 David Alcaide is into the final four |
Spain's David Alcaide became the first player to make it through to Sunday's semi-finals of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters as he took care of an out-of-sorts Oliver Ortmann at the Hotel Zuiderduin at Egmond on the Dutch coast.
The German took the early lead at 2-1 but Alcaide fought back to level it and then take the lead at 3-2 and from there the contest was never in doubt.
The Spaniard can now look forward to a semi-final match up against either Niels Feijen or Pat Holtz.
The in the other quarter final matches, reigning World Champion Ronnie Alcano was beaten by the better man on the day as in-form Fabio Petroni of Italy hung on for a marvelous 8-6
The Italian had lead 7-2 but with a heart of a champion, Alcano fought back to 7-6 before Petroni ran out the decider.
“That was a lovely win, unbelievable really," said Petroni. "I played very well but he played ten times better than me - but I beat him. He played some fantastic shots and looked in dead stroke but his break didn't help him.
"He's still another category higher than me but when you win the World Pool Championship it makes you a stronger player.
"I've played in this tournament four or five times but never got beyond round one or two so honestly speaking, I don't think I'm going to win the tournament."
He may not be talking a good fight but Petroni's performance spoke volumes about his championship chances.
Earlier, Jasmin Ouschan, a rare female Masters entrant, was sent packing after a stellar performance from Amsterdam's Nick van den Berg.
The Dutchman defeated Austrian Jasmin Ouschan 8-1 as he ruthlessly punished any mistakes from his 21-year-old opponent.
"That was close to Championship Pool and I only made one mistake," said van den Berg. "I just played the game and did not notice the crowd.
"I was totally focused and I played well. Hopefully I play the same in the next round."
Ouschan believed she would learn a great deal from the experience. She said: "Sometimes you go on the table and the balls do not run your way. That's pool and you just have to stay in your seat and watch so I'm a bit disappointed.
"I need some time to calm down and watch the match with my trainer and find out what I can do better next time."
First Round
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 – 6 Ralf Souquet (Ger)
Oliver Ortmann (Ger) 8 – 3 Naoyuki Oi (Jap)
Pat Holtz (Sco) 8 – 6 Li He-wen (Chn)
Niels Feijen (Ned) 8 – 6 Imran Majid (Eng)
Wu Chia-ching (Tpe) 8 – 1 Tyler Edey (Can)
Thomas Engert (Ger) 8 - 4 Tony Drago (Mlt)
Nick van den Berg (Ned) 8 - 1 Jasmin Ouschan (Aut)
Fabio Petroni (Ita) 8 – 6 Ronnie Alcano (Phi)
Quarter Finals
David Alcaide (Esp) 8 - 3 Oliver Ortmann (Ger)
