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Ermita
Manila
Philippines
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Tuesday-Sunday 4-9 September 2012
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Poland and Finland in the medals
IN THE last quarter-final match at the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool, Finland extinguished the remaining Filipino hopes as they made light work of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante to run out convincing 9-5 winners and book a semi-final match up against the USA.
The Philippines were never at the races as the huge crowd at Robinsons Place in Ermita were gradually quietened as the Finns began to control the game. Makkonen dogged the 9 ball in the opening rack but after that the youngster seemed to grow in confidence abetted by Immonen.
Finland lead over the early stages but the Filipinos found themselves at 6-5 and still in the match. A ball in hand opportunity for the Finns in the next made the score 7-5 and they took the next two to take the match, Immonen closing it out with a great 7/9 combination.
Commented Immonen, “We’ve already beaten two World Cup of Pool champions and if we keep it together, break well, keep our composure then we have every chance. We’ve had our moments – the last match Petri carried me and tonight I carried him.
“With the crowd here, you have to keep your opponents in their seat and that keeps the crowd quiet. There was a bit of tension in the middle part of the match and we had our moment of doubt, but we made the openings and then closed the door.”
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Team Finland - Petri Makkonen & Mika Immonen.
Makkonen added, “At the start I was just focused on the table and shooting. I was a bit nervous but after the first miss on the 9 ball I was confident. I made a couple of errors but they were just bad shots not nerves.
“It helps playing with Mika – he tells me what to do on the 50/50 shots because he has so much knowledge. We have to play the same against the USA as we did against Germany and the sky’s the limit.”
Team Philippines B's Efren Reyes.
For the Philippines it was a disappointing evening with so much expectation resting on the veterans’ shoulders.
"They played good because we missed a lot in the beginning and that give them confidence. All our break shots are no good. They break really good. That's the whole match," said Reyes.
Bustamante added, "It wasn't our night I guess because we just don't break good. We had two illegal breaks and then they ran four racks on us. Whoever gets the break is going to win. They played good and had confidence so congratulations to them."
Team Finland - Petri Makkonen & Mika Immonen.
The 2012 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool runs from Tuesday September 4 to Sunday, September 9 at Robinson’s Place, Ermita, Manila. Once again the total prize fund is US$250,000 with $60,000 going to the eventual champions. The superb venue with plentiful balconies offers superb views of the playing arena, and crowds are in the thousands rather than hundreds.
Team Poland's Karol Skowerski.
THE Polish dream continues as Karol Skowerski and Wojciech Szewcyk overcame a lacklustre Italian pairing of Bruno Muratore and Fabio Petroni to advance to the semi-finals of the 2012 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool, a best ever showing from a Polish team.
9-6 was the scoreline and Italy lead only once, taking the opening rack. Poland lead throughout although at the halfway stage, at 4-4, Italian hopes were still alive. The more experienced Skowerski marshalled the proceedings, although the 18 year old Szewczyk showed few nerves for a teenager.
At 8-4 the Poles were on the brink of victory but missed a 7 ball into the centre pocket when the pot up table looked the easier option. The Italians took that and the next to pile the pressure on Poland.
Team Italy's Fabio Petroni.
Petroni though, was the ultimate villain of the piece, as he missed 7 ball and Poland cleared up to take an excellent win. The Italians will be disappointed, having looked so good in previous rounds, but they take home $10,000 as consolation.
A delighted Karol Skowerski said, "I think we played not very well but it worked. This is really big for us because at the beginning of the tournament we dreamed about this achievement.
“For Polish pool this is historical. This is the best result we have ever had in this tournament. The important thing is that I can count on my partner. I'm not surprised he is playing so good."
Szewcyk added, "We are a good team, a good combination of experience and young enthusiasm. I have to handle the pressure all the time. That's what I love about pool. You have to fight against yourself. I feel nervous but Karol makes me calm after I make mistakes. He tells me just don't think about the past."
Team Poland - Wojciech Szewcyk & Karol Skowerski.
Team USA - Shane Van Boening & Rodney Morris.
All photography courtesy of ©Carina Altomonte / Matchroom Sport
It’s USA and Taiwan in hill hill thrillers
THERE was plenty of drama at Robinson’s place in Manila as the first two quarter final matches in the 2012 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool were played out as the USA and Chinese Taipei emerged as winners in tense games that both went down to the final rack.
The opening game featured two sides who had won a collective three World Cup titles between them as the USA and China faced off. The American side of Rodney Morris and Shane Van Boening had won this event in 2008, while Li Hewen of China had won in 2007 and 2010, albeit with a different partner to his current team mate Liu Haitao.
To say the match was a game of two halves was an understatement as the USA raced into an 8-2 lead as the Chinese team looked to be nervous wrecks, missing balls and setting up chances for their opponents. But slowly they crept back into a match where the slightest error would have seen them out of the competition.
As they grabbed the racks back the American pair looked increasingly uncomfortable in their seats and when the Chinese levelled it at 8-8 it seemed scarcely believable.
In the decider, China made two balls on the break but were forced to play safe as the two sides went back and forth with the safeties. Finally China got a ball in hand opportunity as Shane fouled with a three rail escape.
Team China's Li Hewen.
The USA looked in pieces as they watched their opponents run out to victory as the Chinese were down to the 7 ball with three easy shots on the table. Then inexplicably, Li scratched into the side pocket to hand the USA an unlikely win.
Van Boening commented, "We played solid to get to 8, but it was a race to 9. We were 90% favoured to win the match they just got the rolls all the way until the last way. Even so, I'm thinking we have to win. When Rodney missed the 3 ball when it was 8-5, we started to think we could lose."
'When I saw that cue ball floating into that side pocket I jumped out of my chair and said 'go go go! It's awesome because all we have to do is win two more matches and we win the World Cup of Pool."
Team USA's Rodney Morris.
Said a relieved Morris, "We got lucky there at the end! But if you look back they got really lucky too when they were coming back. So these things even out. Everything was going for them."
"I've seen that scratch (LI's in the last rack) a million times. I didn't know what he was trying to do there. We played solid in the beginning. We just lost our focus at the end. We have to improve on the break"
Team China's Liu Haitao.
For China, a disappointed Liu said, “I was so nervous at the beginning that I was not able to leave good cueball position for Li at all. I make many mistakes and was a little bit in shock, but it went better for us towards the end of the match. Lucky Li was in better form otherwise the match would end up much earlier."
"It's a shame we lost. Though he made a mistake to lose the match during the final rack but I made obviously more mistakes than him though the whole match. He was perfect since the match started. We both wanted to win so had the pressure which lead to mistakes. But at the end I think I enjoyed the match as well."
Team USA - Shane Van Boening & Rodney Morris.
The 2012 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool runs from Tuesday September 4 to Sunday, September 9 at Robinson’s Place, Ermita, Manila. Once again the total prize fund is US$250,000 with $60,000 going to the eventual champions. The superb venue with plentiful balconies offers superb views of the playing arena, and crowds are in the thousands rather than hundreds.
Team Chinese Taipei - Han En-hsu & Hsin Ting-chen.
In the second quarter-final, there was more deciding rack heart-break, this time for the English pair of Darren Appleton and Chris Melling who went down 9-8 to the Chinese Taipei teenagers Han En-hsu & Hsin Ting-chen, who coolly ran out the tricky final rack for victory.
Coming from a country containing the likes of World 8 Ball king, Chang Jung-lin, Ko Pin-yi and Yang Ching-shun, there was some surprise when the 18 and 19 year-olds were nominated for the event after winning a qualifying tournament in Taipei.
Team England's Darren Appleton.
However, the way they have played this week, would indicate that there is seemingly endless production line of world class pool talent.
The match was close from the early stages and always looked like it was going to go close. England garnered a 5-3 lead at the midpoint but a ball in hand and a break and run saw the score move to 5-5.
Team England's Chris Melling.
The match then went 6-6 then 7-7 before a quick break and run got the English to the hill with the break. But the Taiwanese took advantage of an opening made by Melling to level the score at 8-8.
The English could only sit and spectate with a sick look on their faces as Han and Hsin ran the final rack for a great victory and a spot in the semi-finals.
Team Chinese Taipei - Hsin Ting-chen & Han En-hsu.
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2012 PARTY CASINO.NET | ||||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||||
THE DRAW | ||||
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2012 PARTY CASINO.NET | ||||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||||
THE LAST 16 | ||||
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2012 PARTY CASINO.NET | ||||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||||
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2012 PARTY CASINO.NET | ||||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||||
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WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||||
THE FINAL | ||||
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2012 PARTYPOKER.NET | ||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||
THE PRIZE FUND | ||
| Winners: | US$60,000 x 1 | |
| Runners Up: | US$30,000 x 1 | |
| Semi-Finalists: | US$16,000 x 2 | |
| Quarter-Finalists: | US$10,000 x 4 | |
| Last 16: | US$5,000 x 8 | |
| Last 32: | US$3,000 x 16 | |
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