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And down they go – World 8-Ball Championship Final 64

The World 8-ball Championship turned into a wide open race on Wednesday in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, as some of the games biggest names, including defending champion Dennis Orcullo, last year’s runner up Niels Feijen, and semi-finalist Darren Appleton all were sent packing barely after the knockout stages had gotten going. 

Other big names, like former champions Ralf Souquet and Karl Boyes were also handed their walking papers. In all it amounted to a proverbial one day bloodletting in one of the sport’s biggest championships.

The biggest upset of the day was easily Orcullo, who went down hard to upstart Karol Skowerski of Poland.  Both Orcullo and Skowerski had won their round of 64 matches earlier in the day, and came up against each other in the first of the round of 32 matches later in the evening.  When the defending champion sent the cue off the table on the opening break it must have been a terrible omen for the Filipino, who was certainly expecting to go far in the event he won last year.

Indeed things continued downhill even  faster for Orcullo as he fell behind 5-0 in the race to 9, alternate break contest.  The 28 year old Skowerski, who’s ranked number 4 in Poland, took advantage of several errors from the defending champion, and played surprisingly confident pool throughout.  The Kielce native showed superb potting skills and was never intimidated even when Orcullo began a fight back.  In fact it was the Filipino who seemed to fold as Skowerski won the match going away, 9-3 for the biggest win of his career.

“I played well and I really concentrated well the whole match,” an obviously delighted Skowerski said after the match as he was congratulated by teammates Radislaw Babica and Tomasz Kaplan, both of whom were eliminated earlier in the day.  “I wasn’t scared and I wasn’t nervous.”

At about the same time, Feijen, who’s been runner up here two years running, found himself in a difficult match against the very talented Ko Pin Yi of Taiwan in a round of 32 contest. Everyone expected this one to go the distance but it wasn’t even close. Ko, who over the last year has been making it clear he intends to be one of the world’s best players, blew Feijen out of the building, taking the match 9-2. 

One of the more interesting matchups of the early sessions in the round of 64 was perennial favorite Souquet taking on the USA’s Max Eberle.  Eberle is the last American standing in this year’s championship, and over the last 24 hours he’s been openly relishing carrying the mantle for the USA, the ancestral home 8-ball.  

Indeed “Mad Max” started his match like a man possessed as he jumped out to a 4-0 lead. As expected the Kaiser methodically crawled his way back into the match and looked to be squeezing the air out of the American.  Eberle, though, stood  his ground and wouldn’t let the German great catch him as he held on for a gritty 9-7 win.

“I came out strong and I think that set him back a bit,” Eberle said afterward. “Ralf was tight today. He usually plays cleaner but he kept giving me opportunities.” 

Darren Appleton came into this year’s championship supremely confident of his chances to take the title, even admitting early in the week that for him to lose, an opposing player would have to shoot lights out pool.

“You really have to beat me,” the powerhouse Brit said. Those words came back to haunt Appleton tonight as China’s talented Li He Wen beat him senseless in the round of 64. The 31 year old Li, who hails from Shenyang in northeastern China and is China’s number one ranked player, steamrolled Appleton 9-3 to move into the round of 32 on Thursday.

“I played very good today,” Li said afterward through an interpreter. “He didn’t break good and he gave me too many chances.”

Several times  today in Fujairah it was proved that players from  the Middle East  have made great strides in recent years and are no longer just filler for tournament fields. 23 year old Salah Al-Rimawi of the UAE brought some noise to the Fujairah Tennis Club as he upended fancied Brit Daryl Peach, 9 – 5.  Al-Rimawi, who is the UAE’s number one player and made it all the way to the final 16 last year here,  played solid pool throughout and jumped out to a 7-1 lead over the former World 9-ball champion, who had seemed out of sorts the entire tournament.    Peach fought back but Al-Rimawi showed true grit by bearing down and crossing the finish line in style. 

Earlier, 20 year old Ahmad Jallad, who showed fine form last June in Qatar for the World 9-ball championship, showed he can play serious 8-ball as he put in a gutsy performance  against favored Filipino Joven Alba.  Alba, who coaches the national team of the UAE, went up 6-2 only to commit some glaring errors that allowed the youngster to gain some momentum. Jallad clawed his way back to go up 7-6, then held off the Filipino for a narrow win, 9-8.

It was not the best of days for the Philippine contingent as six Pinoys went down to defeat. Still three big names are still in the championship; Lee Van Corteza, Roberto Gomez, and Carlo Biado

Thursday is sure to provide plenty of drama and tension as the field will be reduced to four players by the end of the day.  Thursday play begins at 2pm in Fujairah(GMT +4). 

The 2012 World 8-ball Championship concludes on Friday with the semis and finals. The winner will receive $20,000 while the runner up will get $15,000.  The tournament has a $156,000 prize fund. 

The WPA will be providing up to the minute coverage of all the happenings on its website, www.wpa-pool.com, including live scoring of all matches, in depth articles on the goings on posted several times a day, as well as blow by blow coverage of big matches via the WPA’s Twitter page, @poolwpa. 

For Live scoring, CLICK HERE

For Updated Brackets and complete Final 64 draw, CLICK HERE

For Photo Gallery, CLICK HERE

 

*The World Pool and Billiard Association(WPA) is the world governing body of the sport of pool. The WPA is also the member organization for pool of the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS), the international umbrella organization encompassing all the major cue sports.

 

Day 3, FINAL 64
Race to 9, Alternate Break

2:OO PM

Dennis Orcullo(PHI) 9 – 5 Nasser Al Mujaibel(KUW)
Vilmos Foldes(HUN) 9 – 5 Kuo Po Chen(TPE)
Niels Feijen(NED) 9 – 1 Saleh Mohammed(KUW)
Ko Pin Yi(TPE) 9 – 5 Raymund Faraon(PHI)
Jalal Yousef(VEN) 9 – 5 Konstantin Stepanov(RUS)
Karol Skowerski(POL) 9 – 6 Shaker Wahdan(JOR)
Liu Haitao(CHN) 9 – 6 Abdulatef Fawal(QAT)

4pm Session

Max Eberle(USA) 9 – 7 Ralf Souquet(GER)
Fu Chei Wei(TPE) 9 – 7 Reiner Wirsbitzki(GER)
Ahmad Jallad(JOR) 9 – 8 Joven Alba(PHI)
Hwang Yong(KOR) 9 – 8 Demosthenes Pulpul(PHI)
Mika Immonen(FIN) 9 – 7 Omran Salem(UAE)
Lee Van Corteza(PHI) 9 – 2 Lee Chen Man(HKG)
Nguyen Phuc Long(VIE) 9 – 8 Amin Fekry(UAE)

6PM Session

Serge Das(BEL) 9 – 7 So Shaw(IRI)
Nick van den Berg(NED) 9 – 7 Karl Boyes(GBR)
Li Hewen(CHN) 9 – 3 Darren Appleton(GBR)
Carlo Biado(PHI) 9 – 2 Elmer Haya(PHI)
Imran Majid(GBR) 9 – 5 Kenny Chi Ho Kwok(HKG)
Oliver Ortman(GER) 9 – 3 Lo Li Wen(JPN)
Huidji  See(NED) 9 – 4 Dominic Jentsch(GER)

 

8pm Session

Bruno Muratore(ITA)9 –4  Radislaw Babica(POL)
Chang Jun Lin(TPE) 9 –6 Carlos Cabello(ESP)
Salah Al-Rimawi(UAE)  9 – 5 Daryl Peach(GBR)
Toru Kuribayashi(JPN) 9 — 7 Tomasz Kaplan(POL)
Thorsten Hohmann(GER) 9 – 2 Ryoji Aoki(JPN)
Chris Melling(GBR) 9 –5  Omer Al Serkal(UAE)
Fancisco Diaz-Pizarro(ESP) 9 — 4  Omar Al Shaheen(KUW)

10PM Session

Roberto Gomez(PHI) 9 – 4 Mario He(AUT)
Mark Gray(GBR) 9 – 3 Maghsoud Ali(IRI)
Hijikata Hajato(JPN) 9 – 8 Takhti Zarekani(IRI)
Yukio Akagariyama(JPN)9 –2  Elvis Calasang(PHI)

ROUND OF 32 MATCHES

Karol Skowerski(POL) 9 – 3 Dennis Orcullo(PHI)
Ko Pin Yi(TPE) 9 – 2 Niels Feijen(NED)
Liu Haitao(CHN) 9 – 7 Vilmos Foldes(HUN)

Day one wrap-up from World 8-Ball Championship

Darren Appleton

With a long day one in the books here at the 2012 World 8-ball Championship in Fujairah, UAE, certain trends are already becoming crystal clear. 

The break shot is going to play a massive factor throughout the week in determining who stays and who takes a walk. With super tight pockets and responsive rails, the seven Knight Shot tables inside the Fujairah Tennis and Country Club are playing extremely difficult.  Which translates to any player not playing with an extra fine touch can forget about contending for the title.  

All this clearly means that only those with the most developed skills, and the deepest experiences handling extreme pressure will be standing towards the end. And this is at it should be at the World Championship of 8-ball.

One of those who looked the goods tonight was England’s Darren Appleton. Appleton, ranked number 3 in the world and the current back-to-back US Open champion, didn’t get the easiest of draws, as he came up against Hungary’s very capable Vilmos Foldes in the race to 7 alternate break match. It was Appleton’s first effort on the floor and he came into the match nursing a burgeoning head cold. Foldes meanwhile had already won a tough qualifier over the weekend and had loosened up with a narrow 7-6 win over Australia’s Stuart Lawler earlier in the day.

Foldes started out on fire, breaking and running his first three racks for a 4-2 lead. On the table and about to go to 5-2, though, Foldes made a mistake and from there the match turned in favor of Appleton. The hardcore Brit methodically took control of the match and won 7-5 booking his place in the final 64 beginning Wednesday.

Keen observers of the pro circuit, as well as punters, have to figure that Appleton is one of the top five favorites in Fujairah. Although he’s made his name in the American game in 10-ball, 9-ball and straight pool, Appleton’s pedigree comes from 8-ball. He started his cue career player English 8-ball and was number 1 in that game for 7 years in the late 1990’s and 2000’s. He has made it to the semis of the World 8-ball two years in a row, losing to eventual  runner up Niels Feijen.  

Appleton knows what it takes to win in pro pool and he believes he has all the ingredients to add the World 8-ball trophy to his growing collection of titles.

“The break is massive in 8-ball,”Appleton said afterward. “ I’m one of the best and most consistent breakers in this game. And with these tight pockets, you have to be accurate. You have to have perfect cue ball speed. You can’t punch the ball on these tables. And there’s no slide in the rails.” And of course Appleton is supremely confident in his ability to utilize that intangible that all great players bring to big time tournament play.

 “My mental game is my main asset. You really have to beat me.”

In all, 17 players punched their ticket through today to the final 64 knockout stage which begins on Wednesday.  Defending Champion Dennis Orcullo of the Philippines had a few shaky moments on the TV table in his match vs.  Kuwait’s Nasser Al Mujaibel. The match was tied at 4 and Orcullo didn’t look all too comfortable. But the Filipino star pulled it together for a 7-4 win and a spot in the final 64.

“I missed some easy shots,” Orcullo said. “The pockets are very tight and the table is new so I had to make some adjustments. I’m still focused and I’m confident I can win this thing again.”

Also making it through was the runner up in the last two World 8-ball Championships, the Netherland’s Niels Feijen who easily beat Hong Kong’s Lee Chenman, 7-3.  Current World 9-ball champion Yukio Akagariyama of Japan took down Poland’s Tomasz Kaplan 7-3. England’s Chris Melling looked strong in beating the UAE’s Majid Sultan 7-1.  The Philippines Lee Van Corteza and Joven Alba also made it through with wins.

It was a terrible day for the USA as the lone two players from the home of 8-ball suffered losses. Brandon Shuff came in confident of a win vs. Hajato Hijikata of Japan. But the American newcomer couldn’t keep pace and lost 7-5. Max Eberle simply couldn’t get out of the box vs. Spain’s Carlos Cabello and lost 7-3. 

The remainder of the final 64 will be determined at the conclusion of play on Tuesday. 

The WPA will be providing up to the minute coverage  of all the happenings on its website, www.wpa-pool.com, including live scoring of all matches, in depth articles on the goings on posted several times a day, as well as blow by blow coverage of big matches via the WPA’s Twitter page, @poolwpa.  

For updated brackets, CLICK HERE

For live scoring, CLICK HERE

 

*The World Pool and Billiard Association(WPA) is the world governing body of the sport of pool. The WPA is also the member organization for pool of the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS), the international umbrella organization encompassing all the major cue sports.

 

Day 1 early matches of unseeded players

Group A

Nasser Al Mujaibel(KUW)  7 – 3 Kenny Kwok (HKG)
Karol Skowerski(POL) 7-0 Mohammed El Assal(EGY)

Group B

Tomasz Kaplan(POL) 7 – 2 Salah Al Awadi(UAE)
Salah Al-Rimawi(UAE)  7 – 4 Mohammed Alhosani(UAE)

Group C

Vilmos Foldes(HUN) 7 –6 Stuart Lawler(AUS)
Imran Majid(GBR) 7 – 1 Ali Saeed(UAE)

Group D

Mohammed Ali(IRI)  7 – 3 Elmer Haya(PHI)
Yousfi Chaouki (MAR ) 7 – 3 Ahmad Jallad(JOR)

Group E

Dominic Jentsch(GER) 7 – 3 Abdulla Juma(UAE)
Konstantin Stepanov 7(RUS) – 0 Pil Hyun Cho(KOR)

Group F

Hanni Al-Howri(UAE) 7 – 3 Sayeem Hossaien(BAN)
Elvis Calasang 7(PHI) – 5 Jason Shaw(GBR)

Group G

Majid Sultan 7(UAE) – 4 Lian Han Toh(SIN)
Serge Das 7(AUT) – 2 Omer Al Serkal(UAE)

Group H

Radislaw Babica(POL) 7 –2 Saleh Mohamed(KUW)
Meshaal Turki Al Ali(QAT) 7 – 6 Saleh Ibrahim Ali(UAE)

 

Group I

Lee Chen Man((HKG) 7 – 3 Abdulatef Fawal(QAT)
Noor Al Jarrah(JOR) 7 – 0 Mohammad Khaled Soufi(SYR)

Group J

Mario He(AUT) 7 – 0 Albin Ouschan(AUT)
Demosthenes Pulpul(PHI) 7 – 2 Bahram Lofty(BEL)

Group K

Jalal Yousef(VEN) 7 – 3 Shaker Wahdan(JOR)
Sundeep Gulati(IND) 7 – 4 (Mohammed Saed Saed(QAT)

Group L

Amin Fekry(UAE) 7 – 3 Majid Ghare Gozlu(IRI) 
Maghsoud Ali 7 — 3 Li Hewen(CHN)

Group M

Francisco Diaz-Pizarro(ESP)  7—2 Omran Salem(UAE)
Luke Rollinson(GBR) 7 –1 Wetsi Morake(SA)

Group N

Hajato Hijikata(JPN) 7—5 Brandon Shuff(USA)
Raymund Faraon(PHI)  7 – 1 Ahmed Al Hosani(UAE)

Group O

Keng Kwang Chan(SIN)  7 –5 Hamzah Ali(ERI)
Carlos Cabello(ESP) 7 – 3 Max Eberle(USA)

Group P

Jayson Shaw(GBR) 7 –1 Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER)
Bruno Muratore(ITA) 7 – 3 Ryoji Aoki(JPN)

 

Winner’s Side(Winner moves on to final 64, loser goes to one loss side)

Group A

Dennis Orcullo(PHI) 7 – 4 Nasser Al Mujaibel(KUW)
Karol Skowverski(POL) 7 – 2 Marcus Chamat(SWE)

 

Group B

Yukio Akagariyama(JPN) 7 – 3 Tomasz Kaplan(POL) 3
Salah Al Rimawi(UAE) 7 – 5 Nguyen Phuc Long(VET)

Group C

Darren Appleton(GBR) 7 – 5 Vilmos Foldes(HUN)
Imran Majid(GBR) 7 — 4  Oliver Ortmann(GER)

Group D

Toru Kuribayashi (JPN) 7 – 4 Yousfi Chaouki(MAR)
Huidji See(NED)7 – 5 Mohammed Ali(IRI)

Group E

Lee Van Corteza(PHI) 7 – 6 Dominic Jentsch(GER)
Yong Hwang(KOR) 7 – 5 Konstantin Stepanov(RUS)

Group F

Chang Jun Lin(TPE) 7 — 3  Sayeem Hossaien(UAE)
Joven Alba(PHI) 7 –2   Elvis Calasang(PHI)

Group G

Chris Melling(GBR) 7 – 1 Majid Sultan(UAE)
Serge Das(BEL)  7 –3 Takhti Zarekani(IRI)

Group H

Ralf Souquet(GER) 7 -4  Radislaw Babica(POL)
Omar Al Shaheen(KUW) 7 – 0 Turki Al Ali Meshaal(QAT)

Group I

Niels Feijen(NED) 7 — 3   Lee Chenman(HKG)

Pin-Yi Ko for the men and Si Ming Chen for the women win All-Japan Championships

Pin Yi Ko (File photo courtesy of Matchroom Sport)

Home field advantage did not appear to be a factor in the 44th Annual  All-Japan Championships held from November 14-20 in Amagasaki, Japan. Emerging undefeated from the men’s field of 128 players was Pin-Yi Ko from Chinese Tapei, who faced Jia Qing Wu from China in the finals.  In the Ladies event, it was China’s Si ming Chen who worked her way through the field of 48 female entrants.

The initial field included US Open 9-Ball Championship winner Darren Appleton, and US players Hunter Lombardo and Shane Van Boening. Among those representing the Phillippines were Dennis Orcollo, Lee Van Corteza and Antonio Lining. Germany was represented by both Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet. Alex Pagulayan from Canada was on hand, too, as was Finland’s Mika Immonen. The original field of 128 played a double elimination format until half of the competitors were gone, at which point, the event became a single elimination race to the finish line.

By this point, only Hohmann and Lining among the group above had been eliminated. The others were grouped in four separate brackets of 16, each. The eventual winner, Pin-Yi Ko was in a group of 16 with Mika Immonen. Ko’s eventual finals opponent, Jia Qing Wu was in a group of 16 with Souquet, Lombardo, and Appleton. Pagulayun, Van Boening, and Van Corteza were in another group, while Orcollo was in another.

Appleton defeated Japan’s Hironori Tojo 10-5 and Allen Cuertero of the Philippines 10-7 to move among the event’s final 16. Souquet, in the same bracket got by Japan’s Kazuki Nishimura 10-4, but was defeated by China’s Han Hao Xing, who had just eliminated Lombardo 10-4. Wu Jaixing, in the meantime, destined for the finals, got by Hong Kong’s Bobby Lee 10-4 and Japan’s Toshiyuki Wada 10-5.

Pagulayun got by Japan’s Kiyoshi Suzuki 10-3 and Hidetaka Kitatani, also of Japan, 10-7 to move among the final 16. He was joined by Van Boening, who’d defeated Shintaro Saito 10-2 and Ryoji Aoki 10-4 (both from Japan). Van Corteza defeated countryman Vareriano Pajuay 10-1, but fell to Japan’s Yoshihiro Kitatani 10-8.

Immonen moved among the final 16 with victories over Filipino Roel Esquillo 10-4 and Singapore’s Kenny Kwok 10-5. Pin-Yi Ko advanced with victories over  Katsuji Teruya 10-2 and Yukio Akagariyama 10-5 (both from Japan). Orcollo fell to Japan’s Hiroshi Takenaka 10-7.

Of those listed, only Van Boening survived the cut down to the final eight players. He defeated Pagulayan 10-6 to remain in the hunt. Appleton fell to the eventual second place finisher Jia Qing Wu 10-6, while Immonen was dropped by Chinese Taipei’s Chang Jung-Lin 10-6.

Van Boening fell 10-6 to Chinese Taipei’s Chang Yu-Lung in the round that narrowed the field to four. Wu Jiaxing defeated countryman Liu Hai Tao 10-3, while Pin-Yi Ko shutout his countryman from Chinese Taipei Jung-Lin Chang. Last among the event’s final four was Takenaka, the last competitor from the host country, who’d eliminated Toru Kuribayashi 10-6.

The semifinal matchups saw Ko defeat Takenaka 10-4, while Jia Qing eliminated Yu-Lung 10-7. Ko completed his undefeated run with a 10-4 victory over Jia Qing to capture the 44th Annual All Japan Championship Men’s event.

China’s Chen Siming continued the non-home field advantage by emerging victorious from the field of women. She bested Japan’s Junko Mitsuoka  9-4 in the finals. From among the event’s final 16, Siming had defeated Japan’s Chihiro Kawahara  9-7, and then defeated Xiao-Ting Pan 9-8 to advance to the finals. Mitsuoka had gotten by countrywoman Midori Akamatsu 9-4, and then defeated two opponents from Chinese Taipei – Yuan-Chun Lin, 9-6 and then, Ya-Ting Chan 9-6 – for the right to face Siming in the finals.