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PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters 2008
Riviera Hotel & Casino
2901 Las Vegas Blvd, South
Las Vegas,
Nevada 8910909
USA
www.rivierahotel.com
www.playbca.com
www.worldpoolmasters.com
www.matchroomsport.com

Friday-Sunday 9-11 May 2008

Photos � JP Parmentier / Matchroom Sports
Bad day at the office for the Europeans at the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters

DEFENDING CHAMPION Thomas Engert of Germany has been dumped out of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters at the first hurdle, losing 8-3 to America �s Rodney Morris at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas .

The 42 year-old from Duren missed too many balls throughout, giving Morris ample opportunity which he capitalized on despite falling behind in the early stages.

�I played alright at the end of the match but the first couple of games were a bit dodgy. I�d put that down to nerves and the new cloth,� said Morris.

�I got my break going in the middle part of the match and opened up a big lead which put him under pressure.

�Thomas has beaten me the last three times I�ve played him and I was surprised he missed so many balls.�

"Read more" for the details.

Engert won the lag and deposited two balls with a fierce opening break. The German, though, was forced to play safe as he had no clear shot on the red 2. Morris then left him in a snooker and although he escaped, he left an open table for the American.

Morris, though, made a bad miss on the 7 ball and Engert ran the last three balls to take the opening rack.

Both players had chances in the second rack but a very lengthy safety battle ensued on the 2 ball. Engert made the initial mistake as a 2/6 combination failed to drop, and from there Morris completed a confidence-boosting run out to level things.

A dry break from Morris gave the table to Engert but he was forced to push out. The American put him back in and he played safe. Morris fluked the 7 ball but was not able to capitalise on it. Engert then pocketed a 1/2 combination to set up a run out to regain the lead at 2-1.

A ball on the break kept Engert at the table but there was more safety which was finally unlocked by a rack-winning 2/9 combo from Morris to level at 2-2. The American then made two balls on the break and cleared the table to take the lead at 3-2.

Engert got back to the table in the next only for more safety but he failed to make contact with the 1 ball which gave Morris ball in hand. He pocketed the 1 ball to set up a deft 4/9 combination to increase his lead to 4-2.

There was more joy for the American fans in the Riviera as Morris broke and ran the seventh to move into a 5-2 lead.

A miss on the 1 ball by Morris gave Engert a great opportunity to re-establish himself but he too missed the yellow 1. Morris made no mistakes as he cleared to take a four rack lead.

Another miss on the 1 ball from Engert gifted the table to Morris and he quickly moved through the balls, culminating in a 7/9 combination, to move to the hill at 7-2.

A dry break from Morris � his second of the game � saw Engert come to the table and run out to reduce the deficit.

Engert was forced to play safe on the 1 ball, but Morris made it before missing a difficult cut on the 2 ball. The German ran through the balls but undid all his good work as he missed the 8 ball leaving Morris two balls which he pocketed to win the match 8-3.

Morris now plays either Mark Gray or Alex Pagulayan in the quarter-finals.

2004 WORLD CHAMPION Alex Pagulayan scraped into the quarter-finals of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters as he edged past European No.1 Mark Gray 8-7 at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas.

Gray, making his debut in the event, was left to rue a costly error in the final rack, as he failed to make contact with a rail, following a safety escape to give ball in hand to his opponent.

From there, the 29 year-old from Manila , cleared to the table to secure a last eight match-up against Rodney Morris.

�I was nervous going into the match but I�m always like that in the early stages. As the game goes on it gets better for me,� said Pagulayan.

�Mark is a real shot maker but he is new to the game and didn�t break that well. Give him a couple of years though and he will be a much better player.

�It was a good win for me though as I�ve lost in the first round of my last five tournaments,� he added.

Pagulayan got off to a flier as he moved into an early 3-0 lead, confidently moving the cue ball around the table but Gray, making his Masters debut hit back taking the fourth rack.

Superior shot making from Pagulayan set up the fifth rack but a weak positional shot left him short on the black 8 and he missed a tight cut.

Gray, though, wobbled it in the jaws and it stayed out. Pagulayan made a poor miss on the 9 ball and left it hanging and the European No.1 knocked it in to get back to 2-3.

The Englishman came up dry on his next and Pagulayan fluked the 2 ball as he kicked on the 1. He made a disastrous miss, though, failing to make an elementary pot into the side pocket on the 1 ball.

Gray made no mistakes as he ran through the table to level it at 3 racks each. In an exciting encounter, the players traded racks to take the score to 6-6.

The players exchanged safeties on the 1 ball in the13th rack before Gray asked for an extension to the 35 second shot clock as he weighed up a 1/9 combination. Ignoring the additional time, he rushed the shot and saw it go awry.

The 1 ball fell nicely for Pagulayan and he coolly ran the table to reach the hill at 7-6.

The Filipino missed a bank on the 1 ball and Gray swerved to pocket it. With a great chance of a 2/9 combo to level it, the Englishman missed, leaving the 2 ball on. Pagulayan though ran out of position and brushed the 7 ball going for the pink 4. With ball in hand, Gray cleared up to level the match up at 7-7.

With nerves playing a part, Gray missed a long pot on the 1 ball and narrowly missed fluking the black 8.

Pagulayan made the 1 ball and then laid a tight snooker for Gray to extricate himself from. He escaped but failed to hit a rail after he kicked the 2 ball.

With ball in hand, Pagulayan completed a tricky run to take the match 8-7 and secure a spot in the quarter-final where he will play Rodney Morris.

�Rodney has always been a good friend and we�re going to have some fun. We�ll kick it!� said Pagulayan.

IN THE FINAL match of the afternoon session at the PartyPoker.com World Pool Masters, Francisco Bustamante made light work of debutant Bruno Muratore ( Italy ) running out an easy 8-1 winner.

In front of a knowledgeable crowd at the Riviera Hotel, Bustamante easily subdued a nervous Muratore as he raced ahead from the off.

The Italian, who gained entry to the Masters following some impressive showings on the Euro Tour, could never get going and his sole success for in the seventh game.

Bustamante, who now matches up against either Shane Van Boening or Imran Majid in Sunday�s quarter-finals, was pleased with his performance.

�If I play like that everyday then no-one can beat me. In the beginning I was a little nervous but I really tried to concentrate and when he made mistakes, it gave me confidence.

�Everyone in this tournament is tough but really, I don�t care who I play. Muratore was so nervous but I was too with the crowd and the TV.

�I only made two run outs from the break but a lot of the time he had no shot and also missed lots of balls.

�It�s a good table though, the pockets are tight and you�ve got to play exact shots. If you hit it too hard, the balls come out.�

It was an assured performance from the popular Filipino and on this showing he will be hard to beat.

The Stats

PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD POOL MASTERS 2007
THE LAST 16
(USA) Rodney Morris	8 : 3	Thomas Engert (GER)
Alex Pagulayan (PHI)	8 : 7	(ENG) Mark Gray
Francisco Bustamante (PHI)	8 : 1	(ITA) Bruno Muratore
Imran Majid (ENG)	0 : 0	(USA) Shane Van Boening
Ralf Souquet (GER)	0 : 0	(TPE) Ko Pin-Yi
Tony Drago (MLT)	0 : 0	(NED) Niels Feijen
Corey Deuel (USA)	0 : 0	(GER) Christain Reimering
Mika Immonen (FIN)	0 : 0	(ENG) Daryl Peach

PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD POOL MASTERS 2007
THE QUARTER FINALS
---	0 : 0	---
---	0 : 0	---
---	0 : 0	---
---	0 : 0	---

PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD POOL MASTERS 2007
THE SEMI FINALS
---	0 : 0	---
---	0 : 0	---

PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD POOL MASTERS 2007
THE FINAL
---	0 : 0	---

This is the first time in the competition's 16-year history that it will be staged in the USA and the players will be competing for a $62,000 prize fund, with the winner receiving $20,000.

US Open winner Shane Van Boening faces experienced former Mosconi Cup player Imran Majid of England, while Corey Deuel is up against Euro Tour veteran Christian Reimering of Germany.

England 's current World Pool Champion Daryl Peach has a tricky looking opener against 2001 World Champion Mika Immonen ( Finland).

Mosconi Cup team-mates Tony Drago (Malta) and Niels Feijen (Holland) will play each other in Round One, while there will be an intriguing encounter as five-times Masters champion Ralf Souquet (Germany), meets 18-year-old World Junior Champion Ko Pin-yi of Taiwan.

"I believe this is the highest quality field that we have had in the Masters and looking at the first round matches, it is impossible to pick eight winners.� said a spokesman for event promoters Matchroom Sport.

"All the players will have to be at the very top of their games to progress and we are all looking forward to some exciting matches over three days of intense competition."

On the Friday evening the World Pool Trickshot Masters will be taking place at the same venue with six leading players entertaining the crowd with a variety of tricks and stunts.

FIXTURES

Friday, May 9
Afternoon session.
Round One
1pm - (1) Thomas Engert (Germany) v Rodney Morris (USA)
2pm - Mark Gray (England) v Alex Pagulayan (Philippines) ( 8 )
3pm - (5) Francisco Bustamante (Philippines) v Bruno Muratore (Italy)

Evening session
World Pool Trickshot Masters (featuring Alex Pagulayan (PHI), Daryl Peach (ENG),Ralf Souquet (GER), Mark Dimick (USA), Stefano Pelinga (ITA), Bogdan Wolkowski (POL)

Saturday, May 10
Afternoon session
Round One
1pm - Imran Majid (England) v Shane Van Boening (USA) (4)
2pm - (3) Ralf Souquet (Germany) v Ko Pin-yi (Chinese Taipei)
3pm - Tony Drago (Malta) v Niels Feijen (Holland) (6)

Evening session
Round One
7pm - (7) Corey Deuel (USA) v Christian Reimering (Germany)
8pm - Mika Immonen (Finland) v Daryl Peach (England (2)
Quarter-final
9pm - Engert or Morris v Gray or Pagulayan

Sunday, May 11
Afternoon session
Quarter-finals
1pm - Bustamante or Muratore v Majid or Van Boening
2pm - Souquet or Ko PY v Drago or Feijen
3pm - Deuel or Reimering v Immonen or Peach

Evening session
7pm - Semi-final 1
8pm - Semi-final 2
9pm - Final

The 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters - The Players

1. Francisco Bustamante ( Philippines )
2. Corey Deuel ( USA )
3. Tony Drago ( Malta )
4. Thomas Engert ( Germany )
5. Niels Feijen ( Holland )
6. Mark Gray ( England )
7. Mika Immonen ( Finland )
8. Ko Pin-yi (Chinese Taipei)
9. Imran Majid ( England )
10. Rodney Morris ( USA )
11. Bruno Muratore ( Italy )
12. Alex Pagulayan ( Philippines )
13. Daryl Peach ( England )
14. Christian Reimering ( Germany )
15. Ralf Souquet ( Germany )
16. Shane Van Boening ( USA )

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