Veronika Ivanovskaia
WOMEN’S POOL
Veronika Ivanovskaia 9-8 Rubilen Amit
Thursday night, Rubilen Amit of the Philippines stunned Germany’s Pia Filler with a pressure-packed, come-from-behind 9-8 victory, winning three consecutive racks to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
A mere 24 hours later, it appeared history might be repeating itself, as Germany’s Veronika Ivanovskaia jumped out to an early 6-2 advantage, only to watch it all evaporate as a handful of missed shots allowed her opponent to climb back into the match and tie the score, 8-8.
“I couldn’t finish easy tables anymore,” said Ivanovskaia. ”I was shaking and my head was all over.”
While the Filipino used a heavy dose of luck to advance the night before, this time her luck ran out, as Ivanovskaia received a timely roll after a missed shot to defeat Amit, 9-8, and advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
With the score tied at eight games each, Amit scratched on the break and gave the ball-in-hand to her opponent, who promptly missed a routine 3 ball minutes later. Fortunately for the German, the object ball rolled to a safe place on the table and forced her opponent to execute a kick shot. Amit’s kick left a wide-open table and, despite the rattled nerves along with the memory of a handful of missed shots, Ivanovskaia closed out the final rack with authority, rifling each ball into the pocket with confidence.
“I said to myself, ‘this is your final chance and if you don’t take it, then you’re just stupid,’” she said. “I just tried to stay committed on my shots and focus on my cue action and just make the
balls.”
Chieh-Yu Chou 9, Eunji Park 1
Chinese Taipei’s Chieh-Yu Chou led start-to-finish in her match against Korea’s Eunji Park and coasted to a commanding 9-1 victory in the quarterfinals of the World Games in Birmingham.
“I think I had a pretty good break today at the beginning and at the end,” said Chou.
After winning the first two racks, Park climbed onto the scoreboard to cut the deficit to 2-1. That would be her lone win of the match, as Chou won seven straight games to close out the set and advance to the semifinals.
Park’s play was the polar opposite of what she had exhibited a day earlier when she battled to the wire to defeat Monica Webb of the United States, 9-8, in the opening round, struggling with her break and ball pocketing throughout the evening session match.
“Yesterday, I think I had a good influence on the game by preparing my mind before the game and today, unlike yesterday, I lost because I was nervous,” said Park.
MEN’S POOL
Sanjin Pehlivanovic 11-9 John Morra
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz 7-11 Aloysuis Yapp
Aloysius Yapp will meet Sanjin Pehlivanovic in The World Games semi-finals. Pehlivanovic overturned a 5-1 deficit to beat John Morra 11-9, while Yapp defeated Spain’s Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz 11-7.
Morra opened an early 5-1 lead over his opponent, but a scratch on the 7 ball allowed Pehlivanovic back in and the European 10-Ball Champion seized his moment, putting together a four-pack to tie the match.
The Canadian responded in the 11th to regain the lead at 6-5 but missed the 9 in the subsequent game. Pehlivanovic could only go safe and Morra made an up-table bank to lead 5-7.
The Bosnian took the next game and a golden break had him level at 7-7. The match continued to swing back and forth before it was the Bosnian who arrived first on the hill, and he wasn’t going to let his opportunity slip and he closed out an 11-9 victory.
“I was down 5-1 because I started badly. The last couple of months every match I was losing, I won, so that is good and gives me confidence. I had a little bit of luck, the same as him but I am happy to be in the semi-final. When he scratched on the 7, that was the turning point and I tried to play every rack as if it was the last one.
“It would be a dream to win The World Games. This is an important match tomorrow so I will look forward to it. To be the first player from Boznia to win a billiards gold, for the country, I cannot find the words to describe how big that achievement would be.
Yapp earned his place in the semis with an 11-7 win against in-form Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz of Spain. Sanchez-Ruiz had early leads of 2-1 and 4-2 before Yapp found his stride to open up an 8-5 advantage. Despite winning games on his break, Sanchez-Ruiz wasn’t given chances by Yapp, who closed out an 11-7 win.
The Olympic Channel is live streaming The World Games and billiards will feature on July 16 and July 17 when the finals take place. A full streaming schedule and links are at https://www.theworldgames.
Follow @wcbsbilliards on social media for full coverage of the billiards program from our team in Birmingham, Alabama.
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