The team from Estonia
POOL MINNOWS Estonia put a broad sword through England's PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool hopes with a marvellous upset 8-6 victory at the SM Mall North in Quezon City, Manila. The dynamic duo of Dennis Grabe and Erki Erm looked a good bet as they matched their more storied opponents to record a fantastic win and move into the second round.
Chris Melling and Darren Appleton looked a little shell-shocked at the end as the Estonians punched the air in delight and gave it the big high five. But the English pair only had themselves to blame as they looked lack-lustre and made critical errors.
"At the beginning it was very hard with the pressure as we'd never played in front of such a big crowd but we didn't have anything to lose," said a jubilant Grabe.
"But we knew if we played well we could beat them. In a race to eight everyone has a chance. We didn't expect to win and it was a surprise but we had been hoping."
England had a great chance to win the match as they scrapped it out to take a 6-5 lead in the race to eight match. Appleton though, scratched and Grabe made a 3/9 combo to level and the Estonians took the lead when Melling sunk the cue ball in the next.
England looked set to level it but Melling left the cue ball short of position to leave his side snookered. They escaped but Grabe and Erm downed the remaining three balls for a famous victory.
"England is a very strong team but it was a very important match for us and this was our first time here," said Erm.
"I think if we play well we can beat anybody as we made some mistakes but still won, but if we play perfectly we have a chance against everyone."
The PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool takes place at the Block Atrium at the SM Mall North in Quezon City, Manila. It features 32 two-player teams representing 31 nations – hosts Philippines have two sides. The total prize-fund is $250,000 with $60,000 going to the winning pair.
In the other match of the afternoon session, Thailand upset the odds as they knocked Holland out of the competition by an 8-4 score line. With World 10 Ball Champion Huidji See at the helm, partnered by rising junior star Marco Teutscher, Holland was expected to make light work of the Thai pair of Nitiwat Kanjanasri & Kobkit Palajin.
At 5-0 down that was never going to happen as the Thai duo quietly went about their business. They had a stutter as the Dutch got the score back to 7-4 but that was to be it as Thailand made their way into the second round where they will meet Estonia.
The 2011 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world's leading online poker school. Cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc, tables by Star Xing Pai and the Official Cue is Predator.
