Ouschan Perfect while Woodward Stumbles Late on Day 1 of Alfa Las Vegas Open

February 24th, 2023 | azhousepro | Uncategorized

Skyler Woodward

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.

Watch Live on World Billiard TV YouTube channel, Billiard TV and at tv.kozoom.com

Brackets and scores can be found at https://probilliardseries.com/2023-men/2023-alfa-las-vegas-open/

Follow @probilliardseries on Facebook, @probilliardseries on Instagram or @PBilliardSeries on Twitter.

Go to discussion...

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

December 24th, 2011 | azhousepro | Uncategorized

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.