Ko Pin Yi has won the 2023 World Pool Masters title in Brentwood, Essex beating Eklent Kaci in the final 13-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK and broadcasters worldwide.
Ko Pin Yi 13 – 5 Eklent Kaci
Kaçi won the lag and took the first rack with a break and run out and the second should have soon followed with a 6-9 combo but the nerves got the better of the Mosconi Cup winner to allow Ko in for his first rack and to level up. Ko looked more comfortable out there early on and broke and run in the third to go 2-1 up. It was cagey early on from both players as they struggled to get going with the scores locked at 2-2 before a deep safety battle where eventually Kaçi pulled through to lead the contest.
Any small error was to be pounced on by the two players and it proved the case with Kaçi leading 4-3, a dry broke led Ko to then run through the following racks and soon assert a 7-4 lead and with an imposing position pushed on to break and run in the 12th and 13th rack to a 9-4 lead.
Final: “The Prince of Pool” (L) and “Albanian Eagle” (R) meet｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Ko did falter in the next rack though as he was left chasing the cue ball to keep his run alive allowing Kaçi to sweep in and cut the deficit to 9-5. The hope for Kaçi was short-lived though as he scratched off the break and then proceeded to scratch again after Ko fluked safe on the six. It meant Ko was only three from victory.
Another long safety battle took hold in the following rack with Kaçi clearly feeling the heat. After safety, Kaçi had a chance on the five but left it well wide of the mark to leave Ko in for a simple run out to reach the hill in quick time. In the final rack, Ko broke well and finished up with a clever 3-9 carom to secure his first major victory since 2015.
It wrapped up an epic run from Ko that saw him overcome Jayson Shaw in the opening round 9-1 before knocking out Shane Van Boening in the quarter-finals 11-7 and an impressive semi-final win against James Aranas 11-9 to reach the final.
Ko said: “It feels so good. The World Pool Masters was the one I wanted to win. After I beat Jayson (Shaw), I thought already about winning and jumping on the table. It was tough but I feel so happy to win this tournament. I knew that the only person that could beat me was myself.”
Ko celebrations｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
NEXT WORLD NINEBALL TOUR EVENT
The JFlowers Scottish Open will take place the weekend before the next Matchroom event with the tournament set to be held at McGoldricks Sports Bar in Glasgow with the world’s elite set to descend on one of the UK’s most historic sporting cities for a vital World Nineball Tour Ranking event and tune-up ahead of the UK Open Pool Championship.
NEXT MATCHROOM EVENT
The first signature Matchroom multi-table open event comes next at the Copper Box Arena, London for the UK Open Pool Championship from May 30 to June 4 with the first-ever Jayson Shaw Junior Open taking place on June 2-3. Buy your tickets here from £15.
Ko celebrations｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
柯秉逸寫下紀錄 首奪世界花式撞球大師賽冠軍
2023 世界撞球大師賽于今天淩晨落下帷幕。最後的冠亞軍決賽幾乎上演了一邊倒的戲碼，”撞球王子” 柯秉逸 13-5 擊敗兩屆10號球世錦賽冠軍 Eklent Kaci，生涯首捧大師賽冠軍獎盃。今年為柯秉逸第六度受邀參加大師賽 (連續兩年)，不僅突破個人賽史的最佳成績，成為台灣亦為華人選手大師賽首冠。
今年的大師賽比起以往有幾處重要調整，比賽地點離開直布羅陀，移師英國布倫特伍德，陣容回歸 16人，單場採用中長局制，同時冠軍獎金加碼至 4萬美金。華人選手方面，柯秉逸作為10號種子受邀，鄭肖淮獲得主辦方外卡，中國男子選手時隔多年重返國際賽。
不過首輪，已經遠離美式頂級賽事數年之久的鄭肖淮就不敵歐洲的同齡青年才俊 Wiktor Zielinski，抱撼出局。柯秉逸所處的1/4區最為兇險，首戰 9-1 橫掃 Jayson Shaw，上演完美首秀，隨後在一場強強對話中擊敗 Shane Van Boening，可以說這個四強席位含金量十足。
而隨著幾大奪冠熱門 Joshua Filler、Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 等人先後遭遇一輪遊的尷尬結局，柯秉逸一躍成為奪冠大熱之一。早些時候的半決賽，柯秉逸從領先到落後，再到反超，苦戰擊敗外卡黑 James Aranas (“The Dodong Diamond”)，在決賽當中會師 Kaci。後者在本屆賽事中貢獻數場神級逆轉，半決賽更是在 0-6 落後的情況下逆轉絕殺，擊敗兩屆賽會冠軍 Niels Feijen，挺進決賽。
©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
淩晨的冠亞軍決賽，Kaci 在手握開場領先優勢後狀態全無，柯秉逸打出第一波攻勢直接鎖定勝局。Kaci 在大比分落後的情況下抓住柯秉逸進攻失誤勉強扳回一城，關鍵的幾次防守大戰，卻始終得不到幸運女神眷顧。柯秉逸坐擁極佳手感以及不錯的球運，最終憑藉一記開倫9號 (3號-9號)，13-5 擊敗 Kaci，生涯首奪大師賽桂冠。
值得一提的是，這是時隔20年後又一次台灣選手晉級決賽 (上一次為2003年/夏揮凱)，同時又是連續第二年有華人選手晉級決賽 (上屆賽事，香港選手盧浩琛險些一黑到底，最終屈居亞軍，最終在今年迎來站上球台慶祝勝利的首位台灣/華人。恭喜 “撞球王子” 柯秉逸。
現年33歲的柯秉逸，2015年曾一連拿下10號球及9號球世界錦標賽、世界盃花式撞球雙打賽的冠軍後，完成撞壇史無前例「金滿貫」成就，這次再度締造另類紀錄。
下一站 Matchroom 的賽事將是月底進行的英國公開賽，而在英國公開賽前則有一 Matchroom 世界9號球巡迴賽-蘇格蘭公開賽 (Scottish Open) 在格拉斯哥舉辦。