The opening lag turned out to be Thorsten Hohmann’s best friend in his semifinal match against American Rodney Morris at the World Games in Duisburg, Germany Saturday afternoon.

Winning the lag earned Hohmann the advantage of breaking in the deciding game in the alternating break, race-to-11 format. And with the score tied 10-10, the German star ran a flawless rack from the break to win the match and advance to Sunday’s Gold Medal match. Hohmann awaits the winner of the second semifinal, pitting Greek surprise Vangelis Vettas against Chinese Taipei’s Pei-Wei Chang. Morris will play the loser of that match for the Bronze Medal Saturday evening.

In women’s 9-ball, Women’s Professional Billiard Association star Jennifer Chen, of Chinese Taipei, defeated Korea’s Sung-Hyun Jung, 9-4, to earn a spot in the Gold Medal match. Chen awaits the winner of the semifinal matchup of former WPBA regular Line Kjorsvik and Austrian teen Jasmin Oschan.

Eighteen-year-old Chinese snooker sensation Jun-Hui Ding cruised into the Men’s Snooker Gold Medal match with a convincing 4-1 win over England’s Mark Allen. Ding dropped his second 100-plus break in the match, posting a 102 in the third set. Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer meets England’s Gerard Greene to determine Ding’s opponent.

And in Carom, Dick Jaspers of Belgium scored 40 points on his 40th birthday to defeat Turkey’s Semih Sayginer, 40-26 in 28 innings. Defending World Games champion Daniel Sanchez of Spain will play Turkey’s Murat Coklu in the second semifinal match Saturday afternoon at the Saalbau arean in Bottrop, site of the cue sports competitions.

The World Games is the largest gathering of non-Olympic sports, with more than 3,000 athletes representing more than 100 countries. The cue sports made their World Games debut in 2001 at Akita, Japan.