Preliminary Round
Kelly Fisher 3-7 Justin Sajich Eklent Kaci 7-3 Petri Makkonen Chris Melling 7–4 Sanjin Pehlivanovic
Billy Thorpe 1-7 Skyler Woodward
Skyler Woodward inflicted a 7-1 defeat on Mosconi Cup teammate Billy Thorpe to advance to the last 16 of the Dafabet World Pool Masters, while Justin Sajich, Eklent Kaci and Chris Melling also progressed on the opening evening of play at Europa Sports Complex, Gibraltar.
With fans returning to the Matchroom Pool arena for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, those lucky enough to have a ticket were treated to a top-class evening of pool.
Sajich registered a 7-3 win over Women’s World Champion 7-3 before Petri Makkonen suffered the same reversal against Kaci. Melling beat Sanjin Pehlivanovic with the performance of the night, a 7-4 win against a debutant who acquitted himself well.
In the evening’s opening match, Sajich ran the second rack after coming out on top of a safety battle from Fisher’s break in the first. The Australian looked set to lead 3-0 but missed the 9, allowing the Women’s World Champion to half her deficit.
Sajich took the fourth but broke dry and Fisher was back to within one at 3-2 down. However, she was soon three down after Sajich won the sixth and made a golden break to go 5-2 up thanks to a kick from the 3.
The Australian reached the hill after Fisher couldn’t bank the 4 to safety after a great jump on the 3. A brilliant 1/9 kept Fisher in it but the 4 thwarted her in the next, and Sajich cleared the table for a 7-3 victory to set up a last-16 clash with Greece’s Alex Kazakis.
The following match saw Eklent Kaci storm to a 5-0 lead over Petri Makkonen. The Finn got on the board with a great 5/9 carom and cut the gap further to train 5-2. However, Kaci took the next to reach the hill and a great cut on the 2, with plenty of side to reach the 3, set the Albanian on the road the last 16. However, he missed the 3 in the tight four-inch pockets and Makkonen was able to reduce the score to 6-3.
The match was over in rack 10, though, as Kaci took his chance to close out the win and book a last-16 match against Naoyuki Oi on Sunday evening.
Chris Melling, like Kaci before him, took control of the early exchanges against Sanjin Pehlivanovic, who was making is Masters debut. The Yorkshireman was quick to gain a 4-0 advantage and despite losing the fifth, his four-rack lead was restored at 5-1.
The Bosnian started a comeback at that stage, winning three consecutive racks to bring the scores to 5-4. Melling won the tenth to reach the hill with breathing space, and the break and the former Mosconi Cup MVP won the match thanks to the shot of the night, a brilliant 2 in which he hammered the cue ball back off the bottom rail for position on the 3.
“I got off to a good start but then Sanjin came back well,” said Melling “I potted some good balls and I am delighted to get through. I was very nervous and the pockets are a lot tighter than normal, so when you are playing the ball with force you can miss them, but luckily for me they went in.”
The evening ended with the much-anticipated all-American affair between Mosconi Cup and World Cup teammates Woodward and Thorpe. Thorpe took the first but Woodward dominated the next four; Thorpe should have taken his opponent’s 3-1 lead down to 3-2, but a simple 4 missed to the middle meant Thorpe lost the table and Woodward was 4-1 ahead.
The Ohio man had a chance again in the next but got hooked behind the jaw of the middle pocket with only the 8 and 9 left. After jacking up in an attempt to get enough cue ball movement to make the 8, Thorpe left it on for Woodward, who removed the remaining balls for a 5-1 lead.
Thorpe missed a long 3 in the next, again hitting it too hard. Woodward wasn’t perfect in the match, but didn’t need to be and cleaned up each time Thorpe made a mistake. However, he wasn’t given another chance as Woodward, breaking on the hill, controlled the table for a 7-1 win and a last-16 meeting with defending champion David Alcaide.
The Dafabet World Pool Masters continues on Sunday with two sessions. The afternoon session begins at 12:00 local time (CET) with matches including Niels Feijen vs. Jeffrey De Luna and the first of the last 16 matches; Chris Melling against Joshua Filler.
The event is broadcast globally including on Sky Sports, DAZN and Zhibo.tv. Coverage is available on Matchroom.Live in nations without a TV broadcaster. Full details can be found at www.matchroompool.com.
For all the latest news and announcements follow Matchroom Pool on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Preliminary - Kelly Fisher (GBR) - Justin Sajich (AUS)
Preliminary - Eklent Kaci (ALB) - Petri Makkonen (FIN)
Preliminary - Chris Melling (GBR) - Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH)
Preliminary - Billy Thorpe (USA) - Skyler Woodward (USA)
Sunday 11.00am
23 May 2021
Preliminary - Niels Feijen (NED) - Jeffrey De Luna (PHI)
Preliminary - Mieszko Fortunski (POL) - Kristina Tkach (RUS)
Preliminary - Denis Grabe (EST) - Roberto Gomez (PHI)
Last 16 - Joshua Filler (GER) - Chris Melling (GBR)
Sunday 6.00pm
23 May 2021
Preliminary - Shane van Boening (USA) - Jakub Koniar (SVK)
Last 16 - Naoyuki Oi (JPN) - Eklent Kaci (ALB)
Last 16 - David Alcaide (ESP) - Skyler Woodward (USA)
Monday 12.00pm
24 May 2021
Last 16 - Maximilian Lechner (AUT) - TBC
Last 16 - Albin Ouschan (AUT) - TBC
Last 16 - Jayson Shaw (SCO) - TBC
Monday 5.30pm
24 May 2021
Last 16 - Alexander Kazakis (GRC) - Justin Sajich (NZL)
Last 16 - Fedor Gorst (RUS) - TBC
Quarter Final - TBC - TBC
Tuesday 12.00pm
25 May 2021
Quarter Final - TBC - TBC
Quarter Final - TBC - TBC
Quarter Final - TBC - TBC
Tuesday 5.30pm
25 May 2021
Semi Final 1
Semi Final 2
Final
2021 EDITION
WORLD POOL MASTERS
THE PRELIMINARIES
Billy Thorpe
1 : 7
Skyler Woodward
Kelly Fisher
3 : 7
Justin Sajich
Eklent Kaci
7 : 3
Petri Makkonen
Niels Feijen
-vs-
Jeffrey De Luna
Shane Van Boening
-vs-
Jakub Koniar
Mieszko Fortunski
-vs-
Kristina Tkach
Chris Melling
7 : 4
Sanjin Pehlivanovic
Denis Grabe
-vs-
Roberto Gomez
2021 EDITION
WORLD POOL MASTERS
THE LAST 16
David Alcaide
-vs-
Skyler Woodward
Alex Kazakis
-vs-
Justin Sajich
Naoyuki Oi
-vs-
Eklent Kaci
Jayson Shaw
-vs-
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Fedor Gorst
-vs-
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Maximilian Lechner
-vs-
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Joshua Filler
-vs-
Chris Melling
Albin Ouschan
-vs-
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2021 EDITION
WORLD POOL MASTERS
THE QUARTER-FINALS
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-vs-
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-vs-
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-vs-
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2021 EDITION
WORLD POOL MASTERS
THE SEMI-FINALS
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2021 EDITION
WORLD POOL MASTERS
THE FINAL
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2021 EDITION
WORLD POOL MASTERS
THE PRIZE FUND
1st
US $ 25,000-00
2nd
US $13,000-00
3rd
US $ 7,500-00
4th
US $ 7,500-00
5th
US $ 3,750-00
6th
US $ 3,750-00
7th
US $ 3,750-00
8th
US $ 3,750-00
9th
US $ 2,250-00
10th
US $ 2,250-00
11th
US $ 2,250-00
12th
US $ 2,250-00
13th
US $ 2,250-00
14th
US $ 2,250-00
15th
US $ 2,250-00
16th
US $ 2,250-00
17th
US $ 1,750-00
18th
US $ 1,750-00
19th
US $ 1,750-00
20th
US $ 1,750-00
21th
US $ 1,750-00
22th
US $ 1,750-00
23th
US $ 1,750-00
24th
US $ 1,750-00
Total Prize Fund: US $ 100,000-00
2021 EDITION
WORLD POOL MASTERS
THE WINNER'S LIST
1993
Werner Duregger
AUT
1994
Ralf Souquet
GER
1995
Daryl Peach
ENG
1996
Ralf Souquet
GER
1997
Earl Strickland
USA
1998
Francisco Bustamante
PHI
1999
Alex Lely
NED
2000
Ralf Souquet
GER
2001
Francisco Bustamante
PHI
2002
Ralf Souquet
GER
2003
Tony Drago
MLT
2004
Thomas Engert
GER
2005
Raj Hundal
ENG
2006
Ralf Souquet
GER
2007
Thomas Engert
GER
2008
Alex Pagulayan
PHI
2009
Darren Appleton
ENG
2010
Dennis Orcollo
PHI
2011
Ralf Souquet
GER
2012
Karol Skowerski
POL
2013
Niels Feijen
NED
2014
Shane Van Boening
USA
2015
Shane Van Boening
USA
2017
David Alcaide
ESP
2018
Niels Feijen
NED
2019
David Alcaide
ESP
2021
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