Day 5 Review of The World Chinese 8ball Masters Grand Final – 總決賽第五日綜述

The 5th World Chinese Eight Ball Masters Greand Final 2017 concluded its second last day of its matches in Qinhuangdao, China. After eliminating some of the best players in the tournament, the young ZHAO Ruliang seems to be running out of luck for himself. In his match against XI Hongyu today, the domination that he has been demonstrating during the past few days were all gone, and even the “break and run” that he is famous of was on strike. ZHAO Ruliang was like a crouching tiger that never woke up, 1:7 to start off was not an impressive one, and that set the foundation of the final result of 8:12.

While everyone was expecting a tight and exciting match between Gareth Potts, the “Golden Boy” with the highest consistency, and Francisco Diaz Pizarro, the best overseas player so far in this tournament, it turned out to be an one-side encounter for the Golden Boy, who demonstrated all he has in pool and made it to the semi-final, while sending Pizarro into the consolation bracket with a score of 13:6. Pizarro will then face Zhao on the other side tomorrow.

The match between WANG Peng and ZHENG Yubo was more like a show rather than a competitive one. Both of them had no chance for the hot seat and therefore enjoyed the game together in an all-attacked demeanour. There was no flush on WANG Peng’s face even when trailing 1:4 and then 3:11. Zheng showed how much power he can put behind the cue ball with the white flying off the table three times when breaking. The final score was 13:5 to Zheng, good enough for him to snatch the 7th place while Wang was 8th. The crowd enjoyed the match as much as the players did.

The fight between Gareth Potts and XI Hongyu was filled with tension and uncertainties. It will be heart-breaking for the loser, being so close to the final, but whoever won will be playing his last match in the consolation bracket and had a chance for the hot seat. It will be a cruel slaughter from whichever angle you look at it.

Butterflies must be all over inside Potts as it was Xi who originally sent the Golden Boy into the consolation bracket. Nevertheless, an opening of 3:5 in Xi’s favour was not proving anything as Potts soon settled down to turn back and led 11:5. Pott was the one smiling when the score stood at 14:8 upon the stipulated time. Xi finished fourth in the tournament.

中國秦皇島喬氏盃中式八球國際大師賽全球總決賽結束了第五日的爭奪。在接連斬落數位勁敵之後，小將趙汝亮的運氣似乎也已經用光。在今日對陣老將溪紅羽的戰役中，完全沒了之前的霸氣，引以為傲的“炸清”技能也突然失靈。開局，趙汝亮如同沈睡的雄獅，一副沒睡醒的樣子，1:7大比分落後的局面引人無限遐想。而這樣的開局也奠定了最終的結果，8:12遭遇滑鐵盧，飲恨六強!

Gareth Potts vs Francisco Diaz Pizarro，一位是發揮超級穩定的“戰神”，一位是“國際軍團”中勝部走得最遠的實力戰將，兩人相遇，本以為是一場難得的精彩盛宴，卻不曾想到整場比賽竟成為Potts 一人的主角表演賽，將自己精湛的球技毫不掩飾的盡情展現，13:6，Potts順利進入四強，而Pizarro則將與明日與趙汝亮再度一決高下!

從王鵬與鄭宇伯兩人的交戰看，不像是一場激烈的競技，更像是一場“表演賽”! 既然已經註定與冠軍無緣，那還不如讓球迷們享受一場酣暢淋漓的對攻大戰。整場比賽，兩人只攻不防，而且心情亦是大好，可謂全程無壓力，現場氣氛也頗為輕鬆。儘管開局1:4落後，繼而3:11被大比分拉開，王鵬也沒再“紅著臉”，而鄭宇伯更是將他的大力衝發揮到了極致，比賽全程至少三次開球母球被炸飛台面，引起球迷一陣驚嘆! 終場比分13:5，鄭宇伯斬獲總決賽第七名，而王鵬則位列第八!