WPA Etisalat World 8-Ball Championships 2011
Fujairah Expo Center
Fujairah
United Arab Emirates
www.wpa-pool.com
www.world8ballchampionship.com
View the Group Brackets (small .pdf file) - Updated with Day 3 results!
View the Final Brackets (small .pdf file) - Updated with Day 3 results!
View the live score courtesy of the WPA
19-26 February 2011
Vincent Facquet - France
Qualification Rounds Over in Fujairah.
Some big names have left for the exits in Fujairah. World 9-Ball Champion Francisco Bustamante was ahead of Daryl Peach 6-4 in the race to seven games and lost that match 7-6. He then had to defeat David Alcaide of Spain to stay alive but failed as Alcaide prevailed 7-3 to send Francisco home. Another much-feared Filipino, Jeff De Luna, has also seen his efforts come to naught after he was surprised by Khaled Al Mutairi of Kuwait 7-5 and then lost 7-6 to Takhti Zarekani of Iran 7-6. Anyway, all of them need the
replica watches which are used to camping.
"Read More..." for the details.
Takhti Zarekani - Iran
Corey Deuel of the USA lost his frst-round match to Jalal Yousef of Jordan, then faced a super-tough Raj Hundal of India in a match where Hundal seemed never out of control. Deuel fell 7-5 to allow Hundal to advance to the final round. Vincent Facquet of France is having a good tournament. Undefeated in the group stages, he had to play a race to three tiebreaker against Nguyen Phuc Long of VIet Nam to determine which of them would get the final first-round bye in the last round of 64. He won that 3-2 and went back to his hotel to sleep peacefully and await the next challenge. Earl Strickland is yet to break a sweat. The multi-time World Champion won his two group matches easily (7-5 over Sumit Talwar and 7-4 over Erik Hjorliefson). As luck would have it, the draw for the round of 64 finds Strickland playing Erik Hjorliefson once again in the very first match-up of the final round. The final round is single-elimination, so any loss will eject that player from the event. Former World Champions Thorsten Hohmann and Mika Immonen have both survived the group stages and are playing very well. Hohmann defeated Russian superstar Ruslan Chinakhov 7-4 and Darren Appleton stepped on Radoslaw Babica in the same way.
Roberto Gomez of the Philippines and Naoyuki Oi of Japan both enjoyed impressive group-stage wins today as Oi defeated Shane Van Boening 7-4 and Oi nipped Ralf Souquet 7-6 to gain his seed in the final round. Defending Champion Karl Boyes of Great Britain has barely stretched his legs as yet. He won his two matches 7-0 and 7-4 and seems as relaxed as a kid on the beach. This performance earned him a bye in the first round of the finals so he is already into the round of 32 and his level of confidence seems enough to carry him through all on its own. Rodney Morris barely missed a bye himself with wins of 7-3 and 7-5 but he is also in great spirits and seems to be one of the immovable objects in the room.
Our number one seed and the man with the best performance thus far is Antonio Lining of the Philippines. He suffered only three lost games in two matches as he swept Joyme Vincente 7-0 and then cruised on past Jepthant Palencia 7-2. He, of course, also earned a bye into the round of 32. Oliver Ortmann did not earn a bye but he earned some bragging rights as he dismantled two-time US Open and World 9-Ball and World 10-Ball Champion Mika Immonen 7-2 in their match. Mika won his clutch third match so both men are in the final rounds.
Only eight matches of the final round were played but the first result shocked the many Efren Reyes fans in attendance. They sat stunned as Joven Alba controlled him and finally eliminated Reyes 9-4. Another big upset followed a few minutes later when Alok Kumar of India defeat Kuo Po-Cheng 9-4. As if that were not enough World Champs to fall. Takhti Zarekani of Iran knocked Thorsten Hohmann out 9-8 after Hohmann had opened an early 5-1 lead. The rest of the round found Oliver Ortmann besting Mohammed Abdulmosen Alhazmi 9-2, Carlo Dalmatin defeating Yukio Akakariyama 9-7, Ronnie Alcano ruining the day for Shaker Wahdan 9-2 and Huidje See slipping past Marcus Chamat 9-7. Finally, Shane Van Boening progressed 9-7 over Nguyen Phuc Long 9-7. Play begins Thursday at 1 PM UAE time.
Tomoo Tanako - Japan
2011 WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY 2
Joven Bustamante
Day Two at World 8-Ball Championships
Our second day at the WPA World 8-Ball Championships in Fujairah, UAE was one of several surprises as some strong players have now been eliminated from the event. Mark Gray of the UK, Jeong Young Hwa of Korea, and Ruslan Chinakhov of Russia have all seen their efforts here come to an end. Carlos Cabella of Spain may never wish to see another Bustamante. He was knocked into the one-loss side by Francisco Bustamante and then was eliminated by Joven Bustamante. Many players seem to make this game of 8-Ball seem easy. Carlos Dalmatin won his match today 7-0 in about 40 minutes. Others are struggling to find the proper patterns. It is really quite interesting to watch the players adjust the power of their break shots in order to develop the most advantageous spread of the balls. If the rack is struck too hard the balls spread out and then come back together in clusters. Too easy and the balls alll stay down on one end of the table. THere is a happy medium where the balls are all over the table wit the space between them needed to get proper position.
Carlo Dalmatin
One big change for this event is the use of the Magic Rack, a thin sheet of polyester that racks the balls tightly without gaps. This way no one has to worry about getting a bad rack and the players seem quite happy with this development. This takes out one luck factor and the players are quite happy to have their skills being the only determining factor between a win and a loss. Tuesday will find more winner's round action with many groups having to many big names in them for them all to make it through. There will be many moment of high drama resulting in joy on one side of the table and tragedy on the other.
As always, we wish to thank our sponsors. They include the title sponsor, Etisalat Telecommunications, Fujairah International Airport, Arjaan by Rotana, Le Meridien Beach Resort, Knight Shot Billiards, Dubai Sport, Al Diar Siji Hotel, Pepsi-Cola, and the Emirate of Fujairah.
Hanni Al Howri
2011 WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY 1
Day One of the World 8-Ball Championships
The first day of the group stages has now completed and about two-thirds of the field has played their first match. Some of the highlights:
The USA's Earl Strickland, who with Vincent Facquet of France put on an excellent trick shot show for the opening ceremony, led Sumit Talwar 6-1 and was in command to take the 7-game match when Talwar began a comeback and brought the score back to 6-5 before he missed a shot that would have made it hill-hill. With that miss as strength Strickland finished out the set for a narrow 7-5 victory.
Shane Van Boening had taken a nap in the afternoon and was sleeping soundly only a few minutes before his match when his roommate happened to return to the room and awaken him. Still in a cloud of slumber, Shane trailed Basem Mohammed Aboud 3-2 before his senses kicked in and rallied to take the match 7-3.
Raymond Faron was up 6-2 in his match when he missed a fairly elementary 8 ball to take the win and Hani Al Howry came back to a 6-5 score line before Al Howry suffered a dry break that allowed Faron to run the table and take the match. Defending Champion Karl Boyes had an easy time with Fahad Khalaf Aljassas. Boyes completely controlled the table throughout and won 7-0 to progress to the second round on the winners side. Boyes commented "I am here to win the tournament, not just to qualify for the finals."
In the final round Vilmos Foldes was comfortably ahead of Takhti Zarekani 4-0 when Zarekani caught a higher gear and began commanding the table. From then on Foldes could not find an opportunity and Zarekani won the match 7-5. Jeff De Luna, one of the most feared players in the tournament was leading his match against Khaled Al Mutari 5-0 when Mutari rallied strongly and, coupled with some uncharacteristic errors from De Luna, dominated the rest of the match to upset the Filipino 7-5. One key error from De Luna was a miscue that found his cuetip scooping underneath the cue ball. The tip hit the ball, then the ferrule struck it as it traveled under the ball and a double-hit foul was called that brought Mutari to the table for the final clean-up.
The rest of the opening round will take place on Monday and then the one-loss side will be contested to see which players are the first to take to the exits. The WPA would like to extend their thanks and appreciation to Ahmed Abloshi and his entire tournament staff, especially to head referee Mr. Arafat, for their diligence and all of the work they have undertaken to make this tournament a success. None of this could happen without the sponsors who care to put up the funds required and we also wish to extend our gratitude to them. They include the title sponsor, Etisalat Telecommunications, Fujairah International Airport, Arjaan by Rotana, Le Meridien Beach Resort, Knight Shot Billiards, Dubai Sport, Al Diar Siji Hotel, Pepsi-Cola, and the Emirate of Fujairah.
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 SEMI-FINALS |
| --- |  | 0 : 0 | | --- |
| --- | | 0 : 0 | | --- |
WPA ETISALAT WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 |
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES |
THE FINAL |
| --- | | 0 : 0 | | --- |
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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