DARREN Appleton of Great Britain beat former two-time world champion (WPA 9-ball and WPA 8-ball) Wu Chia-ching of Chinese-Taipei, 13-11, in convincing fashion to win the inauguraL WPA World Ten Ball Championship at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, last October 5, 2008.
Appleton led the match most of the way surprising many as Wu was a big favorite in this $400,000 total pot prize event.
Appleton raced from a 3-0 to 6-1 to 10-5 commanding lead. Appleton pocketed the $100,000 top purse, while Wu earned $40,000.
Actually by winning the World Ten Ball event, Appleton established the European domination of major pool events where compatriot Daryl Peach of Great Britain won the 2007 WPA World 9-Ball Championship, Ralf Souquet of Germany ruled the 2008 WPA World 8-Ball, and Niels Feijen of the Netherlands took the WPA World Straight Pool/ 14.1 Championship
"PLONG-PLONG" PULPUL COULDN'T BELIEVE IT
AT the conclusion of the inaugural World Ten Ball Championship, a new billiard sensation has risen. Demosthenes "Plong-Plong" Pulpul couldn't believe what happened in a span of two weeks.
"Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala sa s'werte ko," he said following his fourth place finish in the World Ten Ball Championship. He certainly wished for a better ending, but Pulpul is one contented soul right now.
The 23-year-old from Cagayan De Oro City turned from zero to hero in a span of two weeks.
After topping one of the qualifying rounds, Pulpul proceeded to become the best Filipino finisher in the biggest pool tournament in the world this year. He earned $15,000 (roughly P700,000) for his effort.
Part of his prize would be used for the baptism of his newly-born daughter Kishalyn. "Excited na akong makita ang pamilya ko, lalo na ang bagong baby namin," Pulpul said.
Kishalyn was born on September 24. Two days later, Pulpul earned his place in the main draw of WTBC. "Lucky charm ko 'yung baby namin. Mas naging inspirado ako na maglaro ng mabuti dahil lumalaki na ang pamilya ko."
Pulpul had a chance to get a bigger paycheck, but folded down the stretch against Niels Feijen of the Netherlands. Unlike his semifinal loss to Wu Chia-ching, Pulpul got his game going early against Feijen.
He raced to a 5-3 lead and was at the table going for a three-rack cushion. But an unforced error on the rack let Feijen back on the table and start a four-rack run.
Feijen himself believes Pulpul has a great future ahead of him.
The reigning straight pool champion noted that Pulpul's shotmaking ability "is at-par with the best of them."
"He just needs more exposure in big tournaments," Feijen said. Pulpul won his first six matches in the tournament. He beat Mohd Ali Al Bin of Qatar, 9-2, and Taiwanese ace Yang Ching-shun, 9-8, in group play.
On his way to the semifinals, Pulpul edged top ranked lady player Jasmin Ouschan of Austria, 9-8, toppled Kazuo Furuta of Japan, 9-4, repeated over Yang, 9-8, and rallied past Liu Haitao of China, 11-8.
FEIJEN BEATS PULPUL SETTLES FOR THIRD
NEILS "The Terminator" Feijen of the Netherlands settled for a third place-finish in the just concluded World Ten Ball Championship at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, on Sunday.
Despite playing for a consolation prize, Feijen, the 2008 World Straight Pool winner broke the hearts of local fans by trouncing the last Filipino Demosthenes "Plong-Plong" Pulpul, in the battle for third place to bag the $25,000 third prize money in this $400,000 total pot prize event organize by Raya Sports.
Pulpul, fondly called "Plong-Plong" in the local pool circuit didn't go home empty-handed as he received $15,000 as his prize for fourth place.
"Magaling talaga si Niels (Feijen)," said Pulpul in a post-game interview yesterday. It shall be recalled that Pulpul also bowed to two-time world champions (WPA World 9-ball and WPA World 8-ball) Wu Chia-ching of Taiwan, 8-11, in the first semifinal match. Darren Appleton of Great Britain beat Feijen, 11-9, in the second semifinal match on Saturday. Wu and Appleton will shot it out for the World Ten Ball Championship - which offers a top prize of $100,000. The runner-up will pocket $40,000.
On the road to the final four, Pulpul needed to go through a tough qualification tournament at the famous Star Billiards Center to make it to the main draw of this 128 player's field. In the group play, Pulpul crushed Mohd Ali Al Bin of Qatar (9-2) and Yang Ching-shun of Taiwan (9-8) then bested world no.1 female player Jasmin Ouschan of Austria (9-8) in the round-of-64, then subdued Kazuo Furuta of Japan (9-4) in the round-of-32, and Yang (9-8) in the round-of-16, and Liu Haitao of China,11-8, in the Round-of-8.
Other noted Filipino pool sharks who also saw action were Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Jeffrey de Luna, Elvis Calasang, Mario Tolentino, Victor Arpilleda, Jericho Banares, Leonardo Didal, Edgar Acaba, Arnel Bautista, Florencio Banar and Elmer Kalaquian. Top PNP player Alex Nobleza, meanwhile is a referee in this world championship event.
contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO
No comments:
Post a Comment