Spain have won the 2022 World Cup of Pool beating Singapore in the final 11-6 at the Brentwood Centre, Essex live on Sky Sports Arena in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Netherlands, and Poland. Singtel in Singapore. Matchroom.Live in territories without a broadcaster.
Spain 11-6 Singapore
The Spaniards led by David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz reached the final at a canter dropping only eight racks ahead of their match up with Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp and Toh Lian Han for a shot of glory.
Alcaide and Sanchez Ruiz won the lag and from there it was a plain sailing opening rack despite it being unconventional with a few early nerves from the two amigos. Into the second rack and despite a weak break by Alcaide‘s standards, he kept Singapore hooked at his next chance at the table to tuck the cue ball behind the five and keep the two the opposite side. Lian Han fouled and from there it was a routine Spain run out for 2-0.
Into the third and Sanchez Ruiz broke dry which opened Singapore their moment to take their opening rack only for Yapp to leave no angle on the Lian Han. From there, Alcaide and Sanchez Ruiz came back to the table to keep the break in their hands at 3-0 and soon 4-0.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Singapore had their chance after Alcaide fouled when jumping to make the three. Lian Han and Yapp swooped in to cut the initial deficit to three. Before too long that was two as Yapp and Lian Han found stroke.
Lian Han‘s safety error was poor in the seventh rack and Sanchez Ruiz and Alcaide pounced to establish a three-rack buffer and to be nearing the halfway stage of victory. That halfway stage was soon reached at 6-2 to Spain.
In the next rack, Yapp went for an ambitions 2-9 combo kicking the two up table only for it to not come off, but the best was yet to come for the US Open runner-up who made an expert jump to pot it before clearing up the table with Lian Han to be 6-3 back.
With Lian Han breaking in the tenth rack, Lian Han left with no shot and Spain came good again to move to seven racks two despite a stroke of fortune from Sanchez Ruiz who banked the one ball into the opposite corner than intended after it had caught the other pocket. Alcaide broke dry in the following rack and Singapore were reducing their comeback further at 7-4.
The Singaporeans hadn’t really done too much wrong despite the scoreline and a break and run in the 12th rack showed just that as they came back into it at 7-5 and soon 7-6.
Spain were frozen for a short while to their chairs until Yapp scratched on the break as the three kissed the cue ball into the top left pocket. It was a key moment as the Singapore onslaught gathered pace. Alcaide and Sanchez Ruiz had a routine runout from there to be three away from glory. The distance for victory soon became two for Spain after two hooks in the space of two balls behind the brown seven. Firstly, for Spain on the two which they made only to leave it open for Yapp to fire in. That left Lian Han hooked only for him to scratch and give Spain the table to be close to the finishing line.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Alcaide went airborne to pot the one at the start of the following rack only for him to scratch in the process and give Singapore the table back. Lian Han left Yapp short of a clear shot on the seven forcing him to bank it only to leave it in the middle of the table for an exquisite bank shot from Alcaide to help Spain reach the hill.
Sanchez Ruiz broke in the last rack to leave a beautiful 2-9 combo to seal a special victory for Spain.
“Every day we had more confidence. All the scores, 7-1, 7-1, 9-2, when you look you think this is our time let’s go. To be honest, in the semi-final and final, we were so nervous at times. But when we had tough shots, we played so good. I think when you play for a team it’s more special than when you play singles. This is my little brother. We’ve played together for ten years and worked so hard. This moment is amazing for us.” – Alcaide
“First of all I want to say thank you to everyone. I want to say thank you to my partner. He played an unbelievable combination. We feel so good right now. We work so hard. We travel all over the world. We dream for one moment like this and we got it today.” – Sanchez Ruiz
The European Open Pool Championship is next up and takes place in Thorsten Hohmann’s hometown of Fulda, Germany at the Hotel Esperanto Fulda from August 9-14 2022 with player entries open Tuesday, 21 June, and spectator tickets available to purchase from Monday 27th June.
Sign up for alerts for the European Open Pool Championship here.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
十年搭檔努力付出終獲回報 西班牙隊首奪雙打世界盃冠軍
2022年雙打世界盃淩晨在英國埃塞克斯郡布倫特伍德中心落下帷幕，西班牙隊在決賽中以 11-6 擊敗新加坡隊，歷史性地首度捧起賽事的冠軍獎盃。
David Alcaide 和 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 組成的西班牙隊在本屆賽事中發揮出色，在決賽之前，他們四場比賽僅僅丟掉8局。他們在決賽中的對手是由葉浚惟 (Aloysius Yapp) 和卓連漢 (Toh Lian Han) 組成的新加坡隊，兩隊都是首度打進9球世界盃的決賽，無論結果如何都將產生一個新的冠軍隊。
西班牙隊通過比球贏得第一局的衝球權。比賽伊始，似乎有些緊張的 Alcaide 就犯下錯誤，4號球走位不佳形成吊球；好在 Sanchez Ruiz 及時止損，準確將4號球解進，西班牙隊拿下第一分。第2局，西班牙隊衝球效果並不算特別理想，Alcaide 成功利用5號球形成吊球；卓連漢的犯規送出手中球，西班牙隊清台後2-0領先。
第3局雖然 Sanchez Ruiz 的衝球沒有球落袋，但是新加坡隊隨後也犯下錯誤，西班牙隊拿下這一局後，又直接完成衝球清台，他們取得4-0的完美開局。第5局中，新加坡隊終於得到機會。Alcaide 的跳球犯規送出手中球，葉浚惟和卓連漢連勝兩局將比分改寫為2-4。
第7局中卓連漢的安全球失誤讓西班牙隊重回台面，他們很快重新回到了四局的優勢，6-2領先。第9局，卓連漢雖然完成3-7的組合球，但是卻給自己形成吊球；好在葉浚惟的跳球線上，一記精彩的大角度跳球，隨即完成清台，新加坡隊將比分追至3-6。
第10局，卓連漢的衝球效果不佳，西班牙隊再次上台，Sanchez Ruiz 1號球翻袋幸運地兩顆星落入另一側底袋，他們7-3再次將優勢擴大到四局。隨後 Alcaide 的衝球無果，新加坡隊火速連續拿下三局，6-7將比分劣勢縮小到一局。
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
西班牙隊在第14局終於再次回到台面，葉浚惟衝球後母球被3號球撞進左邊的頂袋，這也成為了比賽的另一個轉捩點，他們很快完成清台，8-6距離勝利只差三局。接下來的一局，兩隊都被 7號球形成吊球，卓連漢的母球摔袋讓西班牙隊更為接近勝利，9-6。
第16局，Alcaide 的母球摔袋讓新加坡隊重新回到台面，但是卓連漢留給葉浚惟一個尷尬的局面，葉浚惟將母球放到了盡可能遠的位置，但是 Sanchez Ruiz 精准的長台翻袋讓他們拿到賽點。接下來，Alcaide 完美的 2-9 組合球讓他們最終 11-6 拿下勝利。
Alcaide 後在接受採訪時表示：“每一天我們都更加自信。所有的比分，7-1，7-1，9-2，看到這樣的比分你會想，屬於我們的時刻到來了，讓我們一起加油吧。說實話，在半決賽和決賽中，我們時不時會感覺到緊張。不過在面對困難的擊球時，我們表現的非常好。我想團隊作戰比起單打比賽更加特別。他就像是我的弟弟，我們一起打了十年，付出了很多努力。這對我們來說就是神奇的一刻。”
Sanchez Ruiz 補充道：“首先我要感謝在這裡的每一個人。我也要對我的搭檔說聲謝謝。他完成了讓人難以置信的組合球。我們現在感覺非常好。我們一直都在努力奮鬥。我們一起去往全世界參加比賽。像這樣的時刻是我們夢寐以求的，今天我們終於實現了夢想。”
接下來，全新的9號球歐洲公開賽將在 Thorsten Hohmann 的家鄉—德國富爾達 (Fulda) 舉辦，比賽將於8月9-14日展開。球員報名通道將在6月21日週二開啟，觀眾門票將在6月27日開始發售。