World 8-Ball Championships Field Narrows to 32
Fujairah, UAE
by WPA Staff
One half of the billiards field has now been eliminated from the World 8-Ball Championships in Fujairah, UAE. There are some powerful cues that will not again leave their cases here. Darren Appleton, a strong 8-ball player from Great Britain, was eliminated last night by Austrian billiard player Jasmin Ouschan, the lone female in the field. Ouschan made a miraculous play on her last ball with a shot that required she carom into the corner pocket off of the rail and into the rear of an intervening ball. When she sank the 8 ball after that shot she had won the day 8-6.
Corey Deuel (USA) just could not get started in his must-have match against Konstantin Stepanov (RUS). Stepanov dominated the match, aided by errors from Deuel, including a break shot that found the cue ball taking flight and landing across the room. Konstantin progressed into the round of 32 with his 8-2 win over the normally powerful American.
An extremely bright note for our host country was the play of native son Hanni Al Howry. With his 8-6 victory over Egyptian professional Mohammed El Assal he became the first UAE player ever to graduate the group stages into the final 32. He joins the other three qualifiers in his group: Ronnie Alcano of the Philippines and two Chinese players, Jianbo Fu and Haitoa Liu.
The toughest group of players on the group boards was Group C. This group comprised five strong players, and only four could make it through. The odd man out was Ronnie Wiseman, who lost his final bid 8-7 when he missed the case 8 ball that allowed Huidji See of the Netherlands to move on down the line. See is joined in the new bracket set by Niels Feijen (NED), former world champion Chia-Ching Wu (TPE), and former world junior champion Dimitri Jungo (SUI).
Shane Van Boening (USA) and Fahad Shaverdi (IRI) strolled through their brackets unscathed, while Roberto Gomez (PHI) and Satoshi Kawabata (JPN) made it through with a single bullet left to fire. Daryl Peach, the reigning world 9-Ball champion, continued his path after losing in the first round by besting Martin Larsen (DEN) 8-5 and Antonio Gabica (PHI) 8-5.
Predictably, Warren Kiamco (PHI) and Ralf Souquet (GER) will both be in the final draw, as well as newcomer Alan Cuartero (PHI) and Taipei hot hand Hung-Hsiang Wang. Final brackets will be drawn Tuesday night and will be posted on the WPA website, where the scoring up to this point in the tournament may also be found.
Tuesday is a day off for everyone to rest and to enjoy the gala banquet. Play will resume Wednesday afternoon.
Results from Monday:
Radoslaw Babica (POL) def Oliver Ortmann (GER) 8-6
Mark Gray (GBR) def Dennis Orcollo (PHI) 8-6
Hanni Al Howry (UAE) def Mohammed El Assal (EGY) 8-6
Haitao Liu (CHN) def Boon Tan Tiong (SIN) 8-3
Bruno Muratore (ITA) def Siu Wai Au (HKG) 8-3
Gabriele Cimino (ITA) def Seung Wo Ryu (KOR) 8-4
Dimitri Jungo (SUI) def Karl Hanscho (AUT) 8-2
Huidji See (NED) def Ronnie Wiseman (USA) 8-7
Roberto Gomez (PHI) def Francis Crevier (CAN) 8-0
Satoshi Kawabata (JPN) def Kaven Zarakani (IRI) 8-7
Daryl Peach (GBR) def Antonio Gabica (PHI) 8-5
Chris Melling (GBR) def Naoyuki Oi (JPN) 8-4
Alan Cuartero (PHI) def Jeff De Luna (PHI) 8-5
Ralf Souquet (GER) def Ibrahim Bin Amir (MAS) 8-6
Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) def Corey Deuel (USA) 8-2
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) def Darren Appleton (GBR) 8-6
Dennis Orcollo (PHI) def Matt Edwards (NZL) 8-2
Oliver Ortmann (GER) def Israel Rota (PHI) 8-1
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