Team Chinese Taipei
Quarter Finals
Philippines 9-1 Hungary
Chinese Taipei 9-3 England A
TEAM PHILIPPINES made up of Dennis Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza ended the 888.com World Cup of Pool journey of Hungary as they hammered them 9-1 to advance to Sunday’s semi-finals where they will face Chinese Taipei who beat England.
With victories over Croatia, Singapore and now Hungary, there were probably tougher routes to the final day of the event but Orcollo and Corteza barely put a foot wrong as they broke well, potted well and on the rare occasions that their opponents got to the table, it was to extricate themselves from a snooker.
The Hungarians, who qualified for the main event in a qualifying tournament in August, had put out China in the first round and then Russia in round two, will take a lot from their participation in the event and come back stronger next year.
“We were a bit lucky off the break,” said Corteza, modestly underplaying their prowess with a break stick.
“We always had a ball on and we tried to make the most of it. We didn’t really give them that many chances so we’re really pleased to be through to the finals.”
“Last year (in Manila) we lost in the first round but this year, being in London, there’s not so much pressure so we’re trying to relax and play our best. It’s either England or Taiwan tomorrow but both teams are very good so we’ll have to come with our best,” he added.
On today’s form, the Philippines will be favourites to take their third 888.com World Cup of Pool title.
The second quarter final of the session was an even money affair on paper as Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes of England A took on the Chinese Taipei pairing of Chang Jung-lin and Ko Pin-yi.
England was always up against it as the Taiwanese really limited their table time and they ran the first three racks of the match. England’s infrequent visits were to tricky layouts and at 5-1 down they looked to be in big trouble.
Appleton scratched in the next as he followed the 2 ball in with the white and the Taiwanese ran out to get to 6-1. England won the next after Chang scratched on the 2 ball going two rails, but an illegal break by Appleton lost the initiative and Chang made a tremendous 2/9 combo to go to 7-2.
Ko made a bad error in the next when he failed to hit a rail trying to put the white up behind the 3 ball and with ball in hand England made it 7-3. There was nothing on the break to keep the momentum going and Ko ended the deadlock with a great combination on the 9 ball to out his team on the hill at 8-3.
England got back to the table in what was the last game of the match but it was never their day as Ko and Chang took a 9-3 victory to set up a semi-final against the Philippines on Sunday afternoon.
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 tomorrow afternoon at 1pm with the two semi-finals:
Finland v Holland
Philippines v Chinese Taipei
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’)
