Day one of the 2017 Yaqi Group Cup Chinese Pool World Championship is complete, and half of the players advancing into the single elimination stages are now known.
Last year’s third place finisher, Darren Appleton, has qualified for the final stage, but it wasn’t easy. Appleton was taken to the hill by Iran’s Mohammad Pordeliri, and then taken to the hill again by AzBilliards 2016 Player of the Year Jayson Shaw. Shaw was running out the final rack and scratched in the side to gift an open table (and a trip to the single elimination stage) to Appleton. Shaw will face England’s Jack Whelan on day two to determine who goes to the final stage and who goes home.
American Corey Deuel turned in two match wins on day one to earn his place in the single elimination final stage. He and Appleton will be joined by such notables as Wu Jia Qing, Pin Yi Ko, Lee Van Corteza.
The ladies division sees a veritable who’s who of ladies pool on the one loss side, fighting for a spot in stage two. Karen Corr will face AzB Ladies Player of the Year Han Yu, Filipino sensation Chezka Centeno will take on Chihiro Kawahara, Kelly Fisher will face Rubelin Amit and Ga-Young Kim will play Claudia Djajalie on day two. Bai Ge, Sha Sha Liu, Siming Chen and Yuan-Chun Lin have already qualified to join eight Chinese women in stage two.
After the first matches of the day finish here in Yu Shan China, the remaining players will be redrawn into a single elimination bracket that will be used to determine the eventual World Champion.
Today kicked off with the completion of the double elimination group stage leaving just 32 players remaining. There were no real surprises from the double elimination favoured players getting through to the single elimination stage which features 32 players.
The draw was not so kind for two former world champions, Han Yu (CHN) and Kelly Fisher (GBR) drawn against each other in the first round. Han Yu has a world ranking of 3 and Kelly Fisher 8. Playing on the television table, both players produced some high quality play and it was sad to know that only one of them would remain in the tournament. In a tensely fought out battle it was Han Yu who prevailed and advanced to the last 16. Another thriller was between the two Filipinos, world number 7 Rubelin Amit and world number 9 Chezka Centeno. These two players slogged it out going rack to rack with Centeno finally getting in 9/8. Centeno is one of the up and coming stars, a left-hander she is a real delight to watch with her free and easy style and no messing about attitude.
Two other Brits, Allison Fisher and Karen Corr also drew against each other. Karen has recently acquired a USA passport and now competes under the stars and stripes. It was real test of wills, both players very cautious as they are well aware of each others ability, but Karen found the finishing line first 9/6. Unfortunately the bubble burst for the youngster from Chinese Taipei, world junior champion Jia-Hua Chen, but not without a fight, losing 8/9 to Tan Hui Ming. Another former world champion got through to the final 16, Yuan-Chun Lin of Chinese Taipei when she defeated Sun Danhong 9/7 in another high quality battle.
Another impressive performance came from world number 4, Chinese Taipei’s consistent Chou Chieh-Yu who had a comfortable win over Kateryna Polovinchuk of the Ukraine 9/2. One player travelling under the radar is China’s Jiang Teng who had a solid performance defeating Korean Solid Choi. Jiang is one to keep an eye on, a dark horse selection.
One of the favourites for title is world number 2 China’s Chen Siming, had a convincing win over Ji Won Hyun of Korea 9/2. But the best performance today belonged to Korean Kim Gayoung against Ho-Yun Chen of Chinese Taipei. After trailing 1/6, Kim then found another gear and played flawlessly to runout the winner 9/7.
Play gets underway tomorrow at 1.00 pm local Chinese time. We will see the Last 16, Quarter-finals & Semi-finals played, a gruelling day for those who get through with just the play-off for 3rd and 4th place on Friday, followed by the final.
The winner of this world championship will gain automatic entry into the 2017 World Games being played in Wroclaw, Poland 24-31 July 2017.
Taipei – The championship game of 2015 Amway eSpring International Women 9-Ball Championship in Taipei Gymnasiums was between Yuan-Chun Lin from Taiwan and Rubilen Amit from Philippines. The final was tense and close, went up from 3:3, 5:5 and 9:9 until Lin broke the tie to take the lead and game point 10:9. In 20 racks, Lin broke and missed one ball, but was able to come back to the table and won the game after Amit's fatal error on the 3-ball. Lin's second Amway Cup trophy with the final score 11:9 brought her a prize of $34,000.
Although being struggling throughout recent years, Yuan-Chun Lin had her first challenge in the tournament, to play Kelly Fisher in the quarterfinal. Lin's 5:1 early lead turned 7:6 after multiple misses and illegal breaks, but she gathered up and advanced 9:6.
The young talent from China Liu Yuchen was Yuan-Chun Lin's semifinal opponent. Lin trailed for most time of the game and was 8:9 behind, one game shy of elimination. The next game Lin took her chance from her opponent's illegal break and ran out the deciding game. For the second time Lin entered the final of Amway Cup after her championship run of 2008.
The other semi was between Rubilen Amit and Angeline Ticoalu from Indonesia. The score was 9:1 as Amit cruised into the final, which was her second appearance after 2007's runner up.
Yuan-Chun Lin says after the final she felt "offended" when the ‘Taiwan Sports Lottery’ gave her 1-50 rate for winning the trophy before the tournament. She was on a mission to prove something and took a step at a time in games. Her fantastic performance in front of a huge home crowed plus a little bit of luck brought her the champion and confidence as well.
The 30 years old Taiwanese has a long career and plays Amway Cup since 2004. Four year later she won the 2008 Amway Cup which was her greatest moment in her career. The next year her 14 consecutive winning streak in the tournament ended in the game against her fellow Ho-Yun Chen. After that Lin did not achieve much and last year's loss in the group stage almost destroyed her confidence.
This much needed trophy could be a topping point of Lin's career. She thanked all for not letting her give up and honored her passed enlightenment coach. She's also planning to use to prize to open a pool hall where she can practice in her own place.
The China Open begins on Thursday, June 5, and we have received the draw for the first round. Players that play one another in the first round are grouped together.
