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WPA Etisalat World 8-Ball Championships 2011
Fujairah Expo Center
Fujairah
United Arab Emirates
www.wpa-pool.com
www.world8ballchampionship.com
View the Final Brackets (small .pdf file) - Now updated - includes Day 6
View the live score courtesy of the WPA

19-26 February 2011

WPA World 8 Ball Champion 2011 - Dennis Orcollo - Philippines
Dennis Orcullo on Top of the World

Our final day in Fujairah began with a playoff for third place between Darren Appleton and David Alcaide. Alcaide dominated the match as Appleton only came to the table sparingly. Alcaide won 9-2.

Then it was time for the Championship match between Dennis Orcullo of the Philippines and Niels Feijen of the Netherlands. Orcullo won the lag and broke and ran the first rack. It then became the Orcullo break and run show as he repeated this performance over and over until the score stood at 5-0. Orcullo had to play in local qualifiers to get into the tournament and he was making the most of the opportunity. When he broke the rack in game 6 he scratched in the side pocket and Feijen had his first opportunity.

Feijen polished off that rack to put his first mark on the board at 5-1 down. He then suffered a dry break but left a tough run of balls for Orcullo. Orcullo had to bank the three ball cross corner to get his run begun and then had a very tough lay of the land to navigate. He took his time surveying each shot and did a simply marvelous job of getting through the rack with one tough position after another. But he left himself long on the 8 ball and it rattled in the jaws, returning Feijen to the table.

"Read More..." for the details.

Feijen had a big problem with the 14 ball. Everything else had a pocket but the 14 was blocked from the corner by the 8 ball. He would need to slide into a narrow window between the two to play the 14 up-table, attempt a bank, or try to move the 14 with another shot. Or he could play a safe and try to get ball in hand. He chose the safe, locking Orcullo behind the 13 ball way up-table. Orcullo called the 8 in the corner and measured his kick shot. He missed the 8 ball and scratched, again awarding ball in hand to Feijen. Feijen positioned the cue between the 8 and the 12 ball which he had moved next to the 14 on his safety, made the shot and finished off the table to bring our score to 5-2.

Feijen made two balls on the next snap and had an easy layout. He very quickly made it 5-3. He was running out the next rack with ease when he got what appeared to be a skid on the 4 ball and it stayed up between the corner jaws. Orcullo was back at the table. He cleared up and the score became 6-3 in our race to ten games. Orcullo made a great spread of the balls on the next break and finished that rack easily to lead 7-3.

The outlook began to truly dim for Feijen when Orcullo made three balls on the next break and faced an open table of well-spread balls. It was soon 8-3 Orcullo. But Orcullo scratched in the side pocket on the break to bring some light to Feijen's chances. But he missed a long shot to the corner early on and Orcullo finished off the balls to claim his spot on the hill.

Orcullo now stood one rack away from his first World title. He made two balls on the break but the table was not an easy one to finish off. But he made it look easy and sank the final 8 ball to a celebration of fans in the arena. Final score 10-3.

Thanks again must out to the organizers and sponsors such as Etisalat, Dubai Sports, the Chantoot Group, Fujairah International Airport and all the others who made this event such a great success.

2011 WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY 6

Niels Feijen - Netherlands
World 8-Ball Day 6

The 2011 World 8-Ball Championship is now down to just two players. Niels Feijen will face Dennis Orcullo on Saturday for the title.

Friday play started with the final sixteen players and the fans witnessed the surprising elimination of Mika Immonen (9-1 at the hands of Thomas Engert) as well as a fantastic hill-hill match between Appleton and Ronnie Alcano. Appleton led the match 8-4, before coming up dry on the break and being forced to watch Alcano run rack after rack to tie the match at 8-8. Alcano made a ball on the break and looked to be out in the case rack, but missed a tricky ball down the rail and that was all the opportunity that Appleton needed to run the rack and win the match.

The final round of eight saw another great comeback as Niels Feijen looked to be on his way out the door in his match against Nick Van Den Berg. Van Den Berg held an early lead, but Feijen came back and made it a close match. Van Den Berg was running out a tricky final rack at 8-8, when he got funny on a ball early in the rack. The pressure of the situation may have gotten the better of him as he missed a semi-touch cut and conceded the match to Feijen instead of sitting and watching Feijen run his final eight balls.

Dennis Orcollo - Philippines
The story of the first quarter final match was missed opportunities. Dennis Orcullo faced off against David Alcaide and the packed house of Filipino fans made it very clear who they were cheering for. The match saw Orcullo take a small lead early in the match. At 5-3, a miss by Orcullo let Alcaide to the table, but he was unable to take advantage and Orcullo won the rack. Again, at 6-3, Alcaide got to the table but was unable to capitalize. Amazingly, at 7-3, Alcaide had another chance that didn't pan out and Orcullo took an 8-3 lead. That would be the last chance for Alcaide as Orcullo broke and ran the final rack for the 9-3 win.

The second quarter final match was between last year's runner up, Niels Feijen, and Darren Appleton. With the "winner breaks" rule and the forgiving pockets, the lag has been extremely important for the players. That lag went to Darren Appleton, but that would be one of only two trips he made to the table. Appleton broke dry and was forced to sit in the chair as Fiejen ran six straight racks. At 6-0, Feijen made a ball on the break but really had no high percentage shot to start the run with. Feijen opted for a safety and Appleton got his second chance at the table. Appleton missed a tricky jump-carom and that was the end as Feijen ran the final three racks for the 9-0 win.

Saturday play will start out with Appleton taking on Alcaide for 3rd place, followed by Feijen vs Orcullo for the title.

2011 WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY 5

Raj Hundal - India
Down to Last 16 at World 8 Ball

Some days you have good days and some days you have bad days. On Thursday Raj Hundal of India had both. He began great, destroying Konstantin Stepanov of Russia 9-0 in a perfect match where he broke and ran the set. Stepanov never had a single chance at the table as Hundal won 9-0 to progress. But then the tables turned on him and Joven Alba of the Philippines eliminated him from the tournament 9-7.

This was a day of joy and heartbreak for many. In this single-elimination stage any loss means the end of the road. US Open 9-Ball Champion Darren Appleton survived the day by overcoming Huidje See 9-3. Others in his section of the chart to make it into Friday included Bashar Hussain and Ronnie Alcano. Alcano had to defeat Oliver Ortmann 9-6 while Hussain ended the run of Salah Al Remway 9-5. The next section found legendary player Ralf Souquet escaping Joven Bustamante 9-7only to then fall victim to Nick Van Den Berg 9-1. Omaral Shaheene won over Rudolfo Luat 9-5 and then gave similar treatment to Manuel Gama 9-4 to keep his hopes alive.

Bashar Hussain - Qatar
Niels Feijen is having a good week. He is still in it via his wins over Do Hoang Quan 9-7 and Rodney Morris 9-2. And Oliver Medinilla also continues his quest as he rolled over Vilmos Foldes 9-5. Chang Jun Lin is still here. He defeated Roberto Gomez 9-6 while David Alcaide put down both Naoyuki Oi (9-3)and Lee Van Corteza (9-3). Thomas Engert had to get past two very tough players. First he beat Raymund Faron 9-8 and then Earl Strickland 9-7. Mika Immonen also reached his goals of the day by getting past Bruno Muratore 9-4 and then putting our defending champion Karl Boyes out of the event 9-1.

One very strong player making his entrance onto the world stage is Carlo Dalmatin. He beat Yukio Akakariyama 9-7 and then destroyed one of the tournament favorites, Antonio Lining, 9-4. Another former unknown making his debut here is Takhti Zarekari. His strength overcame Thorsten Hohmann 9-8 and then Alok Kumar 9-6. Shane Van Boening is also still in the competition as he got past Nguyen Phuc Long 9-7 and Jalal Yousef 9-2. Our final player left is Dennis Orcullo. He ruined things for Stephan Cohen 9-0 and then barely got past Vincent Facquet 9-8.

At 1 PM on Friday we will watch as Orcullo takes on Shane Van Boening, Zarekari faces Carlo Dalmatin, Chang Jun Lin will go up against David Alcaide and Thomas Engert meets Mika Immonen. The other half of the field will find Nick Van Den Berg against Omaral Shaheeme, Niels Feijen against Oliver Mendinilla, Basher Hussain against Joven Alba and Darren Appleton against Ronnie Alcano.

At the end of the day there will be only two men left with a chance to be the next Champion of the World.

WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
THE GROUPS
Group 1 Karl Boyes Fahad Khalaf Aljassas Mhd Abdulmohsen Alhazmi Abdulatef Fawal Omran Salem Rodney Morris Waeed Al Fil Huidje See	Group 2 Francisco Bustamante Carlos Cabello Joven Bustamante Daryl Peach Mark Gray Nick Van Den Berg Francisco Sanchez Ruiz David Alcaide
Group 3 Antonio Lining Joyme Vincente Jepthant Palencia Andrew Kong Mazen Berjawi Dennis Orcullo Shaker Wahdaw Efren Reyes	Group 4 Po Cheng Kuo Naif Al Jaweni Sascha Andrej Tege Joven Alba Ibrahim Saeed Alok Kumar Paul Ortega Jun Lin Chang
Group 5 Jeffrey De Luna Khaled Al Mutari Frailin Guanipa Won Sik Ham Vilmos Foldes Takhti Zarekani Mario He Phuc Long Nguyen	Group 6 Niels Feijen Elvis Calasang Raj Hundal Young Hwa Jeong Saleem Aljanbi Bruno Muratore Corey Deuel Yousseff Jalal Ven
Group 7 Ronnie Alcano Amine Ouahbi Ramil Gallego David Plattner Majid Sultan Carlo Dalmatin Mhd Ali Berjawi Basher Hussain	Group 8 Vicenancio Tanio Francisco Felicilda Ricardo Jones Abdulla Juma Oliver Ortmann Manuel Gama Ahmed Al Hosani Mika Immonen
Group 9 Oliver Medinilla Francisco Diaz Pizarro Li Wen Lo Sannad Al Baloushi Do Hoang Quan Moein Khedri Omar Al Shaheene Stephan Cohen	Group 10 Lee Van Corteza Tomoo Tanako Allan Cuartero Mehdi Rasheki Karol Skowerski John Salazar Thomas Engert Jason Klatt
Group 11 Shane Van Boening Basem Mhd Aboud Lian Han Toh Naoyuki Oi Roberto Gomez Chris Melling Kenny Kwok Ralf Souquet	Group 12 Ruslan Chinahov Thorsten Hohmann Mohamed Al Hosani Ameur Abdelati Riad Radoslaw Babica Zbynek Vaik Salah Al Remawy Darren Appleton
Group 13 Scott Higgins Erik Hjorliefson Earl Strickland Sumit Talwar Vincent Facquet Tey Choon Kiat Khaled Al Azoni Yukio Akakariyama	Group 14 Raymund Faraon Hanni Al Howri Konstantin Stepanov Ali Saeed Amin Fekry Rodolfo Luat Daniel Hunia Marcus Chamat

WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
THE LAST 16
Dennis Orcollo	9 : 4	Shane Van Boening
Takhti Zarekani	9 : 4	Carlo Damatin
Chang Jun Lin	6 : 9	David Alcaide
Thomas Engert	9 : 1	Mika Immonen
Nick van den Berg	9 : 4	Omar Al Shaheene
Niels Feijen	9 : 4	Oliver Medinilla
Bashar Hussain	4 : 9	Joven Alba
Darren Appleton	9 : 8	Ronnie Alcano

WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
THE QUARTER-FINALS
Takhti Zarekani	2 : 9	Dennis Orcollo
David Alcaide	9 : 6	Thomas Engert
Nick van den Berg	8 : 9	Niels Feijen
Joven Alba	2 : 9	Darren Appleton

WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
THE SEMI-FINALS
Dennis Orcollo	9 : 3	David Alcaide
Niels Feijen	9 : 0	Darren Appleton

WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
THE FINAL
Dennis Orcollo	10 : 3	Niels Feijen

WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
THE PRIZE FUND
1st	$ 40,000	$ 40,000
2nd	$ 25,000	$ 25,000
3rd	$ 14,000	$ 14,000
4th	$ 10,000	$ 10,000
5th-8th	$ 6,000	$ 24,000
9th-16th	$ 3,500	$ 28,000
17th-32nd	$ 2,000	$ 32,000
33rd-56th	$ 1,000	$ 23,000
57th-84th	$ 300	$ 8,100
85th-112th	$ 0	$ 0
TOTAL PRIZE FUND = US $204,100

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