CORTEZA OUSTS SOUQUET, ALCANO BOWS TO HOHMANN IN
US$50,000 WINNER-TAKE ALL INT'L CHALLENGE OF CHAMPIONS
The 2007 field includes Johnny Archer (USA), Ronato Alcano (Philippines), Lee Vann Corteza (Philippines), Yang Ching-shun (Taiwan), Ralf Souquet (Germany), Thorsten Hohmann (Germany), Niels Feijen (Holland) and John Schmidt (USA)
Quarters: Thursday Aug. 9, (Manila Time)
Lee Vann Corteza (Philippines) vs Ralf Souquet (Germany), 5-2, 5-1
Thorsten Hohmann (Germany) vs Ronato Alcano (Philippines), 5-3, 5-4
Johnny Archer (USA) vs Yang Ching-shun (Taiwan), 5-4, 5-0
Niels Feijen (Holland) vs John Schmidt (USA), 5-3, 5-4
Semis: Friday Aug. 10 (Manila Time)
Lee Vann Corteza (Philippines) vs Thorsten Hohmann (Germany)
Johnny Archer (USA) vs Niels Feijen (Holland)
REIGNING NATIONAL OPEN champion and ruler of the all Japan championship, Lee Vann "The Slayer" Corteza twice beat former world 9-ball champion Ralf "Kaiser" Souquet of Germany, 5-2 and 5-1, at the start of the eight man field knock-out game invitational US$50,000 winner-take all matches dubbed as the 17 th annual International Challenge of Champions to advance in the next round yesterday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, USA.
The 28-year-old top player of Negros Billiard Stable will face last year's runner up and former world 9-ball champion Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann of Germany, winner over Ronato "Volcano" Alcano, currently WPA 9-ball Champion and WPA 8-ball champion, in a similar two-set victory, 5-3 and 5-4.
Both Corteza and Hohmann, are aiming to avenge the loss of their countryman (Alcano and Souquet).
Negros Billiard Stable coach/ manager Christopher Palses lauded Corteza's impressive showing. "Gaya ng una kong sinabi, nagbubunga na din ang paghihirap ng NBS." Palses referring to the 1-2-3 finish of Russian Petiza, Ricky Zerna and Panfilo Damuag in the 1 st leg of the 4th annual SMB Philippine 9-ball Open held last Sunday in Robinson’s Galleria (Ortigas Center).
"Nakatutok pa din kami ni Sir Jonathan (NBS president Jonathan Sy) sa layunin ng NBS na makapag produce ng world champion mula sa Vis-Min. Puro taga Luzon kasi ang World 9-ball at World 8-ball champion." He added.
Defending champion Johnny "The Scorpion" Archer of the United States and European No.1 player Niels "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands also hurdled their respective rivals to dispute the other semi-final matches.
Archer, many time-world 9-ball champion from Waygross, Georgia stunned two-time Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist and 2007 Guinness 9-ball tour elimination top notcher Taiwanese Yang Ching, shun, 5-4, 5-0, while Feijen crushed 2006 US Open champion John Schmidt, also from the USA, 5-3,5-4.
The International Challenge of Champions is regarded as the supreme test of skill in professional billiards. The eight players are so evenly matched that any one player could beat the other seven on a given day. In addition, the tournament format is the most demanding test of 9-Ball skill in the sport. The matches are two sets, race to five games each set, with a 1-game sudden death tie-breaker in the event of tied sets. The 9-ball does not count on the break, and to win a game, the 9-ball is call shot. The caliber of competition is so intense that a single mistake invariably eliminates a player from any chance at the winner-take-all purse of US $50,000.
RP'S DYNAMIC DUO REYES AND BUSTAMANTE WILL DEFEND WORLD CUP OF POOL TITLE
PHILIPPINE’S dynamic duo Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante will defend their crown when the 2nd annual World Cup of Pool gets going on September 25 to 30 at the Outland, a futuristic nightclub in Rotterdam, Holland.
Both Reyes and Bustamante, playing under the banner of RP billiards patron Aristeo "Putch" Puyat, beat Malta, Malaysia, Czech Republic and Germany en route to an impressive 13-5 win over the pair of Earl "The Pearl" Stickland and Rodney "Rocket" Morris of the United States in last year's finals to bag the inaugural championships trophy in Newport, South Wales, England.
"We hope ma defend nina Efren (Reyes) and Django (Bustamante) ang titulo natin sa World Cup of Pool." Puyat said.
In World Cup of Pool, The prize-fund stays the same at a total of US $250,000 with $30,000 going to each member of the winning team. First round losers are guaranteed $1,500 per man to soften the blow of defeat according to official website.
Commented Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn, "We felt that the pool world was crying out for a team event like this so we decided to take the plunge last year with the World Cup of Pool. The tournament was a huge success and I'm certain that this year's event will be even better.
"It's all about the players and last year they delivered some fantastic performances with top class shot-making and plenty of drama throughout.
"Of course, the Philippines will start as favourites – not many people will back against Efren and Django – but there are plenty of teams there to challenge them and there will always be at least one pool minnow that has a great week as they emerge from the pack.
"Our events have always been well supported in Holland and I hope that the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool proves no exception," he added.
Tournament Information-
Dates: Tuesday 25th to Sunday 30th September 2007
Venue: Outland, Prins Alexanderlaan 37, 3068 PN Rotterdam
Format: 32 x 2-man national teams, scotch doubles format, winner breaks. First and Seconds Rounds: races to 8; Quarters and Semi-Finals: Races to 9; The Final: Race to 11.
Teams:
Australia Stuart Lawler / Shaun Budd
Austria Martin Kempter / Dejan Dabovic
Canada Alain Martel / Edwin Montal
China Li He-wen / Fu Jian-bo
Croatia Philipp Stojanovic / Ivica Putnik
England Daryl Peach / Imran Majid
Finland Mika Immonen / Marcus Juva
France Stephan Cohen / Vincent Facquet
Germany Oliver Ortmann / Christian Reimering
Holland A Niels Feijen / Nick van den Berg
Holland B Alex Lely / Rico Diks
Hungary Vilmos Foldes / TBC
India Dharminder Singh Lilly / Manan Chandra
Indonesia Ricky Yang / Mohammad Zulfikri
Italy Fabio Petroni / Bruno Muratore
Japan Naoyuki Oi / Satoshi Kawabata
Korea Ryu Seung-woo / Kim Woong-dae
Malaysia Patrick Ooi / Ibrahim bin Amir
Malta Tony Drago / Alex Borg
Qatar TBC
Philippines Efren Reyes / Francisco Bustamante
Poland Radoslaw Babica / Mateusz Sniegocki
Russia Konstantin Stepanov / TBC
Scotland Pat Holtz / Michael Valentine
Singapore TBC
South Africa TBC
Spain David Alcaide / Antonio Fazanes
Switzerland Marco Tschudi / Dimitri Jungo
Taiwan Yang Ching-shun / Wu Chia-ching
USA Rodney Morris / Corey Deuel
Vietnam Luong Chi-dung / Phanh Nam Nguyen
AMIT MAKES IT TO THE FINAL FOUR IN WOMEN'S TAIPEI TILT
Putch Puyat is also the benefactor of country's “Top 3”women's players namely, Rubilen Amit, Irish Ranola and Mary-Ann Basas. Puyat revealed that Rubilen Amit, the 2007 Amway World Women's 9-ball runner-up made it to the final four in the Women's invitational Tournament in Taipei.
"Nasa top four na si Rubilen (Amit), sana magtuloy-tuloy na siya. Ito na ang next big win ni Rubilen matapos siyang mag runner-up sa World Women's 9-ball sa Taipei." He added.
Amit, fondly called "Bingkay" in the pool world will take on Taiwanese Shin Mei Liu, the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball gold medalist.
Former women's world 9-ball champion Ga Young-kim of Korea will face another local star Chieh Yu Chou to complete the final four on Monday.
Amit earlier topped Group D bracket composed of I-Yun Su and Hui-Shan Lai to advance in the final four according to Puyat Sports event manager Ish Caparras.
Amit, the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games 9-ball and 8-ball gold medal winner will fly back home on Tuesday.
The former Makati Call Center employee turned professional pool player lost to eventual winner Xiao-Ting pan of China for this year's Women's World 9-ball crown last April 5 to 8 in Tao-Yuan, Taiwan.
Top finisher in each group will advance to the final four in Women's Invitational Tournament in Taiwan:
Group A: Yu-Chuan Tsai, (Chieh-Yu Chou-winner), Yuan-Chun Lin
Group B: Pei-Chun Lin Pei-Chun Tsai, (Ga-Young Kim-winner)
Group c: Ya-Ling Chen, Shu-Han Chang, (Shin-Mei Lui-winner)
Group D: I-Yun Su, Hui-Shan Lai, ( Rubilen Amit-winner)
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