Spain B kept Spanish hearts longing for glory after defeating Saudi Arabia in the final match of the evening session on day two of the 2023 World Cup of Pool at Pazo de Feiras e Congresos de Lugo, Spain in partnership with The Asociación Gallega de Billar Pool (AGP), Xunta de Galicia and EIDF Solar live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in Spain, the USA, Italy, and Brazil, Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Poland and broadcasters worldwide.
Germany 7-2 New Zealand
Hungary 1-7 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Spain B 7-1 Saudi Arabia
Spain B: Jonas Souto Comino and Jose Alberto Delgado｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Jonas Souto Comino and Jose Alberto Delgado kept hopes alive with a confident showing in front of a vocal home crowd whilst Saudi Arabia on their debut had Khalid Alghamdi and Mohannad Hamoud Alghumayz in their corner. It was clear the crowd was spurring on Alberto Delgado and Souto Comino, the two latest prodigies to come out of the host nation.
The pair quickly assembled an early advantage at 3-0 and 4-0 to be well clear of their opponents. Alghumayz and Alghamdi had opportunities but they were gilt-edged and best and it showed as Spain B continued to take control at 5-0 and reach the hill at 6-0. Saudi Arabia had their chance to get a rack on the board though after a dry break in the seventh.
Spain B’s first chance to seal it came with a 5-9 combo in the eighth rack but it didn’t prove to be for Delgado and from there, Saudi Arabia had another rack on the board to leave the home nation sweating. A fluke from Alghumayz on the six didn’t help Saudi Arabia’s cause in the ninth though with Alghamdi forced to try and play safe on the seven but it was loose and Delgado stepped up to nail the seven and then the winning nine.
Germany: Joshua Filler (R) and Moritz Neuhausen (L)｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Germany began the evening at a rampant pace with a new dynamic duo of Joshua Filler and Moritz Neuhausen joining forces for a youthful feel to the 2021 champions. New Zealand stood in their way who were hunting for their first-ever win at the World Cup of Pool and with a new face in their line-up alongside Matthew Edwards in Sullivan Clark, hopes were high despite being on the end of a heavy defeat to Germany in last year’s competition.
NZ started the better of the two sides despite a poor lag that saw Germany breaking first. Neuhausen missed a 6-8 combo and it allowed Edwards and Clark to step in and lead 1-0 and have hope for an improved outcome than 12 months ago. Before too long, it was 2-1 to the Kiwis and the game was well and truly on. In the fourth rack, Clark made an errant effort on the six rack and Filler nailed the ending nine for two apiece.
Filler and Neuhausen needed to turn the screw quickly to get ahead in the contest and they proceeded to do so with little challenge from their counterparts as they went on to win the following five racks for a convincing passage to the second round where Canada’s Alex Pagulayan and John Mora await next.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Sanjin Pehlivanovic (R) and Ajdin Piknjac (L)｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Bosnia & Herzegovina’s meet with Hungary was going to be one of the toughest calls heading into the tournament with the former unfortunate to miss out on a seeded spot in the tournament whilst Oliver Szolnoki was hoping to spearhead Hungarian hopes after a run to the second round last year.
The prerequisites to the contest didn’t quite pan out as many would have predicted though as despite taking the opening rack, Hungary did very little right since that point. Jonas Souto Comino looked far more composed in the contest with that extra experience between the pairing showing as Hungary’s Bezdan Attila fumbled a five ball bank to allow Bosnia & Herzegovina in for 1-1.
At 3-1 down, Attila missed a thin cut on the three to open up another opportunity that could be ill-afforded as Pehlivanovic and Piknjac picked up another rack for 4-1. Bosnia & Herzegovina will meet Austria next in what will prove to be a much tougher assignment in the next stage but for now they revelled in their first win in the tournament 7-1.
Thursday, 29 June (pm) Match Odds
Syria 13/8 – China 4/9
Kuwait 4/5 – Vietnam 10/11
Japan 4/7 – Italy 5/4
The 2023 World Cup of Pool will be played alongside the 31st Galician Team Pool Billiards Championship, which will bring together more than 1,000 players in the Pazo de Ferias y Congresos de Lugo, where more than 40 tables will be in action. The participants in this tournament considered the biggest in Europe, will compete for the regional titles and the prizes arranged by the Galician Association of Pool Billiards.
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Additional tickets for the 2023 World Cup of Pool are now on sale with allocations selling out within 24 hours. Buy tickets here from only €10.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
2023 雙打世界盃 – 西班牙B隊為東道主保住希望
2023 撞球雙打世界盃比賽第二日晚間場次繼續進行，東道主之一的西班牙B隊 (Jonas Souto Comino & Jose Alberto Delgado) 最晚登場，迎戰年輕的沙烏地阿拉伯 (Khalid Alghamdi & Mohannad Hamoud Alghumayz)。在A隊 (Francisco Sanchez Ruiz & David Alcaide) 揭幕戰出局後，B隊擔負著全國人民的重托。本場，Souto Comino 和 Alberto Delgado 兩人很好的融入了主場氛圍，輕鬆寫意的以 7-1 戰勝對手。他們將在第二輪迎戰菲律賓隊，希望藉助主場之利為 A隊完成複仇。
德國隊 Joshua Filler 搭檔再換人，攜歐青賽冠軍 Moritz Neuhausen 組成年輕的德國隊，7-2 大勝紐西蘭 (Matthew Edwards & Sullivan Clark)；紐西蘭實力平平，不過小將 Neuhausen 的精彩表現在今天風頭絕對蓋過 Filler。不出意外，這對組合將是未來十年首選。
接下來波士尼亞與赫塞哥維納隊 (Sanjin Pehlivanovic & Ajdin Piknjac) 和匈牙利隊 (Oliver Szolnoki & Bezdan Attila) 的實力本來被看作是伯仲之間，不過波黑隊進攻端發揮完美，意外的以 7-1 的大比分過關。此役，以世錦賽季軍 Szolnoki 為首的匈牙利隊狀況不可謂不好，實在是沒有太多表現的機會，就過早結束世界杯之旅。