Hotel Zuiderduin
Zeeweg 52 - 1931 VL
Postbus 80 - 1930 AB
Egmond aan Zee
Nederland
+31 (0) 72 750 2000
www.worldpoolmasters.com
www.zuiderduin.nl
www.matchroomsportdvd.com
Friday 8 June to Sunday 10 June 2007
ENGERT TAKES SECOND MASTERS CROWN
8 – 5 Win Scuppers Brave Alcaide
THOMAS Engert of Germany has won the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.
Engert sealed a stunning 8-5 victory in a high-quality final against Spain 's David Alcaide at the Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee. This becomes Engert's second Masters title after he had also claimed the glory in 2004.
“It’s always great to win a tournament, especially like this with the media and 16 of the top players around the world,” he said.
"Read more" for the details.
PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD POOL MASTERS 2007 | ||
THE LAST 16 | ||
David Alcaide (ESP) | 8 : 6 | (GER) Ralf Souquet |
Oliver Ortmann (GER) | 8 : 3 | (JPN) Naoyuki Oi |
Pat Holtz (SCO) | 8 : 6 | (CHN) Li He-Wen |
Niels Feijen (NED) | 8 : 5 | (GBR) Imran Majid |
Wu Chia-Ching (TPE) | 8 : 1 | (CAN) Tyler Edey |
Thomas Engert (GER) | 8 : 5 | (MLT) Tony Drago |
Nick van den Berg (NED) | 8 : 1 | (AUT) Jasmin Ouschan |
Fabio Petroni (ITA) | 8 : 6 | (PHI) Ronnie Alcano |
PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD POOL MASTERS 2007 | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
David Alcaide | 8 : 3 | Oliver Ortmann |
Pat Holtz | 8 : 5 | Niels Feijen |
Thomas Engert | 8 : 7 | Wu Chia-Ching |
Nick van den Berg | 8 : 7 | Fabio Petroni |
PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD POOL MASTERS 2007 | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
David Alcaide | 8 : 5 | Pat Holtz |
Thomas Engert | 8 : 4 | Nick van den Berg |
PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD POOL MASTERS 2007 | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Thomas Engert | 8 : 5 | David Alcaide |
Continued...
“With it being a race to eight, it’s hard to win as you never know what’s going to happen. It’s a really big thing for me to win this tournament,” he added.
Alcaide, who defeated two World Champions - Ralf Souquet and Oliver Ortmann - on his way to the final, won the lag and then claimed the opening rack after a foul by Engert gave him ball-in-hand.
However, Engert soon turned things round and won the next two racks for a 2-1 lead. But it was all square again as Alcaide hit a 5/9 combination after Engert missed a three-rail escape from a safety trap.
In the fifth rack, Alcaide secured perfection with a golden break as the 9-ball was kicked in by the five and powered into the bottom left corner, which regained his lead at 3-2.
Engert broke and ran through the balls in the sixth as the players were tied at 3-3 as the final looked to be developing into an epic. It edged in Engert’s favour as he claimed his fourth and then had the break in the next to have a chance for a two-rack lead.
He took it after a fine long shot to pot the 5-ball with cue close to the right-hand rail and now led 5-3.
These two players were part of the European team that competed in the 2006 Mosconi Cup and there was not much between them as Alcaide produced a fine break and then ran through the balls to trail only 5-4 in the race to eight match.
Engert gained some fortune in the next as his break shot saw the cue ball kicked by the five and headed towards the top right pocket, only to stop right on the edge.
Alcaide stole the next off of Engert's break for 5-5 but then came up with a dry break of his own and that proved costly as Engert reasserted himself as he regained the lead. He then moved to the hill and only one rack from becoming the champion.
Engert was given a helping hand as Alcaide's break was not fruitful and he shook his head on the way back to his seat, knowing that his tournament could be over. It was.
A 3/5 combination was the only tricky shot for Engert as he rattled home the 9-ball into the bottom left pocket for the title.
"The big point is I made some hard shots on the table and they are tight pockets so it’s not easy to play on. I made these shots and that was a big reason I won,” said Engert.
“I’ve played here for the last three years and I was in good shape. But this year I’ve been struggling in tournaments and did not do so well in the Euro Tour.
“I lost some tight matches and it takes your self confidence away. But this is one of the biggest tournaments and broadcast on television. Matchroom Sport always does a really good job. I would like to be at such a tournament every week.
“It’s always great to win a tournament, especially like this with the media and 16 of the top players around the world. With it being a race to eight. It’s hard to win as you never know what’s going to happen. It’s a really big thing for me to win this tournament.
“It’s a different story to 2004 as in 2004 I was very confident because I was Challenge of Champions two weeks before and come here not afraid to lose. But this time I was struggling so it’s harder to win when you’re struggling.
In the first semi-final Alcaide defeated Scotland 's Pat Holtz 8-5 to claim a spot in the Masters final at his first attempt.
The Spaniard claimed the opening two racks. In both of them he was handed opportunities by his Holtz, who failed to get out of a snooker to give the Spaniard ball-in-hand in the first, and missed three pots in the second.
But Holtz then won the third and fourth racks after Alcaide failed to get tricky jump shots right. A 4/9 combination from Alcaide put him back in front and he extended his lead when Holtz left the brown 7 after failing with a bank attempt.
Alcaide moved three racks ahead at 5-2, but considering some of the fight backs that have been seen over the previous matches, still had a great deal of work to do to book his place in the championship match.
However, he took another small step towards that goal by winning the eighth and would have the break in the next.
He sunk a ball off the break in one of the better attempts of this semi-final, but gave Holtz another opportunity by failing to down the blue 2. Later in the same rack Holtz curled the ball around the black eight to get out of trouble, although he still looked like losing the rack.
Alcaide was two shots from going to the hill but then scratched to give ball-in-hand to Holtz who had a simple task to make it 6-3. That appeared to affect Alcaide as a shocking shot in the next rack left the Scotsman an easy 1-ball and later scratched into the right side pocket.
Those mistakes and some astute play from Holtz made it 6-4 but Alcaide then put one foot in the final by taking the 11th for 7-4.
All Holtz could do now is win off his own break and hope Alcaide made mistakes on his. Holtz did the first part by breaking and running through the 12th as the scoreboard showed 7-5 but he would then have to sit in his seat and hope.
He got back to the table but could not do enough as Alcaide clinched the rack for his first appearance in a World Pool Masters final.
In the second semi-final, Thomas Engert, the 2004 champion, beat Nick van den Berg 8-4 to dash home hopes and set up a meeting with David Alcaide in the final.
Van den Berg made the first error when he missed the blue two and that helped Engert to take the opening rack in this race to eight.
The German, who had been struggling with an illness in the earlier part of the day, then doubled his lead, before van den Berg won his opening rack - to the delight of the home fans.
But Engert was soon to regain his two-rack advantage as a fine break left the balls well positioned for a routine run out.
Van den Berg then clinched his second rack but Engert regained control of the match by winning the next two. The latter saw van den Berg leave the 9-ball over the pocket leaving a simple shot for the German.
With the score at 5-2, van den Berg needed to raise his game if he was to delight the home supporters and make the final. But a poor safety saw him slump on to the table as he showed his disappointment as the match was slipping away from him.
Engert though was happy to seal another rack as he now lead 6-2, only two away from the final and with the alternate break format was now clear favourite to grab the glory.
Van den Berg was also having problems with his breaking and a dry break came at the start of the ninth with a shot at the 1-ball for Engert. The Dutchman was soon back in action as Engert missed the pink 4 with the rest and then failed with a jump shot on the same ball.
It became 6-3, although Engert produced a dry break of his own in the 10th. But it did not matter as a bad positional shot going from the four to the five meant van den Berg had to use the jump cue. As a result he missed the five-ball and Engert punished this mistake fully for 7-3.
He then had a shot to win the match but his attempted 3-9 combination failed as van den Berg kept his slight hopes alive by taking the score to 7-4.
But it proved to be in vain as Engert sealed an 8-4 victory and on course to repeat his previous Masters triumph.
The Final
Thomas Engert (Ger) 8 – 5 David Alcaide (Esp)
(winner $20,000, runner-up $10,000)
Semi Finals
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 – 5 Pat Holtz (Sco)
Thomas Engert (Ger) 8 – 4 Nick van den Berg (Ned)
(losers $5,000)
Quarter Finals
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 - 3 Oliver Ortmann (Ger)
Pat Holtz (Sco) 8 – 5 Niels Feijen (Ned)
Thomas Engert (Ger) 8 - 7 Wu Chia-ching (Tpe)
Nick van den Berg (Ned) 8 – 7 Fabio Petroni (Ita)
(losers $2,500)
First Round
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 – 6 Ralf Souquet (Ger)
Oliver Ortmann (Ger) 8 – 3 Naoyuki Oi (Jap)
Pat Holtz (Sco) 8 – 6 Li He-wen (Chn)
Niels Feijen (Ned) 8 – 6 Imran Majid (Eng)
Wu Chia-ching (Tpe) 8 – 1 Tyler Edey (Can)
Thomas Engert (Ger) 8 - 4 Tony Drago (Mlt)
Nick van den Berg (Ned) 8 - 1 Jasmin Ouschan (Aut)
Fabio Petroni (Ita) 8 – 6 Ronnie Alcano (Phi)
(losers $1,500)
SEMI FINAL LINE UP COMPLETE
Spain, Scotland, Holland and Germany All Represented
Tonight’s Semi Final Matches
David Alcaide (Esp) v Pat Holtz (Sco)
Thomas Engert (Ger) v Nick van den Berg (Ned)
Perennial underdog, Pat Holtz of Scotland, shocked the home crowd at the Hotel Zuiderduin in Egmond aan Zee as he toppled home favourite Niels Feijen 8 – 5 to advance to Sunday evening’s semi-finals of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.
Holtz, the 38 year-old from Larkhall, had a tremendous run at last year’s World Pool Championship in Manila , and is still something of an unknown quantity in world circles.
‘It’s always an advantage being the underdog. It was the same when I played at the World Pool Championship in Manila . People don’t really know me and that suits me fine’, he said.
The Scotsman was always in control as Feijen felt the pressure of being home town favourite
“I know he didn’t look that comfortable yesterday and there’s a lot of pressure playing in front of your home crowd. Everyone is supporting you and that means more expectations,’ added Holtz.
Holtz now faces Spain ’s David Alcaide in the evening’s first semi-final. “I haven’t watched Alcaide play this weekend. I just take it rack by rack. I’m a very confident person and if I play to my ability I fear no-one’, Holtz concluded.
Germany ’s Thomas Engert, a winner of this tournament in 2004, got the better of Wu Chia-ching in a high quality hill-hill match-up with both players at the top of their game.
The German had been suffering with fever before the match, but prepared himself well for what was to be a tough encounter.
The 2005 double World Champion from Taipei moved into an early 2-1 lead, although Engert brought the crowd to their feet with a spectacular four rail escape from a safety. Both players kept it tight throughout as they exchanged racks.
The match turned finally with Wu leading 7-6 in the race to 8 game. After breaking he had no pot on the 1 ball and tried to put Engert in a snooker. He came up woefully short though and left the German with a full ball pocket.
Engert took it and then ran the table to tie the match at 7-all. In the ultimate rack, Engert broke and ran to secure is spot in the last four.
"My throat has been sore, I've had a fever and my nose has been running," said Engert.
"But in pool you have a chance to win. When you play another sport like running you are done but in pool you have an opportunity.
"The only thing you can do is concentrate and just try to win. This was a very good victory. In the beginning he played well and I didn't get many chances to run out the game.
"Then in the middle it changed and I got a good break and had a chance for a 3-9 combination. That gave me the lead and I thought to myself 'I've got a chance to win'.
"I took my chances and he made a big mistake when he led 7-6 and he had the option of a push out or safety. He played a safety, which I thought he did the wrong way, and he left the 1-ball."
In the final game of the session, Amsterdam ’s Nick van den Berg kept alive the Dutch dream as he came from behind to take down Italy ’s Fabio Petroni in a dramatic confrontation.
The Roman was always in control but faltered in the final stages to allow van den Berg to steal the match in the final rack.
“In the beginning I didn’t play well and I felt the supporters were disappointed but I made it 4-4 and had a big chance to go 5-4, but I felt the table was rolling off a bit so I hit it hard. He then went 5-4 and then 6-4,’ he said.
‘I’ve been seeing sports psychologists and they told me that if you don’t feel you’re playing that well, then go for it and give it 100%.
‘When I scratched I heard someone in the audience shout ‘9 ball break!’ and concentration over the break shot is one of the weak parts of my game, so I hit the break much harder and scratched.
‘I’m full of adrenalin right now. I need to go eat, away from the fans and then try and relax in my room before tonight’s semi final,’ he added.
First Round
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 – 6 Ralf Souquet (Ger)
Oliver Ortmann (Ger) 8 – 3 Naoyuki Oi (Jap)
Pat Holtz (Sco) 8 – 6 Li He-wen (Chn)
Niels Feijen (Ned) 8 – 6 Imran Majid (Eng)
Wu Chia-ching (Tpe) 8 – 1 Tyler Edey (Can)
Thomas Engert (Ger) 8 - 4 Tony Drago (Mlt)
Nick van den Berg (Ned) 8 - 1 Jasmin Ouschan (Aut)
Fabio Petroni (Ita) 8 – 6 Ronnie Alcano (Phi)
Quarter Finals
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 - 3 Oliver Ortmann (Ger)
Pat Holtz (Sco) 8 – 5 Niels Feijen (Ned)
Thomas Engert (Ger) 8 - 7 Wu Chia-ching (Tpe)
Nick van den Berg (Ned) 8 – 7 Fabio Petroni (Ita)
QUARTER FINAL LINE UP COMPLETE
And Alcaide Through to Semis
Spain ’s David Alcaide became the first player to make it through to Sunday’s semi-finals of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters as he took care of an out-of-sorts Oliver Ortmann at the Hotel Zuiderduin at Egmond on the Dutch coast.
The German took the early lead at 2-1 but Alcaide fought back to level it and then take the lead at 3-2 and from there the contest was never in doubt.
The Spaniard can now look forward to a semi-final match up against either Niels Feijen or Pat Holtz.
The in the other quarter final matches, reigning World Champion Ronnie Alcano was beaten by the better man on the day as in-form Fabio Petroni of Italy hung on for a marvelous 8-6.
The Italian had lead 7-2 but with a heart of a champion, Alcano fought back to 7-6 before Petroni ran out the decider.
“That was a lovely win, unbelievable really," said Petroni. "I played very well but he played ten times better than me - but I beat him. He played some fantastic shots and looked in dead stroke but his break didn’t help him.
"He’s still another category higher than me but when you win the World Pool Championship it makes you a stronger player.
"I’ve played in this tournament four or five times but never got beyond round one or two so honestly speaking, I don’t think I’m going to win the tournament."
He may not be talking a good fight but Petroni’s performance spoke volumes about his championship chances.
Earlier, Jasmin Ouschan , a rare female Masters entrant, was sent packing after a stellar performance from Amsterdam ’s Nick van den Berg.
The Dutchman defeated Austrian Jasmin Ouschan 8-1 as he ruthlessly punished any mistakes from his 21-year-old opponent.
"That was close to Championship Pool and I only made one mistake," said van den Berg. "I just played the game and did not notice the crowd.
"I was totally focused and I played well. Hopefully I play the same in the next round."
Ouschan believed she would learn a great deal from the experience. She said: "Sometimes you go on the table and the balls do not run your way. That's pool and you just have to stay in your seat and watch so I'm a bit disappointed.
"I need some time to calm down and watch the match with my trainer and find out what I can do better next time."
First Round
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 – 6 Ralf Souquet (Ger)
Oliver Ortmann (Ger) 8 – 3 Naoyuki Oi (Jap)
Pat Holtz (Sco) 8 – 6 Li He-wen (Chn)
Niels Feijen (Ned) 8 – 6 Imran Majid (Eng)
Wu Chia-ching (Tpe) 8 – 1 Tyler Edey (Can)
Thomas Engert (Ger) 8 - 4 Tony Drago (Mlt)
Nick van den Berg (Ned) 8 - 1 Jasmin Ouschan (Aut)
Fabio Petroni (Ita) 8 – 6 Ronnie Alcano (Phi)
Quarter Finals
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 - 3 Oliver Ortmann (Ger)
THREE MORE MAKE QUARTER FINALS
Feijen, Wu and Engert All Through
NIELS Feijen produced a stunning fight back to defeat Imran Majid and move into the last eight of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.
Feijen, who was backed by a large home crowd at the Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee, trailed 3-0 in the early stages of the match but recovered to win 8-5.
"I started like a granny," admitted Feijen. "Imran then let me off the hook so I could've been 4-1 down. The big swing came when he missed a seven-ball and I played really well from the middle to the end.
"I have been struggling with my pace the whole week so this was a big relief for me. Let's keep it going."
Majid looked in control in the early stages as he moved around the table comfortably but the match turned at four racks all when Imran had no shot on the opening ball and pushed out. He failed to make his intentions plain to referee Michaela Tabb and resulted in ball-in-hand for Feijen, who grabbed the opportunity to take the lead for the first time at 5-4.
Looking confident, Feijen coasted through the next to increase his lead with his English opponent against it. Majid though, held himself together to run out the next but the momentum was with Feijen.
Looking a different player from his early tentative endeavours, he completed another easy run out to get to the hill at 7-5.
Feijen got to the table in the next but could do nothing with the situation and Majid was forced to play safe. The Dutchman though, took on a great table length bank on the 5 ball which proved to be a match winner as it set up the run out for a tremendous come-from-behind victory for Feijen.
In the next first round match, Taiwan ’s former double World Champion Wu Chia-ching fired out a warning shot as he made light work of Canadian Tyler Edey , winning 8-1.
In the final match of the afternoon, Thomas Engert ( Germany ) and Malta ’s Tony Drago completed their third Masters first round match and this time it was Engert, the 2004 champion, who got the better of it winning 8-4.
It was a tight match until Engert got the better of the safety exchanges to close out Drago and secure a quarter final berth.
Full Results
Niels Feijen (Ned) 8 – 6 Imran Majid (Eng)
Wu Chia-ching (TPE) 8 – 1 Tyler Edey (CAN)
Thomas Engert (GER) 8 - 4 Tony Drago ( MLT )
HOLDER SOUQUET FALLS AT THE FIRST
Alcaide Ousts Him in Golden Break Fest
The 2007 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters got underway this afternoon at the Hotel Zuiderduin in sunny Egmond aan Zee, as defending champion Ralf Souquet suffered a shock exit at the hands of Spain ’s European No.12 David Alcaide.
Event promoters Matchroom Sport had made the decision NOT to tap the balls into the table, and that proved telling as there were four golden breaks including a victorious one for Alcaide in the 14th and final rack.
Souquet, looked the better player throughout as Alcaide struggled with his positional play. However, the 28 year-old from Malaga stuck with it and when Souquet missed a relatively easy 4 ball with the scores at 6-6, the Spaniard seized the opportunity.
Alcaide made no mistakes as he ran through the remaining balls to take the lead for the first time at 7-6.
Just when he needed it, Alcaide delivered a golden break as the 9 ball got a fortuitous nudge from the 7 ball to help it into the corner pocket and seal an 8-6 win.
After the match Alcaide explained how the golden breaks came about; “The problem was that there was a gap between the 1 ball and the second ball in the pack and this allows the 9 to roll towards that corner pocket. You just play a normal hard break shot and watch it roll.
“The turning point for me was when Ralf missed the 4 ball and that gave me a good chance to finish off the table and of course, I made the golden break to win in the next.”
Germany ’s Oliver Ortmann made it through to the next stages with a comfortable win over Naoyuki Oi, who became the third consecutive Japanese player to exit the third round of this event.
Ortmann, who won the pre-tournament warm-up event in Amsterdam on Thursday night, always looked in control although the flashy Japanese player had his moments with some spectacular pots.
In the final match of the afternoon session, Scotland ’s Pat Holtz won an error-strewn encounter with the highly-fancied Li He-wen of China , a semi-finalist at the 2006 Philippines World Pool Championship.
Both players struggled throughout as the pot-success rate fell by the rack. Holtz opened up a 3-0 lead before Li came back to get his nose in front at 6-5.
The Scotsman though dug deep and held on the secure a fine victory. "I never give in, the guy always has to beat me. Getting close is not good enough," said Holtz.
"I didn't feel nervous but I played some poor shots. I was struggling with the pace of the table and under-hitting and over-hitting, which cost me a couple of frames.
"It was a shaky match for the two of us and both of us were new to the event and you want to make a good impression, maybe we were trying too hard."
First Round
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 – 6 Ralf Souquet (Ger)
Oliver Ortmann (Ger) 8 – 3 Naoyuki Oi (Jap)
Pat Holtz (Sco) 8 – 6 Li He-wen (Chn)
For World Pool Masters news and pictures, go to http://www.worldpoolmasters.com
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Here's everything you need for results from The World Pool Masters
The World Pool Masters, which will be held from Friday, June 8 to Sunday, June 10, is one of the most prestigious events in the pool calendar and included in the weekend of top-class pool is the World Pool Trickshot Masters on Friday evening where six players will entertain the crowd with a variety of special tricks.
Apparently the outside broadcast truck for this event is one of the biggest in the world, an absolute monster that has huge expandable sections that "concertina" out to make it even bigger, and the OB truck itself is kitted out with a lot more extra equipment than usual, like TWO replay machines and a super telestrator... Clive from Matchroom has said this will be like no other World Pool Masters and will be a VERY special pruoduction indeed.
More gossip and backstage exclusives later.
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