Chinese Taipei's Yang Ching-Shun Wins Gold at the First Leg of the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour, Singapore
16 March 2003, Singapore: The final day of competition at the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour's inaugural leg in Singapore's Pool Haven proved to be an exciting showdown among world-class 9-ball players from Chinese Taipei and the Philippines with the world's 7th ranked 9-ball player Chinese Taipei's Yang Ching-Shun beating the world's 8th ranked 9-ball player Filipino Warren Kiamco 11-7 in the final competition today.
Yang held the lead for most of the match but stayed at 9 while Kiamco deftly inched his way from 3 to 7 racks, before Yang clinched the win with a 9-ball pocket break on the 18th rack.
Yang Ching-Shun said: "Attitude is very important. If I want to win and I have the focus and the attitude, I perform well. I think I had that tonight."
Before the finals, the semi-finals saw compatriots playing against each other for a slot at the finals. Filipino Warren Kiamco beat the world's 3rd ranked 9-ball player Francisco "Django" Bustamante 11-9. This was the sixth time Bustamante and Kiamco played against each other, with today's win marking Kiamco's third triumph against his fellow Filipino. It was an exhilarating match with Kiamco holding the lead till the 8th rack at 6-3, but crowd favorite Django caught up with him and by the 15th rack Django led the match 9-6. Unfazed, Kiamco's undivided concentration kept him in the game and by the 18th rack the Filipinos were even at 9 racks each. Kiamco secured his advance by winning the 19th and 20th racks, giving him the chance to represent his country at the finals.
It was an equally thrilling semi-finals match between two of the best pool players from Chinese Taipei when the 2002 Asian Games 9-Ball Champion Yang Ching-Shun beat 2002 Asian Games 8-Ball Champion Hsia Hui-Kai in an 11-8 match. It was consistently a close match, and a relatively fast one too with one of Hsia's breaks and two of Yang's breaks pocketing the 9-ball. The first 15 racks saw each player taking turns with the lead but the 17th rack saw the score at 9-8 in favor of Yang, who kept the momentum and won the race to 11.
Catch 9-Ball at 9pm on STAR Sports - All the action of the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour in Singapore will air on STAR Sports at 9pm on April 1-3 and April 8-10 (Singapore/Hong Kong time). For the latest schedules and program information on ESPN STAR Sports on the net at www.espnstar.com.
The San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour is organized by ESPN STAR Sports' Event Management Group (EMG). EMG specializes in creating, managing, promoting, consulting, producing and syndicating world-class sporting events throughout Asia. The Group has been awarded numerous awards, among them; Best Promoted Event in 1998 and 1999 awarded by the ATP; Best Sporting Event in Hong Kong in 1998 and 1999 awarded by the Hong Kong Sports Development Board; and Best Event Organizer in 2000 awarded by the Singapore Tourism Board. The Group has managed over 100 events in 11 countries, including the Aviva Asian Bowling Tour and Grand Slam Finals and the six-city Asian Xtour and Asia's most prestigious action sports competition, the Asian X Games. The Group also owns and manages the world's richest futsal competition, the KL World 5s; and in the Summer of 2003 will organize the only official English Premier League pre-season tournament, the F.A. Premier League Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All events organized by EMG enjoy unrivalled regional broadcast across Asia through the ESPN and STAR Sports channels.
