Pro9 - Europe's No.1 Pool Player Resource

2009 WPA World Juniors Championships
Crowne Plaza
Convention Centre
Managua
Nicaragua
www.wpa-pool.com
www.poolocho.com
Download: 2009 BOYS BRACKETS - Titanic 2.5Mb .xls file (updated 9 Nov 2009)
Download: 2009 GIRLS BRACKETS - Monster 1.5Mb .xls file (updated 9 Nov 2009)

3-8 November 2009

The WPA Juniors final awards ceremony in Managua, Nicaragua.
Two New World Champions!

Ruslan Chinakhov of Russia and Keng-Chun Lin of Taipei are the new WPA World Junior Champions. The final day of play began with Anja Wagner (GER) defeating Konishi Samia (JPN) 9-7. Then Keng-Chun Lin ended the winning streak of Liz Lovely (USA) by that same 9-7 margin.

This set up the semi-final match between Liz Lovely and Anja Wagner as Keng-Chun Lin waited for the victor to play the championship round. That would be Anja Wagner as she found momentum first and carried her margin to ever-larger numbers that resulted in her winning out 9-5. However, the power that Wagner displayed would not be enough to overcome the skills of Lin. Keng-Chun Lin defeated Ms. Wagner 9-6 to stand atop the podium and receive the gold. Watch out, Ga-Young, Jasmin and Allison. Those footsteps you hear are sure and confident.

This brought the young men out for their final contests. First up were the two undefeated players, Nolle Stefan (GER) and Ruslan Chunakhov (RUS). Chinakhov found his true form and demolished the young German 11-1. The two players who had already suffered one loss were up next and had a much closer battle as Phil Burford (GBR) narrowly bested Kuei-Min Lin (TPE) 11-9.

"Read More..." for the details.

The WPA Juniors final awards ceremony in Managua, Nicaragua.

The WPA Juniors final awards ceremony in Managua, Nicaragua.

As Chinakhov rested, Burford and Nolle hit the tables again to see who would face him. This one was a real nail-biter as the two men traded blows and neither faltered until the very end when Burford managed to squeak by with an 11-10 win to win the privilege of facing Chinakhov for the title. While Burford certainly gave a fine accounting of himself, there would be no doubt as to who the champion would be. Ruslan Chinakhov has announced himself with his 11-8 win as a player to be reckoned with on the world stage. Remember the name, you will be hearing it again.

Action from the arena in Nicaragua.
Down to Last Matches at WPA World Junior Championships in Managua

Day two saw a lot of action in Managua as tournament organizer Carlos Rivera and his entire crew from Pool Ocho have done a magnificent job of producing this year�s event. We are down to the final four in both divisions and we are not without surprises.

There will be no repeat champions. Defending Champ Brittany Bryant (CAN) has been eliminated from the field after being knocked over to the long road by Keng-Chun Lin (TPE). Once on the desperate side Ms. Bryant found herself defenseless against the powerful onslaught hurled upon her by Konishi Samia (JPN) and fell out of the tournament 7-2.

This leaves two young ladies who still have not bitten into the bitter taste of a loss. Keng-Shun Lin has now bested Ms. Bryant, Kamlia Khdjeva (BEL) and Brianna Miller (USA) to stand on the edge of the hill alongside Liz Lovely (USA). Ms. Lovely achieved her goals thus far by defeating Anja Wagner (GER), Konishi Samia (JPN) and Ana F. Guevara (NIC).

The two ladies who are on the one-loss side and can bear no more defeats are Konishi Samia (JPN) and Anja Wagner (GER). As mentioned, both ladies find themselves in peril as a result of a loss to Liz Lovely (USA).

There are also two unstained players left among the young men. Rusian Chinakhov (RUS) has thus far found no opponent who can answer his stroke. He has disappointed Phil Burford (GBR), Marcos Garcia (NIC), Cristopher Tevez (PER) and Ryner Monje (CRC). Next he will face Stefan Nolle (GER). Mr. Nolle has found his success by defeating Kuei-Min Lin (TPE), Maximillian Lechner (AUT), Jorge Rivera (NIC) and Luis Arias (PER). Chinakhov and Nolle will soon face one another to claim the hot seat.

Still in the running but with the hound at their heels on the one-loss side are Phil Burford (GBR) and Kuei-Min Lin (TPE). Their match today has everything to offer or suffer as 9-Ball has that cruel habit of rewarding the aggressive but punishing the foolhardy. A delicate balance at best.

Players taking the oath before the tournament in Nicaragua.
WPA World Juniors Championship Underway

The WPA World Juniors Championship has kicked off in Managua, Nicaragua. The CPB (Confederation Panamerica of Billiards) has spent the past year preparing for this competition and their efforts have borne fine fruit. The first day began with a wonderfully elaborate opening ceremony. The players were ushered into the arena by their country, Olympic style. The Nicaraguan Military Band played the Nicaraguan National Anthem to open the games and the players, coaches and tournament officials took an oath of sportsmanship. The entrance to the arena was lined with military personnel to welcome and honor the players and guests. To top it all off, the Honorable Taiwan Ambassador to Nicaragua performed the opening break shot. After the ceremony, it was on to the business of competition as the matches began.

Players entrance with ceremonial guards.

Ceremony presenting the Representative Federations of the World.
For the young ladies, number 1 seed Brittany Bryant (CAN) stood up to her billing and won her first match against Petra Stadlbauer (AUT) in an effort to defend her title as World Champion. Number 2 seed Liz Lovely (USA) also performed as expected and found success in her first match against Ana F. Guevara (NIC). Seeds 3 and 4 (Jaynes Nicole {USA} and Kamila Khodejeva {BEL}) also were victorious in their matches. The first upset of the day was when #5 seed Javiera Rivera (NCA) fell to Anja Wagner (GER).

Number six-ranked Keng-Chun Lin (TPE) narrowly escaped Briana Miler (USA) while Konishi Samia (JPN) slipped by number 7 seed Karen Garcia (NCA) in a hill-hill thriller. Finally, Amerindia Tablada (NCA) stayed on the high road by taking down Elena Catalan of Guatemala.

The young men took the stage next. Number 1 seed Ogawa Norio (JPN) bested Carlos Nurindia (NIC) and Phil Burford (GBR)won over Nick Pera (NZL). This set up a second-round match between Nurindia and Pera that ended the tournament for Pera as Nurindia won the contest.

Nick Tafoya (USA) won out over Daniel Laszlo (HUN) and Jhon Telleria (NIC) beat Alex Hernandez (GUA) to set up another death match between Lazlo and Hernandez that found Lazlo surviving to play on day two. One of the day�s big upsets came next when number 5 seed Ikhwan Sandaja Edward (IDN) fell to number 28 Marcos J. Garcia (NIC). Then, when Skyler Woodward (USA) defeated Peter Robertson (RSA) it sent Robertson and Edward into a do or die match which Edward won convincingly .

Rusian Chinakhov (RUS), who has seasoned himself by playing in open professional events, cruised by his first-round opponent, Ryner Monje (CRC) while Christopher Tevez (PER) had a more narrow victory over Jesse Engel (USA) to develop the elimination match between Engel and Ryner that Engel won. Numer 3 seed Jorge D. Rivera performed as expected in his victory over Ryan Spence (CAN) and Stefan Nolle (GER) defeated Luis Arias (PER). We should have the result of the match between Spence and Arias later today.

Cheng-Shieh Liu (TPE) won over Landon Shuffet (USA) and Maximilian Lechner (AUT) defeated Alfred Wiles Harry (RSA) which placed Wiles and Shuffet in an elimination round in which Shuffet prevailed. McEarl Bucais (CAN) took down Aoki Satoshi (JPN) and Brendan Crockett (USA) won out over Jose Moncada (HON) and this led to the critical match between Satoshi and Monacada that found Satoshi in a dominant win.

Finally, Ivar Saris (NED) beat Israel Rivas (NIC) and Kuei-Min Lin (TPE) bested Manuel (NIC) to create the elimination round between Flores and Rivas that Flores survived. Play continues today in Managua and we will keep you up-to-date with all of the results.

Take a break... And have a bit of fun with Pro9's free pool game.

Comments

"XVIII WPA World Juniors Championships" | Login/Create Account | 0 comments

The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.