Quarter Finals
Albin Ouschan (AUT) 8-4 Naoyuki Oi (JAP)
Jayson Shaw (SCO) 8-7 Alex Pagulayan (CAN)
Omar Al Shaheen (KUW) 3-8 Chang Jung Lin (TPE)
THE FINAL THREE quarter-final matches were completed at the 24th annual Dafabet World Pool Masters at the Tercentenary Hall in Gibraltar. The victorious players were Albin Ouschan, Jayson Shaw and Chang Jung Lin who will return this evening for their semi-final matches.
Taking place in Gibraltar, the Masters sees 16 top international players competing in the shadow of the Rock of Gibraltar to determine the destination of the $20,000 top prize. The whole event is broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland and on networks around the world.
Internet sensation Naoyuki Oi ended his run at the 2017 Dafabet World Pool Masters as Albin Ouschan cruised past him for an 8-4 win. The Japanese’ bizarre post-match interview with Sky Sports’ presenter Tony Wrighton yesterday had gone viral overnight registering views of over a million on several sites. It was even shown on Australian TV.
Commented Ouschan, “I didn’t play much better than the first match (where he beat Mika Immonen in the first round). I made two easy mistakes, twice on the same ball, but still I made four or five run outs which gave me the win in the end.
“The 8 balls didn’t go down, didn’t even hit the pocket, and they were pretty easy balls. I don’t know what happened but hopefully I will play better this evening.
Ouschan now faces David Alcaide in tonight’s semi-final; “I know David pretty well, we have played together in the German League and also on the Euro Tour. It will be a great match and hopefully I will play a bit better than in this match.”
The second quarter-final saw Jayson Shaw and Alex Pagulayan enjoy a nip and tuck battle which Pagulayan lead throughout. It was an absorbing contest with a huge twist in the tail.
The Canadian had led 4-1 but then had a bit of a scare when a spectator pointed out that one of his cues was burning as it leant against one of the effects lights. It left a nasty scorch as Shaw came back at him.
The score went to 3-4, and then 5-6 before Pagulayan reached the hill at 7-6. Shaw won the next two and despite being behind from the opening rack he was breaking for the match. He came up dry though and it seemed to be Pagulayan’s match. He powered through the balls but going off rails from the 8 to 9 he left himself close to the rail and subsequently missed the 9 ball to hand the victory to Shaw.
Commented Shaw, “At the start of the match I didn’t feel too comfortable but as the match went on I started to feel a bit better. My breaks weren’t quite working and that let me down in the middle of the match. I got quite lucky at 7-6 when he missed the 1 ball and in the last game I am never expecting him to miss that shot. I feel blessed but I will go away, have something to eat and regroup for tonight.
“When he played the 8 ball I could see the cue coming down and I thought it was going to the rail – I could see he wanted it to stop but it went closer to the rail than he wanted. You should never miss it but it happens, we all do it.”
The final match saw Chang Jung Lin of Taiwan beat Omar Al Shaheen 8-3. The tall Taiwanese was all style and flair as he clinically disposed of the racks and he can now look forward to
David Alcaide (ESP) v Albin Ouschan (AUT)
Jayson Shaw (SCO) v Chang Jung Lin (TPE)
Play continues this evening at 18.30pm local time with the two semi-finals and then the final.
There are a total of five sessions of play and all tickets are available from https://www.buytickets.gi/
The Masters carries an $80,000 prize fund, and the event is broadcast live for 20 hours in total.
The World Pool Masters is sponsored by the following suppliers: RASSON (tables), IWAN SIMONIS (cloth), SALUC (balls), PREDATOR (cues) and ULTIMATE TEAM GEAR (clothing).
