PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool
First Round Matches
Canada 9 – 5 Thailand
Malaysia 9 – 3 Qatar
Czech Republic 9 – 6 Poland
Action commenced this afternoon at the Newport Centre, South Wales as the inaugural PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool got underway and it was wins for Canada, Malaysia and the Czech Republic.
The 32 team tournament features single elimination pairs matches with the races starting at nine and increasing as the tournament progresses.
The Canadian pairing of Luc Salvas and Tyler Edey had a comfortable win over Thailand despite playing the whole match with just one cue. The speedy Salvas lost his suitcase in transit from Canada and with it his prized cues.
Thailand though, is not one of the most powerful of Asian countries and the Canadians were never troubled.
Another country with a relatively easy time of things was Malaysia who had too much top level experience for the novices of Qatar. The Middle Easterners had their moments but made too many unforced errors to survive at this standard and the 9-3 score line was a fair reflection.
The final match of the afternoon session was a dour, hard-fought affair as the Czech duo of Roman Hybler and Michal Gavenciak held off Team Poland comprised of Radek Babica and Mariusz Roter to grab a spot in the second round.
The Czechs held a comfortable 6-1 lead but nearly gave it away as the Poles won six of the next seven racks. However, they held tight down the home straight to record a 9-6 victory.
Play continues this evening with three more first round matches.
