Araneta Coliseum
Quezon City
Metro Manila
Philippines
www.matchroomsport.com
www.worldpoolchampionship.com
3-11 November 2007
THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 16 | ||
1 | Matjaz Erculj |
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2 | Roberto Gomez |
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3 | Niels Feijen |
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4 | Daryl Peach |
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5 | D Singh Lilly |
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6 | Toh Lian Han |
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7 | Rudolfo Luat |
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8 | Charles Bryant |
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QUALIFYING PLAY CONCLUDES AS FIELD SPLITS TO 64
PLAY HAS concluded on the final day of round one action at the 2007 Philippines World Pool Championship at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City , Manila as the 128 man field has been reduced to 64 for the straight knock-out stages of the event.
The most dominant representation comes from the Philippines with 13 players in the last 64 shake up, closely followed by Chinese Taipei with 10. Disappointingly, the USA with an original entry of 11 now only has four survivors in round two.
There are now five days to go in the $400,000 event which is televised live throughout Asia on the ESPN Star network as well as Sky Sports in the UK.
"Read More..." for the details.
There was plenty of top quality action on day four as players fought for their chance to progress. Big name victims included former two-time champion Johnny Archer who lost to 18 year-old Taiwanese Wu Yu-lun and then went down to another two-time champion Chao Fong-pang 9-3 to exit the tournament.
Rodolfo Luat, a quarter finalist here last year, went two and out at the hands of Toh Lian Han (Singapore) and England’s Daryl Peach.
Rodney Morris, highly fancied in some quarters, looked good winning his opener 9-0 against Dave Reljic of Australia, but then lost successive matches to improving Swiss player Marco Tshudi and then unheralded Dane Bahram Lotfy to book an early flight home.
Playing in his first World Pool Championship, Shane Van Boening, the current US Open Champion eased his way into round two with a hill-hill win over Chang Yau-mau, and then beat Scotland’s Pat Holtz 9-4 to set up a last 64 clash with Antonio Gabica.
Other eagerly anticipated round two games include Jeff De Luna v Lee Van Corteza in a battle of the local hotshots, while Ronnie Alcano continues his title defence against Daryl Peach.
Efren Reyes, who seems to carry then hopes of the nation on his shoulders, will be under pressure as he goes up against European No.1 Konstantin Stepanov ( Russia ) who looked good today with two straight wins to qualify.
2005 Champion, Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan, faces a tester against in-form Italian Fabio Petroni on Table 2, while Alex Pagulayan who took the title in ’04, can look ahead to a clash with little known Vietnamese player Pham Tuan Ngoc.
The double elimination format in the opening round has seen a slew of top players make their way through and there will be plenty of top class 9 ball action as the drama unfolds at the Araneta Coliseum.
THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 11 | ||
1 | Konstantin Stepanov |
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2 | Marco Tschudi |
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3 | Bahram Lofty |
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4 | Rye Seung-Woo |
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5 | Rodney Morris |
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6 | David Reljic |
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=8 | Kevin Uzzell |
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=8 | Alejandro Carvajal |
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THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 13 | ||
1 | Shane Van Boening |
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2 | Satoshi Kawabata |
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3 | Dennis Orcollo |
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4 | Marcus Chamat |
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5 | Wojciech Trajdos |
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6 | Pat Holtz |
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7 | Chang Yau-Mau |
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8 | Kenny Kwok |
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THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 15 | ||
1 | Naoyuki Oi |
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2 | Lee Kun-Fang |
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3 | Wu Yu-Lun |
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4 | Chao Fong-Pang |
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5 | Johnny Archer |
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6 | Murat Ayas |
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7 | Greg Jenkins |
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8 | Michael Schmidt |
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THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 16 | ||
1 | Matjaz Erculj |
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2 | Roberto Gomez |
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3 | Niels Feijen |
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4 | Daryl Peach |
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5 | D Singh Lilly |
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6 | Toh Lian Han |
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7 | Rudolfo Luat |
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8 | Charles Bryant |
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Earl "The Pearl" Strickland battles with his own personal demons.
DAY THREE ROUND UP
EARL STRICKLAND put on a dazzling display of pool as he won nine racks back-to-back to salvage his 2007 World Pool Championship hopes at the expense of China’s Li He-wen.
Strickland had earlier rolled over against Malaysia’s Alan Tan, 9-2, in his opening game but followed that up with a lackluster 9-6 win over Germany’s Kay Reike.
With the two wins to qualify and two defeats to leave the competition, Strickland, a three time winner of this event, faced Li He-wen, the studious looking Chinese who won a bronze medal at last year’s tournament.
At 5-0 down in the race to nine match, ‘the Pearl’ looked dead and buried as he battled with his demons on the main TV table.
He hit a gear though and returned to the imperious form that has seen him win countless titles in an illustrious career. Strickland ran five racks from the break as he controlled the table and restricted Li to occasional safety escapes.
The win saw Strickland secure a last 64 berth where he will face impressive Vietnamese shooter Luong Chi Dung of Vietnam.
Other big names through on day three of the first round include Ralf Souquet who survived a scare as he lost his opener to local veteran Leonardo Andam before scoring wins over Bernard Tey Choon Kiat of Singapore and Canada’s Ronnie Wiseman to make it through.
Fellow German former World Champion Thorsten Hohmann capped a disappointing season with an early exit in Manila as he lost twice to depart the competition.
He lost successive matches against sensational 18 year-old Taiwanese Ko Pin-yi and then seasoned Canadian / Filipino Edwin Montal.
There was double joy for Pinoy hopes Marlon Manalo and Jeff De Luna as they both battled their way through to the last 64 stages of the 2007 Philippines World Pool Championship with two wins from two matches.
With four more groups playing double elimination qualifying games today at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, a further 16 players will secure spots in round two while the other 16 will depart the competition.
Manalo, of Mandaluyong City, Manila looked to be in total control as he led Li He-wen of China 8-3 but a missed ball in the 12th game let Li, a semi-finalist here last year, back to the table.
Li, who earlier this year was a World Cup of Pool winner, proceeded to run out the racks as he slowly silenced the pro-Manalo crowd. With the score at 7-8, Li ran slightly out of position and attempted a risky pot on the 3 ball as he was forced to hit down on the cue ball to swerve it.
He missed and left it sitting nicely for Manalo, who cleared the table to secure victory. Li eventually went out at the hands of Earl Strickland.
On Table 2, Jeff ‘Bata’ De Luna, who reached the last 16 of this competition in 2006 on his WPC debut, looked like he has the game to go even better this year as he gave Fu Che-wei of Chinese Taipei, something of a drubbing.
Fu, who was a bronze medalist at this tournament last year, found himself 8-0 down in no time at all, and although he mounted a comeback, the gulf was too wide to bridge as he lost 9-3.
De Luna can now look forward a mouth-watering last 64 match-up with fellow Filipino star Lee Van Corteza.
There were two tremendous performances from the Australian duo of Louis Condo and James Delahunty as both advanced with a brace of victories against high class opposition.
Condo, the 32 year-old from Melbourne , is playing in his sixth World Championship so he has plenty of experience at this level and he drew on it as he defeated highly rated Englishman Imran Majid 9-5 to advance to the winners’ side of the bracket.
In his next match he went even better as he recorded a comfortable 9-4 victory over 2005 World Pool Championship runner-up Kuo Po-cheng of Chinese Taipei.
Countryman James Delahunty, making his debut in the competition, looked good in beating 2006 Mosconi Cup player Mike Davis of the USA 9-5 and then defeated seasoned pro Ronnie Wiseman of Canada in a 9-8 thriller.
24 year-old Delahunty from Adelaide can now look forward to a day off before he resumes the competition in the last 64 straight knock-out.
THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 2 | ||
1 | Leonardo Andam |
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2 | James Delahunty |
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3 | Raj Hundal |
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4 | Ralf Souquet |
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5 | Ronnie Wiseman |
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6 | Mike Davis |
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7 | Tepwin Arrunath |
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8 | B Tey Choon Kiat |
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THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 5 | ||
1 | Ko Pin-Yi |
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2 | Jeff De Luna |
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3 | Sandor Tot |
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4 | Fu Che-Wei |
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5 | Serge Das |
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6 | Edwin Montal |
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7 | Vittorio De Falco |
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8 | Thorsten Hohmann |
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THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 10 | ||
1 | Thomas Engert |
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2 | Louis Condo |
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3 | Imran Majid |
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4 | Kuo Po-Cheng |
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5 | Roman Hybler |
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6 | Lee Chenman |
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7 | David Alcoberro |
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8 | Prince M. Billah |
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THE 2007 WORLD POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
GROUP 14 | ||
1 | Fabio Petroni |
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2 | Marlon Manalo |
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3 | Dejan Dabovic |
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4 | Earl Strickland |
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5 | Alan Tan |
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6 | Li He-Wen |
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7 | Farhad Shahverdi |
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8 | Kay Reike |
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For more information go to:
www.worldpoolchampionship.com