THERE were comfortable wins for Germany, Canada and Switzerland at the 2014 Betway World Cup of Pool as the opening session of day three unwound at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth. There is just one more round one game remaining as India and England B slug it out in the opening game of Thursday evening.
In the opening game, 2011 champions Germany – Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet – had too much for Malaysia, represented by Alan Tan and Ibrahim Amir, as they coasted to a 7-1 victory.
“We’re obviously very happy with the result and the performance,” said a delighted Hohmann.
“I missed a bank shot in the first rack but after that we didn’t make too many mistakes. We got a little fortunate getting balls after the break, that is very important and we were able to string a few racks together so that helped our confidence.
“We are still trying to figure out the speed of the table but I think this match will set us up positively for the rest of the tournament,” he added.
His partner Souquet said, “The break is huge. We were a little fortunate after the breaks to get a shot on the lowest ball, and twice it was tight but we were able to get out and string three or four racks together and that was key.”
The Germans will be playing Canada in the second round after Alex Pagulayan and John Morra looked in good shape as they took care of late subs Malta by 7-1. Tony Drago and Alex Borg have had little luck over the years in the Betway World Cup and that continued as they crashed out of the event. The Maltese pair had come in for Vietnam who had travel difficulties and could not make it to Portsmouth.
Commented John Morra: “We haven’t had a lot of chance to play together in the build up to this tournament but we have played together in this tournament before so we know where we are at.
“Against Germany we will have to stick to our game plan. We both played them both in individual tournaments and we all have wins over each other. If we repeat what we did today then we should be ok.”
In the final match of the session, Switzerland completed a trio of one-sided wins as they overcame another substitute team, Belgium, who were replacing Thailand. The duo of Ronni Regli and Dimitri Jungo have recorded some decent wins in previous editions of the event, and they looked solid enough today, although Serge Das and Olivier Mortier gifted some chances. They can now look forward to a round two match against Holland tomorrow afternoon.
“We are looking forward to playing Holland, the reason we are in the tournament is to play against the best players,” said Regli.
Jungo added, “Holland are one of the favourites but in the last two years we have won against some of the best teams in this tournament.”
Now in its ninth year, the Betway World Cup of Pool features 32 two-player teams from around the world battling it out for a $250,000 prize fund. The defending champions are the Philippines who will be among the favourites to claim a record-breaking fourth World Cup.
All tickets are priced at £5 (afternoons) and £10 evenings and are available from the venue or www.seetickets.com
Defending champions Finland – Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen – are through to the second round of the 888.com World Cup of Pool following a comfortable 7-2 win over Austria as the six-day tournament got underway at the York Hall in East London.
They won five racks in a row from 2-1 down to seal victory, after Austria, represented by Jasmine and Albin Ouschan, looked set to go 3-1 ahead. Jasmine, though, miscued pocketing the brown 7 and lost position. Trying to catch up left her with a tough cut on the 9 ball which she left in the jaws of the corner pocket.
After that the tide turned as the confident Finnish duo sprinted for the line.
“It’s always tough in the first match. We were a bit jittery and they had a chance for 3-1 but it was a tough one for Jasmine on the 9 and she jarred it. We got in control, didn’t look back and closed door,” said Mika Immonen.
“We’re happy to get over the first hurdle. It was nerve-wracking but we’re just trying to stay positive for next match.” He added.
The 2013 888.com World Cup of Pool runs from Tuesday September 17 to Sunday, September 22 at the famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, East London. The field features 32 teams from 31 countries in a single elimination format. The total prize fund is US$250,000 with $60,000 going to the eventual champions.
Korea (Ham Won Sik and Ryu Seung Woo), a semi-finalist in Manila in 2011, progressed to the round of 16 with a win over European qualifiers Estonia made up of Erki Erm and Dennis Grabe. It was an error-strewn match that never looked like catching fire and there were countless ball in hand opportunities in the first half of the game, as neither side really took advantage of them.
The Koreans though surged ahead in the closing stages to take the match and can look forward to a round two match against Finland.
The final match of the session saw Germany put paid to Maltese hopes with a 7-4 win. The German pair of veteran Ralf Souquet and debutant Dominic Jentsch were fancied from the off but soon found themselves 4-1 down to Tony Drago and Alex Borg.
As with most turnarounds, it hinged on a single incident when Tony Drago, thinking that the Germans had made no contact with the object ball, picked the cue ball up and positioned it.
However, there was no such foul committed, and the ball in hand went to the Germans who converted the rack. From there, they didn’t miss as they took the next five for the victory.
Commented Souquet, “The score was 4-1 to them and we were hoping for mistake as we just couldn’t get going. They had some nice easy outs so we had to hope for something but didn’t expect that!
“We’re going to relax and try and stay focused as our next match won’t be any easier. We will work on our game, mainly on our breaks but when it comes to shooting we are ready,” he added.
Play continues this evening with three more first round matches:
The 2013 World Cup of Pool runs from 17 – 22 September and takes place at the York Hall, London. For those wanting to watch the action in person, all tickets are available from www.seetickets.com (Search ‘World Cup of Pool’)
Leading snooker players including Joe Perry, Nigel Bond and Dechawat Poomjaeng will be heading for Columbia later this month to compete in the World Games.
The event runs from July 25 to August 4 in Cali, Columbia, and it will feature snooker as a major sport, giving 16 players the chance to battle for a gold medal in a straight knock-out event.
The World Games is an international multi-sport event for sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games. It is organised and governed by the International World Games Association, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.
WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: "We are working very closely alongside the IBSF on developing snooker around the globe, and both bodies are delighted to send a total of 16 professional and amateur players from 13 countries to compete in this prestigious event.
"As we strive to strengthen our position as a World Sport it is vital that we earn our participation in such high calibre sporting events.
"Several sports previously in the World Games, such as triathlon, subsequently made it into the Olympics as participation in the World Games is used as a stepping stone towards the Olympic dream.
"Involvement in multi sports events like this is also vital to many National Governing Bodies around the globe who receive significant funding for their sports development.
"I would like to thank all of our athletes who are competing for medals in Cali as they carry our Billiard Sports flag in to another major sporting arena."
