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NEW TALENTS, OLD HANDS SHINE IN DOHA

A Pro9 - Europe's No.1 Pool Player Resource Article

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Date: Sunday, June 24 2012 @ 12:26:44 UTC
Topic: 9 Ball



2012 WPA World 9-Ball Championships
Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation
Al Sadd Sports Club
Al Sadd Street
Sport Roundabout
Doha
Qatar
www.qbsf.net - group brackets - livescore
www.olympic.qa
www.wpa-pool.com
www.al-saddclub.com

18 - 29 June 2012



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.



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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




2012 WPA WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
DOHA - QATAR
THE PRIZE FUND
1st
$ 40,000
2nd
$ 20,000
3rd ~ 4th
$ 12,000
5th ~ 8th
$ 8,000
9th ~ 16th
$ 5,000
17th ~ 32nd
$ 3,000
33rd ~ 64th
$ 2,000
65th ~ 96th
$ 1,000
97th ~ 128th
$ 0
TOTAL PRIZE FUND = US $300,000




WPA WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE WINNER'S LIST
1990 - 2011
1990
Earl Strickland
USA
1991
Earl Strickland
USA
1992
Johnny Archer
USA
1993
Fong-Pang Chao
TPE
1994
Takeshi Okumura
JPN
1995
Oliver Ortmann
GER
1996
Ralf Souquet
GER
1997
Johnny Archer
USA
1998
Kunihiko Takahashi
JPN
1999
Nick Varner
USA
1999
Efren Reyes
PHI
2000
Fong-Pang Chao
TPE
2001
Mika Immonen
FIN
2002
Earl Strickland
USA
2003
Thorsten Hohmann
GER
2004
Alex Pagulayan
CAN
2005
Chia-Ching Wu
TPE
2006
Ronnie Alcano
PHI
2007
Daryl Peach
GBR
2008
*Not held
---
2009
*Not held
---
2010
Francisco Bustamante
PHI
2011
Yukio Akakariyama
JPN














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