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China win 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool in thriller final!

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

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Date: Sunday, September 30 2007 @ 15:21:14 UTC
Topic: World Cup Of Pool



2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool
Outland
Prins Alexanderlaan 37
3068 PN
Rotterdam
Holland
www.worldcupofpool.com - for LIVE scoreboard and more!
www.matchroomsport.com
www.outland.nl

Tuesday-Sunday 25-30 September 2007


2007 World Cup of Pool champions, Li He-wen (left) and Fu Jian-bo - Team China.

China Take World Cup in Thriller!

CHINA ARE the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool champions after holding off a marvelous comeback from Finland at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam . It was a fantastic victory for Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo and they can look forward to receiving all the plaudits when they return to their home country.

11-10 was the final score but at 10-6 up and breaking for the match, a Chinese victory seemed a certainty but a combination of nerves and some terrific Finnish heart took the game into a thrilling final rack.

"Read More..." for the details.

Immonen broke and got a ball down and there was potential for Juva to make a 1-9 combination. The deliberation took for ages as the Finnish pair of Immonen and Markus Juva sized up their options and in the end Juva took it on but the 1 ball didn’t even connect with the 9 and it ran up table.

However, it left a 1-6 combination on and China made it to regain control of the table. The question was whether their nerves would hold up and they slowly inched their way towards the title. Fu Jian-bo pocketed the 9-ball to spark scenes of joyous celebration as China were the World Cup winners.

The Chinese players pocket $30,000 each while Finland can console themselves with a $15,000 pay day each.

Earlier, Fu missed a shot to win the Cup with the score at 10-8 before Li then nervously scratched in the next when China were two shots from glory as Finland forced only the third hill-hill match of the tournament.

China had beaten South Africa , France , Philippines and Japan on their way to the final, while Finland defeated Qatar , England , Switzerland and Canada .

In the semi-final, Finland had used the soft-break and positioned the cue ball in exactly the same position on their way to a 9-0 victory.

However, this tactic was not as effective in the final as Finland , who won the lag, saw a dry break to give China an early opportunity.

They appeared to have wasted their chance as the Finnish duo of Immonen and Juva were back at the table, although Immonen lost position going from the 8-ball to the 9-ball and Juva missed the subsequent 9-ball.

China sunk the same ball for 1-0 but then recorded a dry break of their own, the first time in this tournament where there had been two successive dry breaks. But they still won the rack, thanks to a 3-9 combination from Fu Jian-bo.

Amazingly, there was then another dry break from China , the third in a row. Juva failed with an attempt at the 6-ball but Fu Jian-bo then was not successful with an effort at the 7-ball, the 23rd time the 7-ball had been missed in the tournament, and Finland made it 1-2.

In the fourth, Immonen missed with his shot to kick off the rail and connect with the 1-ball and that proved costly as China made it 3-1. It was soon back to a one-rack gap as Fu could not down the 1-ball and a long bank from Immonen helped it become 2-3.

Finland had broke and run out five times in the semi-final and did for the first time in this match to tie the score at 3-3.

Yet another dry break, the fourth in seven racks, brought Finland back in action but Juva gifted the rack to China when he scratched as the score was now 4-3. It was level again after Fu produced a gaff on the green 6.

China regained the lead after a crucial miss from Juva on the 1-ball following yet another dry break as Finland were unable to reproduce the success from the break they had in the semi-finals.

For the first time since the early stages of the match, China moved two ahead at 6-4 before another dry break in the 11th from China and it was 6-5.

The 12th was an error-filled rack as Juva laid a tight safety and Fu was miles away from connecting with his desired target, but Immonen later lost position and the lead was back at two with it being 7-5.

China ran through the next rack and at 8-5 had the biggest advantage than at any other stage of the match. But they were still another three away from the title.

Both sides had used soft breaks in this match but Fu opted for power in the 14th and it seemed the right decision as the 1-ball disappeared with a straight-forward shot on the 2-ball. Within seconds it was 9-5 as China had now stamped their authority on the match with Finland desperate for another chance.

There had only been ten dry breaks in the previous 30 matches but now China produced the sixth in only 15 racks during the final. Finland did the rest and it was now 6-9 to China .

After another dry break, the seventh in 16 racks, the frustration was showing as Immonen slammed his fist down on the table after he left his partner with no shot on the 2. China moved to the hill and were now one potential shot away from the victory.

But, for the eighth time in this encounter, no balls went down on the break shot as Finland were clinging on but the thinnest of margins.

Finland were thrown a tournament lifeline as Li, aiming to make the 2 into the right side pocket, watched in horror as the cue ball vanished into the top left pocket. That gave Finland ball-in-hand and Juva held his nerve with a fine long-range pot the 9-ball for 10-7.

The Finnish pair had been successful in the semi-final with the soft break but Juva now went for power and got an instant reward for three off the break and his team ran out in one of the fastest racks of the final for 10-8.

Despite hitting the cue ball hard in the next, Finland had no luck and the ninth dry break of the match came at the worst moment for the Europeans.

The safety shot was not good enough and China moved through the balls and Fu Jian-bo had an attempt to win the World Cup. He tried to roll the 9-ball down the right rail but the ball rattled in the jaws of the bottom right pocket but did not drop.

Juva showed nerves of steel by sinking the 9-ball but were China going to regret that crucial error?

In a hugely dramatic final, Juva then scratched off the break to give China ball-in-hand and again in sight of victory. Li He-wen pocketed the 8-ball but in an unbelievable error the cue ball ended up in the right centre pocket. Juva again disposed of the 9-ball and it was hill-hill for only the third time in the tournament.

However it was not be for the Finns as Team China sealed a magnificent week as they became PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool Champions.

RESULT

The Final
China 11 – 10 Finland



Team Finland. (All World Cup of Pool photos by Lawrence Lustig).

It’s Finland v China for World Cup Glory!

THE 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool final will be between Team Finland , represented by Mika Immonen and Markus Juva and Team China , consisting of Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo.

Both sides recorded emphatic wins this afternoon at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam, as first Finland hammered Canada (Alain Martel and Edwin Montal) 9-0 and then the Chinese got the better of Japan – Naoyuki Oi and Satoshi Kawabata – 9-4.

The race to 11 championship match will take place at 18.00 hours local time and with $60,000 going to the winners and $30,000 going to the runners-up, there will be everything to play for.


In the first semi-final of the afternoon, Finland produced an emphatic display of tactical excellence as they crushed Canada 9-0 in the opening semi-final.

The Finnish side recorded a dry break off the first rack but then slightly changed the positioning of the cue ball as they found an effective, if uninspiring, formula which they successfully repeated again and again.

With each soft break they were left with a shot on every time and were rarely in trouble, although they deserve full credit for displaying some of the best teamwork seen in the competition this week.

Finland had been in good form to reach the semi-finals with fine victories against Qatar , England and Switzerland , while Canada has been less impressive with a large slice of luck in their wins over India , Korea and Belgium .

The Finnish pairing of Mika Immonen and Markus Juva were at the table first after winning the lag but Immonen recorded a rare dry break, only the 11th in the whole tournament so far.

Canada 's Edwin Montal had produced a number of mistakes and looked extremely nervous in their triumph over Belgium and he again made a twitchy start as he let Finland back to the action. That enabled Juva to down the final 9-ball as the Europeans made it 1-0.
mmonen got lucky in the second as he missed a pot at the 1-
ball but it ended up behind the orange 5, although half of the 1-ball was still visible. However, Montal failed to connect with the same ball and, with ball-in-hand, Finland quickly moved 2-0 ahead.

Finland ran out from the break in the third and at 3-0 were looking good value for their lead. Canada finally got another opportunity but did not take advantage as a rash shot from Alain Martel left the red 3 tight on the left side rail and Juva produced a stunning effort to put his team back in control for 4-0.

The Europeans were opting for soft breaks from the same spot in every rack but it was proving effective as they kept having shots on the 1-ball. It was a similar story in the fifth as they once again ran out a rack and at 5-0 the semi-final was proving to be much more one-sided than had been expected.

It was not the most exciting pool but there was no denying that it was working for Finland . Once again, in a near copy of the previous rack, Finland produced a soft-break, had a shot on and ran out for 6-0.

The seventh did not go all of Finland's way as Martel had a shot but he failed to make it safe and the Europeans, who were working well as a team, did not make another mistake in the rack and the scoreboard showed 7-0 with Finland two away from the final.

Once again, Finland got the speed of the break perfect and again had a shot on the 1-ball. Canada would need Finland to make an error or be on the end of only the second whitewash of the competition after Philippines defeated Croatia 8-0 in the Last 16.

It became 8-0 and with a shot on the 1, the Finnish pair were within touching distance of the final. Mika Immonen sealed the 9-0 win as Canada , who had only had nine shots in the whole match, were on their way home.

CHINA had reached the final four after defeating South Africa , France and then the defending champions Philippines in a memorable quarter-final on Saturday evening.

The hugely-popular Japanese side, who had smiled and joked their way to wins over Spain , Holland A and Singapore , had been unseeded but performed well to make the semi-finals.

China won the lag by the narrowest of margins and then ran out the opening two racks as Japan were rooted firmly in their seats.

The Japanese should have won the next rack as they got back to the table but Naoyuki Oi dogged a simple-looking 9-ball. However, Fu Jian-bo also missed the same ball, before Satoshi Kawabata did likewise. It was left to Li He-wen, a semi-finalist in the 2006 World Championships to down the 9-ball for 3-0 to China .

But the same player scratched in the fourth as Japan recorded their first rack of the match. The scoreline should have narrowed to 3-2 after Fu scratched but Kawabata did the same with only the 9-ball left on the table.

China gratefully accepted the present for 4-1 and ran out the next to give them a 5-1 lead in this race to nine. The missed 9-ball from Japan in the fifth was proving costly as they had not had a shot since and China ran out once more in the seventh for 6-1.

The Japanese side had an opportunity in the eighth after Fu Jian-bo had produced a tight safety but Oi failed to connect with any ball on the table to give another ball-in-hand to the Chinese and they made it 7-1.

Throughout the tournament there had been a number of close matches but both semi-finals were proving to be one-sided affairs.

It had been a near-faultless performance from the Chinese pair but that ended in the ninth as Li He-wen failed to pocket the 2-ball. Japan had to keep the China team in their chairs and managed it for this rack for 7-2.

Japan ran out the tenth and with the score now moving to 7-3 the crowd were hopeful of this being the start of a magnificent fightback.

Oi and Kawabata were not giving up and a fine shot from Oi, who rolled the 2-ball down the right hand rail, set up another Japanese rack, their third in a row for 7-4.

Just when it seemed Japan would get back in the match, Kawabata missed a bank attempt on the 2-ball, which was left hanging over the bottom left pocket and that was looking like being their last shot of the match.

China sealed the job in the 12th rack and moved to the hill at 8-4. Fu was unsuccessful when trying to pot the 2-ball but Japan did the same and that was it. The game was as good as over as China won 9-4 to set up a final with Finland .


SEMI-FINAL MATCH RESULTS

Finland 9 – 0 Canada
China 9 – 4 Japan


THE STATS




2007 PARTY POKER.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
Total US$250,000 * All prize money is split between the two players.



2007 PARTY POKER.NET

WORLD CUP OF POOL

THE TEAMS

AustraliaStuart Lawler and Shaun Budd
AustriaMartin Kempter and Albin Ouschan
BelgiumNoel Bruynooghe and Serge Das
CanadaEdwin Montal and Alain Martel
ChinaLi He-wen and Fu Jian-bo
CroatiaPhilipp Stojanovic and Ivica Putnik
DenmarkBahram Lotfy and Kasper Kristoffersen
EnglandDaryl Peach and Imran Majid
FinlandMika Immonen and Markus Juva
FranceStephan Cohen and Vincent Facquet
Holland ANiels Feijen and Nick van den Berg
Holland BIAlex Lely and Rico Diks
GermanyOliver Ortmann and Christian Reimering
HungaryVilmos Foldes and Balazs Miko
IndiaDharminder Singh Lilly and Manan Chandra
IndonesiaRicky Yang and Muhammed Zulfikri
ItalyFabio Petroni and Bruno Muratore
MaltaTony Drago and Alex Borg
JapanNaoyuki Oi and Satoshi Kawabata
KoreaRyu Seung-woo and Kim Woong-dae
MaltaTony Drago and Alex Borg
PhilippinesEfren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante
PolandRadoslaw Babica and Mateusz Sniegocki
QatarBashar Hussain and Fahad Mohammadi
ScotlandPat Holtz and Michael Valentine
SingaporeChan Keng Kwang and Toh Lian Han
South AfricaJuan de Beer and Clinton Rossouw
SpainDavid Alcaide and Antonio Fazanes
SwitzerlandDimitri Jungo and Marco Tschudi
TaiwanWu Chia-ching and Yang Ching-shun
USARodney Morris and Corey Deuel
VietnamThanh Nam Nguyen and Luong Chi Dung



2007 PARTY POKER.NET

WORLD CUP OF POOL

THE LAST 32

Philippines (1)

8 : 6

Scotland

Croatia

8 : 5

(16) Russia

France

8 : 2

(9) Italy

China (8 )

8 : 1

South Africa

Holland A (5)

8 : 5

Indonesia

Japan

8 : 2

(12) Spain

Austria (13)

8 : 6

Australia

Singapore

8 : 4

(4) Germany

Taiwan (3)

8 : 3

Denmark

Belgium

8 : 2

(14) Holland B

Canada (11)

8 : 3

India

Korea

8 : 5

(6) Vietnam

England (7)

8 : 6

Poland

Finland (10)

8 : 5

Qatar

Switzerland (15)

8 : 5

Hungary

USA (2)

8 : 7

Malta




2007 PARTY POKER.NET

WORLD CUP OF POOL

THE LAST 16

Philippines

8 : 0

Croatia

China

8 : 6

France

Japan

8 : 7

Holland A

Singapore

8 : 2

Austria

Belgium

8 : 6

Taiwan

Canada

8 : 2

Korea

Finland

8 : 5

England

Switzerland

8 : 6

USA




2007 PARTY POKER.NET

WORLD CUP OF POOL

THE QUARTER-FINALS

China

9 : 6

Philippines

Japan

9 : 5

Singapore

Canada

9 : 4

Belgium

Finland

9 : 4

Switzerland




2007 PARTY POKER.NET

WORLD CUP OF POOL

THE SEMI-FINALS

China

9 : 4

Japan

Finland

9 : 0

Canada



2007 PARTY POKER.NET

WORLD CUP OF POOL

THE FINAL

China

11 : 10

Finland