Shanghai Pudong Yuanshen Stadium
655 Yuanshen Road
Pudong New Area
Shanghai
China
www.my147.com
www.top147.com - Brackets: Men / Women
www.wpapool.com - Live scoring
Extras:: Live stream - Forum chat
Thursday-Sunday 12-19 May 2013
Photography courtesy of ©Jin Li / TOP147.com
TWO TIME WORLD CHAMPION WU JIAQING (FORMERLY WU CHIA CHING)
MAKES SURPRISE SPLASH IN ACTION PACKED DAY 1 AT 2013 CHINA OPEN
You don’t come to the China Open with the gall thinking you are going to win this tournament. You just hope to survive long enough, say to the semi-finals, where you then have as good a chance as anyone to pull off a career defining victory.
It’s not only the stacked field comprised of most of the world’s best male and female pool players that makes the odds so long. It’s the conditions. Lightning quick tables, generous pockets, template racking which practically guarantees one, two and sometimes even three balls on the break. The result is the ultimate equalizer, a wide open shootout with the world’s best gunslingers letting it all hang out.
Welcome to the Wild West of professional pool.
“It’s really hard to say what’s good and what’s bad out here because it’s so easy to pot balls,” said 2011 China Open champion Chris Melling, after he staved off elimination on day 1 with a losers side win over American Oscar Dominguez. “The pockets are so big and the cloth is so fast. Everyone’s making two and three balls on the break. It makes the whole tournament level. I think we’re going to have a surprise winner here.”
Maybe or maybe not. Things may look topsy turvey at the beginning, but the pressure that is unique to professional pool at this level tends to favor the best and the bravest. And pool generally follows the tenets of that famous phrase, “the crème always rises to the top.”
Indeed day one of the 2013 China Open 9-ball inside the Shanghai Pudong Yuanshen Stadium arena in Shanghai produced plenty of nail biting, down- to-the-wire drama, but few shockers.
Share this article on FaceBook
"Read More..." for the details.
Leading the pack in the men’s event, which features 64 players divided into 8 groups of eight playing double elimination, was the defending champion Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines. Orcollo had no time to get loose as he immediately found himself in a dog fight with unknown Taiwanese Ahen Yuxuan. Yuxuan had the race to 9 match tied at 7 but succumbed to the pressure late and handed Orcollo a 9-7 win.
China’s number one player Li Hewen, who came within one rack of winning the 2012 World 9-ball Championship in Qatar, came from behind in a TV table match against Orcollo’s talented countryman, Carlo Biado, and won 9-8. Later on, Li laid down his marker when he easily beat Canada’s John Morra to advance to the knockout stage of 32. Biado, who is due to go far in a major tournament, later got his feet back under himself with a 9-1 drubbing on the losers side over China’s Zhou Long.
Taiwan looks set to put its usual dent in the proceedings as world number 1 Chang Jung Lin, along with Ko Pin Yi and Fu Chei Wei all won handily with Fu already advancing. In all, Taiwanese players won 8 out of 11 matches today.
As befitting a major tournament, there were some high quality matches straight out of the gates that could have easily been contested as finals. Former World 9-ball champion Alex Pagulayan went up against former World 8-ball champion Karl Boyes in the first round. Pagulayan took advantage of just a few mistakes by Boyes and won 9-5.
European Mosconi Cup teammates Nick Van Den Berg of Holland and Nick Ekonomopolous of Greece took their match to a one rack decider with the Nick the Greek squeaking by, 9-8.
One of the most intriguing matches of the day pitted Hollands talented Niel’s Feijen against two time former world champion Wu Jiaqing(formerly known as Wu Chia Ching.) Wu, who made pool history back in 2005 when he won the World 9-ball championship when he was just 16 years old, and then went on to win the World 8-ball championship just five months later, only recently completed a 16 month stint in the Taiwan military. And this was on the back of four straight years of personal drama and intrigue which has left the sport without one of its biggest stars. In the military Wu was forced to mop floors and clean windows for the entire time and he never once touched a cue stick. In addition, in August of last year, Wu was diagnosed with Lukemia. Fortunately doctors caught the blood disease in its very early stages and Wu says it can be controlled with medication.
Having only practiced for one month since being discharged from the military, Wu came into the match against Feijen with no expectations. Wu, however, looked like the boy wonder of old as he thumped the Dutchman 9-4.
“I’m happy with the way I played today,” Wu, who now resides in China, said afterwards through an interpreter, “but to be honest I have no confidence that I can win the tournament. “ Of course nobody who knows pool believes that.
On the women’s side, which features 48 player divided into 8 groups of six, defending champion Kelly Fisher kept the express train barrelling down the tracks with a 7-0 win over China’s Liu Jia. The match took an incredible 20 minutes to complete.
Hall of Famer Allison Fisher won her first match, then had to face old rival Ga Young Kim of Korea in a marquee affair. Kim won 7-4.
Chinese stars Fu Xiaofang, Pan Xiaoting and Chen Siming all won their opening matches.
The group stages continue on Friday in Shanghai. After completion of play on day 2, the men’s field will be down to 32 players and the women’s field will be down to 16. Both tournaments will then be single elimination knockout through to the finals on Sunday.
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - MEN | |
SHANGHAI - CHINA | |
THE GROUPS | |
| GROUP A 1. ChangJung Lin (TPE) 2. So Shaw (IRA) 3. Zhu Hongming (TPE) 4. Al Shaheen Omar (KUW) 5. Han Haoxiang (CHN) 6. Zhu Xihe (CHN) 7. Xu Kailun (TPE) 8. Oi Naoyuki (JPN) | GROUP B 1. Yukio Akagariyama (JPN) 2. Nguyen Ann Tuan (VIE) 3. Salaheldeen Hussein (UAE) 4. M. Ahmad Al-Bin Ali (QAT) 5. Phil Burford (GBR) 6. Seungwoo Ryu (KOR) 7. Ke Bign Zhong (TPE) 8. Thorsten Hohmann (GER) |
| GROUP C 1. Fu Che Wei (TPE) 2. Sharik Aslam Sayed (SIN) 3. Dang Jinhu (CHN) 4. Fu Jianbo (CHN) 5. Kenny Kwok (HKG) 6. Rafath Habib (IND) 7. Alex Pagulayan (CAN) 8. Karl Boyes (GBR) | GROUP D 1. Li Hewen (CHN) 2. Carlo Biado (PHL) 3. John Morra (CAN) 4. Zhou Long (CHN) 5. Oscar Dominguez (USA) 6. Afrinneza Isral Nasution (IND) 7. Jeffrey De Luna (PHL) 8. Chris Melling (GBR) |
| GROUP E 1. Darren Appleton (GBR) 2. Jalal Yousef (VEN) 3. Cristian Tuvi (URU) 4. Wang Can (CHN) 5. Niels Feijen (NED) 6. Wu Jiaqing (CHN) 7. Nick Ekonomopoulos (GRE) 8. Nick Van Den Berg (NED) | GROUP F 1. Ko Pin Yi (TPE) 2. Chu Bingjie (CHN) 3. Zeng Zhaodong (CHN) 4. Johann Chua (PHL) 5. Tursaikhan Amarjargal 6. Nick Malai (ALB) 7. Lee Van Corteza (PHL) 8. Do The Kien (VIE) |
| GROUP G 1. Ralf Souquet (GER) 2. Zbynek Vaic (RSA) 3. Hunter Lombardo (USA) 4. Chang Pei Wei (TPE) 5. Bashar Hussain (QAT) 6. Radoslaw Babica (POL) 7. Zhang Yulong (TPE) 8. Liu Haitao (CHN) | GROUP H 1. Dennis Orcollo (PHL) 2. Ahen Yuxuan (TPE) 3. Albin Ouschan (AUT) 4. James Delahunty (AUS) 5. Alejandro Carvajal (CHI) 6. Daryl Peach (GBR) 7. Cheng Tsung Hua (TPE) 8. Huidji See (NED) |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - WOMEN | |
SHANGHAI - CHINA | |
THE PLAYERS | |
| 1. Kelly Fisher(GBR) 2. Liu Jia(CHN) 3. Xia Yuying(CHN) 4. Karen Corr(IRL) 5. Chichiro Kawahara(JPN) 6. Pan Xiaoting(CHN) 7. Tan Ho Yun(TPE) 8. Chan Ya Ting(TPE) 9. Hyun Ji Won(KOR) 10. Yang Fan(CHN) 11. Doan Thi Ngoc Le(VIE) 12. Lin Yuanjun(TPE) 13. Liu Shasha(CHN) 14. Gao Meng(CHN) 15. Ma’sum Fathrah(IND) 16. Wei Tzu Chien(TPE) 17. Angeline Magdalena Ticoalu(RSA) 18. Chen Xue(CHN) 19. Yu Ram Cha(KOR) 20. Eunji Park(KOR) 21. Brittany Bryant(CAN) 22. Carlynn Sanchez(VEN) 23. Allison Fisher(GBR) 24. Ga Young Kim(KOR) | 25. Chen Siming(CHN) 26. Mrjana Grujicic(VEN) 27. Li Jia(CHN) 28. Zhu Tingting(CHN) 29. Jasmin Michel(GER) 30. Lan Hiushan(TPE) 31. Han Yu(CHN) 32. Bi Zhu Qing(CHN) 33. Charlene Chai Zeet Huey(SIN) 34. Nicola Ilse Rossouw(RSA) 35. Jing Jia(CHN) 36. Chou Chieh Yu(TPE) 37. Tsai Pei Chen(TPE) 38. Keiko Yukawa(JPN) 39. Wu Jing(CHN) 40. Liu Yichen(CHN) 41. Akimi Kajatani(JPN) 42. Jasmin Ouschan(AUT) 43. Zhou Doudou(CHN) 44. Bai Ge(CHN) 45. Liu Shin Mei(TPE) 46. Han Fang(CHN) 47. Rubelin Amit(PHL) 48. Fu Xiaofang(CHN) |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - MEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE LAST 32 | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - MEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE LAST 16 | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - MEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - MEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - MEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE FINAL | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - WOMEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE LAST 16 | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - WOMEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - WOMEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - WOMEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE FINAL | ||
--- | 0 : 0 | --- |
THE 2013 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - MEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE PRIZE FUND | ||
1st | US $ 40,000-00 | |
2nd | US $ 20,000-00 | |
3rd - 4th | US $ 10,000-00 | |
5th - 8th | US $ 5,500-00 | |
9th - 16th | US $ 2,400-00 | |
17th - 32nd | US $ 1,200-00 | |
33rd - 64th | US $ 700-00 | |
THE 2012 CHINA 9 BALL OPEN - WOMEN | ||
SHANGHAI - CHINA | ||
THE PRIZE FUND | ||
1st | US $ 30,000-00 | |
2nd | US $ 15,000-00 | |
3rd - 4th | US $ 7,500-00 | |
5th - 8th | US $ 4,000-00 | |
9th - 16th | US $ 1,800-00 | |
17th - 32nd | US $ 900-00 | |
33rd - 48th | US $ 500-00 | |
RELATED ARTICLES AT WWW.PRO9.CO.UK
2013
CHINA OPEN - DAY 1 - RETURN OF THE BOY WONDER
CHINA OPEN - DAY 0 - PRIMED AND READY FOR BATTLE
2012
CHINA OPEN - DAY 5 - CREAM RISES OUT OF TENSE BATTLES IN SHANGHAI
CHINA OPEN - DAY 4 - IT'S BRITAIN VS CHINA AFTER NIGHT OF THRILLERS
CHINA OPEN - DAY 3 - WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR CAST SET
CHINA OPEN - DAY 2 - APPLETON SHOWN THE DOOR IN SHANGHAI
CHINA OPEN - DAY 1 - MELLING AVERTS FIRST ROUND FLOP
CHINA OPEN - 'I'M READY FOR THE BATTLE'
2011
CHINA OPEN - MELLING BY A MILE!
CHINA OPEN - MELLING AND HSU MOTOR THROUGH TO THE FINAL
CHINA OPEN - MANNA FROM HEAVEN
CHINA OPEN - $275,000 EVENT TO KICK OFF THIS WEEK IN SHANGHAI
2010
CHINA OPEN - THE FINAL DAY