 Charlie Williams and Rodney Morris |
Incheon, Korea- The USA duo of Rodney Morris and Charlie Williams showed their hear and never gave up as they trailed the Korean Team of Young Hwa Jeong (KPT #1) and Geun Jae Lee (KPT#5) 0-3 before making a comeback to win 9-7. But in their next match they showed even more heart as they were tested by the Filipino Team of Joven Bustamente and Jundal Mazon. Morris & Williams were down 6-0 before they even had an opportunity to win a game. The Rocket and The Korean Dragon were laughing and joking despite being in dire straits and stayed upbeat. The attitude paid off as they got their first open chance in Rack 7 and proceeded to display perfect pool and synchronization of play and team strategy and won the next 9 games straight for a 9-6 victory.
"After the match was over I just turned to Rocket and laughed saying, how did we win that match?" said Charlie Williams. "And Rocket says, "Positive thinking."
Both players are seasoned veterans when it comes to team play with Morris a 4 time Mosconi Cup veteran and Williams a 5x Mosconi Cup player as well as numerous MVP records for playing for Team Korea and USA in Asia.
The Japan/Korea pairing of Hayato Hijikata and Hee Chul Kim continued their fine play with a 9-7 upset of Japanese Champs Goh Takami and Hiroshi Takenaka. Interestingly Kim and Hijikata cannot communicate through language so they use hand gestures.
Jasmin Ouschan lost a close 9-8 match to men's Filipino Jundel Mazon but then overcame a 6-3 deficit to win 7-6 against Japan's Miyuki Sakai in the Womens Division. Yu Ram Cha continued her rampage on the ladies side defeating KPT #2 Yun Mi Lim 7-0. Cha has shut out all her opponents thus far without dropping a game since her return from Germany working with Coach Michael Wahl, who also trains Thorsten Hohmann.
The Filipino trio lead by Joven Bustamente with Ricky Zerna and Jundal Mazon continued their undefeated run thus far in the event. Japan's Takenaka and Hijikata also remains undefeated as well as Korea's Young Hwa Jeong. Charlie Williams pulled another come back from behind victory over KPT #6 Jinhyuk Jung trailing 6-2 and then eventually winning 9-6. Morris crushed KPT #4 Ham Won Shik 9-2.
Play continues tomorrow with marquee matches Bustamente vs Williams, Jeong vs Hijikata, and Mens Doubles Finals with Morris/Williams vs Hijikata/Kim .
The event is produced by Dragon Promotions hosted at Lotte Department Store and aired on MBC ESPN. The official sponsors are Min Table, Predator Cues, and Ra Beauty Salons.
For more info goto www.dragonpromotions.co.kr or www.dragonpromotions.com
