Thorsten Hohmann (Ger) 7 - 3 Vilmos Foldes (Hun)
Thorsten Hohmann outlined his intentions with a 7-3 win over Vilmos Foldes in the opening match of the 888.com World Pool League at the NOT Building, Warsaw.
Hohmann took the opener after getting the better of a safety exchange, but he gifted Foldes the second by missing the 9-ball after the young Hungarian had looked nervous in conceding control of the table.
Hohmann was soon back to his normal self, running the third rack from the break and clearing the fourth after Foldes mis-judged an early safety to leave the 1-ball on.
The German spurned a 1-4 combination at the start of rack five, and Foldes cut the deficit to trail 3-2 at the half-way stage.
The next two racks went with break, as Hohmann edged closer to the winning line, and he broke two racks clear by taking the eighth when Foldes left the 3-ball on after escaping from a tough snooker.
Hohmann sealed the points by running the penultimate rack and took the last for good measure to start his campaign in fine style.
Alex Lely (Ned) 4 - 6 Tony Drago (Mlt)
Tony Drago lived up to his reputation as the fastest player on the planet with a quick-fire victory over Alex Lely in the first session of the 888.com World Pool League.
The European Champion was not at his best, but was forced to watch on for the majority of the match as Drago strutted around the table, potting balls with ease.
Drago was a rack to the good in the blink of an eye as he ran the first from the break. After Lely scratched on his first break, the Maltese had a great opportunity to double his advantage, but he rushed his shot on the brown 7 and jawed the shot, allowing Lely a reprieve.
Another lightning run-out restored Drago?s lead, and Lely was then forced to push-out in rack four after leaving himself no shot on the 1-ball.
Drago put him back in and a tactical exchange followed before Drago missed a table length bank shot on the 1-ball, leaving Lely a clear table to level the game at 2-2.
A familiar pattern emerged as Drago whizzed around the table to clear the fifth rack, and then did the same in the next after Lely missed his shot on the 1-ball.
An uncharacteristic dry Drago break in rack seven handed Lely a chance to recover, but the Dutchman wasn?t in stroke and was punished further as Drago took himself to the hill.
Lely kept his hopes alive with a first run-out in rack eight but they were short-lived as Drago rushed through the ninth rack to seal the win.
Lely restored some pride by taking the tenth rack but the damage had been done as Drago sent out a threatening message to his opponents.
Kuo Po-cheng (Tpe) 3 - 7 Francisco Bustamante (Phi)
Francisco Bustamante easily disposed of 2005 World Pool Championship runner-up Kuo Po-cheng in a relatively one-sided encounter on day one of the 888.com World Pool League in Warsaw, Poland.
The first two racks went with break before Kuo missed the 1-ball in the third and allowed Bustamante the chance to steal a lead.
Kuo restored parity again before the match swung in Bustamante?s favour in the fifth rack as Kuo was forced to push-out and Bustamante left him tied up in knots with a succession of snookers which he capitalised on to take the rack.
Bustamante then again broke and run-out before the Taiwanese stopped the rot in rack seven with a composed clearance. But Bustamante ensured he would avoid defeat by running out the eighth to take his lead to 5-3. Kuo, needing to take the final two racks to secure a draw, wasted his chance with a poor effort on a cut on the 2-ball and Bustamante was clinical in his potting efficiency, before a run-out in the last sealed an emphatic win for the Pinoy favourite.
| Player | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | Games Won | Games Lost | Pts |
| Francisco Bustamante | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Thorsten Hohmann | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Tony Drago | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Alex Lely | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Vilmos Foldes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Po-cheng Kuo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
Play continues on Friday evening with the following ten rack matches:
Alex Lely v Vilmos Foldes
Tony Drago v Francisco Bustamante
Thorsten Hohmann v Kuo Po-cheng
