Jasmine Ouschan and long-time rival Lin Yuan-Chun faced off in a first-round match that naturally found them under the television lights. Only four women are competing in Manila and the luck of the draw found two of them immediately at odds.
These odds favored current World Champion Lin. She had won the last five match-ups between the two and Lin began the match by claiming the first rack and asserting that she still owned the day between the two. However, that would be the only shining moment for the powerful Taiwanese player as Ouschan then won the next three racks and never lost the lead as she kept the upper hand throughout the remainder of the match, finally taking the win by a 9-6 margin.
To be honest, neither player ever shone. Jasmine often appeared frustrated by the cue ball as her position play was anything but sharp. Adding to the problems of both cueists was the fact that their break shots were just not working and the tables often featured difficult patterns that defied run-outs. Both players were forced to duck behind safeties rather than putting on offensive displays, a style not favored by either.
The difference in the match was that Ouschan was able to more often convert errors made by her opponent. Lin failed to cover the cue ball on several key safeties and Ouschan would then send the object ball to the bottom of the pocket and move on. A twenty minute safety exchange near the end of the match was finally resolved in Ouschan's favor and at that point the match was clearly owned by Ouschan who converted that rack and remained undefeated while Lin is now perched on the one-loss precipice that does not afford her another loss.
The task faced by both of the ladies is awesome as they are in one of the toughest groups. Only four of the eight players will survive the group stages and the group is populated by such names as Corey Deuel, Thomas Engert, Oscar Dominquez, Roman Hybler, and Vilmos Foldes. Lin must now face Corey Deuel (who failed in his attempt against Roman Hybler of the Czech Republic) while Ouschan faces Hybler.
