A new name will be etched onto the World Pool Championship trophy tomorrow in Kielce, Poland live on Sky Sports, Matchroom.Live, Viaplay, DAZN, and TV networks worldwide as Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Mario He, Wu Kun Lin, and Mohammad Soufi reached the final day.
The tournament of upsets and drama continued at pace on day four as two-time champion Albin Ouschan fell at the hands of Soufi who continues to play the tournament of his life to reach a world semi-final for the first time. Soufi‘s fast-paced nature has caught the imagination of many as the Syrian once again showcased his quick thinking to leave Ouschan waiting for a third world title in a 11-8 win.
Soufi geed on by an earlier hill-hill Last 16 win over Sebastian Batkowski was halted early on by Ouschan who led 6-2 but that was the turning point he needed. Ouschan left opportunities for Soufi and with a slice of fortune was back on Ouschan‘s tail at 8-7. The pinnacle moment came in the 16th with a massive fluke on the six that left him hooked on the eight before another extraordinary fluke to put it to 8-8. From there, Soufi didn’t look back as he rattled in the next three racks to book his spot in the semi-finals, his best finish in a Matchroom event before this week coming at the European Open last year where he reached the Last 32.
Pictured – Mohammad Soufi of Syria after beating Sebastian Batkowski｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Niels Feijen‘s hunt for a second world title was abruptly halted by He. He came from the losers bracket earlier on in the week due to a defeat to Batkowski and since then made comeback after comeback and that was at the heart of this showing once again. At 8-6 down, He missed some gilt-edged chances to cut the deficit to one, with two missed moments Feijen was 9-6 up and cruising. At that point, He came back into the contest with a fluke to kickstart momentum that saw him edge over the line in another tight contest this time 11-9.
Wu ended the dreams of Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang in emphatic fashion racing into a 5-0 lead in quick time. The Chinese Taipei star continued on his ascendancy towards the semi-finals with a clinical edge that kept Hoang cold as he wrapped up a 11-4 victory in QuickTime.
Mario He｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
The final action of the day came from Nineball World No.1 Sanchez Ruiz against Chang Jung-Lin. Chang left Sanchez Ruiz breathless winning the opening three racks but the tides turned quickly as El Ferrari found his gears to accelerate away like an Italian stallion. Nine racks later and it was 9-3 and Sanchez Ruiz was two away from a World Pool Championship semi-final. The hard work was nearly done for Sanchez Ruiz with Chang facing a mountain to climb. He did pull one back but it was too little too late as Sanchez Ruiz underlined why he’s the best in the world.
The afternoon action begins at 12pm (CET) where the finalists will be decided.. See the action live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA and Italy as well as on Matchroom.Live and broadcasters worldwide. See where to watch here.
Sunday, 5 February – 12pm (CET)
Semi-Final 1 – Wu Kun Lin (TPE) vs Mohammad Soufi (SYR)
Semi-Final 2 – Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) vs Mario He (AUT)
Final – from 6:30 pm
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
吳坤霖挺進9號球世錦賽半決賽
在波蘭凱爾采進行的 2023 世界9號球錦標賽結束了第四天的賽程。旅居歐洲的敘利亞選手 Mohammad Soufi 繼續了他本屆在9號球世錦賽中的驚奇之旅。Soufi 在16強中以 11-10 決殺了波蘭選手 Sebastian Batkowski，雖著比賽的進行另外兩位隊友也雙雙在16強賽中敗下陣來，此也宣告著地主選手的全軍覆沒。 Soufi 緊接著在八強中再以 11-8 淘汰了希望能拿下第三座冠軍的奧地利名將 Albin Ouschan，殺進半決賽。他在半決賽的對手將是 “港都魔獸” 吳坤霖。在吳坤霖勝部晉級賽中敗給 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 落入敗部後，憑藉在敗部晉級賽中擊敗斯洛伐克的 Jakub Koniar 獲得晉級最後64強。
進入單敗淘汰階段後，接連吳坤霖以 11-2、11-4 打比數之差取勝於希臘名將 Alex Kazakis 與日本一哥大井直幸，緊接著在昨日的16強中 11-9 力擒奧地利的 Max Lechner。八強賽中的吳坤霖並沒有花費太多的時間，很快地便以 11-4 結束了越南選手楊國皇 (Duong Quoc Hoang) 的世錦賽夢想之旅，拿下半決賽門票。
Wu Kun Lin (file)
首輪出師不利不幸落敗的奧地利好手 Mario He 辛苦地一路從敗部過關斬將地晉級單敗淘汰賽，16強以 11-10 力克加拿大的 John Morra，八強再以 11-9 戰勝前世界冠軍，荷蘭 “終結者” Niels Feijen，將在半決賽迎戰目前 Nineball 世界排名第一的 Francisco Sánchez Ruiz (西班牙)。FSR 在32強與16強賽中接連拿下德國名將 Thorsten Hohmann (11-7) 與 愛沙尼亞的 Denis Grabe (11-8)，八強中又以 11-4 取勝於 “火雲邪神” 張榮麟強勢晉級半決賽。
9球世錦賽最終日的第一場半決賽將於波蘭當地時間中午12點 (台灣時間晚上7點，時差 -7小時) 展開，由吳坤霖對戰 Mohammad Soufi ，第二場則上演 Mario He 與 Francisco Sánchez Ruiz 的對決，決賽預定將於當地時間晚上6點半開打。比賽將透過天空體育 (英國和愛爾蘭地區)、Viaplay (波蘭、斯堪地那維亞地區、波羅的海國家與荷蘭)、DAZN (美國及義大利)，全球各地其他合作之電視頻道以及 Matchroom.Live (付費/PPV) 上直播。