Outland
Prins Alexanderlaan 37
3068 PN
Rotterdam
Netherlands
www.worldcupofpool.com
www.matchroomsport.com
www.outland.nl
Tuesday-Sunday 7-12 October 2008
Roy Gerards and Gijs van Helmond - Team Holland B.
Holland B Oust Fancied Taiwan - Unknown Qualifiers Stun Wu and Co
Holland B 8 - 5 Taiwan
HOLLAND B, a team made up of 19 year-old Roy Gerards and Gijs van Helmond, produced a stunning upset as they held their nerve to deposit heavy favourites Taiwan out of the competition.
The duo had won a qualification tournament in Rotterdam three weeks ago, beating Rico Diks and Alex Lely in the final match.
However, they were given little hope, against a Taiwanese team consisting of recent World Tenball finalist Wu Chia-ching and fellow countryman Wang Hung-hsiang.
They overturned the formbook in an inspired display at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam, aided and abetted by some glaring errors from the Taiwanese.
"Read More..." for the details.
Gerards sunk the winning 9-ball and both players were immediately congratulated by a large number of family and friends who were cheering them on.
Following the dismissal of Holland A (Niels Feijen and Nick van den Berg) against Belgian duo of Noel Bruynooghe and Serge Das, the home fans can now pin their hopes on van Helmond and Gerards.
Holland made a dream start by taking the lead, before each of the next three was won by a different side to take the scoreline to 2-2.
The first golden break of the match was made by Wang as the red three thumped into the 9-ball and sent it careering into the bottom left pocket.
Taiwan extended their lead to 4-2 but a bad miss from Wu on the orange 5 gave the Dutch a chance, which they exploited for 3-4.
Holland were not showing any signs of nerves in what was without doubt the biggest match in either players' life.
The Asians were not performing at anything near their best and a miss by Wu was later followed by a poor shot from Wang where he failed to pot the 5-ball with an attempted thin cut.
That left the ball out in the open and it became 5-4. Holland ran out the next and now had an unlikely 6-4 advantage.
Gerards tried to pot the 5 ball into a blind pocket in the 11th rack but Wang missed a simple-looking 6-ball and this mistake was punished for 7-4.
Holland nearly snatched the victory as the break shot in the 12th saw the 9-ball head towards the side pocket but just stayed on the table. That chance had gone and Taiwan kept the match alive by winning the rack.
An optimistic bank shot on the 1-ball by van Helmond failed and Taiwan should have won the rack but Wang missed the 2-9 combination.
Holland were now only a few balls away from a magical victory and they held their nerve to celebrate a memorable win. The Dutch destroyers will now meet either Australia or Japan in the last 16.
Ralf Souquet and Thomas Engert - Team Germany.
Germany 8 - 3 Qatar
GERMANY, one of the heavy pre-tournament favourites, advanced to the second round of the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool but not before billiard minnows Qatar gave them a scare.
The Middle Eastern duo Bashar Hussain and Fahad Mohammadi had lead 3-2 before fading away as they made too many mistakes against the German thoroughbreds of Ralf Souquet and Thomas Engert.
Germany took the opener courtesy of a perfectly executed 3/9 combination and they took the next to go 2-0. A bad miss from Souquet though, as he forced the shot to make an angle, let the Qataris back in.
Despite having a tough long pot on the 9 ball, Mohammedi took it to get back to 1-2. A dry break was next though and the 1 ball was on for the Germans. Qatar though, got back to the table and looked fairly confident running it out.
Qatar then took a scrappy fifth rack to move into an unlikely 3-2 lead, before the Germans took the next and then ran through the table to regain control of the match 4-3.
Souquet ducked a 2/9 combo in the next and instead tucked his opponents up in a very tight snooker. The Germans got the better of the exchanges but Souquet missed the 9 ball when he got a bad kick.
Qatar though missed themselves and Engert converted to go to 5-3. Souquet scratched in the closing stages of the next rack but with ball in hand the Qataris nearly fouled it up on the 7 ball but fluked it into the top pocket. Their luck ran out on the black 8 though as Mohammedi scratched unnecessarily to hand the rack to Germany.
The Germans took the next to get to the hill and when Basher Hussein failed to make contact with the object ball, trying to escape from a snooker, the writing was on the wall.
With ball in hand, Germany ran out to take the match 8-3.
Shane Van Boening from Team USA in action.
USA 8 – 4 Iceland
THE SECOND match of the evening was another David and Goliath affair and once again David came up short as this time the USA started their World Cup campaign with an 8-4 victory over Iceland.
But it was a brave effort from the Europeans, who had been written off as having no chance of winning before the start.
The unfancied duo of Bjorgvin Halgrimsson and Kristjan Helgason faced what appeared to be a near-impossible task against Rodney Morris and Shane Van Boening, both US Open champions.
Both the Icelandic players had come from a snooker background but had limited experience in top level 9-ball pool or playing in front of the television cameras.
The match went to plan in the early phases as USA cruised into a 3-0 lead. However, a number of missed shots gave Iceland chances and they moved the score to 3-3.
In the opening rack, Halgrimmson became the first player to commit a time foul as the 40-second time limit expired before he played a shot which gifted the table to the Americans.
USA ran out the second and a missed pink 4 from Iceland led to the scoreboard showing 3-0.
But Van Boening missed a tough three into a blind pocket in the next and Iceland claimed their first rack. After USA failed to escape from a snooker in the fifth, Iceland were given ball-in-hand and a 1-9 combination made it 3-2.
Two failed attempts to down the blue 2 from Morris helped bring the score level but USA soon regained their momentum by claiming the next two racks for 5-3.
Both sides shared one of the next two racks for 6-4 but Iceland should have won the 11th.
Halgrimsson needed to jump the 9-ball to pot the 7-ball but he missed and got very lucky as the brown seven ended up tight behind the 9-ball.
Van Boening left the brown seven on, which Iceland dropped but then they messed it up with two balls remaining and America moved to the hill.
USA came up with a dry break in the next and, after a lengthy safety exchange, Helgason finally had a chance to win the rack. But his missed 9 left a long shot for Van Boening to win the match and he did for an 8-4 triumph.
Ouschan Magic Sees Austria Through - Easy Win for Jasmin and Kempter
Austria 8 - 1 Vietnam
Team Austria put in one of the most impressive performances so far in the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool as they swept aside Vietnam 8 – 1 at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam.
The pairing of Kempter and Ouschan looked in excellent form throughout and will be relishing their Round 2 match with Belgium tomorrow night.
Kempter is one of the improving players on the European circuit with some notable scalps to his name. He played with Jasmin’s brother Albin in this event last year, but the 22 year-old from Klagenfurt’s achievements made her a certainty for Team Austria.
She came third in the WPA World Straight Pool Championship, a men’s event, earlier this year and had a great run at the World Tenball in Manila.
The Austrians moved into a swift 3-0 lead before a nervous looking Vietnamese duo took the fourth. However they lost the table with a dry break and Ouschan and Kempter punished them as they confidently cleared the table to move into an ominous 4-1 lead.
Another dry break, this time from Ouschan, gave the Vietnamese a chance but despite a great jump shot to pocket the 1 ball, they were forced to play it safe.
Vietnam made a great two rail escape from a tight snooker but scratched to leave ball in hand for Austria who ran out to move 5-1 ahead.
From the break, the Austrians trotted through the table to go to 6-1 and a golden break from Ouschan, as the nine was kicked up table in the next, put them on the hill.
They made no slip ups and cleared from the break to take the match by a convincing 8-1 scoreline.
Poland 8 – 3 Thailand
Earlier, Poland looked to be a quiet threat in the top half of the draw as Radoslaw Babica and Mateusz Sniegocki performed well in overcoming Thailand 8-3 in their first round match.
The Thai duo of Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Dechawat Poomjang were sound technically but perhaps a little naïve in their shot selection and the Poles took full advantage to steam into a fast lead at 5-1.
Wearing matching black outfits and white shoes, Thailand steadied themselves in the seventh game to move to 2-5 and looked to be gaining in confidence as they ran through the table to reduce the deficit.
Poland though reasserted themselves in the next rack and Sniegocki potted a long range 9 ball to take his team to 6-3.
A 2/9 fluked combination took the Poles to the hill at 7-3 as the Thais stared defeat in the face.
The Poles crowned a very confident display as they ran the final rack from the break to advance to the second round where they will play Qatar or Germany.
Canada 8 - 5 France
In the first match of the afternoon session, 2007 Semi-finalists Canada, consisting of Tyler Edey and Edwin Montal, made their way through to the second round as they had too much for an out-of-sorts France.
With European 9 ball champion Stephan Cohen in partnership with a sickening Vincent Facquet struggling throughout, the Canadians could afford to make the odd error and still maintain control.
They can now look forward to a second round match against England who looked good in disposing of Malta yesterday.
Things started badly for France early as the opening shot of the match as Stephan Cohen came unstuck on the break as despite potting two balls as the third failed to cross the headstring, handing the table to the Canadians. With the balls nicely spread, Montal and Edey cleared to take the opener.
They shared the next two before a bad positional shot from Montal lost the momentum for Canada and he played a nice safety separating the white and the 6 ball and Facquet’s escape left the table open. The Canadians cleared to regain the lead at 3-2.
Canada won the next two for a 5-2 lead but France took the next two in what was a dogged encounter. They won the tenth to square things at 5-5 and looked good for the lead before Facquet’s pot on the 8 ball left his team mate with a very difficult 9 using the rest.
He missed and left it near enough to the pocket for the Canadians to retake the lead at 6-5.
Facquet messed up as he ran out of position with just three balls on the table and Cohen’s kick shot was hit too hard to drop as the Canadians had an elementary run out to reach the hill.
8-5 was the final score as a carom off the 2 ball from Montal, with the 9 hanging over the pocket, secured victory.
2008 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool
Schedule
(Seeded teams in brackets)
Wednesday, October 8
Afternoon session - 2pm
France v Canada (12)
Thailand v Poland (13)
Austria v Vietnam (14)
Evening session - 7pm
Qatar v Germany (4)
Iceland v USA (6)
Holland B v Taiwan (7)
Thursday, October 9
Afternoon session - 2pm
Croatia v Spain (11)
Malaysia v Russia (15)
Australia v Japan (10)
Evening session - 7pm
Denmark v Philippines (2)
Second Round
Race to 8
China/India v Hong Kong/Switzerland
Belgium/Holland A v Austria/Vietnam
Friday, October 10
Afternoon session - 2pm
Peru/Italy v Korea/Finland
Thailand/Poland v Qatar/Germany
Holland B/Taiwan v Australia/Japan
Evening session - 7pm
Malta/England v France/Canada
Croatia/Spain v Iceland/USA
Malaysia/Russia v Denmark/Philippines
Saturday, October 11
Quarter-finals
Race to 9
Afternoon session at 1pm
Evening session at 6pm
Two quarter-finals in each session
Sunday, October 12
Semi-finals
Race to 9
Afternoon session at 1pm
Final
Race to 11
Evening session at 6pm
2008 PARTY POKER.NET | ||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||
THE LAST 32 | ||
(1) China | 8 : 6 | India |
(16)Switzerland | 8 : 5 | Hong Kong |
(9) Italy | 8 : 4 | Peru |
Korea | 8 : 4 | Finland (8 ) |
(5) England | 8 : 4 | Malta |
(12) Canada | 8 : 5 | France |
(13) Poland | 8 : 3 | Thailand |
(4) Germany | 8 : 3 | Qatar |
Belgium | 8 : 3 | Holland A (3) |
Austria | 8 : 1 | Vietnam (14) |
(11) Spain | - : - | Croatia |
(6) USA | 8 : 4 | Iceland |
Holland B | 8 : 5 | Taiwan (7) |
(10) Japan | - : - | Australia |
(15) Russia | - : - | Malaysia |
(2) Philippines | - : - | Denmark |
2008 PARTY POKER.NET | ||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||
THE LAST 16 | ||
(1) China | 0 : 0 | Switzerland (16) |
(9) Italy | 0 : 0 | Korea |
(5)England | 0 : 0 | Canada (12) |
(13) Poland | 0 : 0 | Germany (4) |
Belgium | 0 : 0 | Austria |
Croatia/Spain | 0 : 0 | USA (6) |
Holland B | 0 : 0 | Australia/Japan |
Malaysia/Russia | 0 : 0 | Denmark/Philippines |
2008 PARTY POKER.NET | ||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||
THE QUARTER FINALS | ||
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2008 PARTY POKER.NET | ||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||
THE SEMI FINALS | ||
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2008 PARTY POKER.NET | ||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||
THE FINAL | ||
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2008 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 |
2008 PARTY POKER.NET | ||
WORLD CUP OF POOL | ||
ASIA | ||
| 1. | China | Li He-wen & Fu Jianbo |
| 2. | Hong Kong | Lee Chenman & Kenny Kwok |
| 3. | India | Sumit Talwar & Alok Kumar |
| 4. | Japan | Naoyuki Oi & Satoshi Kawabata |
| 5. | Korea | Jeong Young-Hwa & Kim Woong-Dae |
| 6. | Malaysia | Ibrahim Bin Amir & Lee Poh Soon |
| 7. | Philippines | Francisco Bustamante & Dennis Orcollo |
| 8. | Taiwan | Wu Chia-ching & Wang Hung-hsiang |
| 9. | Thailand | Nitiwat Kanjanasri & Dechawat Poomjang |
| 10. | Vietnam | Nguyen Thanh Nam & Luong Chi Dung |
NORTH AMERICA | ||
| 12. | Canada | Tyler Edey & Edwin Montal |
| 13. | USA | Shane Van Boening & Rodney Morris |
OTHERS | ||
| 13. | Australia | Stuart Lawler & John Wims |
| 14. | Qatar | Fahad Mohammadi & Bashar Hussain |
| 15. | Peru | Jhon Lopez & Juan Vega |
EUROPE | ||
| 16. | Austria | Martin Kempter & Jasmin Ouschan |
| 17. | Belgium | Serge Das & Noel Bruynooghe |
| 18. | Croatia | Ivica Putnik & Philipp Stojanovic |
| 19. | Denmark | Martin Larsen & Kasper Kristoffersen |
| 20. | England | Daryl Peach & Mark Gray |
| 21. | Finland | Markus Juva & Mika Immonen |
| 22. | France | Vincent Facquet & Stephan Cohen |
| 23. | Germany | Ralf Souquet & Thomas Engert |
| 24. | Holland A | Niels Feijen & Nick van den Berg |
| 25. | Holland B | Gijs van Helmond & Roy Gerard |
| 26. | Iceland | Bjorgvin Hallgrimsson & Kristjan Helgason |
| 27. | Italy | Bruno Muratore & Fabio Petroni |
| 28. | Malta | Tony Drago & Alex Borg |
| 29. | Poland | Radoslaw Babica & Mateusz Sniegocki |
| 30. | Russia | Konstantin Stepanov & Ruslan Chinahov |
| 31. | Spain | David Alcaide & Carlos Cabello |
| 32. | Switzerland | Marco Tschudi & Dimitri Jungo |
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