Chinese Taipei 7-5 Belgium
Greece 7-0 Australia
Italy 7-3 Spain
THERE WAS more first round action in the 888.com World Cup of Pool at the York Hall in London and there were wins for Chinese Taipei, Greece and Italy who all make their way through to the second round.
Italy won the session closer as they got the better of Spain in the Mediterranean clash. The Spanish – David Alcaide and Juan Carlos Exposito - didn’t enjoy the best of luck as they scratched a few times and were confronted by some tricky layouts.
The Italian pair of Bruno Muratore and Fabio Petroni, who has been representing their country since the early days of the competition, looked in very good shape though and will be quietly confident about the weekend. They will play England A or Indonesia in round two.
Earlier, Australia, who has yet to progress beyond the first round at the 888.com World Cup of Pool, continued that dismal run when they were well beaten by Greece in the first white wash of the tournament.
David Rothall and James Delahunty talked about breaking the Aussie duck in their pre-match interview but it didn’t quite pan out that way as a succession of misses and poor positional play made it an easy day’s work for Greece.
2012 Mosconi Cup star Nick Ekonomopoulus and Alexander Kazakis certainly looked the part as they coasted through the racks and they could prove to be a very dangerous combination as the tournament progresses.
The fancied Chinese Taipei pair of Chang Jung-lin and Ko Pin-yi came through their first round match against Belgium but not before Serge Das and Moritz Lauweryns gave them a fight. 7-5 was the score and they will now meet Greece in the last 16.
The Belgians were always in with a chance with the experienced Das leading the way but the under-performing Chang and Ko still had too much for them. The Taiwanese will need to step it up a fair bit if they are to be contesting the big prizes at the weekend.
The 2013 888.com World Cup of Pool runs from Tuesday September 17 to Sunday, September 22 at the famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, East London. The field features 32 teams from 31 countries in a single elimination format. The total prize fund is US$250,000 with $60,000 going to the eventual champions.
Play continues this evening afternoon with one more first round match and two second round matches:
Round 1 – England A v Indonesia
Round 2 – Finland v Korea
Round 2 – England B v Germany
For live streaming of the 888.com World Cup of Pool go to http://www.pool.livesport.tv/home
The 2013 World Cup of Pool runs from 17 – 22 September and takes place at the York Hall, London. For those wanting to watch the action in person, all tickets are available from www.seetickets.com (Search ‘World Cup of Pool’)
