MORRIS EARNS BRONZE AT WORLD GAMES
Rodney Morris found just the salve to ease the sting of Saturday afternoon’s 11-10 loss to Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann at the World Games in Duisburg, Germany. Back at the table in the Saalbau Arena in Bottrop, site of the billiard competitions, just hours after the heartbreaking loss, Morris free-wheeled his way to an 11-2 rout of Greece’s Vangelis Vettas to secure the Bronze Medal in Men’s 9-Ball.
Morris sped off from a 1-1 deadlock with six consecutive rack wins, and coasted comfortably home.
“When I got up a couple of games,” said Morris, “and my break started working better, I knew that he couldn’t catch me. Not with alternating break.
“The key to this match was focus,” he added. “I didn’t think of anything other than the table. I wasn’t leaving here without at least the Bronze.”
Also earning Bronze Saturday evening at the international sports festival was Semih Sayginer of Turkey, who beat countryman Murat Coklu, in Carom. Sayginer bolted off to a 35-22 lead after just 20 innings, before Coklu chipped away at the lead. Coklu pulled to within five at 37-32, before Sayginer closed out the match, 40-32, in 24 innings.
In Snooker, Belgium’s Bjorn Haneever whitewashed 17-year-old Mark Allen of England, 4-0, to capture the Bronze.
Line Kjorsvik of Norway, back at the table after an eight-month layoff, earned Bronze in Women’s 9-Ball with a 9-6 win over Sung-Hyun Jung, Korea’s top-ranked woman player.
“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.
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.
Archer Regains His Place With Florida Open Win
After unexpectedly taking a 7-0 drubbing from Thorsten Hohmann in the final of the BCA Pro 9-Ball Open last week, No. 1 ranked Johnny Archer got back into the groove with a title win at the 5th Annual Predator Florida Open, at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, Fla., May 25-29.
Archer bested Mike Davis, 10-5, to take the hot seat. While Archer waited, Davis took on Hohmann in the one-loss bracket and beat him, 10-9. In the final rematch, Davis put up a fight, but in the end, Archer triumped, 11-8, for the $10,000 win.
Davis accepted $5,000 for second, and Hohmann took home $3,200 in third place, followed by Ralf Souquet, who collected $2,400 for a fourth place finish.
BCA 9-Ball Champs Crowned
Thorsten Hohmann and Allison Fisher have taken titles at the Billiard Congress of America’s annual pro event, the BCA Pro Open 9-Ball Championship.
Fisher fought off three-time defending champ Karen Corr in the final, and won, 7-5.
The men’s final match was a shocker. Hohmann kept Johnny Archer in his chair for nearly the whole match, laying down a break-and-run each time he broke in the alternating format. Archer, meanwhile, struggled with the break, sinking nothing once and scratching once. The result was a lopsided 7-0 win by Hohmann.
Both winners collected $15,000. For detailed brackets from both divisions, visit www.wpba.com.
European Pool Championships Wrap-up
The European Pool Championships, held April 20-30 in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, has wrapped up the last of the divisions, with 9-ball and team competitions finishing up over the weekend.
The 9-ball competitions began with double-elimination brackets, and became single-elimination showdowns in the final 32. On the men’s side, the final four were Alex Lely, Thorsten Hohmann, Mika Immonen and Ralf Souquet. Lely beat Souquet, 9-8, in the final. In 9-ball, Jasmin Ouschan, Kim Shaw, Katrine Jensen and Charlotte Sörensen were the last four women in the arena. Ouschan took the title, making her a double-title winner in Veldhoven (the first being in straight pool).
In the men’s team championships, Team Germany looked like the team to beat from the start, with Souquet, Hohmann and Oliver Ortmann, among others, on board. Indeed, they beat the team from the Czech Republic, 4-0. In the women’s team event, Germany was again the victor, with The Netherlands in second.
9-Ball Finals Approach at European Pool Championships
The 8-ball and straight-pool divisions completed, and 9-ball fields are narrowing in on a champion at the European Pool Championships. The multi-part event being held in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, started April 20 and goes through tomorrow, April 30th.
Both men’s and women’s 9-ball will play a single-elimination semifinal early this evening, with a final following at 8pm, Netherlands local time.
In the women’s division, Jasmin Ouschan will play Kim Shaw and Katrine Jensen will play Charlotte Sorensen in the semifinals. The men’s semifinals pit Alex Lely against Thorsten Hohmann and Mika Immonen against Ralf Souquet.
Team competitions are ongoing, and will wrap up tomorrow evening.
Results Rolling in for European Championships
The European Pool Championships are well underway, with winners in from many divisions. The multi-part event started April 20, in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, and goes through April 30th. An all-time high of 34 countries are represented.
The men’s and women’s straight pool and 8-ball divisions have crowned champions. On April 26, Alex Lely bested Thomas Kaplan, 8-7, in the men’s 8-ball final. The same day, Cristine Naeff took the women’s 8-ball, 6-2, over Wendy Jans. It is Naeff’s first European title.
Friday the 24th, In straight pool, Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann beat countryman Nicolas Otterman to the title by a lopsided 125-3. On the women’s side, former WPBA National Amateur champion Jasmin Ouschan squeaked by Diana Stateczny, 75-60.
The 9-ball divisions, men’s and women’s, are still in progress, and will conclude on Friday. The team competitions wrap up on Saturday evening. Among those still alive in the single-elimination men’s final 32 are Ralf Souquet, Mika Immonen, Niels Feijen, Hohmann, and Marcus Chamat. Among the women, Ouschan and Jans are still in action, as is WPBA regular Kim Shaw.