Skyler Woodward managed to escape his first match of the day with a victory but wasn’t so fortunate in the next round.
Jeffrey De Luna stood at the table on the hill in the second set of his opening day match against Woodward, leading 3-0 losing the first set and a game away from forcing a sudden death shootout.
De Luna broke and failed to pocket a ball, handing Woodward all of the opportunity that he needed as the American rattled off four straight games to snatch the clinching set and secure the win on the opening day of the 192-player Alfa Las Vegas Open at the Rio All-Suites Casino Wednesday.
After Woodward won the first set, 4-2, De Luna came out on fire in the second before he forfeited the table in the fourth game then leaving a combination shot on the 10 ball after a safety. The American pocketed the shot to climb onto the scoreboard and broke and ran to pull within a game but forfeited the table when he broke dry in the sixth rack.
De Luna began to struggle as he misplayed a safe on the 3 ball and left his opponent a wide-open shot. The Filipino was bailed out when his opponent missed but he ultimately misplayed position on the 8 ball and was forced to play a safety. Woodward jumped in the object ball and tied the match then used a safety exchange on the 2 ball in the next rack to secure the second set and the victory, 4-3.
Facing Jonas Souto in the next round, the Spaniard used a dry break and a missed shot by Woodward to build a 2-0 advantage but missed a chance to increase his lead when he failed to pocket a combination shot on the 10 ball. After Woodward cleared the table to cut the lead to 2-1, he took advantage of missed shots by his opponent in back-to-back racks then added a break-and-run to finish off the comeback, 4-2. Having lost the lag, Souto had breaking privileges in the second set and capitalized, using a break-and-run, a safety exchange and a missed shot by his opponent to shut out the American and force a sudden death shootout.
Woodward missed his opening shot of the extra frame while Souto was perfect, pocketing four straight to win the set.
The American moves to the one-loss side of the bracket where he will face Lian Han Toh Thursday morning at 9 a.m. local time.
Albin Ouschan
Meanwhile, Albin Ouschan was feeling it in his opening match against Billy Thorpe, blanking the American in straight sets in his opening round match.
Using a one-rail kick in, a bank shot that sent the cue ball three rails for position on the next shot and tricky carom shot on the 1 ball, the Austrian built a commanding 3-0 lead but scratched on a kick shot at the in the fourth rack. Thorpe had a chance to capitalize but missed the 2 ball in the side, allowing the Ouschan to clear the table and pitch a 4-0 opening set shut out.
Ouschan took the first rack of the second set when Thorpe failed to make a ball on the break, then snagged another rack when his opponent missed the 9 ball in the second game. After winning a safety battle in the next rack he closed the match out with a break and run.
Ouschan will face Germany’s Ralf Souquet in the next round Thursday afternoon.
In other matches, Austria’s Mario He took advantage of a handful of unforced errors by opponent Omar Al Shaheen to win in straight set, 4-2, 4-0, Japan’s Yoshihiro Kitatani defeated Estonia’s Denis Grabe in a shootout and
Play resumes today with notable matches including Shane Van Boening versus Jun-Ling Chang and David Alcaide taking on Thorsten Hohmann on the winner’s side. Matches can be watched on Billiard.TV and on World Billiard TV, the official YouTube channel of CueSports International. A schedule of televised matches will be posted daily on the Pro Billiard Series and CSI Facebook and Instagram pages.
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.
The Brass Tap & Billiards of Raleigh, NC has a long history of hosting tournaments and this year was no exception. After a layoff since 2019 due to the pandemic, owner Richard Kuntz welcomed players and fans back to the $15,000 added Beasley Open.
Presented by Doug Beasley of Beasley Custom Cues and special sponsors PoolActionTV.com and Brass Tap & Billiards, this year’s tournament had two events – One Pocket and Open 9 Ball.
Posting their $200 entry fees, the $5,000 added double elimination One Pocket division drew 48 players. Played on Diamond tables and racing to three, the finals would be one extended race to four. After the players auction and draw, the matches began.
With twelve players receiving a first round bye, Josh Roberts and Can Salim were not so fortunate. Josh survived that match 3-1 and went on to defeat Asad Khan 3-0, Justin Hall 3-1 and Brandon Shuff 3-2. On a similar path, John Morra had wins over Francesco Candela 3-1, Larry Pierce 3-2, Hunter White 3-1 and Corey Sykes 3-0. Then, in a hard fought match to reach the hot seat, Morra prevailed over Roberts 3-2.
Meanwhile, in the other portion of the bracket, Alex Pagulayan and Tony Chohan were on the march to the hot seat. After drawing a first round bye, Alex defeated Carlo Biado 3-2, Tony Pete 3-0 and Shane Wolford 3-1. Tony was the victor over Jesse Gilbert 3-2 and then skunked Robbie House 3-0, Brady Norris 3-0 and Omar Al Shaheen 3-0. He then received his own 3-0 thumping by Alex!
The hot seat match was all Pagulayan as he beat back Morra – also 3-0. John headed west and Alex moved to the finals.
Morra watched as Chohan edged out Biado 3-2 only to be relegated to third place 3-0. Looking for revenge, Tony went to the finals.
Still on a tear, Tony sliced through Alex in under an hour winning four gamesstraight to claim the title. Congratulations, Tony! Good tournament, Alex!
Johann Chua and Bader Al Awadhi
The $10,000 added Nine Ball Open began on Friday night following the players auction and draw. Ninety six players posted their $150 entry fees to play. The format was alternate breaks, rack your own with the nine on the spot and the two in the back, no soft breaks and races to 9/7.
Racing across the top half of the bracket was Johann Chua and Chia-Chen Hsieh. Playing to get to the hot seat match, Chua spanked Hsieh 9-1. The bottom portion of the bracket saw Bader Alawadhi win over John Morra 9-5.
Hot seat action again was all Chua as he locked up his seat in the finals 9-1. Bader went to the one loss side to await an opponent. Morra defeated Roberts 7-5 and then was eliminated by the same score leaving John with another third place finish.
The finals were one extended race to thirteen. Chua rocketed out to a 7-1 lead until Alawadhi caught a gear and tied the match at eight games each! Johann finally won the next two games to reach 10-8. Bader fought back to win a couple more until his opponent pulled away to win the match 13-10. Congratulations, Johann! Good shooting, Bader!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Richard Kuntz and his staff for another fantastic event.
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Lomax Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiard Apparel, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next event is the 4th Annual $7,500 added Big Boi Classic at Peyton’s Place in Knoxville, TN. The dates are November 18th-20th – hope to see you there!
South Korea’s Eunji Park fought back from an early 3-0 deficit in her round-of-16 match and defeated American Monica Webb, 9-8.
Webb had an opportunity to increase her lead in the fourth game but missed the winning 9 ball. Park climbed onto the scoreboard then won the next two to tie the match and the two players battled back-and-forth the rest of the way, with neither competitor holding more than a two-rack lead. Park climbed ahead 7-6 after Webb missed the 4 ball but the American quickly tied the score again when Park failed to pocket a ball on the break. Park pulled ahead again when she potted a successful combination shot on the 9 ball in the 15th rack but Webb was able to gut out the next game with a pair of victorious safety exchanges.
At the table with the break and a chance to win the match, Webb was unable to pocket a ball on the break and Park ran out the rack to snatch the victory.
“I feel like I played well, except for a couple of shots,” said Webb after the match. “I think she played well. She did her thing. I feel like I got a little unfortunate in that set, but with single elimination, that’s what we’re dealing with.”
Former Amway World Open champion Chieh-Yu Chou of Chinese Taipei came from behind and used an innovative jump shot to get past Costa Rica’s Adriana Villar, 9-6.
Chou jumped out to an early 3-1 advantage against Villar before the Costa Rican won four consecutive racks to build a 5-3 lead. Chou, starting to feel some pressure in championship competition, took a timeout to walk away and collect her thoughts.
“Before the timeout I felt like I was getting tense,” she said though her translator after the match. “After the time out, I relaxed and felt like I was okay.”
Villar, who struggled with her break at times, failed to maintain momentum as Chou on two of the next three to tie the match at six racks each. The player from Chinese Taipei, who was setting up the cue ball in the center of the table for break shots, regained the lead with a break and run in the 13th game to regain a 7-6 lead. After her opponent snookered her with a safety on the 2 ball, Chou jumped the cue ball over the blocking 7 ball, struck the 2 ball and watched the cue ball roll across table and pocket the game-winning 9 ball.
“I knew that was the route for the 9 ball but I know that was also lucky,” she said.
Chou then closed out the match with another break and run to eliminate Villar. “I feel good about how I played but she’s a good player,” Villar said.
Sanjin Pehlivanovic 11-3 Omar Al-Shaheen* *Al-Shaheen forfeited the match at 7-3
Canada’s John Morra will meet Sanjin Pehlivanovic in the Men’s Pool quarter-finals after a dominant 11-5 display against Hunter Lombardo.
Two sets of four consecutive games helped the Canadian to an 10-2 lead in the match. USA’s Lombardo, who only received the call to play this event at the end of last week, showed grit and determination in taking three games with his opponent on the hill, but the alternative break format was always going to afford Morra a chance to see out the win, and a runout in the 16th saw him complete an 11-5 win.
“I played well and was comfortable until 10-2, and then started to feel a little fatigued and made a few mistakes,” said Morra. “I broke well throughout the match, felt confident and was calm out there and comfortable with the conditions.
“I got tired towards the end of the match because I didn’t sleep too well last night. I was waiting for that opportunity to close out the match and I broke and ran out with a good shot on the 7; I wasn’t sure if it was going to drop but the pocket accepted the ball.
“I have represented Canada many times but never at this event, and it is awesome. It is an honor to be here, playing this event for the love of the game. The pure enjoyment and passion is what made me fall in love with the game and it is nice to know I still have it 20 years later.”
Despite his defeat, Lombardo was pleased to represent USA in this event and was determined to fight until the end despite a huge scoreboard deficit. “John played great. Every time he broke he seemed to run out and I broke dry a couple of times, and he capitalized when I missed a couple of balls early on.
“I hung in there and never quit; there was a time when things shifted a little bit but in the end he made a really nice out on the hill.”
Pehlivanovic, the European 10-Ball Champion, awaits Morra in the next round. The Bosnia and Herzegovina representative was 7-3 up against Kuwait’s Omar Al Shaheen when the 2021 World Championship runner-up forfeited the match.
“I understand he didn’t have his own cue,” said Pehlivanovic. “I feel bad for him because these things happen. I was happy with how I was playing and I will continue with that into the next round. The only thing is the break wasn’t quite working for me.”
One of the great aspects of The World Games is the number of other sports taking place, and Pehlivanovic was happy to find some time to take them in. “At home I do boxing for fitness, so it was incredible to watch some kick boxing yesterday; I loved it.”
The Olympic Channel is live streaming The World Games and billiards will feature on July 16 and July 17 when the finals take place. A full streaming schedule and links are at https://www.theworldgames.org/pages/twg2022streaming. The match schedule, results, and live scores are at esnooker.pl
Follow @wcbsbilliards on social media for full coverage of the billiards program from our team in Birmingham, Alabama.
All year long, one pocket aficionados look forward to the biggest tournament of the year!
Held in Jefferson, LA, a suburb of New Orleans, players and fans streamed into James Leone’s Buffalo’s on Bloomfield for the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic. Local sponsors for this year’s event – Buffalo’s, PoolActionTV, Lomax Custom Cues, Joseph P. Long, Aramith, ART CO, Diamond Billiards and Fort Worth Billiards – added a total of $26,000! $20,000 was added to the Pro One Pocket, $5,000 to the Open Nine Ball and $1,000 to the One Ball One Pocket.
Some of the best one pocket players came to play including Buffalo’s house pro, defending champ and current US Open One Pocket and Midwest Open One Pocket champ Tony Chohan.He was joined by current Scotty Townsend Memorial One Pocket champ Alex Pagulayan, current Iron City One Pocket champ Josh Roberts, this year’s Derby City One Pocket and Master of the Table Fedor Gorst, last week’s Big Tyme Classic One Pocket Champ Robert Frost and last year’s One Ball One Pocket king John Morra.
Billy Thorpe and Robbie Langford
Wednesday night kicked off with the 32 player One Ball One Pocket tournament. Posting a $200 entry fee, the format was single elimination with races to four. Including the players auction, there was a total purse of $21,430!
Two-time Derby City Classic One Pocket champion, Billy Thorpe, plowed through the field on his way to the finals leaving Shane Winters, Hunter White, Josh Roberts and John Morra in his wake. The always tough Robbie Langford beat Kenny Nguyen, Mike DeLawder, Ike Runnels and Evan Lunda to get there. The final match was all Billy as he smoked Robbie 4-0 to claim the title. Congratulations, Billy! Good tournament, Robbie!
The following evening, the $2,000 entry fee double elimination one pocket event began with a rousing player auction and was followed by the players meeting and draw. Twenty eight players racing to five and competing for a record $228,600 total purse! WOW!!!
Play began with Corey Deuel edging out Justin Hall 5-4 while Fedor Gorst skunked Sky Woodward 5-0. Ike Runnels had Danny Smith down 4-0 but ended up losing the match 5-4! Josh Roberts outmoved Roberto Gomez 5-1 and Billy Thorpe escaped with a 5-4 win over Robert Frost as did Scott Frost over Alex Calderon by the same score. Chip Compton got off to a great start as he defeated Warren Kiamco 5-1.
Gorst won over Deuel 5-4, Evan Lunda spanked Earl Strickland 5-0 and Chohan beat Smith 5-3. Jeremy Seaman skunked Omar Al Shaheen 5-0 and Thorpe dusted Compton 5-2. Frost had Alex Pagulayan 3-0 and watched his opponent win five in a row to claim the match.
Fedor and Evan went down to the wire with Gorst claiming the win while Tony breezed past Jeremy 5-0. Billy started out strong against the Lion but he went down 5-2.
Down to four on the winners side, Chohan battled Gorst to a 5-3 win while Roberts kept Pagulayan off the board with a 5-0 score. Tony and Josh moved to the hot seat match where Chohan sent Roberts west to await an opponent – score 5-1.
After losing to Gorst in the third round, Lunda defeated Mike DeLawder 5-1 and Compton 5-3. Moving into his match with Pagulayan, he hung tough but Alex pulled out the win 5-4.
Calderon had a tougher road. After losing his first match, he beat Deuel 5-1, Strickland 5-2, Hunter White 5-4 and Thorpe 5-3. He went down to the case game with Gorst but was eliminated 5-4.
This set up the match between Fedor and Alex Pagulayan. A man on a mission, he defeated Gorst 5-1 and then Josh Roberts 5-2. And to the finals he went!!!
Since this was true double elimination, Alex would have to beat Tony Chohan both sets to claim the title. With tens of thousands of dollars on the line, both players put their heads down and played their hearts out.
Alex won the first two games and then Tony won three in a row. Tied again at 4-4, you could’ve heard a pin drop in the arena. Nerves got them both as they both missed makeable balls but this one is finally in the books! Tony Chohan successfully defended his title!
Alex Pagulayan and Tony Chohan
Congratulations, Tony! Great tournament, Alex!
While the Pro One Pocket was in progress, 115 players filled the house on Saturday night to play in the Open Nine Ball event. Familiar faces such as defending champ Warren Kiamco, Sky Woodward, Roberto Gomez, Corey Deuel, Omar Al Shaheen, Justin Hall, Chip Compton, Charlie Bryant, Chris Reinhold, James Baraks, Richie Richeson, Robb Saez, Shane Winters, Jeremy Seaman, Sergio Rivas, Mike DeLawder, Justin Espinosa, Joey Aguzin, Derek Fontenet, Robert Frost and Kristina Tkach joined the fray.
Played on seven foot Diamonds, players paid $100 to play in this double elimination portion of the event. The format was rack your own, alternate breaks with races to seven until down to the final sixteen players. At that point, it was single elimination – races to nine.
Omar Al Shaheen and Jeremy Seaman tied for third place. James Baraks moved into the finals to face Sky Woodward.
The finals were neck and neck until the very end! Sky won the match 9-8!!! Congratulations, Sky!! Good tournament, James!
It was a helluva week! Great pool everywhere you looked! Once again, PoolActionTV would like to thank James Leone and his staff for going the extra mile as they took care of all the players and fans.
We’d like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing a great job running the show – always with a smile on his face!
Last but not least, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors. They include ART CO, JB Cases, CR’s Sports Bar, Hanshew Jump Cues, EnviroAssessments, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore.
Our next stop is Leisure Time Billiards & Sports Bar in East Moline, IL for the $16,000 added Bar Box Classic featuring three divisions – Ten Ball, Eight Ball and One Pocket. Dates are June 1st-5th – hope to see you there!
One of the games’ greatest, Efren “Bata” Reyes will represent the Philippines alongside US Open champion Carlo Biado at the 2022 World Cup of Pool this June 14-19 at the Brentwood Centre, Essex, England with tickets available from £10.
The 2022 World Cup of Pool line-up is now complete with all 32 countries confirmed as they do battle for the lucrative prize pot of $250,000 plus the pride of representing their country in one of the sports most unique format with Germany looking to defend their title led by newly crowned World Pool Masters champion Joshua Filler and BCA Hall of Famer Thorsten Hohmann.
Great Britain’s charge for a first World Cup of Pool crown on home soil will see Great Britain A form a new pairing of two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Jayson Shaw and debutant Elliott Sanderson who was selected based on performances so far this year on the Live Nineball World Rankings. Mosconi Cup winner Imran Majid and 2012 Mosconi Cup MVP Chris Melling will represent the red, white, and blue for Great Britain B.
The USA’s assault on the title will come in the form of Nineball World No.1 and World Champion Shane Van Boening with two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Skyler Woodward whilst Austria, two-time winners of the World Cup of Pool, will see Albin Ouschan partner with Nineball World No. 5 and close friend Max Lechner.
Reyes will compete at the World Cup of Pool for the first time since 2012 when the tournament was hosted in the Philippines. The Magician is a two-time winner of the cup claiming the inaugural title in 2006 with Francisco Bustamante before repeating that result three years later on home turf.
Along with the launch of the Nineball World Rankings, the WPA received x16 allocations for various federations seeing countries make their debut this year including Peru with Christopher Tevez and Gerson Martinez as well as Argentina with Ariel Casto and Sebastian Rodriguez for a strong South American contingent. Chinese Taipei return to the fold after missing out last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will look to replicate its success of 2015 with the Ko Brothers of Pin Yi and Ping Chung pairing up.
The first 16 countries were decided by WPA federations from around the world before eight countries were selected based on the 2022 Nineball World Rankings. The final eight came as wild cards from Matchroom. Players have been selected based on both the 2022 and live 2023 Nineball World Rankings. The final team will be revealed during the final day of the UK Open Pool Championship this May 22 at the Copper Box Arena, London.
Tickets start from only £10 per session and £15 for an all-day ticket to both the afternoon and evening sessions. Fans can also enjoy the whole week of action for only £85.
Tickets
Individual Sessions – From £10
Day tickets for both sessions – From £15
Season Ticket – £85
The World Cup of Pool brings 32 nations together as two-player teams compete for national pride, the title, and their share of a $250,000 prize fund from June 14 to 19. The tournament is a straight-knockout format leaving no room for error. Germany are the reigning champions with one of the world’s best in Joshua Filler spearheading their defence. The likes of World Number One Albin Ouschan of Austria, the USA’s finest Shane Van Boening, and Great Britain’s two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Jayson Shaw will all look to lead their sides to the title over six action-packed days.
A drained Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Shane Van Boening produced a comeback for the ages as he came from 10-3 down to defeat Hall of Famer and former World Champion Mika Immonen 11-10 to reach the Last 16 of the 2022 World Pool Championship at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes. Coverage live on Sky Sports in the UK/Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria as well as Viaplay and networks worldwide.
Van Boening will face Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin Yi who downed Mosconi Cup MVP Jayson Shaw in a hill-hill finish as action heated up dramatically. Shaw had taken the early lead, but it was Pin Yi who hit back to lead 8-6 before reaching the hill first at 10-7. The Brit was never down and out though after a huge fluke on the 9 ball after he kicked the 2 ball into it and in. Pin Yi though is a former World Champion, and he showed the qualities that won him that title in 2015 to beat Shaw by a slender margin to meet Van Boening next.
Elsewhere, last year’s runner-up Omar Al Shaheen made a remarkable comeback from 10-1 down to beat Daniel Guttenberger in the last rack in the Last 32 before making lightwork of Masato Yoshioka in the Last 16 to set up a clash with Oliver Szolnoki who reached the semi-finals in 2021.
Two-time champion Thorsten Hohmann will meet fellow two-timer Albin Ouschan in the opening Last 16 match tomorrow morning on Table 1 after Hohmann knocked out Live 2023 Nineball World No.1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz in the afternoon and Ko Ping Hang in the evening. Ouschan meanwhile got the better of Nicholas De Leon and Norweigan Mats Schjetne who gave Ouschan one of his toughest matches of the tournament so far sneaking through 11-8.
Darren Appleton keeps rolling back the years overcoming Tomasz Kaplan and Lo Ho Sum only dropping three racks in the process. The former World Champion will face his sternest test to date though tomorrow against the Killer, Joshua Filler. There was drama wherever you looked at the Marshall Arena and Naoyuki Oi‘s match with Oscar Dominguez for a place in the Last 16 delivered.
Oi had cantered in front against Oscar Dominguez at 8-1 before it was the American who reached the hill first with Oi trailing by two racks at 10-8. The Japanese stalwart though showed why he renowned as one of the world’s best to book a Last 32 spot against the last remaining Pole, Konrad Juszczyszyn. Juszczyszyn proved no match for Oi who had found his groove though and now meets Chang Jung-Lin who slew Niels Feijen.
Feijen, a previous winner of the tournament himself, was frozen to his chair and 6-0 before he knew it after losing the lag, but he fought back to 6-4. It did prove to be all in vain though as Jung-Lin pushed back to make it two Chinese Taipei players in the Last 16.
Omar Al Shaheen’s Wednesday had more twists and turns than a bag of gummi worms.
Just when he looked out of it, he’d bounce back just in time to pull off a win. Just when he appeared a lock to close out a match, the Kuwaiti who finished second to Albin Ouschan at last year’s World Pool Championships stumbled, stammered and allowed his opponent back into the match.
Despite the extra drama, Al Shaheen pulled off a come-from-behind as well as a nearly-blew-it win to advance in the World 10-Ball
Championships at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, defeating Roberto Gomez and Ping-Chung Ko in hill-hill battles on the one-loss side. The Kuwaiti will now play Chris Reinhold Thursday at noon.
Facing Gomez in an 11 a.m. local time match, the two competitors split the first 10 games thanks to a handful of safety exchanges paired with an occasional missed shot. After Gomez tacked on two victories to build a 7-5 advantage and move to within a game of advancing, Al Shaheen broke and ran to cut the lead to a game then used a victorious safety battle to gut out another win and tie the score. As two competitors again traded safeties in the deciding 15th rack, Gomez committed a foul and gave his opponent a wide-open table, which the Kuwaiti took full advantage of by pocketing the remaining balls and sneaking out with an 8-7 win.
Playing against Ko later in the evening, the 2019 World 10-Ball champion turned a missed shot by his opponent into an early 3-1 lead until a missed shot of his own. Suddenly it was Al Shaheen who could do no wrong, mixing in shot making and safety play to win five straight racks and build a 6-3 advantage. Ko would use a missed 8 ball by his opponent to steal a win but Al Shaheen returned serve with a win of his own to climb onto the hill, 7-4. Much like Al Shaheen in his previous match, Ko refused to go away quietly, breaking and running to cut the deficit to 7-5, then taking advantage of a 7 ball which Al Shaheen left on the corner pocket’s shelf to cut the lead to 7-6.
After a lengthy safety exchange in the 14th game, Al Shaheen left another opening for his opponent when he committed a foul by failing to touch a rail with a ball while attempting a safety. Ko cleared the table again to tie the score at 7-7 and send the match to a deciding 15th game in which Al Shaheen had the break. The Kuwaiti pocketed a ball on the opening shot and left the cue ball and 1 ball aligned perfectly for a textbook run out, which Al Shaheen completed to escape near-collapse, 8-7.
While the pool population continues to learn about Al Shaheen and his game, spectators have been familiar with Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Darren Appleton for nearly two decades. Wednesday afternoon, Appleton defeated John Schmidt, 8-4, to advance to the final 32, part of a continued recent resurgence by the Englishman that’s seen him place in the top 10 of last month’s Wisconsin Open as well as earn a runner-up finish in last year’s World Cup of Pool as he
The two competitors battled missed shots and open opportunities throughout the match as they split the first eight games evenly. Appleton claimed the ninth rack to take a 5-4 lead and his opponent left a window of opportunity in the next game when he kicked at the 2 ball, allowing the Hall of Famer to pocket the ball then use a safety on the 3 ball to close out the rack and increase his lead to two games. He added another win when Schmidt failed to pocket a ball on the break in the 11th rack then used another safety exchange after the break to close out the match.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Eric Roberts of Tennessee and Yukio Akagariyama pulled two of the biggest upsets of the tournament Wednesday afternoon. Roberts defeated former World 9-Ball Champion Niels Feijen, 8-4, and Akagariyama took down reigning Ohio Open champion Mario He, 8-5. So, it only made sense that the two of them meet up in the next round.
It turned out to be a match where both struggled to find their top games throughout the match until the end, with Roberts gutting out an 8-7 victory. The two young competitors took turns trading missed balls and chances throughout the match as neither held a lead of more than one game throughout. With Roberts clinging to an 7-6 advantage, Akagariyama broke and ran to tie the match at seven games apiece. Roberts, who had been struggling with shot making throughout the match, saved his best for last, breaking and methodically running the balls off of the table to secure an 8-7 victory.
Competition resumes today at 10 a.m. local times with notable matches including Alex Kazakis meeting Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Pin-Yi Ko squaring off with Sharik Sayed and Jung-Lin Chang facing Alex Pagulayan.
The Predator World 10-Ball Championship runs March 28-April 1 and still to come is The Alfa Women’s Las Vegas Open, which runs March 30-April 2.
The events coincide with the CueSports International Expo, which brings thousands of amateur pool players for the BCA Pool League World Championships as well as the USA Pool League National Championships.
