Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Al Amar leads a crop of surprising players who have booked their spots in the Final 64 of the World 9-ball Championship.
(Doha, Qatar)–If the results of Day 3 at the 2015 World 9-ball Championship are any indication, change in the sport of pool is most definitely in the air.
Today’s three sessions were given over to all winners’ side matches in the 16 groups with 32 spots available in the coveted single elimination round of 64, which begins on Wednesday. Losers in Monday’s matches knew they’d be given another chance to advance on Tuesday so the brutal pressure of judgement day, where every match is do-or-die, wasn’t quite as bad. Still, five former World 9-ball champions and the current defending champion all had chances to advance today. All lost and will have to come back again for one final go on Tuesday.
It was an excellent day for the Philippines, which sent five players through, as well as China and Taiwan, which each saw four of their players advance to the knockout rounds.
With the absence this year of legends Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, Filipino overseas workers in Qatar haven’t turned out in quite the numbers that they have in the past to watch their fellow countrymen do battle. Still, Filipino fans are starting to warm up to the superb talents that are clearly ready to take their own place on the big stage.
Dennis Orcollo has won tournaments around the globe, and is a threat to win any event he enters. Orcollo faced a stingy opponent in Hosain Sayeem from Bangladesh, but overcame several errors to cruise, 9-6. Carlo Biado, another highly touted Filipino, has been knocking on the door of big time success for two years now. Biado looked impressive in his 9 – 5 win over Italy’s Daniele Corrieri.
Two young guns from the Philippines who aren’t that well known to local Pinoys, but very well could be in the coming days, are Jeffrey Ingacio and Raymond Faraon. Both youngsters possess scary-good games and they showed it today as they advanced with solid wins.
Easily the most popular Filipino at the moment in Qatar is veteran Antonio Gabica. The superbly talented Gabica moved to Qatar several years ago and works as a coach for the Qatar national pool team. Two years ago Gabica electrified both local Filipinos and Qataris when he made an incredible march to the finals, only to fall short to eventual championThorsten Hohmann. Gabica won his second straight match today to advance to the Final 64.
It’s been ten years since China’s Wu Jia Qing, then known as Wu Chia Ching and playing for Taiwan, stunned the pool world by winning the World 9-ball Championship at just 16 years old. Wu grabbed a spot in the final 64 today, easily defeating one of the Philippines best unknown players, Oliver Medenilla, 9-2.
Joining Wu in the Final 64 is one of China’s most promising young talents, Wang Can, who defeated the Netherlands’ Marc Bijsterbosch, 9 -4. Dang Jin Hu and Lee Hei Wen, two other members of the China’s government funded national pool team, advanced to the knockout stage with victories.
Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi, the current World 10-ball champion, is one of the top five favorites to win the World 9-ball Championship this year. Ko advanced today with his second straight win, beating Norway’s Matey Ullah, 9-6.
As good as the 26 year old Ko is, his younger brother, 19 year old Ko Ping Chung, has talent that is simply off the charts. The rail thin and baby faced Ping Chung seems to go hardly noticed in the arena and his unfortunate opponents tend to pay the price for thinking he can barely hold a cue. The younger Ko booked his spot in the Final 64 today with an easy win over Peru’s Christopher Teves, 9 -2.
Also making it to the Final 64 for Taiwan was last year’s semi-finalist and former world number one, Chang Yu Lung, and Wu Kun Lin.
Part of the fun of this year’s World 9-ball Championship has been witnessing the rise of some great new talents from unlikely places who are ready to make a name for themselves. Greece’s Alexander Kazakis jumped out to a 4-0 lead over defending champion Niels Feijen only to see the Dutch great claw back into the match and take it to down to a one rack decider. But the 24 year old Greek held his nerve to stave off Feijen’s fight back, and book his spot in the knockout rounds.
“I’m feeling great,” a clearly pumped Kazakis said after his win. “In the game of pool anything can happen. Even the underdog can win, especially in alternate break, just a race to 9. So it’s nice. I’m lucky for now. This win really helps my confidence. We’ll see what happens from here.”
Venezuela’s Jalal Yousef has been around the pro ranks for nearly a decade but his match today against two time World 9-ball champion Thorsten Hohmann was probably the biggest of his career. Yousef prepared himself for war and after jumping out to a sizeable lead on the German, that’s exactly what he got as the match went straight to the cliff and a one rack decider. Yousef held on for the career best victory.
“He wasn’t too lucky,” Yousef said afterwards. “ I caught the chance and I played my game and thanks to God I won. We are talking about Thorsten Hohmann. When you beat this guy in a tough match like that and you are playing your A game, that is the kind of match that gives you a lot confidence moving forward.”
Mexico will see its first player in over a decade in the Final 64 as Rueben Bautista held off Poland’s Radislaw Babica in a 9-8 thriller to advance. This is the 26 year old Mexico City native’s first World 9-ball Championship but the youngster is not short of experience. He’s been traveling the world for the last two years, including spending two months in the Philippines, honing his game.
One of the biggest surprises of the day came from a country not normally associated with producing world class pool talents. Abdulrahman Al Amar, a 27 year old from Saudi Arabia, played a brilliant match against the Philippines and world number 12 Johan Chua. Al Amar, who is ranked number one in Saudi, and third in the Middle East, battled toe to toe with the Filipino and outfoxed Chua at the end to win 9-7. It’s only the second time ever that a player from Saudi Arabia has advanced to the Final 64.
“I played very good today,” Al Amar said. But I was really nervous. For one month I was practicing very hard. My goal was to get a good finish in the tournament so I’m very happy to qualify for the final 64. From here I will do my best. Just one game at a time.”
For the first time in many years, the USA will have two players in the knockout rounds. Mike Dechaine, playing in his first World 9-ball Championship, took down former world champion Daryl Peach, 9-5. Shane Van Boening also won going away, beating Great Britain’s Richard Jones by the same score.
“My break is working really well,” Van Boening said afterward. ”I need to work on a few shots to be more comfortable. I need to go practice more.
“This is the only tournament on my belt that I haven’t won yet. I’ve pretty much won every tournament there is to win, except this. It would mean a lot to me. If I win the World 9-ball then I can just say to myself, ‘mission accomplished.’”
Several former champions made it through as Mika Immonen continued to impress with a 9-5 win over Germany’s Oliver Ortmann. Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama looked good in his 9-6 win over Taiwan’s Yang Ching Shun.
Play continues on Tuesday with the final round of the group stages. All matches will be do or die as players vie for the last 32 spots in the single elimination round of 64, which begins on Wednesday. The semi-finals and finals will be held on Friday September 18th.
**The 2015 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Al Arabi Sports Club Sports Club in Doha, Qatar from September 7-18, 2015. The winner of the 2015 World 9-ball Championship will receive $30,000. The runner up will receive $15,000. The total prize fund is $200,000.
The players will be competing on Wiraka New Model Tables with Simonis 860 Cloth, Electric Blue Color and using Aramith Super Pro TV Balls.
The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), which is once again hosting and organizing the World 9-ball Championship, will be providing free live streaming of the entire tournament, in cooperation with Kozoom. Fans can watch the action live on the QBSF website at, http://live.qbsf.qa/. With all 14 tables streamed live, fans can select which table they want to watch and switch between tables at their convenience.
The WPA will be on hand in Doha throughout this year’s World 9-ball Championship providing up to the minute information, live scoring, photographs and in depth articles with insights and analysis from WPA Press Officer Ted Lerner.
Amidst some of the toughest competition ever assembled, pool's best shine on day 1 of the World 9-ball Championship in Doha.
(Doha, Qatar)–Like all the top players, Canada’s John Morra just wanted to get out of the starting gates on Day 1 of the 2015 World 9-ball Championship with a win. A loss on the first day of group play can be a total downer as you’re now suddenly faced with a pressure packed, do-or-die match in the double elimination format. If you don’t get your head in the game and your game in gear, you can quickly be headed for the exits in a New York second, you’re dreams of pool glory gone for another 12 months.
That’s the prospect the 26 year old from Toronto surely faced as he found himself down 6-1 and then 7-3 and playing miserably in his opening race to 9 match against Austria’s tough Mario He. Morra, however, has built up a steady stream of high finishes in the last 18 months and understood that winning in championship pool often requires patience, a positive attitude, and the ability to pounce when you’re opponent shows even the slightest bit of weakness.
And so when the big Austrian made a few mistakes, and showed his disgust with himself, Morra took it as his cue that he had life remaining. Slowly Morra fought back, gained confidence, while He became more frustrated with the mounting mistakes. Tied at 8-8 Morra had the Austrian by the throat, played a lockdown safety, and won the match 9-8.
“I was down 7-3, I just couldn’t find my stroke,” a clearly pumped Morra said after match. “I was getting some bad rolls and that’s expected when you’re not playing well. I just clawed my way back game by game. I was saying to myself ‘you’re going to get your opportunities so just stay calm.’ I started breaking well and I trusted my instincts under the pressure and just committed to each shot. Every little mistake he made gave me energy because he was getting upset with himself. I just fed off of that.”
Having turned near failure into opportunity and success, the talented Canadian suddenly feels the experience bodes well for his chances this year.
“I feel like I have a new life now. I was facing defeat and then maybe elimination if I lose my next one so that would’ve been a lot of pressure. But I managed to come back and win. So now I can just come out and play without pressure because I had my back against the ropes and I didn’t expect to win that one but I did.”
Morra’s gritty victory was easily the comeback of the day as the 2015 World 9-ball Championship got under way with 36 matches played out over four sessions at the sparkling Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha. Fans used to stunning upsets in the early going in this event got nothing of the sort. What they did get was a quick reminder of the sheer amount of incredible talent from all corners of the globe and that over the next week, we are surely going to be treated to some of the highest level of pool ever seen.
Defending champion Niels Feijen found himself down 3-0 early to Qatar-based Filipino Francisco Felicilda, who has recently been playing some of the best pool in the Middle East. But the Dutchman stormed back and played brilliantly, routing the talented Pinoy 9 – 4. Only one player in history, Earl Strickland, has ever won back to back World 9-ball titles. Feijen’s opening salvo today showed he has every intention of trying to become the second player to accomplish the feat.
Plenty of other top names and favorites looked exceptional today as well. Mika Immonen has been showing his old Hall of Fame form in the last few weeks. The Finn put in a terrific performance today against another solid Qatar based Filipino, Amir Rota, winning handily 9-4. Last year’s runner-up Albin Ouschan of Austria won handily. Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi, the current World 10-ball champion, won easily over Estonia’s Denis Grabe, 9-2. Ko’s 19 year old brother Ko Pin Chung looked solid in defeating Sweden’s Marcus Chamat. Former 9-ball champion and legend Ralf Souquet squeaked by Taiwan’s Chang Jung Lin, 9-8. American Shane Van Boeing struggled against the UAE’s Omran Salem but eventually prevailed 9-6. The Philippines’ Carlo Biado, who has been knocking on the door of big time success in the last two years, also saw victory today.
While Biado represents the best of the younger generation of great Pinoys, 45 year old Warren Kiamco is ably carrying the flag for the older generation of Filipino greats, especially with the absence of legends Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante. As expected Kiamco easily beat Norway’s Vegar Kristiansen today.
Filipino fans looking for one of their own to go far can surely look to the low key Kiamco to deliver the goods this week. The 20 year veteran has been playing the best pool of his long career this year, as evidenced by his win at the Derby City 9-ball event back in January and quarter final finish at the World 10-ball in February. Kiamco, who spends nearly five months out of the year honing his game in the US, says his recent resurgence in pool is a result of a renewed commitment to the sport.
“I’m dedicated to this game,” Kiamco said. “I’m still practicing hard for the tournaments and also I’m quite disciplined and focused on my game. I need it. I have to make a living. This is the job that I know. I am also a member of the Philippine national team so I need to practice hard.
“In 2006 I stopped playing pool for a while but I got a new interest in pool. And now I practice all the time because I really want to do well. But in the World 9-ball you need to not just play good, you also need luck. If I can win this tournament that would really mean a lot to me. This is one of my dreams to be a world champion some day. But it’s really tough. Too many good players, too many young players. And you have to be able to compete with all of them.”
Mike DechaineOne of those young players Kiamco could be referring to is the USA’s Mike Dechaine. Except for Shane Van Boening, top Americans have been scarce at the World 9-ball Championship for six years running, a sorry fact that nobody in pool wants to see continue. The 28 year old from the US state of Maine has been one of the USA’s best players for the last several years, and his recent string of near misses seems to indicate he is on to something big. This is the young American’s first ever time to play in the World 9-ball Championship. After defeating Chile’s Alejandro Carvajal today 9-4, Dechaine said he was thrilled with the experience and that it will be the first of many testing the waters overseas.
“I played Ok but not as good as I wanted to, probably 60 to 70 percent, but I’m just getting over my first World 9-ball Championship jitters,” Dechaine said. “I’m very pleased with the atmosphere, it’s incredible. You’ve got a big arena, every table is in perfect condition and they do it right here. The atmosphere is right. The jet leg is what hurts me but hopefully I’ll get past that and do well.
“I’m trying to expand my horizons. I want to start traveling a lot more overseas and getting more experience playing in different atmospheres and playing against different people who have different techniques. I think more of these trips are going to be in the future. I think I’m going to team up with Shane, maybe go to Moscow, go to Japan.
“I definitely think I can win this tournament. I play rotation pool with the best in the world. I think it comes down to the break. It’s very important that you get a shot after the break. That’s a little bit of luck. I just have to think positive and continue to make balls.”
The group stages continue on day 2 on Sunday at the Al Arabi Sports Club. Players in the remaining 4 groups will play their first round matches followed by losers bracket matches which will see two dozen players head for the exits.
**The 2015 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Al Arabi Sports Club Sports Club in Doha, Qatar from September 7-18, 2015. The winner of the 2015 World 9-ball Championship will receive $30,000. The runner up will receive $15,000. The total prize fund is $200,000.
The players will be competing on Wiraka New Model Tables with Simonis 860 Cloth, Electric Blue Color and using Aramith Super Pro TV Balls.
The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), which is once again hosting and organizing the World 9-ball Championship, will be providing free live streaming of the entire tournament, in cooperation with Kozoom. Fans can watch the action live on the QBSF website at, http://live.qbsf.qa/. With all 14 tables streamed live, fans can select which table they want to watch and switch between tables at their convenience.
The WPA will be on hand in Doha throughout this year’s World 9-ball Championship providing up to the minute information, live scoring, photographs and in depth articles with insights and analysis from WPA Press Officer Ted Lerner.
Fans can interact with us through the WPA’s official Facebook Page for the event at this link;https://www.facebook.com/wpaworld9ballchampionship
All eight contenders for the five USA Team spot together with M.Wilson and A.Pishad
With just six weeks to go until the 21st annual PartyPoker Mosconi Cup breaks off at the Tower Circus in Blackpool, Team USA skipper Mark Wilson has named his five players to take on the huge task of winning back pool’s most prestigious team trophy.
Having assembled a squad of eight players at the start of the year, Wilson has now reduced that to the five players who will do battle against their European counterparts. They are:
In order to maximise their chances of glory, Wilson will be bringing the whole squad to Blackpool with the three non-playing members filling very specific roles as he leaves no stone unturned.
Jeremy Sossei is tasked as Offensive Coordinator in the build up and during the event while Oscar Dominguez fulfils the role of Defensive Coach. The eighth member of the squad Brandon Shuff has a technical role as Special Shots Instructor.
Commented Mark Wilson, “Despite having to name the five playing members we are still eight strong and are a family pushing for the ultimate goal. I sincerely could have drawn the names at random and been well pleased, proud, and willing to put it all on the line.
“These guys have all unilaterally improved both on and off the table and represent the sport into the new era.
“Today we are beginning the final stages of preparation with even more urgency and intensity. The guys have all contributed and sacrificed for the entire year and I sincerely appreciate all of their collective efforts now and moving forward. The team and staff are excited and prepared for the ultimate challenge of Mosconi Cup XXI.”
In addition to the eight players and Captain Mark Wilson, Don Wardell MD assists as Vice-Captain while retired Navy SEAL Lt. Commander Amir Pishdad is added to the team as Vice-Captain.
The 2014 PARTYPOKER.COM Mosconi Cup is sponsored by PartyPoker.com, the world's leading online poker site. The Official Table of the Mosconi Cup is supplied by Diamond Billiards, the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue and Mosconi Cup clothing is supplied by Universe.
World Cup of Pool Champion Karl Boyes (GBR) just ensured that Denis Grabe (EST) tasted defeat for the first time in three events, winning the match in the winner’s qualification round of the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open Euro-Tour with 9:7.
The match was a head-to-head clash between two premium representatives of the game. Boyes just got in from England, having won the prestigious World Cup of Pool together with his partner Darren Appleton. Grabe has the wind of the consecutive Euro-Tour victories under his wings. The writing was on the wall that this match would be a clash of the titans. And that’s what it turned out to be. Both players performed high class pool and none of the two was able to gain a remarkable lead over the other. At 5:5, Boyes managed to win three racks in a row to get on the hill with 8:5. That put enormous pressure on Grabe. But he was not finished yet. He struck back and got to 7:8 when Boyes ran out and won the match with 9:7. Boyes is qualified for the final 32 players single elimination stage tonight while Grabe needs another victory on the loser’s side.
„The Tornado“ Tony Drago (MLT) wrestled down Oliver Ortmann (GER) with 9:6 in the same round. More results from the winner’s qualification round include
The single elimination round of the final 32 players will begin tonight at 20:30 CET. Until then, the players on the loser’s side will try to stay alive in the event and get drawn to the 16 winners.
Three out of 11 tables can be watched LIVE throughout the event on www.kozoom.com. The event will be hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion, IBP. For further information, please check the event website at www.eurotouronline.com or contact the EPBF press office at press@epbf.com
Great Britain’s Karl Boyes has been on a tough mission in this Dynamic Billard Slovenian Open so far. Yesterday, he defeated Ralf Souquet (GER) with 9:3. Then, he won over Adam Mscisz (POL) 9:1, probably the only „easy“ match so far. Today, he fell to the sharp blade of „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) 3:9 in the winner’s qualification round. He went on the loser’s side just to mert Ralf Souquet again. There, he was having a comfortable lead when Souquet started pulling back rack after rack from him. He broke at 8:7 in his favor and the 9-ball went in the pocket. That brought „The Grinder“ to the round of the last 32 players. There, Boyes met another heavyweight in David Alcaide (ESP). He remained the upper hand in that match and will not meet last Euro-Tour’s winner Denis Grabe (EST) in the round of the last 16 players which will be played tomorrow morning at10:00 CET. Grabe had ousted Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) 9:7 earlier.
It is also remarkable that Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) is among the best 16 players of the event. She lost to her brother yesterday but came back strong. While Albin made his way over the winner’s side with victories over Richard Jones (GBR) 9:4 and in the single elimination Joshua Filler (AUT) 9:5, Jasmin had a bit more work to do. She got the better of Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) 9:4, Michael Schneider (SUI) 9:1 and Roman Hybler (CZE) 9:5 to earn a spot among the best 32 players of the event. She met Michal Turkowski (POL) and added him to the list of her victims with 9:4 to enter the round of the last 16 players, just like her brother Albin. There she will face Mark Gray (GBR) who won 9:5 over his fellow countryman Daryl Peach (GBR).
Mats Schjetne (NOR) delivered a huge upset to the tournament. He ousted „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) in the round of the final 3 players with 9:7. That victory was completely unheralded. Schjetne was drawn in the match with Feijen. He came from the loser’s side.
Today saw the end of many great players in the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open. Former World Champions like Daryl Peach and Oliver Ortmann did not even get to the single elimination stage here in St. Johann, Austria.
One of the players who did make it was Polish youngster Wojciech Szewczyk. He had to deal with local hero Albin Ouschan in the round of the final 32 players. The match started Szewczyk’s way. He took a quick lead and benefitted from Ouschan’s mistakes. The more mistakes Ouschan committed, the better Szewczyk got going. But at the score of 6:2, Szewczyk played a bad mistake on the 7-ball and gave the rack to Ouschan. The Austrian got second life and brought some excitement back into the match. After 13 racks, Szewczyk’s lead was down to one rack, 7:6. But he stayed calm and went on the hill, winning the rack 8:6. Then, the next rack brought some safety and tactical action. Again Szewczyk turned out to play the better shots and won the match with 9:6. „I am so happy I won the match, even after I have made that severe mistake at 6:2“ said Szewczyk afterwards. „My game collapsed and I am happy that I could still win“, added the Polish player.
Another remarkable clash in the round of the final 32 players was the match between #1 ranked player Nick Van Den Berg (NED) and Fabio Petroni (ITA). After 9 racks, Petroni was leading 6:3. But van den Berg never gives in and is rightfully leading the European rankings. He turned the match and won with 9:7. In an encounter between two very experienced players, Stephan Cohen (FRA) had the better end over Richard Jones (GBR), winning with 9:8.
The Euro-Tour men’s event will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 am local time. At 09:00 am local time, the women will start with their tournament.
All results and more info can be found on www.eurotouronline.eu and www.eurotourwomenonline.eu . LIVEStream of 9 tables can be viewed at www.kozoom.com.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.eurotouronline.eu or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Probably the most famous casualty of day 1 of the Dynamic Billard Austrian open in Hotel Alpina, St. Johann, Austria, is BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER). He lost two straight matches against Maksim Dudanets (RUS) with 7:9 and then to completely unheralded Andreas Koukiadakis (GRE) also with 8:9 after being in the lead with 8:4. After having won the last Euro-Tour in Kyrenia, North Cyprus, this is a huge disappointment for the German superstar.
Other notable results from today include Belgium’s Serge Das losing to Dudanets with 8:9 in his first round match. Then, he remained victorious over Michel Bartol from Croatia with the same result. According to the information on Das’ Facebook page, his opponent dogged some important shots during the 17th rack and allowed Das to stay in the tournament.
Another remarkable result was the 9:2 victory of Radoslaw Babica (POL) over Alan Cuartero (PHI). The filipino player came here with team Kuwait to play his first Euro-Tour event. Cuartero can be regarded as one of the better filipino players. Both players had huh respect for one another before the match and they knew they would not get an easy task. However, Babica played rock solid while Cuartero missed shots and also did not get the flow to his game. In the end, Babica played some tough shots while Cuartero missed too many occasions to score. the 9:2 final result for Babica is absolutely justified. Richard Jones (GBR) got the better of Fabio Petroni (ITA) in the first winner’s round and won the match with 9:7. Nr. 1 and 2 ranked players Nick Van Den Berg and Niels Feijen (both NED) have won all their matches so far and seem to be right on track for another good result in this year’s Euro-Tour.
The Euro-Tour event will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 am local time.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation websitewww.eurotouronline.eu or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
The final match between started with a dominant phase from van den Berg. He ran out the first two racks and the capitalized from a mistake from Skowerski, turning the scoreboard to 3:0 after only 13 minutes. Then van den Berg scratched on his own break and allowed Skowerski to open up his account with 3:1. The next racks were equally shared and after 8 racks the score was 5:3 for van den Berg with Skowerski’s break shot coming up. At that point in time, van den Berg seemed to lose his domination in the match a bit. Skowerski broke the 9-ball and came within one point to van den Berg. The tide seemed to turn in the match. But van den Berg took his time-out and tried to remain cool. After 11 racks, the score was only 6:5 in favor of the Dutch. Rack 12 turned out to be the main rack in the match. Van den Berg snookered Skowerski with a good safety shot and forced him to commit a foul. Then van den Berg ran the rack to gain a two-point lead at 7:5. Rack 13 and 14 were again dominated by safety play from both side with van den Berg having the better outcome on his end. Finally, the result was 9:5 in favor of van den Berg who took the second Euro-Tour title in a row. He also won the final Euro-Tour in 2013 which also took place in Treviso, Italy. „I think it must be the food or the air here“, said van den Berg with a big smile on his face after the awards ceremony. „I really feel well here even though I struggled with a bad jet lag“, van den Berg added, „but my coaches Sjaak and Johnny helped me a lot to improve my game ad the mental aspects of it“. According to the statistics, van den Berg had a break ratio (break shots with balls down) of 100% and a break efficiency (shot on the lowest numbered ball after the break) of 43%. Skowerski had 86% ratio and 33% efficiency.
Karol Skowerski had to deal with Mark Gray (GBR) in the semi-final. The match was totally leveled and both players competed at equal strength. It were the little things that made the difference in the match. Skowerski was a bit more consistent in his re-safes and his position play regarding safety shots. In the end, this created the advantage he needed to win the semi-final with 9:7.
In the other semi-final, Nick van den Berg dominated his opponent and fellow countryman Niels Feijen (NED). Surprisingly, the match was only open in the early stage. After six racks, the score was tied at 3:3. Then both players seemed to be a bit out of focus and allowed some mistakes to interfere with their strong performance. Van den Berg was the first one to get back on track and collected rack after rack. Feijen seemed to be left in the dark. He could not find the answer to his opponent and finally had to accept that van den Berg was the better player today, winning clearly with 9:4.
The quarter-final matches all finished with the same result today. 9:6 was good for van den Berg over Tomasz Kaplan (POL). Feijen ended Mateusz Sniegocki (POL), Skowerski won over Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) and Gray allowed Chris Melling (GBR) to go home early.
In the round of the last 16 players, Marco Dorenburg’s (GER) quest ended here in Treviso. The German junior player who had ousted some top players yesterday including former World 9-Ball Champion Daryl Peach (GBR) lost relatively clear to Tomasz Kaplan from Poland with 3:9. Nick van den Berg and Niels Feijen both won their matches clearly with 9:5 and 9:4 over Radoslaw Babica (POL) and Karl Boyes (GBR). Mateusz Sniegocki eliminated #2 ranked player Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) with 9:4. Albin Ouschan (AUT) committed a fatal error at 7:7 in his match with Karol Skowerski. Instead of getting on the hill, he dogged the 9-ball and allowed Skowerski to get to 8 racks first. That mistake obviously broke his neck in the match and Skowerski won with 9:7. Nikos Ekonomopoulos ousted the final remaining Italian player of the Italian Open. He defeated Pietro Caperna (ITA) quite clearly with 9:2. Chris Melling powered over Serge Das (BEL) with 9:6. In the all-British clash between Mark Gray and Richard Jones (GBR), Gray remained the upper hand and took care of Jones with 9:6.
Kyrenia, North Cyprus: As the final curtain slowly falls on day one of the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open in Kyrenia, Turkish North Cyprus, the first players have exited the tournament having received two losses already.
Richard Jones (GBR) is not among those unlucky lads. He unexpectedly lost to Daniele Corrieri (ITA) this afternoon but stayed alive in the tournament with a 9:6 victory over Tom Bjerke (NOR). He will have to win another match over Ramazan Akdag (TUR) today to read his name on tomorrow's tournament brackets. Many of the players who already exited the event are local. Three of the biggest names in North Cypriot pool had an appearance in the loser's round with only one of them standing tall after the rounds.
Berk Mehmetcik (TNC) was the "lucky" one to remain in the tournament with a convincing victory over his fellow countryman Huseyin Alnar with 9:6. Onuc Altur (TNC) first had to deal with his older brother Orcun Altur and defeated him 9:5. However, in the next round Onuc Altur got defeated by Kristoffer Mindreboe (NOR) with 9:5. Another big loss for North Cyprus today was Huseyin Borankan who fell with 6:9 to Thomas Poeschl (GER).
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website http://www.eurotouronline.eu or contact our press office.
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)
