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Predator International 10-Ball Tour
Anadia Pavilion of Sports
Anadia
Portugal
www.predator10ball.com
www.predator10ball.com/portugal2009/live - Live Stream

10-12 September 2009

David Alcaide Claims Predator Gold!

David Alcaide of Spain has taken the title of the first Predator International 10-Ball tour. Alcaide played flawless pool in the final match against Niels Feijen of the Netherlands. Tied after the first two racks, Alcaide then took control of the match and never let Feijen have any opportunity to make a comeback. Alcaide took racks 3, 4, 5 and 6 to mount a four-game lead, then surrendered what would be Feijens final 10-Ball in rack number 7. From there, Alcaide completely ruled the day and easily swept the last three racks for the victory.

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Our champion was very gracious and modest in celebrating his victory. He thanked Predator and the staff for a fine event and shied away from any grandiose claims. He need not make any. It was quite obvious that he was the best player today and he has made his mark now as a player to be feared on this tour.

The next stop on the Predator International 10-Ball Tour will occur in January in Spain, Alcaides home turf. He will enter that event as a favorite and is looking forward to defending his status as current champion. Our thanks go out to all who made this event possible and we look forward to the upcoming stops al; around the world.

Final Four matches in Portugal

The first final four match-up at the Predator International 10-Ball Tour featured two men who have faced one another across the Baize many times. Niels Feijen and Marcus Chamat met in a match that belonged to Feijen most of the way. Feijen began by putting a 4-pack on Chamat so that he was halfway home to the magic number of eight racks before Chamat ever left the gate.

But with some absolutely superb jump shots to escape safeties Chamat fought back and won the next three racks running to draw within a single game at 4-3. Feijen then returned that favor by claiming three racks of his own to gain the hill. But Chamat would not surrender. Again and again he came with critical shots and won racks eleven and twelve to bring the score closer at 7-5. However, in rack 13, Feijen stared down a near table-length 3-10 combination and drilled it home to earn his way into the finals. His opponent would be determined after the face-off between David Alcaide and Imran Majid.

David Alcaide and Imran Majid had a very close match. They were tied at one game apiece, then again at two games. Majid then began to open a bit of a gap as he claimed the next three racks to take the lead 5-2. But then Alcaide began his comeback and tied us up again at 5 racks apiece. Majid took the next one to lead 6-5 but from there it was Alcaide all the way as he controlled the table very well and determined the opportunities that Majid would find. Majid found very few. Alcaide won the final three racks of the match to go into the finals against Feijen by the margin of 8-6.

Feijen and Alcaide now warming up for the finals.

Great Eight Down to Final Four

The Great Eight met this morning in Anadia, Portugal at the Predator International 10-Ball event to determine the make-up of the Final Four. Current World Ten Ball Champion Darren Appleton ran headlong into the big Dutch truck, Niels Feijen. Feijen was not in the mood to leave the competition and quickly moved into the lead that he would never relinquish. Feijen�s shot making skills were aided by his conservative position play that never risked danger and always left the cue ball in the open for the next shot. In the end Appleton attempted a final charge, drawing as close as 7-6. It appeared that Appleton could pull off a double-hill situation but a failed safety late in the 14th game allowed Feijen to see the shot and take the run to close out the match at 8-6.

Imran Majid progressed into the next round via a match against his close friend Raj Hundal that was tight throughout. There was never more than a one-game margin between the two until the final rack when Majid turned his 7-6 lead into an 8-6 victory. Hundal congratulated his friend heartily but you could clearly see the disappointment in his face. He was shooting well all week and knew that this tournament could have been his with just a few different turns of the spheres.

Karl Boyes narrowly trailed David Alcaide for most of their match. Alcaide managed to control the table the majority of the time but Boyes finally turned that situation around late and took his first lead at 7-6. That lead was ever so brief as Alcaide took rack 14 to bring us to double-hill. Both men�s fate now rested on a single rack of balls. An early foul from Boyes gave Alcaide ball in hand and he took a lot of time surveying the tough layout of the table. There was no run-out available and he wound up playing safe on the three ball. Boyes made contact with the 3 and left no pocket for Alcaide to play into. Safeties and shots were traded until Boyes played a great safety on the six ball that left Alcaide only a kick at the ball which was near the center of the head rail. Fantastically, Alcaide called the 6 in the corner and kicked it in as if it were a routine shot. He followed that shot up with a cross-corner bank on the 7 ball and from there it was clear-water sailing to the win.

Charlie Williams had been playing the sharpest game in the room all week. He led Marcus Chamat most of the way through their match but Chamat is one of the most tenacious players in the world and fights like a bulldog for every win. That fighting spirit allowed him to tie the match at 6 games apiece and put the heat on Williams cue. In the next game Chamat played a three-ball combination that set up a combo on the 6-10 in the side pocket. When he made that shot he was on the hill and Williams took a break to regroup. Chamat broke dry the next rack and a long safety battle ensued. Finally, Chamat played a jump shot over a full five ball to pot the one ball in the side pocket. But he got tough once he got to the four ball and had to play a two-way shot that, when the four failed to fall, left Williams a very long cut on the four. Williams pulled out all of his shot skills and made the four but then could not clear all of the traffic between the cue ball and the five ball. His kick on the five ball began another round of safeties that was only resolved when Williams attempted a very low percentage shot on the five ball in the corner that failed. Chamat cleared the next two balls easily but found himself in some trouble when his cue ball lost speed coming off of the 6 ball and did not make it into line on the eight. This left him a razor cut into the side pocket that carried with it the risk of a scratch. But he made the shot and pulled the cue ball with draw away from danger and then cleaned up the table for his win.

Predator International 10-Ball Tour Day Two

The second day of the Predator International 10-Ball Tour began with a big match right out of the gate. The luck of the draw found friends and traveling companions Mika Immonen (Finland) and Charlie Williams (USA) on the Kozoom show table. This match began as a neck and neck battle until Williams caught a gear in the ninth game and dominated the balance of the match. He missed the case 10 Ball in rack 12, but came back in the next rack to again gain control and take the match home 8-5. Williams then continued his winning ways, displaying the best cue ball control of the event, and passed Stefan Gruber (Germany) 8-6. His next opponent was Marcus Chamat, and Chamat is always tough. But Williams once again had magnificent cue ball control and strolled out to a comfortable 8-5 win to seal his entry in to the final round of sixteen.

Marcus Chamat (Sweden), he of the big heart, easily cruised his first match of the day pasting Francisco Perez (Spain) 8-1. He treated Vincent Facquet (France) only a little better, claiming that round 8-2. It was then that he went on to face Charlie Williams. As mentioned, this one did not go his way and he then had to go play Mika Immonen. Immonen had been traveling his way through the one-loss side with victories over Pedro Fonseca (Portugal) 8-7, Reda Belhaj (8-1), and Manuel Ederer (8-3). The match between Immonen and Chamat held a lot of interest as these two are Mosconi Cup team-mates and strong rivals in other tournaments. Chamat was obviously energized for this one and his arm was extremely sharp. He led early 4-0 and maintained his edge to knock Immonen out of the tournament 8-3.

Raj Hundal (Great Britain) barely broke a sweat today. He wasted Francisco Perez (Spain) 8-1 and then gave the exact same 8-1 torturing to Reda Belhaj (Morocco). Meanwhile, Oliver Ortmann (Germany) also found the tables to his liking. He dispatched David Lafoz (Spain) 8-3 before also sending Manuel Ederer (Germany) left with an 8-5 score line and progressing to face Hundal. This was a great, close match but in the end it was Hundal who emerged the victor by a slim 8-7 margin. Ortmann then went over to play a make it or break it match against Vincent Facquet (France). He made it. He took the spunky Frenchman down 8-5 and progressed to the single-elimination rounds.

In the D bracket current World 10-Ball Champion Darren Appleton (Great Britain) slid past Hanni Al-Howri (UAE) 8-6 and then turned the heat up a notch as he ran past Guilherme Sousa (Portugal) 8-4 to find himself in the final winners bracket facing David Alcoberro (Spain). Alcoberro may as have well have kept his cue in the case as Appleton demolished him 8-0 and then went to rest for the single-elimination tests he would later face.

Niels Feijan (Netherlands) first bested Vitor Refacho (Portugal) 8-4 before struggling a bit to overcome Bruno Sousa (Portugal) 8-6 only to find himself faced off against the sharp-shooting Karl Boyes of Great Britain. Boyes trip to the final qualification bracket had him beating Paulo Pereira (Portugal) 8-3 and then forcing Antonio Neves (Portugal) also to the left side of the brackets 8-5. Boyes gave Appleton all he could handle but Appleton claimed the win 8-7. Boyes still made it through to the final stage as in his next match he ruled over Guilherme Sousa (Portugal) 8-4 and avenged his loss to Appleton.

The final man to make it through on the one-loss side was Nuno Santos of Portugal. He had lost his very first match to David Alcoberro (8-7) but then gathered his strength and got the best of Manuel Pereira of Portugal (8-5), Antonio Neves of Portugal (8-5), Hanni Al-Howri of the UAE (8-5) And finally got sweet revenge on the man who first sent him left by defeating David Alcoberro 8-5.

This prepared the stage for the blind draw that would set the matches for the single-elimination sweet-sixteen. Single-elimination rounds are cruel. Only one player from each match will move on while the other may fall out of the tournament by margins as small as a single game. We had sixteen great players enter this first round and only eight would come out of it with hope for a tournament win.

The first player to make his exit was Rodney Morris. Raj Hundal eliminated him 8-5 and the Rocket had no complaints to air. But that is the way with Morris. He is a sportsman of the first caliber and is never prone to excuses. Darren Appleton, the current king of Ten Ball, then ended the run of Francisco Diaz 8-4. Next to fade away was Nuno Santos. David Alcaide disposed of him 8-6.

Neils Feijen quenched the fire that is Oliver Ortmann. After trailing early in the match 4-2 he won the next six racks to move on the next round 8-4. One of the big pre-tournament favorites was next to need the door. Ralf Souquet was vanquished 8-5 by Imran Majid. And Marcus Chamat continued with his hot hand by eliminating Nuno Rollo 8-5. Karl Boyes made it through. He shut down the efforts of Manuel Gama 8-5. Finally, our last player through to the great eight is Charlie Williams who halted former world champion Thorsten Hohmann 8-5.

Brackets A & B Complete at Predator International 10-Ball Event

The format of this stop on the Predator International 10-Ball Tour features four brackets, A through D. A and B have been played all the way down to the final four players out of each bracket (final two on the winners side and final two on the one-loss side) who will be placed in the field of the final sixteen on Saturday. Brackets C and D will be played out on Friday.

Bracket A contained some very impressive names. Ralf Souquet (Germany), Jasmin Ouschan (Austria), Rodney Morris (USA), Stephan Cohen (France) and Ivica Putnik (Croatia) were all bunched up in that group so some impressive disappointments were bound to occur. As the luck of the draw would have it Ralf Souquet faced Rodney Morris in only the second round, sending Rodney over to the long road home by the score of 8 games to 6. Souquet then dominated the second half of his match against Antonio Fazanes (Spain) and found his seat in the single-elimination finals 8 games to 4. The bottom section of the bracket saw local hero Manuel Gama also finishing his day without a defeat as he marched past Jasmin Ouschan 8-3, Katrine Jensen (Denmark) 8-6 and Francisco Ruiz (Spain) 8-5.

Ivica Putnik, the first to fall victim to Rodney Morris, got past his next opponent, Carlos Cabello (Spain) 8 games to 6 but then stalled out against Francisco Diaz (Spain) and was ejected from the tournament by the dominating score of 8-1. Jasmin Ouschan never found her gear in her first match against Manuel Gama (Portugal) and was sent left 8 games to 3. There she bested Sergio Santana (Spain) 8 games to 6 only to face the Predator 14.1 champion Stephan Cohen. She was more than up to the task at hand and sent the French pro out of the tournament 8 games to 4. That, however, would be the end of her road as she could not topple the ever-strong Rodney Morris and fell out of the brackets by the slim margin of 8 games to 7. Morris then finished his journey to the final sixteen by sliding past Francisco Ruiz 8 games to 6 while Francisco Diaz (Spain) wound up in the final rounds by destroying Antonio Fanzanes 8 games to 3.

Bracket B held strong arms as well. Imran Majid (Great Britain) easily got past Albert Casellas (Spain) 8 games to 3 but then could not quite hang in with Dominic Jentsch (Germany) and fell off of the right-hand side by the score line of 8 games to 7. Jentsch was then himself toppled 8 games to 4 by Nuno Rolo (Portugal) who is now through to the sweet sixteen round. The bottom half of the bracket was won by the ever-strong David Alcaide (Spain). Alcaide first cruised past Pedro France of Portugal 8 games to 1 and then upended Thorsten Hohmann (Germany) 8 games to 4. His final match against Miquel Silva (Portugal) was a bit less stressful as he won that one 8 games to 3.

This meant that both Majid and Hohmann had to battle their way through the one-loss side to survive in the tournament. Majid made it all the way left by conquering Frederico Pereira (Portugal) 8 games to 4, Henrique Correia (Portugal) 8 games to 0, and finally by trampling Miquel Silva (Portugal) 8 games to 3. Thorsten Hohmann had things in control as he got by Carlos Bogas (Spain) 8 games to 4 and Albert Caselas (Spain) 8 games to 5. But then he ran headlong into Dominic Jentsch (Germany) and he knew he was in for a battle. The match started out close as the two men wound up tied at three games apiece but the fate and fortune of Jentsch were sealed when Hohmann won the last five games running to progress to the finals 8 games to 3.

Of course we would like to continue to thank all of the sponsors who make this event possible. Predator and Poison Cues, Tiger Products, Bilhares Carrinho, Aramith Billiard Balls, Simonis Cloth, the Municipality of Anadia, The tourist Bureau of Central Portugal, Masterpool, Samsung, Billiard Master, Masterpool and Kozoom all teamed together to make this International Tour stop a reality.

Predator International 10-ball event to Benefit Children�s Charity

The Predator International 10-Ball Tournament will benefit more than just the players and fans. It is now announced that a portion of the proceeds will go to The Children�s House, a temporary home for disadvantaged youth.

The concept for this home began in 1995 and, after overcoming many obstacles, opened in September of 2008. The aim of the House is to provide emergency fostering for 30 children (aged up to 12 years old), who, often for traumatic reasons, were withdrawn by the Court of from their families. These circumstances are commonly a consequence of neglectful environments that include abandonment, disregard for safety, violence, sexual abuse, etc. � In order to transform these experiences, the Children's House seeks to provide opportunities for growth and development, trusting in everyone�s potential, and the continued interest of those who support the cause. The Children�s House believes in joyful times, peace, emotional stability, health care and in appropriate and individualized projects for their lives, to build the opportunity of a home where the children can truly be children.�The Children�s House provides emergency fostering for 30 children (aged up to 12 years old), who, often for traumatic reasons, were withdrawn by the Court from their previous family situation.

Karim Belhaj, President and CEO of Predator Group, states that it his pleasure to support this worthy cause �because it involves youth with a need and that it has both an international and national aspect because the two homes involved support both local and international youth. One of the orphanages has a billiard room that Predator refitted and at the end of the day it is out responsibility to make the world a better place one pool game at a time.�

Eyes of Pool World Focused on the Stars in Portugal

The major players in the world of cuesports are now arriving in Anadia, Portugal to participate in the Predator International 10-Ball Tournament being conducted at the Anadia Pavilion of Sports from September 10 � 12.

Warming up their arms today will be current World Ten Ball champion Darren Appleton, Current World 9-Ball Champion Daryl Peach, Current World 8-Ball Champion Ralf Souquet, Current US Open Champion Mika Immonen, Current World 14.1 Champion Niels Feijen and Current Predator 14.1 Champion Stephan Cohen alongside such notables of the game as Rodney Morris, Charlie Williams, Imran Majid, Thorsten Hohmann and David Alcaide. Portuguese fans will be rooting on their local favorites such as Manuel Gama and Antonio Neves.

Disappointing news came very recently that the Filipino contingent of stars will be unable to compete in Portugal because their visa applications did not process in time for them to make the trip. This has been a problem with events in the past and it is the problem of paperwork, not the players.

The event will reach nearly 500 million households in High-Definition with coverage on both Eurosport and ESPN/Star. Broadcast coverage will be produced by Kozoom and print coverage will be distributed by AZBilliards.

This event features a prize fund of more than $70,000 and will be played out on 21 Carrinho tables provided by Bilhares Carrinho of Portugal. The tournament balls will be the new Tournament Ball Set by Aramith and the cloth is Simonis 860. Predator is the official cue of the event. The tournament also wishes to express their gratitude to Uni-Loc, Poison Cues, the WPA, the EPBF, the city of Anadia, Inc Illimitados Na Consultoria, the Billiard Club of Portugal, Billiard Master and ESPN for their support of this event.

Check out the Pro9.co.uk calendar for details of more pool events.

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