Kuwait’s Omar Al Shaheen storms into the Final 64 knockout stage with a massive upset of former champion Darren Appleton at the World 9-ball Championship.
By Ted Lerner/WPA Press Officer
Photos Courtesy of Bo Bader
(Doha, Qatar)–Omar Al Shaheen knows that success in championship pool is as much about perseverance as it is about being an amazing shot maker. Sometimes, when things aren’t going your way, you just have to be patient. When your time finally does come, you have to be ready to grab the cherry.
Today at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha, that cherry came in the form of a brilliantly played match against former World 9-ball Champion Darren Appleton. Today was Judgement Day at the 2016 World 9-ball Championship, the last chance to make it into the Final 64, the knockout rounds and the real road to 9-ball glory.
Of course Appleton, one of pool’s giants, was the heavy favorite. But the 23 year old Kuwaiti played flawlessly and completely carefee, while the Brit couldn’t find the measure of the break shot and looked tight. Al Shaheen won in a master class, 9-5, putting Appleton out, and himself in the money rounds of pool’s biggest event.
To understand just how Al Shaheen got to this point of being able to oust one of pool’s best players, it helps to look back over the last few days. The talented and good looking youngster didn’t even have a spot in the tournament a few days ago. He entered the brutally tough qualifiers last week, reached the finals two times, only to lose to two top players. But as he was lamenting what could have been this year, he got the call that another player had dropped out and, as the leading point holder of the qualifiers, he got the very last spot in the world championship.
Al Shaheen then lost his very first match and was forced over to the losers’ side of his group bracket. But then the Kuwaiti found his groove, handily beating Sweden’s Marcus Chamat, to set up a showdown with Appleton. He suddenly realized all the tough competition and, yes, the losing, had prepared him for this moment.
“I think it’s good that I lost many times,” an ecstatic Al Shaheen said after disposing of Appleton. “In the qualifiers I lost three times, two of them in finals to very good players. In the group stages I lost my first match. So that’s four times. So now I can accept losing. And it was good practice. Today I just play my game and I am relaxed. Darren is a very good player and I feel very good right now.”
Omar Al Shaheen
31 one other players left the Al Arabi with similar wide grins today as they booked their spots in the Final 64 which begins Tuesday morning here. They join the 32 players who qualified on Sunday in what is a brutally stellar field of pool greats ready to do battle over the next three days for pool’s most prestigious prize.
Leading the way, as usual, are the Taiwanese and the Filipinos. Taiwan brings 10 heavyweights into the knockout stages, including defending champion Ko Pin Yi, Chang Yu Lung and Chang Jun Lin. Filipino fans will have nine players to get behind including Dennis Orcollo, Warren Kiamco, Lee Vann Corteza, Carlo Biado, Jeffrey De Luna and Johann Chua. Filipino Alex Pagulayan, who won the World 9-ball crown in 2004, plays out of Canada and also made it through to the knockout rounds.
It wouldn’t be surprising if China finally takes its first World 9-ball title. Former champion Wu Jiaqing(formerly Wu Chia Ching) is playing rock solid pool, while Lui Haitao has consistently been raising his game over the last few years. Six Chinese players will be featured in the Final 64.
Poland has proved this year that it could arguably be Europe’s leading pool country with four players qualifying. A slew of other Europeans make up the field as well.
Perhaps the most notable statistic this year is the rise of the Middle Eastern players. Six players from the Middle East have qualified for the knockout rounds, a first in the history of this prestigious event. Clearly having the World 9-ball Championship in Qatar for the last seven years has significantly helped the sport grow.
Judgement Day always brings with it plenty of jangling nerves and high drama as players wilt under the gravity of the circumstances. One small roll of the ball can spell the difference between a player going 2 games and out, and perhaps a run at a world title. If there was ever a sport where whole careers rest on a razor’s edge, pool is it.
The Philippines young Jeffrey Ingacio has given Pinoy fans high hopes for the young generation to make their mark, but he had to get very lucky in holding off tough Canadian Francis Crevier to advance, 9-7.
Great Britain’s Jayson Shaw has played himself into being one of the top players in the world over the last six months, but today he had to come from way behind against a stingy Justin Campbell of Australia to qualify, 9-7.
Darly Peach
2007 World 9-ball Champion Daryl Peach had to go toe to toe with the Philippines Antonio Gabica, but the Brit prevailed 9-7 in a high quality match.
Bangladesh isn’t the first country to come to mind when one thinks of great pool players. Today, however, will stand as a monumental day in Bangladeshi cue sports history. 29 year old MD Alim became the first player from Bangladesh to make it to the knockout rounds of the World 9-ball Championship. Alim, who owns a business installing satellite TV services in Dhaka, was playing in his very first world championship this week. Today, he went to the wire with Italy’s Bruno Muratore and showed major league poise and skills in crossing the finish line to qualify.
Another player to look out for is Iran’s Ali Maghsoud. A few days ago Maghsoud took down the great Mika Immonen. Today the Iranian sucked up the massive pressure and beat Japan’s Hiroshi Takenaka, 9-7 to make his first Final 64.
Other Middle Eastern players continued to impress. Abdul Rahman Al Amar of Saudi Arabi continues to show maturity beyond expectations. Today he came from behind to win at the wire against Poland’s Konard Juszczyszym, 9-8, and move on to the money rounds.
Last year’s runner up Shane Van Boening again had the break mastered as he trounced the Philippines Francisco Felicilda, 9-3. Oscar Dominguez made it two Americans in the final 64 with a win today.
Other notable players bouncing back from defeats and advancing today include the Netherlands’ Niels Feijen, Germany’s Ralf Souquet, the Philippines Dennis Orcollo, Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama and Taiwan’s Chang Yu Lung.
One particular match at the end of today’s play seemed to encapsulate the drama and pressure of Judgement Day to a “T.” The Philippines Carlo Biado was not playing well and found himself down to Japan’s Hayato Hijikata, 7-4 in a race to 9. Hijikata pushed the score to 8-6, but with the finish line and a qualification in sight, the Japanese began to wilt and the match went to 8- 8 and a pressure packed one rack decider, with Hijikata breaking.
The Japanese sank a ball on the break and then proceeded to make a superb full table bank on the two, with an open table to the win. But just as Biado started to slink down in defeat in his chair, Hijikata missed a wide open shot on the 4-ball. The Filipino bounced out of his chair but even then his legs looked weak from the pressure. Biado held it together and cleared the table for an unlikely spot in the knockout stages.
“When he made that 2-ball, I just knew the match was over,” a seriously relieved Biado said after the match. “But then he missed the 4-ball and I knew this was my chance. My heart was beating and it was pressure. Now that I won the match, I have a lot of confidence. I’m in the Final 64. Anything can happen, and anyone can win. May the best man win.”
Play in the first day of the group stages begins Tuesday at 10am(GMT +3). All matches now become race to 11, alternate break. The round of 64 and round of 32 will be played on Tuesday. The round of 16 and quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday. The Semi-finals and Finals will be played on Thursday. The final will be a race to 13, alternate break.
Carlo Biado
2016年男子9球世界錦標賽會內賽於昨晚結束了雙敗階段的爭奪，在當天進行的敗部晉級賽中，Shane Van Boening、Niels Feijen、Ralf Souquet以及Carlo Biado等名將紛紛擊敗各自對手，搭上了晉級64強單敗淘汰階段的末班車。而英國名將Darren Appleton則5-9不敵科威特球員Omar Al Shaheen，爆冷出局。
昨日是本屆賽事雙敗階段的最後一個比賽日，進行的是敗部晉級賽。世界排名曾高居榜首的菲律賓名將Carlo Biado迎戰日本的土方隼斗，後者依靠出色的發揮，從會外賽突圍而出。比賽前期，Biado狀態不佳，4-7大幅落後。之後，Biado及時調整狀態，將比分追為8-8平。決勝局中，土方隼斗面對開放局面在4號球上發生低級失誤，Biado笑納大禮順勢清台，最終以9-8的比分成功逆轉，驚險晉級64強單敗階段。
“當他做到2號球的時候，我以為比賽就將結束了，” Biado後說到，“但是他打丟4號球的時候，我知道我的機會來了，我的心跳很快，壓力也很大。後來我贏下了比賽，讓我非常自信。我進入64強了，什麽都可能發生，任何人都可能贏球，也許是最棒的人贏得比賽。”
與Biado驚險晉級不同，前世錦賽冠軍Appleton在面對科威特23歲的Shaheen時，5-9脆敗對手，爆出開賽以來的又一大冷門，遺憾止步128強。賽後，欣喜若狂的Shaheen說：“我覺得輸球多是件好事，在以往會外賽中我失敗了三次，有兩次都是在最後時刻輸給了非常優秀的球員。算上我輸掉的雙敗第一場比賽，我(在世錦賽上) 一共輸了4次了，所以我能接受失敗。它對我來說是很好的經歷。今天我打得很放松，Darren是位非常棒的球員，我現在感覺很棒。”
其他場次，此前意外跌入敗部的Van Boening、Feijen、Ralf Souquet等人迎來各自的“生死”戰，最終紛紛取勝晉級，搭上64強單敗淘汰賽的末班車。
隨著昨日比賽的結束，本次賽事64強也全部產生，中華台北共有包括衛冕冠軍柯秉逸在內的10人參與角逐，菲律賓有Orcollo等9位球員亮相單敗階段，中國則由包含前世錦賽冠軍吳珈慶在內的6名球員出現在單敗階段中。今年已經展現歐洲花式撞球領頭國家的波蘭表現不俗，有4位球員晉級。
根據賽程安排，單敗階段將於今日15時正式打響64進32及32進16的比賽，明日將決出四強，後天則將產生最終的冠軍，賽制方面，決賽前搶11、輪流沖球，而決賽則為搶13。(master)
**The 2015 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Al Arabi Sports Club Sports Club in Doha, Qatar from July 30-August 4, 2016. The winner of the 2015 World 9-ball Championship will receive $40,000. The runner up will receive $20,000. The total prize fund is $200,000.
The players will be competing on Wiraka DYNASTY Tables with Simonis 860 Cloth, Electric Blue Color and using Aramith Tournament Pro cup TV Pool Balls featuring the new Duramith Technology.
The 2016 World 9-ball Championship is being hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by the The World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.
The WPA will be on hand in Doha throughout this year’s World 9-ball Championship providing up to the minute information, live scoring, photographs and in depth articles with insights and analysis from WPA Press Officer Ted Lerner.
Fans can interact with us through the WPA’s official Facebook Page for the event at this link;https://www.facebook.com/worldpoolbilliardassociation/
The WPA is also on Twitter; @poolwpa