Eklent Kaçi and Ko Pin Yi joined Niels Feijen and James Aranas in the semi-finals of the 2023 World Pool Masters at the Brentwood Centre, Essex live on Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, and networks worldwide.
Kaçi came into his clash with Mario He in red-hot form after overcoming He’s World Cup of Pool partner Albin Ouschan in the opening round and it proved to be another epic battle. The Albanian did the early running and led comfortably at 5-1 and it looked an unassailable position but a mountain He would choose to climb rather than falter. He pulled it back to 5-4 but Kaçi kept the Austrian at arms length to take the following two racks to edge over the halfway stage at 7-4.
He left Kaçi in a brutal hook in the 12th rack which led to the Albanian Eagle fouling to give He ball in hand. With ball in hand, He went airborne to try and make a 1-9 combo only for the nine to trickle in the opposite corner for a fluke that brought the two-time World Cup of Pool winner back in it before a further two racks brought it level at 7-7. The contest swung in He‘s favour for the first time as he soon moved two away at 9-7.
Everything about the contest underlined just why it’s the elite of the very elite competing this week underlined by an expert run out by Kaçi to pounce on a rare error from He to get back at the table. Kaçi was crunching them in better than anyone all week and was left with only five on the table and dish up to level at 9-9.
Mario He｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
It was proving to be a classic and the drama was not done yet, a break and run put Kaçi to the hill first and he looked to have it locked up in the final rack but went for an ambitious 8-9 combo in the penultimate rack that cost him dearly to allow He to force a one rack shootout after arguably the shot of the match on the eight to pull back for the nine.
In the final rack, a brief safety battle ensued before Kaçi‘s failed bank seemed to let He in on the four only for the Panda to be jacked up meaning position wasn’t ideal. With that, He stunned the four in only to see his cue ball hooked on the five, from there, Kaçi stole the march to reach his second World Pool Masters semi-final in three years.
Kaçi said: “I thought I should’ve finished the match with the 8-9 and then I thought here we go! Hill hill. When you see the nine like that dead straight and you have an exciting match not for us but for the viewers, it’s great to see the nine like that.”
Eklent Kaci｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Shane Van Boening‘s hunt for a third World Pool Masters crown will go on after it was Ko who ended the 2014 and 2015 winners journey. Ko was looking to make it back to back semi-finals and made the most of an early mistake from his opponent in rack two to go level before a golden break put him 2-1 up. It was nip and tuck early on and it was soon Van Boening ahead at 3-2. That was soon 3-3 after a 2-9 combo for Ko.
Ko found a rhythm at this stage whilst Van Boening‘s shotmaking seemed to go missing as the Chinese Taipei star hit the front with a comfortable distance at 7-4. The tide from the Prince of Pool was high with Van Boening stuck on ideas with Ko rallying. Despite the tide, Van Boening did get back in it at 7-7 but from there, the break deserted him for the first time in the match going dry in the 15th.
Ko found a different gear at that stage which Van Boening couldn’t deal with as he rallied toward a semi-final clash with James Aranas of the Philippines.
The final rack was a scrappy affair that led Van Boening to the table after a brief safety battle between the two, it looked a routine runout for the five-time US Open from there but the pressure got to him which allowed Ko to run out from the four and see it over the line 11-7.
Shane Van Boening｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Tomorrow is the final day of the 2023 World Pool Masters with the two semi-finals taking place in the afternoon session from 12:30 pm before the final with a Race to 13 from 7pm.
Watch live on Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Spain, Italy, and Brazil as well as on Viaplay in the Netherlands, Poland, Scandinavia, and the Baltics. If no broadcaster is available in your country, watch the action on Matchroom.Live. See where to watch in your country here.
The World Pool Masters returns to the UK for the first time since 2015 with a fresh look as the field reverts back to 16 players with 14 of the 16 automatically earning their place from the World Nineball Tour Rankings with two wild cards completing the field. Round 1 matches are Race to 9 with quarter and semi-final encounters Race to 11 before the final stretches to a Race to 13 for the first time. The prize fund has also been bolstered to $125,000 with the winner taking home $40,000.
Eklent Kaci｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
柯秉逸擒拿美國球王 闖進世界撞球大師賽半決賽
第28屆世界撞球大師賽今晨在英國的布倫特伍德中心結束了第三日的賽程。繼稍早晉級世界撞球大師賽半決賽的荷蘭 “終結者” Niels Feijen 與持外卡參賽的菲律賓選手 James Aranas，柯秉逸與世界十號球冠軍 Eklent Kaçi (阿爾巴尼亞) 也雙雙挺進半決賽。
Eklent Kaçi 在首輪擊敗了 Mario He 雙打世界盃的搭檔 Albin Ouschan 後，帶著火熱的狀態與 Mario He 交手。比賽開始後 ，很快地 Kaçi 便以 5-1 領先，Mario He 連追三局將比賽班回到 5-4 一局的差距，然而 Kaçi 並未給 Mario He 有超前的機會，並再度將拉開比分到 7-4 的三局領先。
Kaçi 在第12局解到 Mario He 的 2號球後母球落入底袋，給了 Mario He 自由球的機會，Mario He 把握住機會拿下該局，緊接著 Mario He 在第14局跳 1號球，試圖擊打 1-9組合球，9號球在經過碰撞後幸運地進了另一邊底袋，也幫助 Mario He 扳平比分 (7-7)。緊接著 Mario He 扭轉了落後的局面，反超前的以 9-7 領先。
Kaçi 很快地又再度將比分追回至平分，雙分一路將比賽帶到搶尾局，經過這一波三折的比賽，Kaçi 頂住壓力完成清台，最終以 11-10 力克兩屆雙打世界盃冠軍，奧地利 “熊貓” Mario He 成為第三位晉級四強的選手。
Ko Ping-Yi｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
最後一個四強名額將從 “撞球王子” 柯秉逸與五屆美國公開賽冠軍 Shane Van Boening 之間產生。在世界撞球大師賽上，SVB 以拿下兩次冠軍，而在世界9號球錦標賽上，柯秉逸則在 2014 與 2015 年連續兩年在決賽中擊敗 SVB 滅掉了他奪下世界冠軍的夢想。
SVB 薄進 9號球率先拿下首局，第二局柯秉逸把握住 SVB 解 4號球后母球洗袋的機會，再加上第3局的 9-ball in 反以 2-1 領先。第4局柯秉逸 2號球沒打進讓 SVB 回到場上，並連拿兩局以 3-2 領先。柯秉逸似乎慢慢地找到了節奏，前11局結束以 7-4 領先 SVB，但隨後美國球王很快地便再度扳平。SVB 自從第15局衝球沒球進 (Dry break) 後，便無法在比賽中更進一步，柯秉逸也一路保持領先。雙方最後在第18局進行了一番攻防戰後，SVB 在一個難度不大的 4號球上發生失誤，柯秉逸把握住機會解決掉台面上剩餘的五顆球，打進中袋口的 9號球，順利搶下四強最一席位。柯秉逸將在半決賽對戰菲律賓選手 James Aranas。