van Boening was going to pull away in the eighth rack as he went 6-2 up where a freakish act saw the seven ball bounce four inches out of the pocket but soon nestle inside it to extend his lead. Van Boening was soon three away from victory after a sloppy error on the six ball from Woodward allowed his compatriot to capitalise and take full control. The 14th rack did edge in Woodward’s favour though and he trailed by four at 9-5.
Van Boening’s shot selection was exceptional as ever and a neat shot on the five meant the cue ball kissed the seven and nine to open it up for the five-time US Open champion to reach the hill.
In the end, a break and run was the one-way ticket to the semi-finals Van Boening needed to beat his close friend and teammate, Woodward.
Sanchez Ruiz will do battle with Van Boening in the semi-finals after overcoming Dennis Orcollo and Daniel Maciol in the Last 16 and Quarterfinals respectively for 11-7 and 11-5. Not much separated the Spaniard from Maciol until the fifth rack where Sanchez Ruiz found his groove and form that has seen him work into Mosconi Cup contention. Maciol didn’t do too much wrong as Sanchez Ruiz started to run the racks up and build a 7-3 lead over the Pole. El Ferrari was running riot on Table 2 as he reached the hill after an hour and a half of play at 10-4 leaving Maciol with plenty to do to stay in the contest. It’s been a strong run for Maciol this week, but it was Sanchez Ruiz who did his Mosconi Cup chances no harm to wrap up a 11-4 win. His tenth match of the week after falling into the Losers Bracket after the opening match of the tournament.
Filler was in a rampant mood in the afternoon as he ran out an 11-3 winner over Imran Majid to eliminate the last remaining Brit in the competition. The German star wasn’t fazed throughout as Majid faltered in what proved to be the final nail in the 12th rack with a time foul to allow Filler to get to the hill before wrapping up his spot in the quarterfinals.
The 2022 World Pool Masters champion faced a tough test if he was to make his third semi-final in four Matchroom events this year, Aleksa Pecelj of Serbia has a burgeoning reputation in the game and he showed what minerals he had in his locker to defeat Karol Skowerski in a hill-hill finish to make a maiden quarter-final berth.
Filler’s experience in the big moments showed early on in their encounter as he soon rallied up a 5-0 lead with break and runs in four of the opening five racks, only missing out in the first after losing the lag. Pecelj though has proven on countless occasions this week, his hardy nature and he needed it to pounce on an unusual Filler mistake that left the two ball over the pocket in the sixth rack.
Soon, it was 5-2. At 7-3, Filler scratched on the break to give Pecelj another bite of the cherry and he took full advantage to soon make it 7-5 after clearing up in the 11th and a break and run in the 12th. Pecelj was preying on big moments to get back into it alongside some exceptional play and he snatched his moment to make it 7-6 with a gift after Filler scratched when screwing back to make the nine. For the first time, Pecelj was back level at 7-7 and had the opportunity to make the most it when breaking in the 15th but it was Filler who went back in front. It toed and froed as both had to find their nerve. Pecelj reached the hill first and looked to be in a commanding position, but Filler came back to make it a decider.
Pecelj started out with a fluke one the one but missed a simple two ball. From there, Filler showed his winning nouse to a perfect degree playing a beautiful bank on the six before an effortless stroke on the nine to book his place in the semi-finals against Alcaide.
Mario He had taken a 4-2 lead, but Alcaide came back to win the resulting two racks after an intense safety battle in the seventh. He soon restored his lead at 5-4 but the door was blown open again for Alcaide off the break as the two-time World Cup of Pool scratched to let the Spaniard in for 5-5. Alcaide was attempting to finally take control of the contest and he made light work of the 11th and 12th rack to do just that to build his biggest buffer to date in the match. It looked like Alcaide would put pay to He’s errors to lead 8-5 but a cut that hovered over the pocket put He back at the table and back in it at 8-6. Alcaide was looking for his run to the hill in the 16th rack at 9-6 but a double kiss on the two ball put He at the table to close the gap to two again.
A 4-9 combo from He in the 17th put Alcaide on tenterhooks as he closed in on an victory. An emphatic effort on the two ball left He hooked on the four ball which was enough for Alcaide to get in there and reach the hill. The drama wasn’t done there though as a missed carom from Alcaide on the 3 and 8 left He back at the table. He couldn’t do anything with it though and that was that as Alcaide set up a semi-final with Filler.
Table 1 – Sunday, 22 May – Semi-Finals – 11 am
David Alcaide vs Joshua Filler
Shane Van Boening vs Francisco Sanchez Ruiz
5:30 pm Final – Race to 13
The final two days are available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Matchroom Pool Facebook in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. See the full where to watch list here.
Tickets for the final day are £15 using the code UKOPEN at checkout. Secure yours here
Albin Ouschan, Ko Ping Chung, Alexander Kazakis, and home favourite Jayson Shaw all went out of the inaugural UK Open Pool Championship at the Copper Box Arena, London. Only 16 remain as the $200,000 tournament heads into single elimination live on Sky Sports Action in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Italy, Spain, Viaplay in Scandinavia, Poland, and the Baltics as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
It was a grueling day of action in one of London’s most iconic venues as the tournament went through three stages of Losers Round action and a further two rounds of Winners to get the final 16 who will now compete over three tables in Races to 11 to make Saturday evening’s quarterfinals.
One player who won’t be there is Ouschan who has been battling to keep his impeccable record at Matchroom events going. It started in the best possible way with a win over veteran Ralf Souquet but he came up against a resurged Robbie Capito of Hong Kong, China who played one of the matches of his career to knock out the two-time World Champion 9-0. Shaw headed into the day knowing he needed to win three ties to keep hopes of making the final two days on home soil, but it wasn’t to be as young Jonas Souto Comino of Spain came good in a hill-hill finish early on live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel. Souto Comino’s hopes of his best performance to date in a Matchroom event ended at the hands of Mika Immonen 9-3 swiftly after.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz was dumped onto the Losers’ Side of the tournament on the opening day and has since then battled away to make the Last 16. The Derby City Classic 9-Ball winner sidestepped past USA Mosconi Cup hopeful Nicholas De Leon 9-3 before wins over Ping Chung and Wojciech Szewczyk to make it two Spaniards in the final stage. The ever-present David Alcaide has stayed on the winners’ side with relative ease all week but had his sternest tests of the week beating both Immonen and World Pool Masters semi-finalist Mieszko Fortunski 9-7 to be right in the picture.
World Champion Shane Van Boening continues to steamroller his way through the tournament beating Daniel Maciol 9-3 to be in the hat whilst Mario He’s remarkable week continued to defeat Thorsten Hohmann 9-3 after beating Ko Ping Chung 9-1 earlier on. World Pool Masters winner Joshua Filler breezed past one of the last remaining Brits Luke Rollison 9-2 with a golden break along the way to join He and Van Boening in the draw.
Another World Pool Masters winner in Karol Skowerski rolled back the years to beat Skyler Woodward 9-1 for his Last 16 spot after defeating compatriot Wiktor Zielinski in a hill-hill finish. Woodward did join Van Boening in the single-elimination stage though after fighting off a resilient Capito in Losers’ Qualification.
There will be one Brit flying the flag this weekend though as Imran Majid battled through a hardy day on the Losers Half beating Marco Teutscher in a hill-hill finish before overcoming Jose Alberto Delgado and Thorsten Hohmann 9-5 and 9-3 respectively. Majid faces Filler for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The Last 16 draw was completed by Karl Boyes and Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer. The eight winners from the winners’ half kept their seedings and were randomly drawn against the eight players from Losers’ Qualification.
The final two days are available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. See the full where to watch list here.
Tickets start from £15 for the day using the code UKOPEN at checkout. Secure yours here
Ko Pin Yi became the first major casualty of the 2022 UK Open Pool Championship at the Copper Box Arena, London live on the Matchroom Pool Facebook and YouTube pages as well as Matchroom.Live as the field edges ever closer to the single-elimination stage.
It was a packed day in England’s capital as 40 players were sent packing home with the biggest name coming in 2015 World Champion, Pin Yi. The Chinese Taipei star was sent to the Losers Bracket by Luke Garland yesterday and faced a potential three matches on day three to keep his UK Open journey going. Pin Yi beat Craig Brown early on 9-6 but came unstuck to South Africa’s JJ Faul who put on what he described as the performance of his career.
Mieszko Fortunski reached the semi-finals of the World Pool Masters just a few weeks back beating Jayson Shaw along the way and the Pole moved past the Brit once again to keep on the winners’ half of the draw. Shaw faces a stern test tomorrow if he is to keep going with a potential three matches on the agenda to reach the Last 16, first in the form of Jonas Souto Comino of Spain.
Fans were treated to a breathtaking performance by 14-year-old Riku Romppanen who came from 8-4 down to beat Robbie Capito to remain in the competition and meet Skyler Woodward to keep his hopes going. Romppanen’s journey will be one to remember with three wins over his three days but eventually came unstuck to Woodward despite pegging the two-time Mosconi Cup MVP back to 5-5 after Woodward led 5-0. The result leaving Woodward with a match against 2012 World Pool Masters champion Karol Skowerski to reach the Last 16.
Joshua Filler needs only one more win to reach the Last 16, the Killer doing a double on America’s Chris Reinhold and Shane Wolford 9-5 and 9-1 respectively. Filler will come up against Britain’s Luke Rollison, who has battled his way through after overcoming World Pool Championship semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef 9-7 in a memorable performance. World Champion Shane Van Boening is also in the same position as Filler after beating Juan Carlos Exposito of Spain and legend of the game Ralf Souquet to meet Poland’s Daniel Maciol for a spot in the Last 16 tomorrow.
Thorsten Hohmann will meet Mario He in Winners Qualification tomorrow, after the pair dismantled Alexander Kazakis and Ko Ping Chung 9-3 and 9-1 respectively. The other Winners Qualification match sees Dennis Orcollo up against former World Junior champion Sanjin Pehlivanovic. Orcollo was given a scare against Souto Comino who had gone into a 5-0 lead on the Filipino great. Pehlivanovic meanwhile overcame Nineball World No.5, Max Lechner, in an emphatic fashion 9-2.
The losers’ bracket is stacked ahead of Round 6. One of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Alexander Kazakis will learn their fate early on tomorrow as the pair do battle to make Losers Round 7 whilst it will be an all-American affair between Shane Wolford and Oscar Dominguez to keep their hopes alive. Two other 2022 Nineball World Ranking Top 32 players will meet in Alyousef and Marc Bijsterbosch. World Pool Masters runner-up Lo Ho Sum will face Romppanen. Ho Sum getting the better of Pijus Labutis and Denis Grabe on a busy day.
It was strictly business for Albin Ouschan who recovered from defeat to Karol Skowerski on the Winners’ side with victories over Snooker’s Gary Wilson 9-2 and Joao Grillo 9-1 to meet Souquet to keep hopes alive of another Nineball title. Ouschan winning seven racks on the spin to knock out Wilson.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz vs Alex Kazakis (L6)
Jayson Shaw vs Jonas Souto Comino (L6)
Oscar Dominguez vs Shane Wolford (L6)
Joshua Filler vs Luke Rollison (W5)
Shane Van Boening vs Daniel Maciol (W5)
Ko Ping Chung vs Nicholas De Leon (L6) Mika Immonen vs Chris Alexander (L6)
Marc Bijsterbosch vs Abdullah Alyousef (L6)
Dennis Orcollo vs Sanjin Pehlivanovic (W5) David Alcaide vs Mieszko Fortunski (W5)
The final two days are available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. See the full where to watch list here.
Tickets start from £15 for the day using the code UKOPEN at checkout. Secure yours here
Ko Pin Yi downed David Alcaide to reach the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Pool Masters at the Europa Point Sports Complex, Gibraltar live on Sky Sports, DAZN, Viaplay, and Matchroom.Live in selected countries as Mieszko Fortunski and Abdullah Alyousef also made their way through to the next stage.
Pin Yi was up against two-time winner Alcaide and the former world champion didn’t seem too fazed by his opponent’s credentials as he amassed a 5-0 lead. Alcaide was glued to his chair after initally winning the lag, but the Spaniard scratched on the break. The following racks were a clinic in breaking by Pin Yi as the 32-year-old’s game gathered pace. There was a route back into the Race to 7 for Alcaide in the sixth rack when Pin Yi found himself with nowhere to go on the two ball. A brief safety exchange later, Pin Yi looked to be closing in to make the hill but a simple miss on the seven was the gift Alcaide needed to get on the board at 5-1 but with still plenty to do.
For Alcaide, there was a routine run out in the seventh to be three behind but fully aware of Pin Yi’s stronghold on the game. Alcaide broke in the eighth but missed the bank on the one ball and made it safe somewhat. That proved to be Alcaide’s downfall though as Pin Yi hooked Alcaide who ended up fouling on the 9 when trying to kick his way out of trouble onto the one. In the process, leaving a 1-9 combo on for Pin Yi to reach the hill which he duly obliged. The drama wasn’t done in this contest yet though as Pin Yi scratched in the following rack on the break to allow Alcaide back in to 6-3. Alcaide missed a simple one to the middle pocket in the next rack and from there Pin Yi secured his victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
Fortunski has already had a blistering week after victory over Jayson Shaw to reach the Last 16 and he doubled up to beat US Open runner-up Aloysius Yapp 7-4 to book a maiden quarter-final birth in Gibraltar against either Albin Ouschan or Francisco Sanchez. Yapp took the opening rack with a golden break but soon Fortunski field back to lead for the second time at 3-2 with a confidence-boosting the fifth rack that saw the Pole bank the one ball like a Bugatti Veyron off the start line. Fortunski comes to Gibraltar trying to replicate what compatriot Karol Skowerski did ten years ago in winning the World Pool Masters. Yapp seemed to struggle at times with the table conditions but made it 3-3 and put Fortunski back under it. The 2022 World Cup of Pool is not too far away where Fortunski will be flying the flag for Poland and with some supporters in the arena, they saw him reach the hill first at 6-4. On the hill, Fortunski played a delightful 3-6 combo on his way to another mammoth win for the Butcher.
Alyousef is loving life now after a run to the semi-finals of the World Pool Championship, the Kuwaiti received an invite to the World Pool Masters for the first time and he made haste of Niels Feijen yesterday. He goes by the name of Solid Gold and Alyousef kept his wonderful year going with a win over one of the pre-tournament favourites Naoyuki Oi to reach the quarter-finals 7-3. In truth, the pair struggled at the table and a string of errors caused problems for both. Alyousef though was holding his own in the pivotal turning points in the contest. At 1-1, both missed tricky nine ball opportunities before Alyousef struck to lead at 2-1.
The fourth rack was messy with the six, seven, and nine all locked up in the bottom right corner. After Oi made both the six and seven in one shot with a lovely shot, the Japanese man missed the nine and Alyousef led 3-1. Alyousef made the three ball and six as it hung over the pocket but left the cue ball teetering on the edge of the jaw leaving a tough kick on the four ball. Oi put pay to Alyousef’s error to make it a one rack difference. That did prove to be Oi’s last rack though as Alyousef came through to wrap up a 7-3 win.
The remaining Last 16 contests start the Evening Session in Gibraltar as Joshua Filler gets his World Pool Masters campaign underway against Mosconi Cup rival Skyler Woodward before Austria’s Albin Ouschan meets Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Max Lechner gets the quarter-final action going in a meeting with Ko Pin Yi of Chinese Taipei.
Saturday 7th May – Evening Session – Last 16 / Quarter Final 1 – 5:30pm UK time
Day one is complete at the Dynamic Billiard Laško Open as a whopping 215 matches took place across 28 tables in double elimination play. With a big field of 217 players gathered in Slovenia, the play was unrelenting as stars of the game, seasoned pros and young up-and-comers battled to avoid an early trip to the one loss side.
An opening match defeat generally means a minimum of a further six wins to reach the last 32 single elimination stage, while staying on the winners’ side throughout means that only three victories are needed to reach a similar stage.
Hosted by the smart Hotel Thermana Park, there were a few big names that succumbed on the opening day. English duo of Chris Melling and Darren Appleton both lost; to Spain’s evergreen David Alcaide and rising Polish star Daniel Maciol respectively, which puts them both under pressure on day two. Former Euro Tour winner, Finland’s Petri Makkonen, also fell early, losing 9-8 to young Greek player Nick Chatoupis. The Finn bounced back winning his next match but has it all to do on Sunday.
Petri Makkonen
The seasoned Polish duo of Karol Skowerski and Mateusz Sniegocki also suffered defeats. Wiktor Zielinski, winner of the last Euro Tour event – in Treviso last November – was beaten 9-2 in a shock upset by fellow countryman Kamil Szaszor. 2021 Euro Tour finalist and European Under 21 Champion Aleksa Pecelj of Croatia also lost his opener and will have it all to do on Sunday.
On the winners’ side, most of the big names here in Lasko progressed without a stutter including Joshua Filler, Eklent Kaci, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, and Alexander Kazakis. Play gets underway in earnest on Sunday morning as the field play down to the final 16 competitors.
The tournament concludes on Monday 28th February, starting at the round of 16 and playing down to the championship match. This is a new time slot for the tour, made to accommodate a live TV broadcast, initiated for 2022.
This the first of six events in the 2022 Dynamic Billiard Euro Tour series and players battle for Tour ranking points, as well as world ranking points for the newly implemented system operated by Matchroom Sport.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Fedor Gorst survived a huge scare in the opening match of his World Pool Championship defence as he fought back from 5-1 and 6-2 down to defeat Estonia’s Mark Magi 9-7 at Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.
Jayson Shaw found himself 6-0 down against World Under-17 champion Moritz Neuhausen of Germany. But the former US Open champion and current Mosconi Cup MVP, being watched by European captain Alex Lely, wasn’t going to lie down and began a confident fightback, winning eight racks without reply. The German youngster cut the deficit to 8-7 with Shaw on the hill but the Scot wrapped up the match 9-7.
There were also opening session wins for Predator Championship League Pool winner Albin Ouschan, who beat Fabio Petroni 9-5, and Finland’s Mika Immonen who beat Kristina Tkach 9-4 having been 3-1 down early on.
The World Pool Championship opens with a double elimination group stage, so those who have already won one match are one away from reaching the last 64. Those who lost their opening fixtures play again on Monday, against another player who has suffered defeat and the loser will be eliminated.
Former World Champion Thorsten Hohmann came through a hill-hill finish against German compatriot Tobias Bongers, and World Under-19 Champion Jonas Souto Comino of Spain inflicted a 9-3 defeat on Karol Skowerski.
Alex Kazakis, who was recently crowned World Pool Masters champion, was up against his mixed-doubles partner Kelly Fisher, the Women’s World Champion, and the Greek star was a 9-1 winner.
Gorst had twice been four racks down on the TV table at the start of the session, but took five in succession to lead Magi 7-6. The defending champion missed a 9 to reach the hill, but having levelled at 7-7 Magi didn’t take another rack and Gorst won 9-7. He’ll face Mark Gray for a place in the last 64.
The World Pool Championship continues at 6pm (UK) time on Sunday, June 6 and is broadcast live on Sky Sports, DAZN and Matchroom.Live. Live scoring as well as complete tournament results and match schedule can be found at www.matchroompool.com.
