China B, the Philippines and Chinese Taipei all powered through to the last eight of the 2018 World Cup of Pool at the Luwan Arena, Huangpu District in Shanghai, as the quarter-final line-up begins to take shape ahead of the weekend.
The $250,000 tournament originated in 2006 and has since moved around the world before touching down in Shanghai. The World Cup features 32 pairs from across the globe including two from host nation China. Running from 15th to 20th May, the event is on live TV in over 100 countries around the world.
In the opening match of the session, China B – Kong Dejing and Wang Ming – won a scrappy encounter against Germany as the pairing of Souquet and Filler made far too many errors for a race to seven match and were made to pay the price.
Commented Kong, “I was really nervous at the beginning but later on I stepped up and we took advantage of our opponent’s mistakes. We are very proud to reach the quarter-finals.”
Team Philippines – Carlo Biado and Jeff De Luna
The second match saw Team Philippines motor past England 7-0. The English pair of Mark Gray and Imran Majid spent the vast majority of the match as spectators as Carlo Biado and Jeff De Luna put on a clinic.
Commented Biado, “At the start of the match I felt a bit shaky but I said to myself, stay focus, relax and just play the game. Anybody can win and there will be pressure in the remaining games. Anything can happen.”
De Luna was looking ahead to their quarter-final match against the youngsters from China B, “We practised hard last night before we came here. China B have top players, they are good young players. We will prepare for a tough match.”
In the final match Greece paid the price for an early mistake to go 2-0 ahead. It was their last effective contribution to the match as Chinese Taipei took the next seven racks for victory.
It was an object lesson for Nick Malaj and Alex Kazakis as a single miss effectively ended their World Cup hopes, while Chang Jung-Lin and Cheng Yu-Hsuan cashed in on the Greek error in the most clinical way.
Cheng, “I am really happy because we played an almost perfect game with just one dry break. This was one of our best performances on TV. It doesn’t matter who we are against in the next round, we just have to play our own game.”
Team China B – Kong Dejing 孔德京 and Wang Ming 王銘
世界盃雙打賽第二輪下午在上海盧灣體育館全面展開，今天將會進行第二輪其餘的所有比賽。
首場比賽由中國B隊出戰德國隊，Souquet與Filler在整場比賽中出現過多的失誤也應此讓為此付出代價，中國B隊終場就以7-5擊敗勁敵德國隊。
孔德京賽後評論說道: “我一開始很緊張，但我很快地調整好自己，接著我們把握了對手失誤的機會拿下比賽。 我們非常自豪地進入八強賽。”
第二場比賽由菲律賓遭遇到英格蘭的挑戰。整場比賽當中，Mark Gray 與 Imran Majid 沒有太多的機會，兩人更猶如觀眾般的觀看著對手一局局拿下。最終，菲律賓就以7-0血洗英格蘭隊。
Team Chinese Taipei – Yu-hsuan CHENG 鄭喻軒 and Jung-Lin CHANG 張榮麟
Biado 賽後評論說道: “剛開賽時我感覺到有些不安。任何人都有機會贏得比賽，接下來的比賽壓力會越來越大，任何事情都有可能發生。我告訴自己保持專注並放開來打，輕鬆面對比賽。
De Luna談論到八強賽對手中國B隊時說道: “在我們今天來到賽場前，昨晚的我們非常努力地練習。中國B隊有著很優秀的年輕球員，那將會是場艱難的比賽，我們也將為此做好準備。”
在最後一場比賽中，希臘隊第二局在擊打5號球發生失誤，這不僅錯失取得2-0領先的優勢，更讓Alex Kazakis及Nick Malaj付出慘痛的代價。張榮麟與鄭喻軒把握住機會連下七局，最終就以7-1結束了希臘隊今年的世界盃之旅。
鄭喻軒賽後說道: “我非常的開心，因為除了一次開球沒球進之外，我們的表現近乎完美。這絕對是我們表現最好的一場比賽。而無論我們下一場的對手是誰，我們只需專注在我們自己身上，將比賽打好。”
Round Two 第二輪賽果
Germany 德國 5-7 China B 中國B隊
England 英格蘭 0-7 Philippines 菲律賓
Chinese Taipei 中華台北 7-1 Greece 希臘
Play continues on Friday evening with three more second round matches.
Finland 芬蘭 v USA 美國
Spain 西班牙 v Sweden 瑞典
Australia 澳洲 v China A 中國A隊
2018 World Cup of Pool sponsored by Iwan Simonis who supply the Official Cloth; the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc, and Predator is the Official Cue of the event.
CN/Alison