Gold Medal Matches Set
CHANG, OUSCHAN ADVANCE AT WORLD GAMES
Pei-Wei Chang of Chinese Taipei cruised past unheralded Vangelis Vettas of Greece, 11-7, Saturday afternoon to move into Sunday’s Gold Medal match against German Thorsten at the World Games in Duisburg, Germany. Chang, runnerup to Alex Pagulayan in the 2004 World Pool Championships, never trailed in the match.
In the women’s 9-ball division, 18-year-old Jasmin Ouschan, of Austria handled former WPBA player Line Kjorsvik of Norway, 9-5. Ouschan will meet WPBA star Jennifer Chen of Chinese Taipei for the Gold Medal.
In Snooker, 31-year-old Brit Gerard Greene defeated Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer, 4-2, to move into a Gold Medal match against 18-year-old Chinese sensation Jun-Hui Ding.
And in Carom, defending World Games gold medalist Daniel Sanchez beat Turkey’s Murat Coklu, 40-27 in 29 innings. Sanchez will meet Belgian Dick Jaspers for the Gold.
“Rocket” Lone US Medal Hope
Rodney Morris overcame an early 4-1 deficit against Germany’s Thomas Engert Friday evening to win 11-8 and advance to the semifinals of the men’s 9-ball division at the 2005 World Games in Duisburg, Germany. With the ousters Friday of Charlie Williams and Vivian Villarreal, Morris is the only U.S. contestant remaining in the four cue sport medal categories.
Morris will face former world 9-ball champion and reigning Billiard Congress of American Open 9-Ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany on Saturday for the right to play in the Gold Medal game. Hohmann squeaked past Sweden’s Tom Storm, 11-10, to earn his semifinal spot. The other Saturday semi in the men’s division will pit China’s Pei-Wei Chang against surprising Vangelis Vettas of Greece. Vettas, who shocked Germany’s Ralf Souquet in the opening round of the 16-player single-elimination field, dumped Williams, 11-7, on Friday. Chang, 2004 World Pool Championship runnerup, beat Holland’s Niels Feijen, 11-7.
In Women’s 9-Ball, Korea’s Sung-Hyun Jung beat Villarreal, 11-8, to earn a spot in the semifinals. She’ll be joined by Jennifer Chen, who upended Allison Fisher, Jasmin Oschan of Austria, and Norway’s Line Kjorsvik.
Two Turks, Semih Sayginer and Murat Coklu, earned semifinal spots in the Men’s Carom discipline, along with Dick Jaspers of Holland and defending champion Danny Sanchez of Spain.
Men’s Snooker saw 18-year-old Jun-Hui Ding post a 138 clearance enroute to a 3-0 win over Germany’s Lasse Munstermann. Ding reached the semis along with Amateur World Champion Mark Allen of England, countryman Gerard Greene and Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer, who overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat England’s Gavin Pantall, 3 sets to 2.
World Games Quarterfinals Set
Americans Rodney Morris, Charlie Williams and Vivian Villarreal will take U.S. medal hopes into quarterfinal matches today at the World Games in Duisburg, Germany.
In men’s 9-ball, Morris, who routed Aruba’s Roland Acosta, 11-4, on Wednesday, will face Germany’s Thomas Engert, and Williams, an 11-7 winner over Japan’s Massashi Hoshi, will battle Vangelis Vettas of Greece. Vettas shocked Germany’s Ralf Souquet, 11-10, in the opening round of the 16-player single-elimination event.
Villiarreal, the lone U.S. competitor in the women’s 9-ball division, faces Korea’s Sung-Hyun Jung. Defending champion Jeanette Lee pulled out of the competition at the last minute because of impending back surgery.
Sweden’s Tom Storm, Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann, Holland’s Neils Feijen and Chinese star Pei-Wei Chang round out the final eight in the men’s division.
Top-ranked Allison Fisher, Taiwan’s Jennifer Chen, Italy’s Tiziana Cacciamani, Austria’s Jasmine Ouschan, Japan’s Yukiko Hamanishi and former WPBA regular Line Kjorsvik of Norway make up the remaining women competitors.
Men’s carom billiards and men’s snooker is also being contested at the international sports festival, which is seen as an important stepping stone for the cue sports’ Olympic Games hopes. Two high-ranking officials, Kelly Fairweather, Sports Director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Ron Froelich, President of the International World Games Association (IWGA), were on hand at the Saalbau arena in Bottrop for the opening matches of the billiard competition.
Morris, Williams and Villarreal Cue Up at World Games
DUISBURG, Germany, July 20 — The billiard portion of the 2005 World Games kicks off today with men competing in three disciplines (carom, snooker and 9-ball) and women in 9-ball only. Rodney Morris and Charlie Williams will represent the U.S. in 9-ball on the men’s side, and Vivian Villarreal will cue up for the American women.
The finals in all four groups will be played on Sunday, July 24. Billiards Digest staff will have regular updates here on Headstring News from the competition.
From July 14-24 at the World Games, Duisburg and partner cities Bottrop, Oberhausen and Mülheim an der Ruhr are expected to welcome 500,000 spectators in 27 venues, plus host the over 3,500 athletes from 100 nations who will compete in 40 sports and 177 disciplines.
Korea International Championships, Day One
The Dragon Promotions event being held in Korea has finished a day of competition. Of the top pros in attendance, only American Mike Davis has been eliminated, defeated by Japanese player Goh Takami and then ousted by German Thorsten Hohmann.
Noteworthy players who have made it to the final 16 include Rodney Morris, Max Eberle, John Schmidt (who ran six consecutive racks against one opponent in an earlier round), young Korean player Seung-woo Ryu, Mika Immonen, Johnny Archer, and Charlie Bryant.
Many top pros who don’t often travel to Asia took this event as an opportunity to extend their trip to this area of the globe following the World Pool Championships in Taiwan last week.
‘Little Genius’ Comes Up Big in World Pool Championship Final
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan, July 11 – From boy to man, in five racks.
Trailing 16-12 in the all-Taiwanese final of the World Pool Championship, and with his opponent breaking for the title, 16-year-old Chia-Ching Wu took a breath and told himself to hang on.
“Getting to the world championship final is such an honor, I was not going to give up that honor,” Wu said.
After 27-year-opponent Po-Cheng Kuo missed a tricky 2 ball, Wu reached the opportunity for honor and ended up seizing glory. Finally getting in rhythm and taking advantage of his monster break, Wu ran out five consecutive racks to win the world 9-ball championship, 17-16.
Nicknamed “Little Genius,” Wu became the youngest male world 9-ball champion ever, but his even temper under pressure was amazing for a player of any age. After breaking at 16-16 and seeing a clear path to victory, Wu took the time to wipe down his cue and hands several times, and at one point even smiled, sat down and took a long swig from his water bottle, bringing laughter and applause from the crowd. Only after he had a chance to hug his grandmother during the trophy presentation did Wu start bawling like a baby.
“I proved to myself and to my grandmother that I could do it,” Wu said.
Wu’s 63-year-old grandmother, Chu-Chi Lin, encouraged Wu from the beginning of his interest in pool at age 6. And when he couldn’t stop crying at the presentation ceremony, she jumped out of the crowd to wipe his brow several times, arrange his collar and straighten the ribbon of his gold medal.
With his $75,000 grand prize, Wu planned on buying a new home for himself and his family. Kuo pocketed $35,000 for second place.
Wu didn’t seem to think that the win would make much difference in his future, beyond having to behave himself better now that the public’s eye will be one him. In fact, he will receive invitations to several major international pool events over the next year, including the World Pool Masters and the World Pool League event, both promoted by WPC producer Matchroom Sport.
‘Little Genius’ vs. ‘Little Monster’ in all-Taiwan final
Taiwan’s Chia-Ching Wu
Taiwan’s Po-Cheng Kuo and Chia-Ching Wu will lag for the $75,000 grand prize at 8 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) at the Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Centre.
Kuo, nicknamed “The Little Monster” for his baby-faced features, trailed American Rodney Morris in the semifinal, 7-5, and then won five straight games to hit the hill. Morris fought back to 10-8, but missed a long cut shot that handed victory to 27-year-old Kuo.
Wu, who at 16 is the youngest finalist in WPC history, steamrolled heavy favorite Marlon Manalo in their semifinal match, 11-5. Nicknamed “Little Genius,” Wu took full advantage of his powerhouse break and several fortunate rolls to keep Manalo in his seat for much of the match.
“I’m very surprised I made it this far,” said the beefy Wu, who looks like the quintessential school bully, about to steal the reedy Kuo’s lunch money. “I was just in the bathroom, and I said to myself, ‘Is this really happening? Is this true'”
“[To win Sunday] I just have to treat it like a normal match. I just have to keep calm and keep myself together.”
Both players have strong breaks, excellent cue ball control and implacable demeanor. The older Kuo, who is undefeated in both the round-robin and single-elimination stages, would seem to have the advantage of experience, but Manalo was thought to be superior to Wu for the same reason.
No matter the outcome, this Sunday?s final will mark the first time a Taiwanese player has won the world championship in his own country. Taiwan’s Fong-Pang Chao won the title in 2000 in Cardiff, Wales.
The winner will take home $75,000, and the runner-up will pocket $35,000.
Sweet 16 WPC Update
The round-of-16 is in progress at the World Pool Championships in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Billiards Digest is continuing our daily Web updates on our “Tournament Coverage” page.
Foldes Upsets Pagulayan at WPC
20-year-old Vilmos Foldes, the Hungarian European No.8, has caused another big upset at the 2005 Kaohsiung World Pool Championship as he knocked out defending champion Alex Pagulayan in a 10 – 8 dog fight.
Lee Pulls Out of World Games
Back problems and impending surgery have forced Jeanette Lee to pull out of the 2005 World Games, which begin later this month in Duisburg, Germany. Lee, currently ranked No. 4 on the Women’s Professional Billiard Association Classic Tour, suffers from scoliosis and has endured numerous surgeries over the years.
Lee is scheduled for surgery in Indianapolis on Aug. 11, and had hoped to defend her World Games title. Lee won the 9-ball championship at the 2001 World Games in Akita, Japan. It marked pool’s first appearance in the World Games, which is a quadrennial international sports festival for International Olympic Committee members whose sports are not represented in the Olympic Games.
“The pain has just gotten too severe,” said Tom George of Octagon, Lee’s agent. “She really wanted to defend her World Games title, but she just can’t play through the pain.”
According to George, Lee will also skip the WPBA’s August Classic Tour stop in Peoria, Ill., and will not likely return to action before 2006.
According to BCA executive director Steve Ducoff, given the late date of Lee’s withdrawal it is unlikely that the World Games will accept a replacement player from the U.S.