Germany 10 – 4 Thailand

GERMANY became the first ever European winners of the PartyCasino.net World Cup of Pool as they made light work of shock finalists Thailand to record a superb 10-4 victory and claim the gold medals, trophy, $60,000 and more importantly the title at the SM Mall North in Manila.

Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet put in an inch perfect performance to run away with the match in sharp contrast to their semi-final game earlier in the day when they laboured to a pedestrian win over Korea.

They clearly gave themselves a good talking to between matches as they returned with the type of form that has made them two of the most feared players in the world. For Souquet it was a culmination of a magnificent seven days that saw him win the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters last Monday and his total haul for the two events has been $50,000.

“It’s still hard to believe and it hasn’t sunk in yet. We really worked hard for the title and held ourselves together,” said a jubilant Souquet.

“We had a really hard semi-final that could’ve gone wrong and I played awful against Korea but Thorsten carried me to the final.

“I always said you can only lose as a team and we certainly won as a team. Playing here in Manila in the Philippines is the best thing that has happened to pool.”

The Thailand pair of Kobkit Palajin and Nitiwat Kanjanasri can be justifiably proud of their efforts. Surrounded in South East Asia by powerhouse pool nations like Taiwan and the Philippines, the unheralded Thais played superbly throughout the tournament.

Their semi-final showing, defeating Taiwan 9-3, was one of the best performances of the event, but the Germans were unstoppable in the final. Thailand had never got beyond the first round in previous appearances in the event but opened up with a decent win over Holland. They beat Estonia in the next round before outplaying Poland in the quarters and the two Thais receive $15,000 each for their efforts.

Souquet and Hohmann had opened their account with a whitewash against Australia and then beaten Malaysia in the second round. They put out Filipino legends Efren Reyes and Bustamante in fine style in the quarter final before scraping through against Korea in the semis.

“There were 32 great teams and this is definitely one of the highlights of my career and I am very proud to be on Ralf’s side,” said an emotional Thorsten Hohmann.

The PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool 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.

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.

Results

Germany 9 – 7 Korea

Thailand 9 – 3 Chinese Taipei

Losers receive $16,000

Thailand 9 – 6 Poland

Chinese Taipei 9 – 8 Philippin Read more ...

World Cup of Pool Continues

Posted by admin as Billiard News, World Cup of Pool

ALCANO BLOWS FINAL 8 BALL, HANDS INCREDIBLE VICTORY TO CHINESE-TAIPEI

TAIWAN DUO JOIN GERMANY, KOREA AND THAILAND IN WORLD CUP FINAL FOUR SUNDAY

Ko Ping Chun and Ko Pin Yi

Quarter Final Results

Korea 9 – 5 Sweden
Philippines B 9 – 1 Germany
Thailand 9 –6 Poland
Chinese Taipei 9 – 8 Philippines A

BY LUKE RICHES

(MANILA)–IN ONE OF those matches that make pool such a compelling sport, Taiwan put paid to the final Philippines’ hopes at the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool as the Ko brothers defeated Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano in their quarter-final match, in front of a packed house at the SM Mall North in Quezon City, Manila.

The match ebbed and flowed and went right down to a deciding rack after both teams had clawed their way back into the game from losing positions. The final villain was Ronnie Alcano but you had to feel for the 2006 World Champion as he missed the final 8 ball to hand the table back to the Taiwanese.

His partner Orcollo looked devastated and Alcano looked shell-shocked but they only had themselves to blame. Ko Pin-yi and Ko Ping-chung dropped the 8 and 9 respectively to record a fabulous win in a match they were second favourites to win at the outset.

The match started so well for Orcollo and Alcano and at 5-1 up they looked comfortable as their nation’s sole representative following the 9-1 defeat of Reyes and Bustamante by Germany earlier in the day.

The Kos though – 15 year old Ping-chun and ‘veteran’ brother Pin-yi, 22 – mounted a fight back as they took the racks, finding some excellent form. When they levelled at 5-5 the crowd was silent and before long the Ko brothers were 7-5 to the good.

They reached the hill at 8-6 which is when the drama started. A dry break allowed the Filipinos to get to the table and after some safeties were exchanged they completed a nervous run out.

They made a ball on the next break and with the 1 ball out in the open, Alcano and Orcollo held themselves together to run the table at the perfect time. The Taiwanese got back to the table in the last but a poor safety from them allowed the Philippines back to the table and the run out looked on. It was until Alcano’s terrible miss.

“Sitting there watching them at the end, I thought maybe we wouldn’t get another chance. But sometimes fortune can smile and it did for us,” said Ko Pin-yi.

“It was a great match though and we’re very happy to win it and looking forward to tomorrow’s semi-final against Thailand.

The PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool 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.

Thailand, who had never won a match before at the World Cup now find themselves in the semi-finals courtesy of an excellent 9-5 win over Poland. Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Kobkit Palajin look to be solid cue men with their snooker fundamentals, and they took advantage of some poor play from the Poles – Radoslaw Babica and Karol Skowerski – to stay ahead of the game in the closing stages.

At 5-5 it was anyone’s game but Thailand just outlasted their opponents to seal a memorable win and a great day for Taiwanese pool.

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.

Team GermanyEarlier in the day Team Germany, made up of Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet, did a job on the Philippines side of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante to sil Read more ...

Beijing Open Has Crowned New Champions

Posted by admin as Billiard News, World Cup of Pool

Beijing Open Has Crowned New Champions

Jun Lin Chang and Yu Ram Cha are the 2011 Champions of the Beijing Open. Chang, a former winner on the Guinness Tour, proved his mettle this week by taking on a series of tough opponents and vanquishing them all. He first eliminated Carlo Dalmatin of Croatia who had earned his pedigree by bettering Thomas Engert (9-6) and Charlie Williams (9-2) Just to get into the Championship draw sheet.

His next opponent had promise of being a very tough match. Feng-Ban Zhao had just come from a solid 11-4 trouncing of newly crowned Philippine Open champ Thorsten Hohmann but Chang was simply an over-reach for Zhao as Chang mangled him 11-5 to earn the right to do battle with Nick Van Den Berg.

Van Den Berg had done some giant-killing of his own. He had beaten both Shane Van Boening (9-3) and Dennis Orcullo (9-4) in the primary rounds and continued to grind it out through the final brackets. He took down Hao-Xiang Han (11-8) and Quingshun Yang (11-8) before destroying former World Champion Ronnie Alcano 11-5 to find his way into the ring against Chang. This one was a great match that could have gone either way but when Chang prevailed 11-9 he was only one victory away from the Championship.

He would have to get past Superman to get to the brass ring. Roberto Gomez had finished 2nd four years ago at the World 9-Ball Championship and he was determined not to play the bridesmaid again. Gomez’s first challenge was 2008 Challenge of Champions and 2010 World Cup of Pool winner Jian-Bo Fu. It was not the closest of matches but the 11-7 win was tight enough to temper the sword. Gomez then had to take on friend and countryman Antonio Lining. Lining had just eliminated current World 9-Ball and new Hall of Fame inductee Francisco Bustamante 11-7 but even he could not hold up under the withering fire of Gomez. Gomez advanced 11-5.

Gomez then polished off Chia-Ching Wu (now renamed Jia-Ging Wu) 11-9 and Che-Wei Fu 11-9 even after Fu had just ruined all of the Magicians tricks as he overwhelmed Efren Reyes 11-3.

The Championship was a great fight. They don’t get closer than double-hill and both men showed their best promise as they kept the crowd enthralled throughout. In the end the last-rack decider went to Jun-Lin Chang and our new champion presented himself to the crowd owning the 11-10 win over Gomez.

The ladies’ division was captured by 2010 Amway Cup Champion Yu Ram Cha. Cha really had her work set out for her this week. Her first opponent in the final bracket was Miyuke Fuke of Japan. Fuke, former runner-up in the Japan Open, just couldn’t hang with Cha and fell 9-4 before her onslaught. Then Cha had one of the toughest opponents ever to grace a stage. She had to take on Kelly Fisher. This was one for the ages but even Fisher was forced to bow 9-8 to the never-say-die cueing of Yu Ram Cha.

Shu-Han Chang is a perennial top-five finisher who is due more championships. The former Japan Open Champion could not get anything going against Cha and Cha eased into the Championships against Chieh-Yu Chou. Chou is another Japan Open Champion. She won in 2010. She also won the 2009 Amway Cup and had finished second at the Japan Open in two other years. She’s a tough nut Read more ...

European Nations Announced for World Cup of Pool

Posted by admin as Billiard News, World Cup of Pool

European Nations Announced for World Cup of Pool

13 countries named with two more to qualify

WITH THE PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD CUP OF POOL taking place in Manila, Philippines from Tuesday to Sunday 6th – 11th September, Matchroom Sport can announce the 13 European countries gaining automatic entry into the tournament.

They are; Austria, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden.

The actual two-player make up of the 13 teams will be decided after the World 9 Ball Championship which concludes on July 2nd. In addition, there will be a qualifying event for two further spots which will be open to as many pairs of players from non-selected countries as wish to compete.

This event takes place on Sunday 6th July in Sankt Johann im Pongau directly after the Austrian Open on the Euro Tour which concludes the previous day.

This will be the sixth running of the World Cup of Pool following on from Newport, Wales (2006), Rotterdam, Holland in ’07 and ’08 and Manila in ’09 and last year.

Last year was the second time that the Chinese pair of Li Hewen and Fu Jianbo hoisted the coveted trophy following their first victory in ‘07. The Filipino pairing of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante took the inaugural World Cup in 2006 and then again on home soil in ‘09. The sole breach in this Far Eastern axis was completed by the USA who won in 2008.

The entire event will be broadcast by Solar Sports live across the Philippines with the live feed of the tournament available internationally. In addition Matchroom Sport will be producing a 31 x one hour highlights package of the event.

Read more ...

November Billiards Magazine Download Released

Posted by admin as Billiard News, Pool Lessons, World Cup of Pool

November 2010 Issue of Inside POOL Magazine Released

Team China Snares World Cup of Pool

The November 2010 online issue of Inside POOL Magazine, featuring Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen of Team China as they win the World Cup of Pool on the front cover, has been released at InsidePOOLmag.com. This month the download features more banking secrets from new instruction writer Freddy “The Beard” Bentivegna, Matt Sherman, Jason Lynch, Tom Simpson along with tons of great new technology in online billiards magazine viewing such as enhanced clarity, Bonus Content, loads of full-screen videos, links to favorite web sites, flipping pages, zooming, emailing, sharing, and printing.

Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen of Team China blast off our front cover as they win the World Cup of Pool. Get pool lessons from our staff of professional billiard instructors. Get a banking lesson from Freddy “The Beard” Bentivegna, a trick shot lesson from Jason “The Michigan Kid” Lynch, or learn how to “Stay in the Moment” from Bob Henning. Catch up with Ernesto and Oscar Dominguez as they tour Japan with Kenichi Uchigaki of Tokyo, Japan. Check out what to get the pool player in your life with our Holiday Buying Guide. Catch up on the latest news from the sports of pool and billiards with our international and regional news. Readers can also relax with our latest search and find billiards puzzle.

Two versions of the download are available, Premium and Freemium. The Freemium version includes all of the same features of the Premium version, but the Premium version includes 100% of the print version, plus a few extra features.

Access to the Freemium version is available at Inside POOL Magazine Free Library

Access to the Premium version is available by subscribing to the eSubscription to the Member Area at InsidePOOLmag.com.

Inside POOL Magazine publishes both print and online versions of each issue. The online version is made available for FREE (without a membership, but abbreviated) and Premium viewing and downloading around the first day of each month.

Want the real thing? If you would like to receive the print version of Inside POOL Magazine, please visit InsidePOOLmag.com to subscribe.

About Inside POOL Magazine
Inside POOL Magazine launched in 2001 and, with pool player-based content and high impact photography, quickly became the largest magazine in the world for the sport of billiards. The official web site, InsidePOOLmag.com, followed shortly after and became one of the largest web sites in billiards. The web site features videos, image galleries, pool lessons, custom Pool Cue makers, online games, player profiles, tournament brackets, live streaming video, rules, product reviews, and the latest billiard news from around the world.

Shaky England Fall Over the Line

Posted by admin as Billiard News, World Cup of Pool

France Oust Aussies in Shocker

England 8–7 Qatar

France 8-5 Australia

Following on from yesterday’s action-packed day of pool at Robinsons Place, Manila, the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool reconvened at midday Wednesday and it was England and France who made their way through to the next round in a couple of low-caliber matches.

England looked on the brink of defeat as they finally labored to victory, 8-7 over minnows Qatar. Sporting World Champions, Daryl Peach and Karl Boyes never looked comfortable at any stage as they struggled to settle and find a rhythm.

The Qatari pair of Bashar Hussain and Mohammad Bin Ali were making their fifth appearance in the event and showed considerable nerves. They stuck with the English pair, though, stealing racks off their opponent’s mistakes.

There were plenty of errors throughout and the final rack was anyone’s before a decent shot from Boyes set up the match winning clearance.

“No disrespect to them but that would’ve been my worst defeat ever,” said Boyes afterwards.

“You set yourself goals and one of my goals coming here is to not just win the tournament but to play and beat the Philippines (Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante) in the semi-finals.

“It looked bad but we still played some good shots. They played well but obviously we did get very lucky. Daryl’s not been feeling 100 per cent and when you know your partner is struggling, it puts you under pressure as you have to put everything on a 50 pence piece. But Daryl has made a one in 20 jump shot and I fluked a 9-ball so we were a bit lucky,” he added.

Peach said, “No match is easy and you’re playing on TV so there is pressure. People think we should not miss but we aren’t machines and everyone has an off day. That was an off day. We got lucky but we’re still in it and a lot of the other teams will be peeved that we’re still in it.

“We were very below par, probably about 20 per cent of what we would be usually but we’re over the moon to get through. I’ve been feeling under the weather but we’ve been here before, we know what to do and how to kick on from this. We didn’t under-estimate them. We knew both players and we know they’re good potters. At the end of the day it’s a race to eight, winner break, scotch doubles so you never settle down and it’s hard to get a rhythm.”

In the other match of the morning session, France and Australia played out a shocking affair with France finally prevailing 8-5. Their pair of Francois Cottance and Stephan Cohen had a match they would care to forget but it was still too much for the Australian pair of James Delahunty and Rick Emery.

To recount the details of the match would be superfluous, but needless to say, the French will need to improve considerably if they are to progress.

With 32 teams representing 31 countries – home nation Philippines has two sides in the competition – the World Cup of Pool sees the gathering of some of the most decorated stars of the pool firmament. The event is taking place at Robinsons Place, in Ermita, Manila.

With a total purse of $250,000, the winning pair split $60,000 between them while first round losers are guaranteed $1,500 each. All the action will be carried live on Solar Sports in the Philippines and other broadcasters across the region.

Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,100 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the World Cup of Pool is one of a stable of pool events that include the Mosconi Cup and the World Pool Masters.

The 2010 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world’s leading online poker room. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.

Philippines Put Thailand Lights Out

Posted by admin as Billiard News, World Cup of Pool

Souquet & Ortmann March on

Germany 8–4 Hong Kong

Philippines A 8-3 Thailand

BUOYED on by a massive crowd at Robinsons Place Mall in Manila, defending PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool champions, Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante overcame a false start and a 15 minute power cut to extinguish Thai hopes and move into the next round where they will face Indonesia.

Expectations were high from the immense crowd inside the venue, estimated at over 2,000, and the atmosphere was incredible.

Bustamante broke off and made an illegal break but before the rack could be completed the power in the arena went and the players were forced to sit in their chair for a quarter of an hour while it was restored.

The Thais cleared the table and broke and ran the next to silence the crowd. The Filipino duo looked slightly apprehensive under the huge pressure of the crowd, but they took the next two racks to ease the pain.

The reigning champs then settled into it and took the next three racks to put the pressure firmly back on the Thais. Nerves crept in as the home team took the next to send the crowd wild.

Another illegal break from the Philippines in the next gave the Thais the rack but that was their last contribution to the match as the champions took the next three racks to make it through to the next round and set up an all-South East Asia clash with Indonesia.

“It was very difficult as they had us 2-0 in a race to eight. We thought it was alternate break but it was winners’ break and we didn’t know that!’ said Bustamante.

“My partner played great and without Efren we wouldn’t have won the match. My break wasn’t good and this was a surprise as Efren always wants me to break every time but I never made a ball on the break.

“We always try whoever we play but everyone here is a good player. I’ve played the Indonesian players in tournaments but never in doubles. If my partner plays like that again then we will win,” he added.

DESPITE having the reputation of not being the best of friends, the German axis of Ralf Souquet and Oliver Ortmann looked comfortable enough in each other’s company as they overcame the early hiccup to defeat Hong Kong 8-4 in the opening round of the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool.

The Hong Kong pair of Kenny Kwok and Lee Chenman was beaten 8-0 in the corresponding fixture at last year’s event so knew they had nothing to lose. However, at 2-0 down the Chinese duo must have had that sinking feeling.

However, two racks later they were all square and when Ortmann missed jacking up on the 2 ball, Hong Kong found themselves in the lead for the first time. That moved to 4-2 when the German ended up in an unlucky snooker and failed to escape to hand their opponents ball in hand.

That though, was to be Hong Kong’s last hurrah. A dry break started the rot in rack seven and then a scratch in the next levelled things up. Not looking their best, the Germans still had too much for their opponents as they negotiated the final racks for an 8-4 win.

“It was a game of two halves; we had a good run in the first half but I had a dry break when we were 4-2 up and that was the turning point,’ said a disappointed Chenman.

“Everything they did wrong, which wasn’t much, they got away with. It was a tough draw and they’re one of the favourites to win.

“Last year we played them and lost and they got to the final and should’ve won it. I’m sure they will go far again this year.”

Germany now faces Russia in the last 16.

With 32 teams representing 31 countries – home nation Philippines has two sides in the competition – the World Cup of Pool sees the gathering of some of the most decorated stars of the pool firmament. The event is taking place at Robinsons Place, in Ermita, Manila.

With a total purse of $250,000, the winning pair split $60,000 between them while first round losers are guaranteed $1,500 each. All the action will be carried live on Solar Sports in

The Philippines and other broadcasters across the region.

Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: luke.riches@matchroom.com

Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,100 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the World Cup of Pool is one of a stable of pool events that include the Mosconi Cup and the World Pool Masters.

The 2010 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world’s leading online poker room. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.

World Cup of Pool Continues

Posted by admin as Billiard News, World Cup of Pool

Chinese Duo Power Through

Italy Beat Koreans Girls in Thriller

China 8–2 Belgium

Italy 8-6 Korea

CHINA, winners of the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool back in 2007, made light work of Belgium as they booked their second round spot with a comfortable 8-2 win.

The pairing of Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen cut contrasting figures at the table but their doubles play is second to none and they look in shape to have another go at winning pool’s most coveted team title.

There are six first round matches per day and all matches are played in a single table arena with 400 seats and literally thousands more looking from the expansive balconies at Robinson Place.

The Belgian pair of Noel Bruynooghe and Serge Das has had their share of glory moments in the World Cup and they won a qualifying event in Europe to book their spot in Manila. However, they never had a chance to settle as the Chinese twosome ran away with the match.

They now face Italy in the second round and will be a tough prospect for anyone.

With 32 teams representing 31 countries – home nation Philippines has two sides in the competition – the World Cup of Pool sees the gathering of some of the most decorated stars of the pool firmament. The event is taking place at Robinsons Place, in Ermita, Manila.

With a total purse of $250,000, the winning pair split $60,000 between them while first round losers are guaranteed $1,500 each. All the action will be carried live on Solar Sports in

The Philippines and other broadcasters across the region.

The second match of the second session was a thriller as Italy’s Fabio Petroni and Bruno Muratore edged out the girl power duo of Yu Ram Cha and Ga Young Kim by 8-6, in front of over 1,000 people.

“The crowd here in the Philippines is the best in the world – it’s like a soccer crowd in Italy or Brazil. Here everyone knows me as a player but in Italy only my mother and father recognise me!

“It was very difficult for us and I knew they were strong. We know pool and knew we would have to be lucky and play very good. For me the women are very tough, just like the men. Jasmin Ouschan plays better than me.

“I’m very happy we won and we played good. We’ve played pool for 15 years so we know the game and if we play well and get lucky then we can beat Efren and Francisco who are the best in the world.”

There were mistakes as well as quality play from both sides and at 6-6, the match was anyone’s. Both teams made mistakes in the 13th rack but it was Muratore who saved the day for Italy as he bagged a tricky 9 ball to get them to the hill.

Petroni, though, made a dry break in the next but the Koreans came unstuck on the 2 ball as Italy wrapped it up for the win.

Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: luke.riches@matchroom.com

Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,100 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the World Cup of Pool is one of a stable of pool events that include the Mosconi Cup and the World Pool Masters.

The 2010 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world’s leading online poker room. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.

Russian Billiards Team Prevails

Posted by admin as Billiard News, World Cup of Pool

Russia is First Team Through

India Blow Great Chance

Russia 8–4 Canada

Indonesia 8-7 India

PLAY got underway at the fifth annual PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool at Robinsons Place Mall in Ermita, Manila as 64 of the best players on the planet gathered to do battle for the $250,000 prize fund.

All first round matches are race to eight, winners break and the Russian pair of Ruslan Chinakhov and Konstantin Stepanov, making their fourth appearance together in this event, recorded an outstanding come-from-behind win to eliminate Canada from the competition.

The Canadians – Jason Klatt and John Morra – had looked solid in the early stages as they raced into a 4-0 lead. A mistake from Klatt though, as he missed a banked five ball onto the centre pocket, allowed the Russians to take their first rack of the match and the comeback was on.

They took the next two to get to 3-4 before Klatt suffered the misfortune of having a foul called on him by referee Nigel Rees when his shirt touched a ball whilst cueing. Russia didn’t hesitate and squared the match at 4-4.

It was the turning point in the game, as Canada failed to stem the Russian tide as Stepanov and Chinakhov won the next four racks to ease themselves into the last 16.

‘We were so nervous at the beginning and they played well. But we were just waiting for a mistake, they made one and we took two racks,’ said Stepanov after the match.

“We gave them the play again but they didn’t take it and made a stupid foul (when Klatt’s shirt touched a ball) and that was the main moment of the match.

‘We could play Germany and that will be a really tough match if they beat Hong Kong. The German team is really special and Ralf is a brilliant team player. But their relationship is not perfect and I don’t know how comfortable they feel so we will see what happens,’ he added.

India will rue the missed opportunities as they blew leads of 5-0 and 6-2 in the second match of the first session, to get dumped out of the competition 7-8 at the hands of Indonesia.

The Indonesian pair of Muhammad Zulfikri and Ricky Yang looked out of sorts in the early stages as Raj Hundal and Dharminder Singh Lilly got the better of the exchanges as their confidence grew.

At 5-0 to the good, the Indians looked in full control of proceedings but Indonesia took the next two before wasting chances in the ninth game and India moved into a great 6-2 lead.

Mistakes came from both sides but the Indonesian’s who looked dead and buried earlier appear to be in the ascendancy as they steal four racks on the spin to level the match at 6-6 and leave their opponents reeling.

A scratch from Zulfikri gave India the chance they were looking for and they moved to the hill and broke for the match. A poor safety from Lilly though left the ball on for Indonesia and that enabled them to level the match at 7-7.

India still had a chance but Hundal ran out of position going from 7 to 8 and Lilly’s bank shot fails and leaves the 8 ball hanging over the pocket to hand victory to Yang and Zulfikri.

With 32 teams representing 31 countries – home nation Philippines has two sides in the competition – the World Cup of Pool sees the gathering of some of the most decorated stars of the pool firmament.

With a total purse of $250,000, the winning pair split $60,000 between them while first round losers are guaranteed $1,500 each. All the action will be carried live on Solar Sports in

The Philippines and other broadcasters across the region.

Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: luke.riches@matchroom.com +44 7785 395688

Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,100 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the World Cup of Pool is one of a stable of pool events that include the Mosconi Cup and the World Pool Masters.

The 2010 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world’s leading online poker room. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.