With many ace players fell into loser’s bracket yesterday, the matches were obviously getting intenser. As an old saying goes: when two tigers fight, one is sure to lose. Matches today definitely illustrated it.
Sanjin Pehlivanovic
Gareth Potts (GBR) met his Waterloo in the match against Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH). The 18-year-old boy got a flying start by 5-1. Under the pressure, Potts won the continuous 3 racks. However, the miracle didn’t happen. Pehlivanovic got an earned victory by 13-7 and became the first international player who knocked Potts out in Grand Finals. Acclaimed player Jeffrey Ignacio (PHI) survived in loser’s bracket smoothly by winning two one-horse matches.
ZHANG Kunpeng 張堃鵬
Another fierce match took place between ZHANG Kunpeng, top of the ICEA World Rankings and ZHAO Ruliang, champion of Xiushui Station. ZHAO gave ZHANG a fatal blow in semi-finals of Xiushui Station. Surprisingly, ZHANG completed a wonderful revenge by a heavy socre of 13-2. ZHENG Yubo was absolutely dominating in the match against Lake Mackey. Finally ZHENG Yubo got a resounding victory by 13-1.
Winning or going home, Sanjin Pehlivanovic met ZHANG Kunpeng in decisive battle of loser’s bracket. ZHANG was definitely in form and broke and ran continuously. The scoreline of 13-5 showed his excellent form. Shane Van Boening played against TANG Chunxiao, a strong female player. Van Boening endeavored to widen the gap, the score seesawed and stood at 6-5. Then he stared to be unstoppable and won all of the following 5 racks. Finally the score stayed at 13-6.
ZHENG Yubo 鄭宇伯
ZHENG Yubo and LIU Chuang, two top players met on a narrow path. They were neck and neck at the beginning. In the third rack, ZHENG missed an easy shot, which made LIU Chuang take the lead. At the critical moment, ZHENG got in trim and fought back. His efforts got the payback and made him take an active part in the match. Trailing 5-7, LIU Chuang tried to catch up. ZHENG Yubo didn’t leave any chances to his opponent and got an earned victory 13-10. Johann Chua (PHI) got a narrow victory over Moh Keen Hoe (MYS). The score was close from first to last. Match was tie.
By ICEA