Finland’s Casper Matikainen takes down the defending champion in wild day in Doha as 32 players set for a sprint to the World 9-ball crown.
Casper Matikainen
Finland’s Casper Matikainen came into his round of 64 match at the World 9-ball Championship today versus the defending champion and world number 1 Joshua Filler feeling relaxed and ready for battle. He figured the German great would bring his usual fire, but he also knew that Filler might also take his eye off the proverbial ball. After all, the 23 year old Finn wasn’t exactly the most feared name in a field of absolute monsters.
So even when the self-described “King” of pool jumped out to a 4-1 lead, Matikainen never lost hope, as Filler had gotten a few lucky rolls and wasn’t playing all that great, while the Finn had a few rolls go against him.
The mental strategy soon started to bear fruit for the cool-headed blonde. Slowly, and increasingly surely, Matikainen crawled even, and then took the lead while at the same time Filler started to get sloppy, lose focus and even showed some signs of panic. From 4-1 down Matikainen calmly won 9 out of the next ten frames. After a brief hiccup on the hill that allowed Filler to claim two quick racks, the steady Finn held his nerve and closed out the biggest shock of the tournament so far, an 11-7 upset of the defending champion.
“He’s the world champion and he’s playing and I’m not there in the big tournaments and maybe he’s thinking it’s an easy win,” the 22 year old Matikainen said afterward. “I felt that Joshua had the pressure because he’s the world champion and I was really relaxed at the table and that helped me and I just got it done.”
Matikainen’s massive win was but one huge result on a dramatic day in Doha that saw some of pool’s biggest names dumped out, while others were taken to the absolute limits. With the field now down to the final 32, the next two days promises to be one of the most exciting and fascinating Battle Royale’s of 9-ball we’ve seen in years.
America’s Shane Van Boening had come to Doha a heavy favorite this year and for good reason. His last three starts here ended with two runner ups and a spot in the semis last year. But several early mistakes against Taiwan’s Liu Ri Teng was all it took for the Taiwanese to grab a commanding lead at 10-4. The American mounted a valiant fight back, but the alternate break format meant the hole was too deep. Liu sent Van Boening packing in the round of 64 with a humbling 11-8 defeat.
After his runner up finish at the US Open in Las Vegas last April, former champion Wu Jiaqing figured to go far here in Doha. But Wu came up against fellow compatriot Xu Xiaocong, who is one of a slew of quality young talents coming out of China. Xu has impressed all week here and against Wu he turned his game up several notches, crushing the former Boy Wonder 11-5.
The Taiwanese are almost sure to have one, possibly two players in the semis after tomorrow as Team Taipei looked absolutely marvelous today. It isn’t easy picking a favorite out of these world beaters but World 10-ball Champion Ko Ping Chung would probably be at the top of most punters betting sheets. The slightly built and painfully shy 22 year old is clearly at the top of his game but he even he barely escaped in a harrowing match against Hungary’s talented Oliver Szolnoki.
Szolnoki, another bright European prospect, played the match of his young career and had “Little” Ko on the ropes, shooting out to a 7-3, then 8-5 lead. The fresh-faced Hungarian reached the hill first, but Ko then displayed the courage and guts that only champions can pull off. In a nervy and tense sudden death rack, the Taiwanese made a series of surreal pressure shots to eek out the victory.
Little Ko’s older brother and two-time former world champion Pin Yi also won today, easily defeating Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama, 11-5. Fellow Taiwanese Chang Jung Lin, Chang Yu Lung, Lin Wu Kun and Kevin Chang all won their round of 64 matches today. In all seven Taiwanese made it through to the round of 32.
2016 World 9-ball champion Albin Ouschan of Austria looks to be in very fine form this year, as he easily defeated Taiwan’s Lin Ta Li 11-5. Fellow Austrian Max Lechner continued his rise this year with an 11-4 win over Lithuania’s Pijus Labutis.
The Russian contingent also put in solid performances today. Veteran Ruslan Chinakhov took down American Corey Duel 11-3, while youngster Fedor Gorst stayed alive with an 11-8 win over Slovakia’s Jakub Koniar.
2012 World 9-ball Champion Darren Appleton has been quietly playing himself back into game shape over the last few months and his solid victory today over Albanian star and European Mosconi team member Eklent Kaci could be a portent for the rest of the field. The Englishman battled back from a 4-0 deficit, and then turned the screws on the Albanian for a quality 11-6 win. In his remarkable heyday from 2008 to 2015, Appleton famously grinded out championships by the truckload and that bulldog mentality definitely was on display this afternoon.
The Philippines had only three players in the final 64 but all three made it through today. 2017 World 9-ball champion Carlo Biado got taken to the limit by Qatari veteran Bashar Hussein, before breaking and running the last rack for an 11-10 win. Also winning today for the Team Pinoy were Johann Chua and Jeffrey Ignacio.
The Polish contingent has been getting stronger by the year and they showed their quality today with three of their stars pushing through to the final 32. Mieszko Fortunski, Wojciech Szewczyk, and Mateusz Sniegocki all won handily.
Also advancing today were the USA’s Billy Thorpe, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, China’s Liu Haitao, Greece’s Alexander Kazakis, Spain’s Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Estonia’s Dennis Grabe, England’s Chris Melling, Canada’s Alex Pagulayan, Qatar’s Waleed Majid, Vietnam’s Do The Kien, and Hong Kong’s young upstart Yip Kin Ling.
The penultimate day of the World 9-ball championship will be extremely busy as the field will be whittled down to the final four at the end of the days’ action.
Play on day 3, Monday, Dec. 16th will begin at 10am Doha time(GMT +3). All matches will be single elimination knockout race to 11, alternate break.
The winner of the 2019 World 9-ball Championship will receive $30,000. The total prize fund is $150,00.
*The 2019 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Qatar from December 10-17, 2019. The event is hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by the World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.
Fans around the world will be able to view live scoring, results, brackets and live streaming of many of the matches via the QBSF’s free live streaming platform at esnooker.pl. Multiple tables will be available to view online at no charge to the public.
Results Final 64
Casper Matikainen(FIN) 11 – 7 Joshua Filler(GER)
Yip Kin Ling(HKG) 11 – 5 John Morra(CAN)
If the first day’s play of the 2019 World 9-ball Championship is any indication–and by all measures it certainly is just that–then fans around the world better be prepared for a wild roller coaster ride over the next three days. Drama, upsets, nerves, revelations, suprises, excitement and downright brilliant 9-ball at the highest levels were all on display as play commenced in the 28th running of pool’s premier crown. And with a loaded field just getting warmed up, it’s only going to get better leading to the final on Tuesday.
With 64 matches played on 16 tables at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Day 1 saw 32 players book their spots in the final 64 knockout stage which begins Sunday. None of the 96 players have yet to see the exits, but there were plenty of upsets, near upsets, and upstarts making their mark on pool’s biggest stage.
The top 32 seeds were given a bye in the first round of their groups, so these players only had to win one match to reach the single elimination knockout rounds. Defending champion Joshua Filler of Germany did just that, but not before a shaky start which saw him tied at 4-4 in the race to 9 alternate break match against Qatari veteran Bashar Hussain. The World number one was never in trouble, though, and cruised to a 9-5 win.
2017 champion and runner up last year Carlo Biado of the Philippines didn’t fair as well as he got dumped over to the one loss side of his group with a shocking 9-3 loss to Chile’s Enrique Rojas. It was Rojas’ second straight victory of the day, the first coming over Kuwait’s Abdullah Alyusef. Rojas now books his well deserved spot in the Final 64 tomorrow.
The USA’s Shane Van Boening is one of the favorites here this week, but he looked a bit cold early on in his match with young talented Chinese player Xu Xiaocong. Xu is part of a large crop coming from China’s youth movement and he had the American down three quarters of the way through their match. But SVB pulled it together at the last minute and squeaked by the Chinese, 9-8. Xu will get one more chance on Sunday.
Fellow American and Mosconi teammate Billy Thorpe also booked his spot in the final 64 with a 9-5 win over Canada’s Stephen Holem.
It was a solid day for team Taiwan. World 10-ball Champion Ko Ping Chung went up against Myamar’s rising star Phone Myint Kyaw, who also goes by the moniker, Muang Muang. Kyaw is a player that pool fans will want to pay attention to. He’s a former snooker player who has been winning regularly on the brutally tough Chinese 8-ball circuit, and he just grabbed two gold medals in the Southeast Asian games in Manila. His stroke is one of the most solid in the game and anyone who watches him play instantly can see the potential in this young man.
But of course, Ko is a young prodigy who has already proven his metal in American pool with his recent win at the World 10-ball in July in Vegas. Little Ko didn’t have much trouble with Muang Muang, winning handily, 9-4.
Little Ko will join his older brother Pin Yi in the final 64, who defeated the always stingy Jalal Al Sarisi of Venezuela, 9-4. Other Taiwanese cruising into the final 64 include Chang Jung Lin, Chang Yu Lung, and Kevin Cheng.
The Philippines is surprisingly unrepresented in Doha this year with only four players in the field. With Biado losing early it was up to Johann Chua and Jeffrey Ingacio to save the day for the Pinoys. Both looked the goods and nabbed spots in the final 64.
It was a mixed bag for the European Mosconio Cup team. Greece’s Alexander Kazakis is one of Europe’s top bets here this week and he qualified for the knockout round with an easy 9-5 win over Qatar’s Waleed Majid. But Albania’s Eklent Kaci and former World 9-ball Champion Niels Feijen of the Netherlands weren’t so fortunate. Kaci lost big to the Netherlands’ Ivar Saris, who had earlier looked solid in a 9-6 win over Poland’s Karol Skowerski. Feijen went down to upstart Hong Konger Yip Kin Ling, 9-7, who took his spot in the Final 64 with his second win of the day.
The surprises kept coming throughout the day. Lithuania’s Pijus Labutis first squeaked by Peru’s Gerson Martinez, 9-8. Then he took on former World 9-ball Champion Wu Jiaqing, and shocked the Chinese great with a 9-7 upset, and a spot in the knockout rounds.
Also booking a spot in the final 64 was Canada’s John Morra, who continued his return to fine form with a 9-8 win over Poland’s Mateusz Sniegocki. Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp showed that he’s clearly a dark horse to watch here in Doha with a 9-4 drubbing of China’s talented Dang Jinhu. England’s Chris Melling came back from 6-2 down to defeat Vietnam’s Do The Kien, 9-7. Also advancing today were Japan’s Naoyuki Oi, Austria’s Max Lechner, China’s Lui Haitao, Estonia’s Dennis Grabe, Finland’s Petri Makkonen, Germany’s Ralf Souquet, and Spaniards David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.
Play on day 2 on Sunday, Dec. 14th will begin at 10am Doha time(GMT +3). The field will be whittled down to 64 players playing single elimination knockout race to 11. The round of 64 will be completed in the first two session, and by the end of the day, the field will be down to the final 32.
The winner of the 2019 World 9-ball Championship will receive $30,000. The total prize fund is $150,00.
*The 2019 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Qatar from December 10-17, 2019. The event is hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by the World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.
Fans around the world will be able to view live scoring, results, brackets and live streaming of many of the matches via the QBSF’s free live streaming platform at esnooker.pl. Multiple tables will be available to view online at no charge to the public.
With a grand finale performance that spoke of true greatness and warrior, Carlo Biado capped an amazing week in Indonesia, winning the 10-ball Jogja Open International Billiard Tournament 2018 with a brilliant 13-11 win over compatriot Jundel Mazon in front of crazy billiards fanatics at the Rama Billiard in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
"First of all I would like to thank God for winning this prestigious international billiard tournament. My wife, who is always beside me and my relative and friends as well." said the 34-year-old Biado of La Union who became the fifth Filipino to ever win the men's world championships title, and the first since Francisco "Django" Bustamante in 2010, finishing on top of a competition that saw 128 players from over 40 countries compete for the top prize by beating countryman Roland Garcia, 13-5, in the 2017 World 9-Ball Championship held at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar last December.
On the road to an-all Filipino finals here at the 10-ball Jogja Open, Biado needed to beat Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 11-5, in the semi-final matches while Mazon toppled another Filipinio entry Hushley Jusayan, 11-9, in another final four match-up.
For winning the 2018 10-ball Jogja Open, Biado pocketed $12,000. Mazon took home $6,000 while Jusayan received $2,000.
With the victory, Biado, Mazon and Jusayan's performance boosted the nation's morale, said International Billiards and Snooker Champion "Marvelous" Marlon Manalo.
“Once again our flag has been raised in this foreign land after knowing that our Filipino kababayans Carlo Biado, Jundel Mazon and Hushley Jusayan completed the country’s domination (top three winners) in the just ended 10-ball Jogja Open International Billiard Tournament 2018 last Sunday," said Marlon Manalo, National Press Relation Officer (PRO) of League of Barangays of the Philippines.
"Carlo, Jundel and Husayan's victory could not have come at a better time. He gives us something to cheer for," added Barangay Malamig chairman Marlon Manalo, the incumbent ABC president in Mandaluyong City
Dennis Orcollo (Photo courtesy of Dong Secuya/philboxing.com)
The Philippines Dennis Orcollo wins his second straight 9-8 match in as many days to advance to the knockout stage of the 2015 World 10-ball Championship in General Santos City.
Filipino pool players have a standard answer when asked by the media, “How did you play?” Even if they just played the greatest round of pool in the history of the sport, the comeback will invariably be a humble, “I’m just lucky.”
World number 7 Dennis Orcollo is definitely not being humble today as he profusely thanks the pool gods for the good fortune he’s been the beneficiary of here in General Santos City in the southern Philippines. For the second straight day Orcollo pulled a great escape from what looked like sure defeat, winning 9-8 yet again, and advancing to the single elimination round of 64 at the 2015 World 10-ball Championship.
Playing against Pampanga’s Roland Garcia, Orcollo looked to be cruising into the knockout stages with an 8-5 lead in the race to 9 alternate break match. Garcia, though, stormed back and had only five balls left on the table for the win when, inexplicably, he touched and moved the 8-ball with his hand while lining up a shot on the five ball. Orcollo leapt out of his chair, said a quick thank you to his Lord, and cleared the colors for the win.
“I’m really lucky today,” Orcollo said afterwards and this time you knew he meant it. “I didn’t think I would even get back to the table. I still can’t believe I won that match.”
31 other players are feeling as relieved as Orcollo as they also booked their spots in the final 64 which begins on Wednesday evening. For another 32 players, however, the dream of world pool glory crashed and burned as they each suffered their second defeat in as many days, which meant they were eliminated from the event.
The field for the final 64 will be filled after the first three sessions tomorrow in what promises to be a day of drama and nerves. Judgement Day in championship pool often makes otherwise reasonable men lose their minds, as the prospect of possibly being in contention for a world title suddenly dawns on them.
Many of those who have already qualified don’t seem to be in any danger of losing their cool any time soon. World number 1 Chang Yu Lung of Taiwan continued to fly under the radar today with another superb performance, beating Finland’s Petri Makkonen, 9-5, to advance. I say “under the radar” because Chang, with his stoic and emotionless demeanor, attracts little to no attention. If you watch him closely, however, he plays fearless pool and that quiet confidence will surely carry him far in this event.
Canada's Jason KlattWith a third of the field of 128 players, the Philippines was a lock to dominate the final 64 and several notable names have looked exceptionally good so far. Jeff De Luna has given up just one rack in two matches and he could very well find himself the number one seed in the knockout rounds. Other Filipinos advancing today with fine performances were Francisco Bustamante, Alex Pagulayan, Lee Vann Corteza, Warren Kiamco, Roberto Gomez, Elmer Haya, Antonio Gabica, Raymund Faraon, and Carlo Biado.
When boxing legend and hometown boy Manny Pacquaio brought the World 10-ball to General Santos, one of his aims was to give the legions of lesser known Filipino pool players the chance to shine and this is exaclty what is taking place at the SM Mall. Several of the younger and not so well known Filipino players also advanced today and it’s clear that several will be establishing their credentials here this week. One of those looking to make a name for himself is Roland Dela Cruz, a relatively unknown Filipino who took down two-time World 9-ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann on the losers’ side. Hohmann’s early exit represented the biggest upset so far in this year’s event.
England’s Darren Appleton came up against two young Filipino players today. Appleton, the 2008 World 10-ball champion, has spent enough time this country to know that top notch pool talent is waiting every corner in every city in the Philippines. To take anyone lightly is akin to pointing a gun at your own head. After handily defeating Angelo Ariola 9-2, the Englishman found himself in a tight tussle with Ruben Cuna. Appleton had to fight to the finish to advance to the Final 64 with a well-earned 9-7 win.
Afterwards, Appleton revealed he knows not to take any of the Filipinos lightly and in fact, he employed a strategy to thwart any chance of an upset.
“He’s a good young Filipino player,” Appleton said of Cuna. “My experience got me through that one. I played two Filipinos today and my game plan was to not show any emotion, not show any weakness to them. Because obviously they are very young and they’re not used to tournament play. They are not used to playing big names so I think that helps in the end because he missed a couple of balls that he wouldn’t miss in the pool room. I wanted to make him work for it.”
Also winning their second match and advancing to the knockout round were Germany’s Ralf Souquet, Taiwan’s Chang Jung Lin, Fu Che Wei and Ko Ping Chun, Canada’s Jason Klatt and John Morra, and Estonia’s Denis Grabe.
The group stages will finish up on Wednesday over the first three sessions. The round of 64 in the single elimination stage begins in two evening sessions Wednesday, and continues Thursday morning over one session.
The semi-finals and final will take place on Saturday.
The winner of the 2015 World 10-ball Championship will receive $40,000, while the runner up will receive $20,000
**The 2015 MP Cup World 10-ball Championship takes place at the SM Mall in General Santos City, Philippines from February 15-21 and is sanctioned by the World Pool & Billiard Association(WPA), the world governing body of pool.
The WPA will be on hand in General Santos throughout this year’s World 10-ball Championship providing up to the minute information, photographs and in depth articles with insights and analysis from WPA Press Officer Ted Lerner.
THERE WAS double joy for the two English teams at the 888.com World Cup of Pool as first England A routed Indonesia 7-0 to reach the second round, and then the B team smashed Germany by a similar score line to reach the quarter-finals.
Both teams looked in outstanding shape and with them both being in different halves of the draw the possibilities of an all-England final on Sunday night are not out of the question.
England A, comprised of former World Champions Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes, looked very much the part as they completed the first round matches with a thumping 7-0 win over Indonesia at the York Hall to set up a second round game against Italy.
Looking focused throughout, England never let the Indonesian pairing of Ricky Yang and Irsal Nasution off the hook as they put on the best performance of the tournament to date.
Appleton was certainly pleased with how it went; “We are best friends and we have been for a long time, so we feel really comfortable together. We always play really well together. “We had the advantage of watching all the other matches so we got to see how the table played and we really enjoyed it.
“The next match is really big. Italy played really well today. We know Fabio and Bruno well and we have played them many times but I think we have the slight edge and we are playing at home. That’s the important one, if we can get through that and to the quarter-finals it is up to race to nine and we are more comfortable with that,” he added.
The opening match of the second round was a close fought affair as the defending champions Finland – Petri Makkonen and Mika Immonen – took on Korea who have giant-killing form in this competition.
The Korean pair of Ham Won Sik and Ryu Sueng Woo played well but the Finns got the better of the first half as they opened up a 4-2 lead. The Asians though dug in and made the most of some Finnish errors to win four in a row and move to the hill at 6-4.
In an entertaining affair, the Finns then went on a run and the match was eventually tied up at hill-hill with Makkonen breaking. He thundered one down and two balls dropped with the 1 ball available in the top left pocket.
Immonen messed up a bit on the positional shot but his partner made an excellent cut on the 2 ball and from there they ran out to be the first team to reach the quarter-finals.
“When we were 6-4 down I was just feeling ‘give us another shot and we can try and control the table’,” said a delighted Immonen.
“It was very nerve wracking and they punished us for minor mistakes and played very well and put us under real pressure.
“The next race is more of a cushion (Race to 9) and it gives you more chance of a comeback. Still, it’s a short race so we need to start strong and put pressure on the opponents and if we do then we can go all the way from here,” he added.
Outstanding potting and safety play were the order of the day as they moved in to a 3-0 lead. A Peach snooker on the fourth forced Souquet to miss and they increased the lead with ball in hand.
They ran out the next for 5-0 and did exactly the same in the next to reach the hill. There was another terrific break and run to seal a great night for the English.
Melling was thrilled by the win, “They were contrasting performances (first and second round). The A team put a clinic on and we had to come up with something special. In the first round we played 60 percent and got through that match, but not many people are going to beat you if you play like that.”
Peach added, “The difference was in the first match we maybe had a few nerves and wanted to try and get the first win under our belt. We have settled into the tournament now and we knew we would have to play well tonight because Germany are a class act and have won this event twice before. We had to come out with our best performance today.
“We are all top players and when the sides were picked me and Chris knew we would gel and Darren and Karl knew they would gel. We just got called ‘B’ but we are not a reserve side, call us Z team if you like, it doesn’t matter to us, we do our talking on the table.”
The 2013 888.com World Cup of Pool runs from Tuesday September 17 to Sunday, September 22 at the famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, East London. The field features 32 teams from 31 countries in a single elimination format. The total prize fund is US$250,000 with $60,000 going to the eventual champions.
Play continues tomorrow afternoon with three more second round match:
The 2013 World Cup of Pool runs from 17 – 22 September and takes place at the York Hall, London. For those wanting to watch the action in person, all tickets are available from www.seetickets.com (Search ‘World Cup of Pool’)
WITH THE eighth running of the annual World Cup of Pool now a month away, the full line-up of players competing in the $250,000 event can be revealed. 32 pairs of players representing 31 countries will be coming to London from the 17th – 22nd September as the fabled pool and boxing venue of the York Hall plays host to one of the biggest events on the pool calendar.
15 of the world’s top 20 ranked players will be in attendance in what arguably is the event’s strongest line up yet. Among favourites for the title will be two-time World Cup winners China – represented by Li Hewen and Liu Haitao – and the highly dangerous Filipino pairing ofDennis Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza.
Other notable duos from the Far East include the Chinese Taipei representatives, Ko Pin-yi and Chang Jung-lin, and Japan’s Naoyuki Oi and Lo Li-wen.
Mosconi Cup legend Johnny Archer will be partnered by Shane Van Boeing as the USA look to repeat the feat of Shane and Rodney Morris in Rotterdam in 2008 by winning the trophy for the second time.
Finally, can the Finnish pair of Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonenstage a repeat of their brilliant run to the title in Manila last year?
Matchroom Sport chairman Barry Hearn said, “Looking at the teams for this year’s event, I reckon that at least half of them are in with a shout if the balls roll their way.
“However, you’d have to look at the track record of China, the sheer class of the Filipinos, the pedigree of the United States and of course the two high-quality English teams.
“As we’ve seen in the past though, there are always unfancied sides that emerge from the pack and make serious challenges for the title. Either way, the World Cup of Pool will be a feast for cue sports fans and with the York Hall playing host, this one should be the best yet!”
The 2013 World Cup of Pool Masters is delighted to work with our valued suppliers – Official Cloth: Iwan Simonis; Official Balls: Super Aramith; Official Cue: Predator.
July 14, 2012 Indonesia: The British invasion continues in Day two of the 2012 Guinness World Series of Pool: Speed Challenge at the Ciputra World Mall in Surabaya, Indonesia as the newly crowned World 9ball Champion Darren Appleton, 2010 World 8ball Champion Karl Boyes and 2011 China Open Champion Chris Melling trumped their round of 32 opponents to emerge unscathed and march onwards to the top 16.
As with all great champions, Appleton, who earlier could not find his rhythm in the preliminary rounds was able to recompose himself and shake the cobwebs in time for his huge head-to-head matchup with 2007 WPA 9ball championships finalist from the Philippines, Roberto Gomez.
Although he trailed early with his opening rack time of 1:12 mins versus Gomez’ 49 seconds, a consistent stroke kept Appleton within striking distance all throughout the five-rack knockout contest. In the third, with pressure mounting, it was the Filipino who blinked first, notching two consecutive missed ball errors on the black 8ball and the 2ball for a costly 20-second penalty to have the clock show times of 3:05 versus 2:43 in favor of the Englishman. From there, Appleton never looked back, arriving first at the finish line with 4:44 mins to his name while the Filipino’s best efforts only giving him a time of 5:03 mins.
Other preliminary round top performers Chris Melling and Karl Boyes continued their relentless romp through the competition and remain the favorites to reach the finals. Boyes, who ranked first after the qualifying rounds, took care of business in his encounter with local veteran Rudy Susanto with an impressive five-rack total of 4:25 mins.
His compatriot Melling also cruised to victory in his pairing with another local Muhammad Junarto. Another flawless effort complimented with multiple errors from his Indonesian counterpart gave Melling probably the easiest route towards the top 16. In fact, he did not even need five racks to prove himself worthy as the Indonesian conceded midway through the third rack.
Tomorrow’s action pits the British contingent against tougher competition with Appleton facing USA’s top shooter Shane Van Boening, Boyes with Indonesian player Ferdi and Melling taking on American George Breedlove.
Please refer to the complete list for the top 16 head-to-head matchups:
The first round of the GWSOP: Speed Pool challenge sees the 40 players battling the clock as they play two sessions of five racks each with the top 32 times advancing to the next round. From there it will be a single knockout format all the way to the semifinals with each match having the players face-off in five racks, whoever has the total best-time wins. The finals will be a 7- rack shootout to determine the championship.
The broadcast of the 2012 Guinness World Series of Pool – SpeedBall challenge will be LIVE on ESPN and STAR Sports (Please check local listings), with fifteen hours of exhilarating competition from July 13 – 15, 2012. Broadcast times are as follows:
Sun, July 15, 2012 from 12.00 – 16.30 (HKT) Top 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals & Finals
The 2012 Guinness World Series of Pool – Speed Pool Tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) and organized by ESPN STAR Sports’ Event Management Group (EMG). Guinness is the title sponsor for the Event. Fisherman’s Friend is the official sponsor. The local sanctioning body is the All Indonesian Billiards Association (POBSI). Iwan Simonis and Aramith supply the official tablecloth and official pool balls respectively. Murrey provides the official pool table while Predator is the official cue. ESPN is the official broadcaster.
Please visit www.facebook.com/guinnessindonesia for more information.
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine billiards team is already assured of a gold and a silver medal in the ongoing Southeast Asian Games as world champion Rubilen Amit and Iris Ranola forged an all-Filipino finals in Women’s 9-Ball.
Amit, the former Women’s 10-Ball champion, defeated Hoe Shu Wah of Singapore, 7-4, in the semifinals to make her way to the finals.
Ranola defeated Huynh Thi-Ngoc Hyuan of Vietnam, 7-3, in the other semifinal match.
Amit and Ranola will settle who’s going to be 1st and 2nd at the Ogan Permata Indah Hall in Palembang, Indonesia on Thursday.
The national billiards team has already won 2 gold medals, courtesy of Ranola and Dennis Orcollo.
Ranola toppled Manda of Indonesia, 5-1, in the finals of the Women’s 8-Ball.
Orcollo, on the other hand, nipped Ricky Yang of Indonesia, 7-4, to win the Men’s 8-Ball title.
