#chris melling

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32 Players Book Their Spots In The KO Rounds In A Roller Coaster First Day In Doha

By Ted Lerner WPA Media Officer Photo Credits WPA

(Doha, Qatar)–If the first day’s play of the 2019 World 9-ball Championship is any indication–and by all measures it certainly is just that–then fans around the world better be prepared for a wild roller coaster ride over the next three days.  Drama, upsets, nerves, revelations, suprises, excitement and downright brilliant 9-ball at the highest levels were all on display as play commenced in the 28th running of pool’s premier crown. And with a loaded field just getting warmed up, it’s only going to get better leading to the final on Tuesday.

With 64 matches played on 16 tables at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Day 1 saw 32 players book their spots in the final 64 knockout stage which begins Sunday.  None of the 96 players have yet to see the exits, but there were plenty of upsets, near upsets, and upstarts making their mark on pool’s biggest stage.

The top 32 seeds were given a bye in the first round of their groups, so these players only had to win one match to reach the single elimination knockout rounds.  Defending champion Joshua Filler of Germany did just that, but not before a shaky start which saw him tied at 4-4 in the race to 9 alternate break match against Qatari veteran Bashar Hussain. The World number one was never in trouble, though, and cruised to a 9-5 win.

2017 champion and runner up last year Carlo Biado of the Philippines didn’t fair as well as he got dumped over to the one loss side of his group with a shocking 9-3 loss to Chile’s Enrique Rojas. It was Rojas’ second straight victory of the day, the first coming over Kuwait’s Abdullah Alyusef. Rojas now books his well deserved spot in the Final 64 tomorrow.

The USA’s Shane Van Boening is one of the favorites here this week, but he looked a bit cold early on in his match with young talented Chinese player Xu Xiaocong. Xu is part of a large crop coming from China’s youth movement and he had the American down three quarters of the way through their match.  But SVB pulled it together at the last minute and squeaked by the Chinese, 9-8. Xu will get one more chance on Sunday.

Fellow American and Mosconi teammate Billy Thorpe also booked his spot in the final 64 with a 9-5 win over Canada’s Stephen Holem.

It was a solid day for team Taiwan. World 10-ball Champion Ko Ping Chung went up against Myamar’s rising star Phone Myint Kyaw, who also goes by the moniker, Muang Muang. Kyaw is a player that pool fans will want to pay attention to. He’s a former snooker player who has been winning regularly on the brutally tough Chinese 8-ball circuit, and he just grabbed two gold medals in the Southeast Asian games in Manila.  His stroke is one of the most solid in the game and anyone who watches him play instantly can see the potential in this young man.

But of course, Ko is a young prodigy who has already proven his metal in American pool with his recent win at the World 10-ball in July in Vegas.  Little Ko didn’t have much trouble with Muang Muang, winning handily, 9-4.

Little Ko will join his older brother Pin Yi in the final 64, who defeated the always stingy Jalal Al Sarisi of Venezuela, 9-4.  Other Taiwanese cruising into the final 64 include Chang Jung Lin, Chang Yu Lung, and Kevin Cheng.

The Philippines is surprisingly unrepresented in Doha this year with only four players in the field. With Biado losing early it was up to Johann Chua and Jeffrey Ingacio to save the day for the Pinoys. Both looked the goods and nabbed spots in the final 64.

It was a mixed bag for the European Mosconio Cup team. Greece’s Alexander Kazakis is one of Europe’s top bets here this week and he qualified for the knockout round with an easy 9-5 win over Qatar’s Waleed Majid.  But Albania’s Eklent Kaci and former World 9-ball Champion Niels Feijen of the Netherlands weren’t so fortunate. Kaci lost big to the Netherlands’ Ivar Saris, who had earlier looked solid in a 9-6 win over Poland’s Karol Skowerski. Feijen went down to upstart Hong Konger Yip Kin Ling, 9-7, who took his spot in the Final 64 with his second  win of the day.

The surprises kept coming throughout the day. Lithuania’s Pijus Labutis first squeaked by Peru’s Gerson Martinez, 9-8. Then he took on former World 9-ball Champion Wu Jiaqing, and shocked the Chinese great with a 9-7 upset, and a spot in the knockout rounds.

Also booking a spot in the final 64 was Canada’s John Morra, who continued his return to fine form with a 9-8 win over Poland’s Mateusz Sniegocki. Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp showed that he’s clearly a dark horse to watch here in Doha with a 9-4 drubbing of China’s talented Dang Jinhu.  England’s Chris Melling came back from 6-2 down to defeat Vietnam’s Do The Kien, 9-7. Also advancing today were Japan’s Naoyuki Oi, Austria’s Max Lechner, China’s Lui Haitao, Estonia’s Dennis Grabe, Finland’s Petri Makkonen, Germany’s Ralf Souquet,  and Spaniards David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.

Play on day 2 on Sunday, Dec. 14th will begin at 10am Doha time(GMT +3). The field will be whittled down to 64 players playing single elimination knockout race to 11.  The round of 64 will be completed in the first two session, and by the end of the day, the field will be down to the final 32. 

The winner of the 2019 World 9-ball Championship will receive $30,000. The total prize fund is $150,00.

*The 2019 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Qatar from December 10-17, 2019. The event is hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by the World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.

Fans around the world will be able to view live scoring, results, brackets and live streaming of many of the matches via the QBSF’s free live streaming platform at esnooker.pl.  Multiple tables will be available to view online at no charge to the public.

Results

Group 1

Bashar Hussain (QAT) 9 – 6 Hasan Hwaidi (IRQ)

John Morra (CAN) 9 – 7 Jerico Bonus (PHL)

Group 2

Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)  9 – 5 Mohammad Soufi (SYR)

Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 9 – 6  Kong Bu Hong (CHN)

Group 3

Pijus Labutis (LTH) 9 – 8 Gerson Martinez  (PER)

Dang Jinhu (CHN) 9 – 7 Saki Kanatlar (TKY)

Group 4

Kong Dejing (CHN) 9 – 6 Matt Edwards (NZL)

Jalal Al Sarsi (VEN)  9 – 7 Marc Vidal (SPN)

Group 5

Waleed Majid (QAT) 9 – 5 Mohammad Al Amin (BAN)

Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) 9 – 3 Woo Seung Ryu (KOR)

Group 6

Tomasz Kaplan (POL)  9 – 5 Ali Alobadili (QAT)

Do The Kien (VET) 9 – 3 Ricky Yang (IND)

Group 7

Liu Ri Teng (TPE)  9 – 5 Abdulatif Alfawal (QAT)

Radoslaw Babica (POL) 9 – 1 Nadim Okbani (ALG)

Group 8

Lin Ta Li (TPE) 9 – 1 Hassan Shhada (JOR)

Enrique Rojas (CHL) 9 – 7 Abdullah Alyusef (KUW)

Group 9

Phone Myint Kyaw (MYR) 9 – 3  Khaled Alghamdi (KSR)

Stephen Holem (CAN) 9 – 6 Casper Matikainen (FIN)

Group 10

Yukio Akagariyama (JPN) 9 – 7 Mohammad Berjaoui (LEB)

Max Eberle (USA) 9 – 7 Ali Maghsoud (IRA)

Group 11

Ivar Saris (NET) 9 – 6 Karol Skowerski (POL)

Hunter Lombardo (USA) 9 – 1 Ahmad Aldelaimi (KUW)

Group 12

Damianos Giallourakis (GRE) 9 – 7 Marck Bijsterbosch (NED)

Yip Kin Ling (HKG) 9 – 8 Abdulla Alshemari (KSR)

Group 13

Xue Zhenqi (CHN) 9 – 5 Clark Sullivan (NZE)

Masato Yoshioka (JPN) Luis Lemus (GUY)

Group 14

Jakub Koniar (SLV) 9 – 8 Darren Appleton (ENG)

Richard Halliday (RSA) 9 – 4 Fayaz Ussain (MAL)

Group 15

Konrad Juszcayszyn (POL) 9 – 7 Robbie Capito (HKG)

Jang Moonseok (KOR) 9 – 6 Wang Can (CHN)

Group 16

Petri Makkonen (FIN) 9 – 0 Mohamed El Raousti (ALG)

Xu Xiaocong (CHN) 9- 2  Riccardo Sini (ITL)

Winners Side Matches Day 1.

Winner is through to the Final 64, Loser goes to one loss side of their group for one more chance

Group 1

Joshua Filler (GER) 9 – 5 Bashar Hussain (QAT)

John Morra (CAN) 9 – 8 Mateusz Sniegocki (POL)

Group 2

Denis Grabe (EST) 9 – 7 Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)

Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 9 – 4 Fedor Gorst (RUS)

Group 3

Pijus Labutis (LTH) 9 – 7 Wu Jiaqing (CHN)

Aloysius Yapp (SIN) 9 – 4 Dang Jinhu (CHN)

Group 4

Kong Dejing (CHN) 9 – 6 Thorsten Hohmann (GER)

Pin Yi Ko (TPE) 9 – 5 Jalal Al Sarisi (VEN)

Group 5

Alexander Kazakis (GRE) 9 – 5 Waleed Majid (QAT)

Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) 9 – 3 Wojciech Szewczyk (POL)

Group 6

Chang Yu Lung (TPE) 9 – 6 Tomasz Kaplan (POL)

Chris Melling (ENG) 9 – 7 Do The Kien (VET)

Group 7

Johann Chua (PHL) 9 – 3 Liu Ri Teng (TPE)

Max Lechner (AUT) 9 – 6 Radoslaw Babica (POL)

Group 8

Liu Haitao (CHN) 9 – 3 Lin Ta Li (TPE)

Enrique Rojas (CHL) 9 – 3 Carlo Biado (PHL)

Group 9

Chung Ko Ping (TPE) 9 – 4 Phone Myint Kyaw (MYR)

Billy Thorpe (USA) 9 – 5 Stephen Holem (CAN)

Group 10

Yu Hsuan Cheng (TPE) 9 – 8 Yukio Akagariyama (JPN)

Alex Pagulayan (CAN) 9 – 3 Max Eberle (USA)

Group 11

Ivar Saris (NED) 9 – 4 Eklent Kaci (ALB)

Naoyuki Oi (JPN) 9 – 1 Hunter Lombardo (USA)

Group 12

Jeffrey Ignacio (PHL) 9 – 7 Damianos Giallourakis (GRE)

Yip Kin Ling (HKG) 9 – 7 Niels Feijen (NED)

Group 13

Ralf Souquet (GER) 9 – 8 Xue Zhenqi (CHN)

Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) 9 – 8 Masato Yoshioka (JPN)

Group 14

David Alcaide (ESP) 9 – 7 Jakub Koniar (SLV)

Jung Lin Chang (TPE) 9 – 4 Richard Halliday (RSA)

Group 15

Konrad Juszcayszyn (POL) 9 – 8 Corey Deuel (USA)

Albin Ouschan (AUT) 9 – 4 Jan Moonseok (KOR)

Group 16

Petri Makkonen (FIN) 9 – 5 Lin Wu Kun (TPE)

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Souquet Survives Strickland and Comebacks Galore at Predator World 10-ball Championship

By Keith Paradise

CSI Media Staff Writer

The matchup looked like something right out of 1999, instead of 2019.

Earl Strickland and Ralf Souquet share a lot of common ground. Both have had long, decorated careers in pool that have resulted in multiple world championships as well as induction into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame.

Tuesday afternoon, they shared center stage in the main arena of the Predator World 10-ball Championship in a winner’s side matchup, with Souquet taking advantage of a pair of late Strickland mistakes to wipe out a 6-4 deficit and win, 8-6, at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Both worked to overcome some rust in the early stages. Strickland built an early 2-0 lead when Souquet failed to pocket a ball on the break in the first game and then missed a 6-ball in the second rack. The German said he felt good after opening warm ups but struggled with coldness in his hands as well as the speed of the cloth when the match began.

“I couldn’t get comfortable with the whole situation,” Souquet said.

Strickland appeared poised to increase his lead in the third game but missed a table-length shot on the 9-ball. The German tied the match in the fourth game and the two competitors split the next four games until Strickland used a break and run and a Souquet scratch on the break to jump out ahead 6-4 in a standing room and very pro-Strickland audience.

Down the stretch, Souquet regained control of the match in the same way that Strickland had obtained it: maximization of opponent mistakes. The German narrowed the deficit to 6-5 when Strickland fouled in the 11th game after attempting a combination shot with the 2-ball and pocketed the wrong ball, then added a break-and-run to tie the score. Souquet took the lead when Strickland deposited the cue ball into the side pocket on the break in the 13th game. 

“You have to hope for any chance that he gives you,” said Souquet. “He probably played a little better throughout the whole match. You just have to wait for a mistake. Maybe a scratch on the break or maybe he takes position for granted and you just have to go from there.”

Souquet saved his best break for last as he landed four balls – causing even Strickland to let out a “wow” from his chair. Souquet then closed out the rack and the match.

The German now advances to the final 16 on the winner’s side where he will face Alex Kazakis of Greece at 5:30 p.m. local time Wednesday. 

Competition opened Tuesday with eight matches on the winner’s side of the bracket, including Chris Melling using some stellar shooting along with some breaking struggles by opponent Toru Kuribayashi to cruise to an 8-1 victory. After trading the first two racks, the Englishman used the next three racks to stifle Kuribayashi with safety play then run out after his opponent provided an opening. Meanwhile, Kuribayashi struggled with his break, failing to pocket balls three times.

“I played nearly perfect. I didn’t miss a ball,” said Melling after the match. “My only mistake was when I scratched on the break.”

Tuesday’s late afternoon and early evening was reserved for the one-loss side of the bracket, with two sets of win-or-go-home matches taking place.

One of those who survived was Raymund Faraon, who trailed throughout his match with Fan Yang except at the most important time: the end. Using a handful of tactical safeties and some clutch shot-making, the Filipino overcame a 6-3 deficit to defeat the 2015 World Chinese 8-ball champion, 8-7.

With 120,000 spectators watching online in his native China, Yang used his powerful break shot and a couple of mistakes by Faraon to build a commanding 6-3 lead in a race to eight. Faraon tacked on two games to cut the deficit to 6-5 after Yang came to the table in both games and failed to clear the racks. After the two players traded breaks-and-runs to push the score to 7-6, Yang had the break and a chance to finish the match in the 14th game. However, Yang lost a safety exchange on the 1-ball and Faraon tied the score at seven games each.

History would repeat itself in the deciding game, with Faraon breaking and failing to find an open shot on the 1-ball. The Filipino played safe, pushing the cue ball to the opposite end of the table of the 1-ball with the 3-ball blocking the path. Yang missed his attempt at a jump shot and left Faraon the opening he needed for the victory.

Russia’s Fedor Gorst also staved off elimination with a comeback of his own, capitalizing on a handful of unforced errors by opponent Matt Edwards of New Zealand to erase a 6-2 deficit and win, 8-6. Trailing 6-5, Gorst was given an opportunity to tie the score when his opponent fouled on a jump shot attempt. It appeared the young Russian’s comeback attempt might be halted in the 13th game when he pushed a 3-ball right of the corner pocket, but was given new life when Edwards missed the 8-ball. The New Zealander had an opportunity to run out and tie the score in the following game but missed the 2-ball in the corner pocket.

The third day of the Predator World 10-ball Championship begins at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The live broadcast feed gets underway at 12:30 p.m. with Mario He taking on Liu Cheng Cheh. The 3 p.m. match will be determined by the winners of earlier matches and the 5:30 p.m. match will involve Chris Melling facing Jung-Lin Chang in a winner’s side matchup. The 8 p.m. broadcast pairing will also be announced later in the day.

The Predator World 10-ball Championship is a presentation of CueSports International and sponsored by Predator Group. Predator Group is an international billiard industry leader with a focus on high-performance cues and shafts as well as bringing constant innovation and game-improving equipment to billiard players worldwide. The event is being hosted by the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino and broadcast live on YouTube by CSI Media, a subsidiary of Cue Sports International. For more information, visit www.world10ball.com

CueSports International (CSI) is an international billiards organization which produces the United States Open 8-ball, 10-ball, one pocket, bank pool and straight pool championships. CSI, which also operates national amateur pool leagues, has three divisions: CSI leagues, CSI events and CSI media. CSI leagues manages the BCA Pool League and USA Pool League, the events division produces numerous amateur and professional events and the media department creates live video billiards content. For more information about CSI, visit www.playcsipool.com or find CueSports International on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

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‘The Greatest Clearance Of My Career’--Day 2 Report From RYO Rack Classic in NYC

England’s Chris Melling breaks the internet as he advances to the Final 16 at the RYO Rack Classic in New York

  By Ted Lerner WPS Media Officer Photos By JP Parmentier

(New York City)–Long time fans of pool already know that England’s Chris Melling is one of the more talented and entertaining players on the pro circuit. Daring, fast, creative and downright clever, when the Englishman is on his game, there is simply no one in pool who is more fun to watch. It’s one reason why he’s been labeled “The Magician.”

And on Thursday night on day 2 of the third leg of the World Pool Series at Steinway Billiards in Queens, New York City, Melling took his on-table tricks to new and rarefied heights that has sent the pool world, especially online, into a tizzy.

Words may fail to aptly describe the stunt that Melling pulled off in front of an audience of over 50,000 viewing on social media giant Unilad, but we’ll give it a go. Melling was playing the great Mika Immonen in a race to 9, do-or-die match to see who would go through to the final 16 of the Ryo Rack Classic Championship. It was rack three with the score tied 1-1, and Melling had the solids but was faced with a difficult table and no obvious answers for an easy clear. Then came three shots that will surely make the rack “must see TV” for years to come.

The first shot saw the Englishmen gently send the pink 4-ball into the 13 ball, while the cue ball caromed across table and back into the still moving 13-ball, which then nudged the still-moving 4-ball into the corner pocket. While this unusually creative shot drew applause from the crowd, Melling was now hooked behind the 13. No problem, though. Without even blinking, Melling then jacked up his playing cue and swerved the cue ball on a full table arc and incredibly potted the two ball at the other end of the table.

Several easy shots later Melling ran into a wall as his last ball, the 1-ball, was blocked from both corner pockets. After fussing for two minutes, Melling called the 1-ball in the very corner that was blocked. What’s this? The crowd seemed to sense something special was about to happen and indeed it did. Melling sent the 1-ball on a four rail journey around the table, through all of Immonen’s stripes, barely past the 8-ball and into the tight 4 inch corner pocket. With the cue ball in position and with the crowd going wild, the Englishman tapped in the 8-ball to win the rack. (Watch the video HERE. Rack 3 starts at 9:30)

It was clear that Melling was in that rarefied zone and, indeed, he went on to route Immonen 9-3 and move into the final 16 single elimination knockout stage which begins Friday.

“That was the greatest clearance of my career,” Melling said afterward. “On the 1-ball a lot of people might say that was lucky, but 8-ball is call shot. It’s going to take something for somebody to beat that shot.”

Indeed if Melling continues this standard of play he’s going to be a big favorite as the RYO Rack Classic heads to a conclusion over the next two days. Of course he will certainly have plenty of top notch competition, as the stacked field of 64 has been now been cut down to just 16 players. The tournament now moves to single elimination and best of three sets, with each set a race to 6 games.

One of the other favorites will be Melling’s first opponent on Friday, 18 year old Albanian Klenti Kaci, who won the last leg of the World Pool Series in April, the Aramith Masters. Kaci came back to New York this summer clearly in top notch playing form as he hasn’t even been touched in the tournament so far, winning all three of matches to advance. On Thursday Kaci took down England’s Imran Majid 11-6 to reach the final 16.

Majid later came off the losers side with a handy 9-6 win over talented Kuwaiti Ahmed Aldulaimi to make the final 16. England will be well represented on Friday. Karl Boyes, the 2010 World 8-ball champion, has suddenly rediscovered his form. Boyes took down fellow Brit Mark Gray, 11-5 to advance. Gray then rebounded with a solid 9-5 win over the Philippines Warren Kiamco to make the last 16. World Pool Series founder and multi-world champion Darren Appleton advanced earlier in the day with a n 11-6 win over Immonen.

Another player who is quietly crushing anyone put in front of him is Austria’s Mario He, who recently won the World Cup of Pool with his partner Albin Ouschan. He won his third straight match on Thursday, easily defeating Irish great, Karen Corr, 11-4. The Austrian will face local New York favorite Tony Robles. Robles came off the losers side of the bracket with a big win over Estonia’s Dennis Grabe, 9-6.

The USA’s Skylar Woodward

The USA’s Skylar Woodward, clearly still buzzing from his runner up finish at the World Cup of Pool in London in June with Shane Van Boening, has yet to taste defeat. The same goes for American Shawn Wilkie, who is gearing up for the World Games next week in Poland.

Polish veteran Radislaw Babica has looked the goods so far in New York. After thrashing American Billy Thorpe 11-4 on Wednesday, Babica easily beat Canada’s Jason Klatt 11-5 to advance to the final 16. Klatt later qualified for the final 16 with a 9-4 win over April Larson. But while the Canadian ended Larson’s run in the event, the 17 year old school girl had clearly won the hearts of everyone at Steinway.

April Larson

With her prodigious talent and infectious personality, Larson has been garnering plenty of attention in the last few years and especially in 2017. She recently reached the semi-finals in the WPBA Masters event and last week she represented the USA in the Atlantic Cup challenge in Austria. In New York, the Minnesota native lost her first match to American Corey Duel. She then proceeded to win two straight 9-8 matches Thursday, each one via a thrilling shootout. In the second match against Korea’s Lee Kang, Larson showed incredible bottle and nerve in the shootout as she potted one long 8-ball after the next to win the match, as the large crowd watching gave this budding pool superstar a rousing applause.

Play continues Friday in the RYO Rack Classic Championship at Steinway Billiards in New York City beginning at 1pm. The semi-finals and final will be held on Saturday.

The winner of the RYO Rack Classic Championship will take home $10,000.

For the complete draw and live scoring please CLICK HERE.

The third event of the World Pool Series, The RYO Rack Classic, is being held at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, New York City from July 12-15, 2017. The World Pool Series is sponsored by RYO Rack, Aramith, Molinari, Predator, Unilad, Cheqio, Iwan Simonis, Kamui, Billiards Digest, Cuescore, Ultimate Team Gear, and High Rock Productions.

For more information on the World Pool Series, please visit www.worldpoolseries.com.

The World Pool Series is on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/worldpoolseries/. And Twitter at @WorldPoolSeries

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Darren Appleton and Bai Ge Won the First China Pool Champion

The first ever “China Billiard World Championship” was held from 28 January 2015 in the beautiful YuShan City (JiangXi Province) of China. A total prize money of RMB ¥ 3 million (approximately US$480,000), out of which ¥600,000 was awarded to the Men’s Champion, while ¥400,000 was awarded to its lady counterpart.

Although it might seem to be “odd cents” when comparing to most major snooker championships, the tournament is already head-to-head with the World 9-Ball Championship in terms of prize monies paid. The tournament was hosted by the China Billiard Association (CBSA), and in a scale much larger than any snooker or pool tournaments. Apart from regular Chinese Pool players, many current snooker and pool professionals joined the scene, 23 countries, spanning all 5 continents, and over 300 renowned international players participated in the event. Shaun Murphy, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Thorsten Hohmann, Chris Melling and so on are just a few names to mention. Almost all the top women players came to YuShan to compete for the honour.

In the Men’s Division, Darren Appleton was the one who laughed to the last, with tears and on his knees, by claiming the title in the end and pocketed away the US$90,000+ first prize.

It was 4 days before the stage 2 of the tournament came to its Final. Ironically, the two biggest name in its own category staged in this “clash of the titans”. Mark Selby, world snooker champion, and Darren Appleton, world pool champion, met in a race to 21 for the first ever world title in Chinese 8-Ball.

The path to the final was never easy for either player. Selby had to take on Chris Melling on the way then Liu HaiTao (China #1) in the semi-final, while Appleton saw off Neil Robertson (former world #1 in snooker) then the 2015 CBSA World 9-Ball Champion Chu Bingjie of China in the other semi.

Soon after the award ceremony completed as Bai Ge of China claimed the women’s title, the 20-racks first session of the men’s final commenced. In the first 16 racks, Appletonled only by a mere 2-rack margin (9-7). At the end of the session, the differnce remained the same when Appleton and Selby (11-9) left the battlefield during recess. The final session started at 7:30 in the evening, and Appleton immediately increased the lead by winning the first 4 racks after returning. Mark Selby, who is renowned for his “comebacks”, took the next three racks, then two more in the next three to make it all square at 18-18.

Selby then took the 37th, and made the score 19-18 in his favour and took the lead for the first time in the match. The 38th rack was a tough one and after far too many attempts by both players in making pots, Appleton demonstrated top-level defense and gained “ball-in-hand” to clear the table.

Selby had the break in the 39th. With balls potted on the break, the audience was about to witness a clearance by this world snooker champion. Dramatically, Selby missed an easy pot. Appleton once again taught the world what top class defensive play is and reached the hill.

“Break and Run” was what the almighty Darren Appleton did in the 40th rack and brought himself down to his knees celebrating the tough and difficult win. Appletoncould not hold back his tears, it was a sweet revenge for Appleton after losing to Mark Selby in the English Blackball final in 2006 for a prize of £10,000.

Some might not understand why Appleton had four fingers up when receiving the trophy. This was because, after 24 years of hard work, he finally has in his pocket four world titles in the different categories of 9-Ball, 10-Ball, 14.1, and now Chinese 8-Ball.

Appleton revealed that the prize money could relief his recent mortgage. As well, buying a few drinks for his friends waiting for him to party in the Philippines (where the next tournament is being held) is inevitable. However, since Appleton has been too busy lately, the most important of all will therefore be going on a honeymoon trip with his newly wedded (in 2014) and beautiful wife Angie.

In the Women’s Division, in the end, Bai Ge claimed the championship by beating another seasoned Chinese 8-Ball player Zhang Xiaotong, walking away with a US$60,000+ first prize. The final score was 17-13. The direct translation of the name Bai Ge is “Pigeon”, and the champion really spreaded her wings and won the tournament with flying colours. She eliminated two world champions, Han Yu and Kelly Fisher, in the semi-finals and quarter-finals respectively. Another world champion Liu ShaSha suffered from serious flu during the tournament and lost to Kelly Fisher in the last 16. Zhang Xiaotong stormed into the final as strong asBai Ge did, also took on two world champions (Allision Fisher and Fu Xiaofang) befoer meeting Bai Ge for a race to 17 final.

The two-session women’s final was played one day before the men’s last match. In the first session, Bai Ge took the lead very soon and led by 7-3. Zhang worked hard and fought back to close the margin at 9-7 before the session ended.

The final session started on the next day, Bai Ge again was dominating the games. When the score was 15-11 in Bai Ge‘s favour, and when she sunk the 8, she literally jumped up and started celebrating. Obviously she forgot that it was a race to 17. “I was too emotional and thought I had won after sinking that black.” said Bai Ge, “When I started celebrating, the crowd was dead quiet, then I realised that the match was not over yet. After that I warned myself that I have to cool down immediately.”

Zhang then took the advantage of Bai Ge‘s emotional fluctuation and make 2 racks back. The score was at 16-13. After the break in the 30th rack, the balls did not spread as ideal as the players thought. Dramatically, when Zhang tried to break the knots, the 8-ball was accidentally kicked in the pocket. Sad for Zhang but Bai Ge could then really start celebrating her win.

This is the first international event that Bai Ge had even won. “My form was better than the day before!” said the Champion. “I did not feel any pressure and I was just trying to play my best. I was physically tired in the first session and hence I was not playing too well. My original target was to make it into the quarter-finals and that had already been acquired. I got into form very quickly in the final session. Whoever got into the final would like to win, and that was why I had that embarfassing ‘early celebration’ earlier on”.

Bai Ge expressed her gratefulness to her parents who had supported her all the way. The champion also made appreciation to the Shanghai Billiards Association and the PuDong Billiards Association, both councils have been taking care of her billiards career.

The Shanghai Billiards Association is planning to present a special “Non-Olympic Athlete Award” to Bai Ge. Previously, Pan XiaoTing, Fu JianBao, Liu YuZhen and Chu BingJie had also received this honour.

New Post on http://thepoolscene.com/international-pool-and-billiards/2015-chinese-masters-livestream-schedule

The 2015 Chinese "We Masters" Livestream Schedule

2015 World Chinese 8-Ball Masters

Livestream  Schedule Date Time January 5 9:40 Source 1 – Source 4 Earl Strickland  vs  Shi Hanqing 石漢青 14:30 Source 1 – Source 4 Gareth Potts  vs  Wang Yun 王云 16:00 CCTV5 Stephen Hendry  vs  Li Hui 李輝 19:30 Source 1 – Source 4 Chris Melling  vs  Yu Longhai 禹龍海 January 6 10:30 Source 1 – Source 4 Dennis Orcollo  vs  Wang Peng 王鵬 15:00 Source 1 – Source 4 Earl Strickland  vs Stephen Hendry 16:00 CCTV5 Alex Pagulayan  vs  Chris Melling 19:30 Source 1 – Source 4 Karl Boyes  vs  Shi Hanqing 石漢青 January 7 10:30 Source 1 – Source 4 Wang Yun 王云  vs  Anna Mazhirina 15:00 Source 1 – Source 4 Chris Melling  vs  Yang Fan 楊帆 16:00 CCTV5 Gareth Potts  vs  Zheng Yubo 鄭宇伯

  It is the tenth year since the renaissance of Chinese eight ball game. The horn of Masters has been winding, leaving no time for us to celebrate. The whole world is focusing on the 24 masters. They are ready for their battles. Just fight! You will see who is getting the blade.

So it is oft times in life Ten years is enough for us to recognize the real master and define the real hero. In retrospect, ten years ago, he, the father, was all alone in lighting the day of Chinese eight ball. I can still hear the howls of disbelief from those days. Now we see prosperity everywhere.

In retrospect, in the past ten years, we, the new blood for this event, were persisting our dream under the toughest condition as well as the screaming: don’t be silly! Snooker and nine ball will dominate the industry.

Now, we are the mainstay of this national pool game.

In retrospect, we Joyers will never forget the single shadow wavering outside the CCTV building that winter; we will never forget the tears for the successful closure of the first Masters; we will never forget the long and arduous journey days we spend on Chinese eight ball career; we will never forget that we have stuck together with the 16 balls in life and death

For the past ten years, we have created our own national pool history.

In retrospect, we still remember how excited we were when the first JOY Cup Event started; we still remember the moment when the high definition video came out; we still remember the cheering ovation for the image ambassador Stephen Hendry. All the more, we are so proud of the prevalence of Chinese eight ball game.

It is the innumerable dribs and drabs that have lighten up our ten year ordinary youths. Life is the arena. We have come and fought; we laughed because life should be sound and delightful; we cried however we should dry our tears; we have grown up through the pain of unceasingly outstrip ourselves; we are ordinary people but we have to make the perfect shot for ourselves as well as our families.

We see the road ahead and march forward courageously; we review the history and enjoy the glorious time. We thereupon know what is the master. It is far from the 24 players.

Going beyond ourselves, insisting on our dreams, getting someone and a career to grow old together, we are the real masters of our lives.