Format for the event is two stages, first stage the 64 players are divided into 8 groups of 8. Each group plays a double elimination which means a player must win two matches to qualify. Two losses and you’re out. The second stage features 32 players which is single elimination or knock-out.
Defending champion and world number one, Liu Shasha got away to a shaky start today when she lost her opening match 5/7 against a very good Chinese player Zhou Doudou putting her straight across to the loser’s side of the draw. Another loss and she will be out of the tournament. Liu did redeem herself in her second match when she defeated Kristina Tkach of Russia 7/4. Her victor, Doudou showed her win was no fluke with a 7/1 win over Korean Hyun Ji Won to put her into the final stage.
Another scare for the organisers came about when superstar Pan Xiaoting lost her opening match to Wang Wanling 5/7. Pan also redeemed herself in her next match against Japanese Miyuki Kuribayashi 7/1. Convincing score but did not really play at her best, however was aided by a good run of the balls and a lucky shot with the 9 ball to win the fourth rack to lead 3/1 instead of 2/2. Pan did manage to lift her game towards the end of the match and was back in good form by the end of the match.
Most other matches went to plan, Korean Kim Gayoung looked very good winning 7/2 against Kristina Grim of Germany, and then qualified for the final stage by defeating Japan’s Keiko Yukawa 7/3. Chen Siming started well, winning her two matches, 7/2 against Miyuki Kuribayashi and 7/5 against Wang Wanling. The Fishers got away to a good start also, Kelly winning 7/4 against Korean Lin Run Mi and Allison beating former world champion Liu Shin-Mei 7/2. They will play their second match tomorrow. Former Irish and now American, Karen Corr also started with a rush beating Japan’s Akimi Kajatani 7/1.
But surely the story of the day is Jia-Hua Chen of Chinese Taipei when she started off defeating South African Nicola Rossouw 7/5, then in her next match she defeated former world champion and world number three Han Yu 7/5. Chen won the juniors world championship in Shanghai just a few weeks ago earning herself a spot in the world’s most prestigious event for women. She is now through to the knock-out stage, and anyone will be pleased to dodge her name when the draw is done.
Play resumes tomorrow at 1.00 pm local Chinese time where we will see the first stage completed, the draw done and the first round of the knock-out stage completed as well.
(Shanghai)–You don’t come to the China Open with the gall thinking you are going to win this tournament. You just hope to survive long enough, say to the semi-finals, where you then have as good a chance as anyone to pull off a career defining victory.
It’s not only the stacked field comprised of most of the world’s best male and female pool players that makes the odds so long. It’s the conditions. Lightning quick tables, generous pockets, template racking which practically guarantees one, two and sometimes even three balls on the break. The result is the ultimate equalizer, a wide open shootout with the world’s best gunslingers letting it all hang out.
Welcome to the Wild West of professional pool.
“It’s really hard to say what’s good and what’s bad out here because it’s so easy to pot balls,” said 2011 China Open champion Chris Melling, after he staved off elimination on day 1 with a losers side win over American Oscar Dominguez. “The pockets are so big and the cloth is so fast. Everyone’s making two and three balls on the break. It makes the whole tournament level. I think we’re going to have a surprise winner here.”
Maybe or maybe not. Things may look topsy turvey at the beginning, but the pressure that is unique to professional pool at this level tends to favor the best and the bravest. And pool generally follows the tenets of that famous phrase, “the crème always rises to the top.”
Indeed day one of the 2013 China Open 9-ball inside the Shanghai Pudong Yuanshen Stadium arena in Shanghai produced plenty of nail biting, down- to-the-wire drama, but few shockers.
Leading the pack in the men’s event, which features 64 players divided into 8 groups of eight playing double elimination, was the defending champion Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines. Orcollo had no time to get loose as he immediately found himself in a dog fight with unknown Taiwanese Ahen Yuxuan. Yuxuan had the race to 9 match tied at 7 but succumbed to the pressure late and handed Orcollo a 9-7 win.
China’s number one player Li Hewen, who came within one rack of winning the 2012 World 9-ball Championship in Qatar, came from behind in a TV table match against Orcollo’s talented countryman, Carlo Biado, and won 9-8. Later on, Li laid down his marker when he easily beat Canada’s John Morra to advance to the knockout stage of 32. Biado, who is due to go far in a major tournament, later got his feet back under himself with a 9-1 drubbing on the losers side over China’s Zhou Long.
Taiwan looks set to put its usual dent in the proceedings as world number 1 Chang Jung Lin, along with Ko Pin Yi and Fu Chei Wei all won handily with Fu already advancing. In all, Taiwanese players won 8 out of 11 matches today.
As befitting a major tournament, there were some high quality matches straight out of the gates that could have easily been contested as finals. Former World 9-ball champion Alex Pagulayan went up against former World 8-ball champion Karl Boyes in the first round. Pagulayan took advantage of just a few mistakes by Boyes and won 9-5.
European Mosconi Cup teammates Nick Van Den Berg of Holland and Nick Ekonomopolous of Greece took their match to a one rack decider with the Nick the Greek squeaking by, 9-8.
One of the most intriguing matches of the day pitted Hollands talented Niel’s Feijen against two time former world champion Wu Jiaqing(formerly known as Wu Chia Ching.) Wu, who made pool history back in 2005 when he won the World 9-ball championship when he was just 16 years old, and then went on to win the World 8-ball championship just five months later, only recently completed a 16 month stint in the Taiwan military. And this was on the back of four straight years of personal drama and intrigue which has left the sport without one of its biggest stars. In the military Wu was forced to mop floors and clean windows for the entire time and he never once touched a cue stick. In addition, in August of last year, Wu was diagnosed with Lukemia. Fortunately doctors caught the blood disease in its very early stages and Wu says it can be controlled with medication.
Having only practiced for one month since being discharged from the military, Wu came into the match against Feijen with no expectations. Wu, however, looked like the boy wonder of old as he thumped the Dutchman 9-4.
“I’m happy with the way I played today,” Wu, who now resides in China, said afterwards through an interpreter, “but to be honest I have no confidence that I can win the tournament. “ Of course nobody who knows pool believes that.
On the women’s side, which features 48 player divided into 8 groups of six, defending champion Kelly Fisher kept the express train barrelling down the tracks with a 7-0 win over China’s Liu Jia. The match took an incredible 20 minutes to complete.
Hall of Famer Allison Fisher won her first match, then had to face old rival Ga Young Kim of Korea in a marquee affair. Kim won 7-4.
Chinese stars Fu Xiaofang, Pan Xiaoting and Chen Siming all won their opening matches.
The group stages continue on Friday in Shanghai. After completion of play on day 2, the men’s field will be down to 32 players and the women’s field will be down to 16. Both tournaments will then be single elimination knockout through to the finals on Sunday.
*The 2013 China Open will be held in Shanghai, China from May 12-19 and is sanctioned by the World Pool & Billiard Association(WPA). 64 men and 48 women will compete in separate 9-ball events. The China Open is a WPA ranking event. The main event will begin on May 16 and run through May 19.
The WPA will be providing full coverage of the 2013 China Open via its website at www.wpapool.com, and through Facebook at www.facebook.com/WpaChinaOpen. The WPA will be providing live scoring of all matches, daily articles and analysis from WPA Press Officer Ted Lerner, and photographs. Fans can also follow the event through Twitter; @poolwpa.
The 2013 China Open will be streamed online through several Chinese websites. The WPA will be providing the links through our Facebook page as we receive them.
(Shenyang, China)–Korea’s Ga Young Kim and Great Britain’s Kelly Fisher are two giant names in today’s world of women’s professional pool. And today, as the 2012 Women’s World 9-ball Championship entered the knockout stages, the two put on a show that will surely enhance their reputations many fold for years to come.
Kim is a two time former world 9-ball champion and US Open champion who lights up arenas wherever she plays. Besides her prodigious talents on the table, Kim is about as good an ambassador as the sport will ever find. In addition to her native tongue, she speaks fluent Chinese and English. And her looks, charm and fashion sense are impeccable.
With her rugged looks and style, world number 2 Fisher can appear at first to be almost the antithesis of Kim. But the affable Brit is just as deadly on the pitch, and just as nice off of it.
So when the two met up today in the round of 32 inside the ultra hip Richgate Shopping Center here in Shenyang, the match had the feel of a finals showdown. For some reason the organizers decided not to put this match on the TV table, and instead stuck the pair in the very back of the 2nd floor trade hall where all the outside table matches have been played. Perhaps it was just as well because the barebones setting gave the match the feel of a back alley brawl, which is what it turned out to be.
The few dozen fans squeezed into the small space who watched the pair slug it out will not soon forget what they saw. Both players, who know each other’s games well, played their usual manner of fast and aggressive pool. And they combined that fan-friendly style by playing just about as perfect as one could play over the course of 17 racks.
Up early, Kim, fiery and intense, continually repulsed every effort by Fisher to grab the lead. Along the way, Kim continually pushed her lead up then always saw it shrink back again. The pair executed one amazing shot after the next, as if the contest was a great heavyweight fight of years past, where every bomb was answered with another bomb back. Stellar banks, pots off kicks, lock down safeties, great escapes, you name it; this was championship 9-ball at its best.
Eventually Kim found herself on the hill, up 8-6. But Fisher would have the last laugh, as she pounced on Kim’s one missed shot in the match, in the last rack, and took a 9-8 win, to move into the final 16.
“That was one of the best matches I’ve ever played,“ an obviously ecstatic and relieved Fisher said afterward. “The standard was so high. I had to play that good to beat her because when she’s on fire, she’ll kill me. She has in the past.”
Fisher has to like her chances as the world championship heads into the last two days, but with the quality of the field remaining, she knows the deal.
“Just give 100% and hope that the luck is on my side,” she said. “I can win here. But this is 9-ball and anything can happen. I just have to take it one match at a time.”
Fisher will now face the lone American entry in this year’s championship, Monica Webb, on Wednesday. Webb came off the losers side in the group stages today and took down China’s Bai Ge in the round of 32, 9-4 in a fairly sloppy match.
The remaining two days are shaping up to be a fascinating slugfest of epic proportions as the race to the world title intensifies. Unlike last year where the Chinese had already taken over by the final 16, this year the remaining field is much more varied; six Chinese, four Taiwanese, two Brits, 2 Japanese, 1 Korean and 1 American.
China had 33 players in the field of 64 but the six remaining are all capable of taking the title. 18 year old Chen Siming looks like she is going to be very difficult to stop. First out on the TV table today, world number 1 Chen demolished former world champion Shin Mei Lui of Tawain, 9-3. 2010 World 9-ball Champion Fu Xiao Fang, and 2009 World 9-ball Champion Liu Shasha also looked ready for glory as they easily won their matches.
One of the surprises of the day came when Japan’s Sone Kyoko shocked the home town fans by defeating defending champion Bi Zhu Qing of China 9-7 on the TV table. Kyoko will join compatriot Chichiro Kawahara in the round of 16 after Kawahara easily beat the Philippines’ Rubilen Amit, 9-2.
Hall of Famer and four time world 9-ball champion Allison Fisher made it a bummer of a day for the Philippines, as she knocked out Iris Ranola, 9-6.
The contingent from Taiwan is looking very strong so far, especially 2008 World 9-ball champion Lin Yuan Chun and two time and current Amway champion Chou Chieh Yu, who both advanced today.
Two dark horses fans should look out for are Korea’s Park Eunji and China’s Yu Han. Yu made it to last year’s semi-final where she barely lost to Chen Siming. Yu is quietly playing strong pool and can beat anyone in the field. Park is surely a bit of a longer shot but this stylish young lady seems to have a knack for finding the finish line.
The round of 16 begins Wednesday in Shenyang at 10am local time(GMT +8). The field will be down to four after tomorrow’s play. The semi-finals and finals will take place on Thursday June 21. The winner will receive $40,000 while the runner up gets a check worth $20,000. The total prize fund is $160,000.
The WPA will be providing full coverage of all the action from the 2012 Women’s World 9-ball Championship in Shenyang on our website,www.wpapool.com. There you can get all the latest updates with live scoring of all matches, articles offering insights and analysis, updated brackets and photos. Fans around the world can also follow the tournament via the WPA Twitter feed, @poolwpa.
Round of 16 Matches Wednesday June, 20, 2012 Race to 9, Alternate Break
Chen Siming(CHN) vs. Chichiro Kawahara(JPN) Lin Yuan Chun(TPE) vs.Fu Xiao Fang(CHN) Yu Han(CHN) vs. Li Jia(CHN) Tsai Pei Chen(TPE) vs. Shou Chieh Yu(TPE) Sone Kyoko(JPN) vs. Park Eunji(KOR) Kelly Fisher(GBR) vs. Monica Webb(USA) Allison Fisher(GBR) vs. Tan Ho Yun(TPE) Chen Xue(CHN) vs. Lui Shasha(CHN)
Day 2 Results, Tuesday, June 19, 2012 Round of 32 Knockout Stage. Race to 9, Alternate Break
Chou Chieh Yu(TPE) 9 – 7 Lin Hsiao Chi(TPE) Li Jia(CHN) 9 – 4 Han Fang(CHN) Lin Yuan Chun(TPE) 9 – 4 Line Kjorsvik(NOR) Chen Siming(CHN) 9 – 3 Liu Shin Mei(TPE) Yu Han(CHN) 9 – 4 Ren Qiuyue(CHN) Fu Xiao Fang(CHN) 9 – 4 Wei Tzu Chien(TPE) Chichiro Kawahara(JPN) 9 – 2 Rubelin Amit(PHI) Tsai Pei Chen(TPE) 9 – 5 Lai Hui Shan(TPE) Kelly Fisher(GBR) 9 – 8 Ga Young Kim(KOR) Monica Webb(USA) 9 – 4 Bai Ge(CHN) Sone Kyoko(JPN) 9 – 7 Bi Zhu Qing(CHN) Park Eunji(KOR) 9 – 5 Angeline Ticoalu(INA) Lui Shasha(CHN) 9 – 4 Wu Jina(CHN) Allison Fisher(GBR) 9 – 6 Iris Ranola(PHI) Tan Ho Yun(TPE) 9 – 5 Caroline Roos(SWE) Chen Xue(CHN) 9 – 5 Marika Poikkijoki(FIN)
1st Session. Losers Bracket. Winner is through to final 32, loser is out
Group A Wei Tzu Chien(TPE) 7 – 0 Jing Siya(CHN) Li Jia(CHN) 7 – 2 Liu Yichen(CHN)
Group B Ren Qiuyue(CHN) 7 – 5 Masami Nouchi(JPN) Kim Ga Young(KOR) 7 – 2 Chan Ya Ting(TPE)
Group C Iris Ranola(PHI) 7 – 6 Charlene Zhai Zeet Huey(SIN) Angeline Ticoalu(INA) 7 – 2 Keiko Yukawa(JPN)
Group D Kyoko Sone(JPN) 7 – 4 Sylvia Lopez(ESP) Marika Poikkijoki(FIN) 7 – 6 Jung Bo Ra(KOR)
Group E Caroline Roos(SWE) 7 – 2 Junko Tsuchiya(JPN) Monica Webb(USA) 7 – 5 Wu Zhiting(TPE)
Group F Line Kjorsvik(NOR) 7 – 6 Zhou, Doudou(CHN) Lin Hsiao Chi(TPE) 7 – 5 Kaori Ebe(JPN)
Group G Tsai Pei Chen(TPE) 7- 1 Gao Meng(CHN) Liu Sha Sha(CHN) 7 – 3 Akimi Kajatani(JPN)
Group H Liu Shin Mei(TPE) 7 – 5 Zheng Xiaochun(CHN) Kawahara, Chichiro(JPN) 7 – 4 Liu Liying(CHN)
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.
MANILA, Philippines — Former world champion Rubilen Amit leaned on a
strong start before fending off a late comeback by Japan’s Keiko Yukawa
for an 8-4 victory and a place in the quarterfinals of the Yalin Women’s
World 10-Ball Championship at Robinsons Galleria.
Amit, who earned an outright place in the Round of 16 after topping
Group A, won the first four racks then took 6-1 and 7-2 leads to set up
the win over a weary Yukawa who a couple of hours ago dethroned 2010
champion Jasmin Ouschan, 8-7.
However, eagerness to close it out nearly cost Amit. She missed the
seven-ball in the ninth rack before bungling what was supposed to be the
clinching shot using the bridge in the 11th rack to give Yukawa some
breather.
“Naexcite ako masyado,” said Amit. “Yung ten ball (sa 11th rack), nawala ako sa focus.”
At presstime, Amit is playing Taiwan’s Tsai Pei Chen, who defeated
China’s Dou Dou Zhou, 8-6, in the quarterfinals with the spot in
Sunday’s semifinals at stake. The Race to 10 finals will likewise be
played on Sunday with the champion to receive the top purse of $20,000
(P860,000).
Meanwhile, Iris Ranola, the other Filipino bet in this five-day
event, is trailing Taiwan’s Hui Shan Lai, 6-3, at presstime with the
victor to earn a place in the quarterfinals.
On Friday night, Ranola downed Lai, 6-4, to finish Group B on top
with a 3-2 record. That gave her an outright berth in the last 16. Lai
secured a rematch with Ranola after eliminating pool legend Allison
Fisher of England, 8-4, in the Saturday’s first round match.
