DAY 1 AT THE 2012 WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP PRODUCES SURPRISING UPSETS AND SOLID OUTINGS FROM THE GAME'S BEST
(Doha, Qatar)--With 128 of the world’s best pool players on hand contesting the 2012 World 9-ball Championship, and all playing a slew of matches in their groups and trying, over the next few days, to whittle the field down to 64, it’s nearly impossible to predict who exactly will emerge as the new king of 9-ball.
But as day one here in blazing hot Doha, Qatar has come to a close, certain important trends have already revealed themselves. Perhaps most important among them is the fact that the talent level throughout the world of pool has risen dramatically in the last few years.
We all know that the Philippines, Taiwan, England and many European countries produce serious pool talent. But what about not so known hotbeds of pool such as Iran, Lebanon, Finland, Albania, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, New Zealand, UAE and right here in Qatar?
The first 48 matches held Saturday inside the Al Sadd Sports Club have proven one thing and that is that the sport of 9-ball has literally gone viral, with solid players emerging from the most unlikely of places. Which means known players cannot take any match for granted. And that, of course, brings to us another trend we will witness this week in Doha; fans should prepare themselves for lots of upsets.
The first surprising result of the day came in the very first group out of the gates, when Kuwait’s Badr Al Awadi defeated former World 10-Ball champion Huidji See of the Netherlands, 9-7. It should be noted that Kuwait seems to be one of the big beneficiaries of the presence of big time pool tournaments being played year after year in the Middle East. Many of the Kuwaiti players are very competitive out on the table and seem to be gaining confidence with each passing year.
Also during the first session another upset caused waves around the arena, this one coming from Down Under. 24 year old Matthew Edwards from New Zealand knew his odds against American great Shane Van Boening were long. And at 5-1 down in the race to 9, alternate break match things were looking bleak indeed for the young Kiwi. But a massive fight back coupled with plenty of heart brought Edwards back into the match. He ended beating Van Boening 9-7 for the biggest win of his career.
Afterward, as many of the players do, Edwards went straight to his Facebook page to tell the world about his accomplishment. His comments are printed as is because, well, they speak volumes about how fascinating the sport of 9-ball at the professional level can be.
Edwards wrote: “I came into the match feeling very excited and a little out of depth... After our 5min warm up I was shocked to find out how tight the pockets were and how different the cushions reacted!!! What a confidence blower the warm up was! It was clear that Shane was more than comfortable on the American made Diamond pool table! Shane jumped out to a 5-1 lead without me doing too much wrong... I then kept telling myself I would stick to my initial game plan and never give up , try my best and fight to the end! At 5-1 I remember only seeing the ball in front of me and focusing on the sinking the ball! As weird as it sounds I was so nervous I was afraid to miss which drove me to focus harder and harder... I knew I didn't know the cushions well enough so I would play basic position even if it meant playing a longer tougher pot on relying on my potting skills! I ended up winning 9-7!! I was very happy to beat such a great player and happy with myself that I didn't give up and fought right to the finish line !!! I was playing on all heart despite the odds! I kept the belief in myself no matter what!!”
Folks, if you can’t get excited about the excitement of Matthew Edwards then it’s time to turn to following competitive hot dog eating to get your thrills.
As the day wore on, a few more surprising results kept coming in. Aki Heiskanen, a fresh face out of Finland, handily defeated Dutch star Niels Feijen . 9-4. Kuwait’s Omar Al Shaheen got the crowd pumped up with his nervy 9-8 win over Belgium’s Serge Das.
Many of the games big names had solid outings on day one. The Philippines Efren “Bata” Reyes beat Croatia’s Philipp Stojanovic, 9-3. Defending champion Yukio Akagariyama of Japan won 9 – 7 over Dominic Jentsch of Germany. 2010 World 9-ball Champion Francisco Bustamante beat Taiwan’s Lo Li Wen, 9-6. 2007 World 9-ball Champion Daryl Peach of England prevailed 9 – 7 over a very tough Sniegocki Mateusz of Poland. Current World 8-ball champion Chang Jun Lin of Taiwan defeated Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland, 9-7. Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann, the 2003 World 9-ball Champion, beat Taiwan’s Hsu Kai Lun 9-5.
Two time US Open Champion and former World 10-ball champion Darren Applenton of England nearly made it to our upset list as he had a very difficult time with Hamza Alsaeed of Eritrea, coming back from a 6-4 deficit to win 9-7.
Several high quality matchups produced some interesting results. Malta’s Tony Drago was leading Finland’s great Mika Immonen 7-1, only to see Immonen storm back to tie the match. The two went to the hill where Drago broke and ran the last rack for the win.
The Philippines talented but underrated Jundel Mazon beat England’s number one Chris Melling, 9-7. Two time World 9-ball Champion Fong Pang Chao of Taiwan beat China’s Le He Wen, 9-7. Taiwan’s Yang Ching Shun returned to competitive pool after a several year hiatus and beat the UAE’s Hanni Alhowri, 9-2.
In a result that won’t get too much attention outside of Tirana, Malaj Nikolaos notched the first ever win for Albania in the World 9-ball Championship when he squeaked by Qatar’s Abdulatif Fawal, 9-8. Nikolaos is actually a rising talent on the European scene. In 2011 he won the Kremlin Cup, defeating Mika Immonen in the final, an event that was sponsored by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Click the image to view the larger photo (courtesy of Thorsten Hohmann)
2012 WPA WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
DOHA - QATAR
THE PLAYERS
1 Akagariyama Yukio JPN 2 Chang Jung Lin TPE 3 Chris Melling GBR 4 Fu Che Wei TPE 5 Huidji See NED 6 Dennis Orcollo PHI 7 Darren Appleton GBR 8 Lee Van Corteza PHI 9 Ronnie Alcano PHI 10 Ko Pin Yi TPE 11 Liu Haitao CHN 12 Carlo Biado PHI 13 Thorsten Hohmann GER 14 Ralf Souquet GER 15 Chang Yu Lung TPE 16 Daryl Peach GBR 17 Fu Jianbo CHN 18 Roberto Gomez PHI 19 Shane Van Boening USA 20 Mark Gray GBR 21 Mika Immonen FIN 22 Lo Li Wen TPE 23 Hwang Yong KOR 24 Alok Kumar IND 25 Sundeep Gulati IND 26 Kuribatashi Tohru JPN 27 Hori Ryouji JPN 28 Kuo Yi Che TPE 29 Hsu Kai Lun TPE 30 Ryu Seung Woo KOR 31 Lee Wan Su KOR 32 Toh Lian Han SIN 33 Aloysius Yapp SIN 34 Do The Kien VIE 35 Nguyen Anh Tuan VIE 36 Francisco Bustamante PHI 37 Jundel Mazon PHI 38 Efren Reyes PHI 39 Antonio Gabica PHI-QAT 40 Israel Rota PHI-QAT 41 Kong Andrew HKG 42 Lee Chenman HKG 43 Lee He Wen CHN 44 Han Hao Xiang CHN 45 Dan Jing Hu CHN 46 Edwin Montal CAN 47 Jason Klatt CAN 48 John Morra CAN 49 Harvey Shognosh CAN 50 Hunter Lombardo USA 51 Tony Drago MLT 52 Philipp Stojanovic CRO 53 Ivica Putnik CRO 54 Karlo Dalmatin CRO 55 Bozidar Primic CRO 56 Malaj Nikolaos ALB 57 Roman Hybler CZE 58 Vincent Facquet FRANCE 59 Francisco Diaz-Pizarro ESP 60 Andrea Klasovic SRB 61 Marus Chamat SWE 62 Aki Heiskanen FIN 63 Mario He AUT 64 Albin Ouschan AUT
65 Manuel Gama POR 66 Henrique Correia POR 67 Dimitri Jungo SUI 68 Nick van den Berg NED 69 Niels Feijen NED 70 Jason Shaw GBR 71 Imran Majid GBR 72 Richard Jones GBR 73 Karl Boyes GBR 74 Oliver Ortmann GER 75 Jentsch Dominic GER 76 Thomas Engert GER 77 Serge Das BEL 78 Sniegocki Mateusz POL 79 Konstantin Stepanov RUS 80 Bruno Muratore ITA 81 Denis Grabe EST 82 Luis Lemus GUA 83 Jonny Martinez VEN 84 Jalal Yousef VEN 85 Ceri Worts NZL 86 Matthew Edwards NZL 87 Robby Foldvari AUS 88 Mohammad Ali Berjaoui LIB 89 Mazen Berjaoui LIB 90 Takhti Zarekani IRI 91 Ali Pordel IRI 92 Badr Al Awadi KUW 93 Abdullah Al Yousef KUW 94 Abdulwahed Al Awad KSA 95 Abdul Rahman Al Amar KSA 96 Hanni Alhowri UAE 97 Salaheldeen Alrimawi UAE 98 Ali Saeed Alsuwaidi UAE 99 Nayf Abdel Afou JOR 100 Rajandran Nair RSA 101 David N. Anderson RSA 102 Hamza Alsaeed ERI 103 Mohamed Elassal EGY 104 Al Masskini MAR 105 Bashar Hussain QAT 106 Mohd Al Bin Ali QAT 107 Abdulatif Fawal QAT 108 Mohd Buainain QAT 109 Ali Obaidly QAT 110 Waleed Majeed QAT 111 Mohammad Saeed QAT 112 Hayato Hijikata JPN 113 Yang Ching Shun TPE 114 Joyme Vicente PHI-UAE 115 Nick Ekonomopoulos GRE 116 Naoyuki Ohi JPN 117 Oliver Medanilla PHI-UAE 118 Ramil Gallego PHI 119 Joven Alba PHI-UAE 120 Chao Fong Pang TPE 121 Majed Alazmi KUW 122 Marlon Caneda PHI-KSA 123 Omar Al Shahen KUW 124 Takashi Uraoka JPN 125 Elvis Calasang PHI-UAE 126 Khaled Al Mutairi KUW 127 Raymound Faraon PHI-UAE 128 Alaa Bata QAT
2012 WPA WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
DOHA - QATAR
THE GROUPS
GROUP 1 Huidji See Badr Al Awadi Efren Reyes Philipp Stojanovic Hwang Yong John Morra Mohammad Berjawi Joyme Vicente
GROUP 2 Mika Immonen Tony Drago Sundeep Gulati Ramil Gallego Thorsten Hohmann Hsu Kai Lun Ali Pordel Abdulwahed Al Awa
GROUP 3 Chris Melling Jundel Mazon Aloysius Yapp Vincent Faquet Shane Van Boening Matthew Edwards Abdulatif Fawal Malaj Nikolaos
GROUP 4 Lee He Wen Chao Fang Pang Edwin Montal Thomas Engert Carlo Biado Rajandran Nair Roman Hybler Waleed Majeed
GROUP 5 Fu Che Wei Do The Kien Carlo Dalmatin Mohd Buainain Fu Jianbo Marcus Chamat Takashi Uraoka Jayson Shaw
GROUP 6 Neils Feijen Aki Heikanen Khaled Al Mutairi Mohd Al Bin Ali Chang Jung Lin Dimitri Jungo Robby Foldvari Naoyuki Oi
GROUP 7 Chang Yu Lung Jalal Yousef Dang Jinghu Albin Ouschan Karl Boyes Ryu Seung Woo Hanni Alhowri Yang Ching Shun
GROUP 8 Mark Gray Hayato Hijikata Lee Chenman Manuel Gama Ko Pin Yi Luis Lemus Serge Das Omar Al Shahen
GROUP 9 Daryl Peach Mateusz Sniegocki Mazen Berjaoui Bozo Primic Lo Li Wen Francisco Bustamante Abdullah Al Yousef Oliver Medenilla
GROUP 10 Roberto Gomez Takhti Zarekani Mohammad Saeed Alaa Bata Yukio Akagariyama Dominic Jentsch Harvey Shognosh Konstantin Stepanov
GROUP 11 Darren Appleton Hamza Alsaeed Abdul Rahman Al Amar Bruno Muratore Bashas Hussain Kuo Yi Che Elver Casalang Han Hao Xiang
GROUP 12 Jasan Klatt Imran Majid Mohamed Elassal Ali Obaidly Liu Haitao Mario He Alok Kumar Nick Ekonomopoulos
GROUP 13 Ronnie Alcano Toh Lian Han Hunter Lombardo Al Masskini Antonio Gabica Andrea Klasovic Salaheldeen Alrimawi Denis Grabe
GROUP 14 Tohru Kuribayashi Ceri Worts Nguyen Anh Tuan Majed Alazmi Lee Van Corteza Ivica Putnik Francisco Diaz-Pizarro Marlon Caneda
GROUP 15 Dennis Orcollo Ali Saeed Alsuwaidi Hori Ryouji Kong Andrew Oliver Ortmann Richard Jones Jonny Martinez Raymound Faraon
GROUP 16 Nick Van Den Berg Joven Alba David N. Anderson Henrique Correia Ralf Souquet Israel Rota Nayf Abdel Afou Lee Wan Su
The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
PRO9 has established an outstanding reputation as Europes No.1 source for information on American Pool in the UK and Europe.
Upcoming tournament details, prompt match reporting, exclusive images by talented photographers, superb articles by expert pundits, active pool related forums, player profiles and a very sophisticated membership - basically, an incredible information resource for the American style game in Europe.
Since it launched, PRO9 has become compulsory reading, not just for the UKs pool players, but to hundreds and thousands of pool obsessives from around the world every single day.
PRO9s members range from professional pool players, cue-sports enthusiasts, club managers, tournament organisers, pool fans and aficionados, as well as various "movers and shakers" in the cue-sports field, including entrepreneurs in the wholesale and retail sector, as well as magazine editors and television sports promoters.
Growing more and more popular every single year, PRO9 is the best placed vehicle for the promotion of your pool club, billiards brand, associated products, services and opportunities in the truly massive pan-European billiard market.
If you qre reading this, you should check out www.Pro9.co.uk for yourself! Please use these logos and text in your links to www.Pro9.co.uk - thank you.
Forum rules: No advertising, no links to businesses/shops/eBay, no swearing, respect our sponsors and each other, no hate!
Comments