Sunday, October 26, 2008

Yang finishes on top in Grand Final on 2008 Asian Tour

Yang Chin-shun from Taiwan won the Guinness Asian 9-ball Tour Grand Final.

In the final he beat two-time world champion Wu Chia-ching (Taiwan) 11-9 to claim the $36,000 first prize. Wu received $10,000 for second place. The two Filipinos Dennis Orcollo and Alex Pagulayan shared third place.

This was Yang's seventh win on the Asian Tour but first since the 2007 Singapore event. He's been to nine finals in total. That's one third of the 27 events ever held.

Chang Jung-lin was the defending champion and ranking leader going into the event. He went out in the group stages after two wins and two losses.

The event was held 24-26 October at the Mal Taman Anggrek, Jakarta, Indonesia. It was the sixth and final event of the season. Only the top 11 players in the rankings were invited.

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Immonen wins first US Open title

US Open 9-Ball Championships 2008Finland's Mika Immonen won the 2008 US Open 9-Ball Championships.

The 2001 world champion earned $40,000 by defeating former world 9-ball champion Ronnie Alcano (Philippines) 13-7 in the final. Alcano earned $20,000.

It was sweet revenge for the Finn as Alcano earlier had defeated him 13-7 in the winners' final.

Warren Kiamco was beaten 11-9 by Immonen in the losers' final to finish third. That was worth $10,000 for the Filipino.

Alcano also finished second in last year's event. The winner that time was Shane Van Boening from USA. This time around he was knocked out by countryman Larry Nevel in the earlier rounds.

This was the first US Open title for Immonen. His best previous finish was runner-up to Corey Deuel (USA) in the 2001 final.

With this win Immonen moves from third to second in the BCA Points List. Losing finalist Alcano enters the list at 25th. Previous No.2 Johnny Archer (USA) is the new points leader. Shane Van Boening (USA) drops from first to third.

Immonen sits at No.3 in the first edition of the new WPA rankings. Alcano is in eighth. Ralf Souquet from Germany is the leader, followed by Daryl Peach (England).

The tournament was played 19-25 October at the Chesapeake Conference Center, in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA. There were 238 entrants in this the 33rd edition of the championships.

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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Zanetti wins second Three Cushion World Championship

Marco Zanetti from Italy captured the 2008 World Three Cushion Championship.

In a very close final against Torbjörn Blomdahl from Sweden he won 3-2, with the set scores 14-15, 15-8, 15-11, 14-15 and 15-13.

Relative unknowns Jeremy Bury (France) and Peter de Backer (Belgium) shared third place. They were 16th and 14th respectively in the world rankings coming into this event.

Zanetti took away €4,800 for the victory. Blomdahl received €3,200.

Kouji Funaki (Japan) had the highest average in the tournament, with 1.891. Two-time world champion Daniel Sanchez from Spain had the highest single match average with 2.409. World No.1 Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) had the highest run with 14.

This was Zanetti's second world title. He also won in 2002. In addition he was runner-up in 2001 to the great Raymond Ceulemans (Belgium).

Blomdahl was aiming for his sixth world title from 11 finals.

Defending champion Ryuuji Umeda (Japan) was knocked out in the group phase by Sweden's Mikael Nilsson, and finished in 26th place.

The win takes Zanetti from 11th to fifth in the World Players Ranking. Blomdahl advances one place from third to second. Jaspers only finished 14th in this event but is still the leader. Frédéric Caudron (Belgium) falls from second to third.

The championship was held at the Saalbau St. Wendel, in St. Wendel, Germany between 14th and 19th October.

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Friday, October 24, 2008

John Higgins captures Grand Prix

Royal London Watches Grand Prix 2008Scotland's John Higgins won the 2008 Royal London Watches Grand Prix.

The final against Ryan Day (Wales) started very well for the two-time world champion. He built a 7-2 lead before Day came back to 8-7. Higgins managed to snatch the next frame though to win 9-7.

Englishmen Allister Carter and Judd Trump lost out in the semi-finals. Trump is only 19 years old and this was the best result so far of a very promising career.

Defending champion Marco Fu (Hong Kong) was beaten 5-1 by Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) in the second round.

Higgins received £75,000 for the victory. Day got £35,000 for his third ranking event runner-up spot. He's still waiting for that elusive first win.

Fu had the highest TV stage break of the tournament with the 139 he made against Jimmy Michie (England) in the first round.

This was the 19th ranking title for Higgins but first since the 2007 World Championship.

After unsuccessful attempts of introducing round robin system in recent years they this year returned to the normal cup format, but with a twist. After each round a new draw was made. This way the players didn't know who they would play in the next round until after they had won their match.

Higgins moves from ninth to sixth in the provisional rankings. Day advances two places, from fifth to third. O'Sullivan increases his lead atop the rankings and Stephen Maguire (Scotland) stays in second.

Higgins jumps from fifth to second in the ELO Ratings. Day also advances three places, from eighth to fifth. O'Sullivan still holds an overwhelming lead and Maguire drops one place to third.

The event took place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scoland 11-19 October, 2008. It was the third ranking tournament of eight on the 2008/2009 Main Tour. Next up on the snooker calendar is the Bahrain Snooker Championship which starts 8th November.

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Sunday, October 19, 2008

Souquet grabs second straight Euro Tour win in Swiss Open

Ralf Souquet from Germany won his second successive Euro Tour title and 15th overall in the 2008 Swiss Open.

In the final the 20-time Euro champ downed fellow German Christian Reimering 9-4. The victory was worth €5000. Reimering's second place was worth €3300.

In the semi-finals Souquet defeated England's Philip Burford 9-2. Reimering edged Nick van den Berg (Netherlands) 9-7.

Souquet was dominant in the event. He never lost more than six games in a match.

This was Souquet's second win in the Swiss Open and 15th Euro Tour win overall, from 24 finals. He also won last month's Netherlands Open. He has more wins than anyone on the all-time list. His long-time rival and fellow German Oliver Ortmann has 13 wins.

Souquet was the first to win back-to-back titles since Johnny Archer in 2000.

Defending champion and ranking leader going into the event, Mark Gray from England lost 9-4 to Reimering in the quarter-finals.

The win will take Souquet from sixth to first in the Euro Tour Ranking. Losing finalist Reimering moves from 16th to seventh. Bruno Muratore (Italy) holds on to second place and Niels Feijen (Netherlands) stays in third. Previous No.1 Gray falls to sixth.

The tournament was played 16-18 October at Poolbillard Center One Pocket, Payerne, Switzerland. It was the sixth event of seven on the 2008 Euro Tour. The last stop is the Dynamic Costa del Sol Open which runs from 4-7 December, 2008.

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Monday, October 13, 2008

The US team wins World Cup of Pool

World Cup of Pool 2008Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris from USA won the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool.

In the final they defeated England's Daryl Peach and Mark Gray 11-7 to claim the $60,000 first prize. England earnt $30,000 for their runner-up position.

Holders China (Li He-wen and Fu Jianbo) were beaten 9-5 by England in the semi-finals. 2006 winners Philippines (Francisco Bustamante and Dennis Orcollo) were defeated 9-6 by USA in the same round.

Once again England impresses at a major pool event. Peach is the current world 9-ball champion, Gray is the current European No.1 and Darren Appleton recently won the World Ten Ball Championship.

The event took place from 7-10 October in Outland, Rotterdam, Netherlands. 32 teams took part and all matches were scotch doubles, winner breaks.

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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Kelly Fisher nails second win of season in Pacific Coast Classic

2008 WBPA Pacific Coast ClassicEngland's Kelly Fisher won the inaugural WPBA Pacific Coast Classic.

In a tight final she beat Vivian Villareal (USA) 7-5.

The semi-finals saw Fisher edge Karen Corr (Ireland) 7-6 while Villareal defeated Monica Webb (USA) 7-5.

It was Fisher's second Classic Tour victory of the season after having also won the US Open. In total she's now got five wins on tour.

This was Villareal's second high finish in a row. Last month she lost to Jasmin Ouschan in the semi-finals of the Carolina Classic.

With this win Fisher solidifies her lead in the WPBA rankings. Villareal jumps from 7th to 6th. Corr stays in second and Xiaoting Pan (China) holds on to third.

The event took place from October 1-5 2008 at the Chinook Winds Casino & Resort, Lincoln City, Oregon, USA. It was the sixth of seven this season on the Classic Tour. Last up is the WPBA Championship, 12-16 November, in Hollywood, Florida.

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Walden strikes gold in Shanghai Masters

Shanghai Masters 2008Ricky Walden surprised everyone by capturing the 2008 Roewe Shanghai Masters.

He finished in style with a 105 in the final frame to beat fellow Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-8.

Mark Selby (England) and Scotland's Stephen Maguire lost out in the semi-finals.

Defending champion Dominic Dale (Wales) was edged out 5-4 by Steve Davis (England) in the first round.

Walden received £52,000 for the victory which was his first major title. His previously best was a quarter-final. O'Sullivan got £25,000 for the runner-up spot. He was aiming to win his third consecutive ranking event.

Jamie Cope (England) made a 147 break in his first-round loss against Mark J Williams (Wales). His consolation prize was £2,000 for the highest break and the £20,000 bonus for a maximum. It was his second career 147.

Walden jumps from 30th to 17th in the provisional rankings. O'Sullivan increases his lead over Maguire and Shaun Murphy (England) in second and third respectively.

The event took place at the Shanghai Grand Stage, Shanghai, China, 29 September - 5 October, 2008. It was the second ranking tournament of eight on the 2008/2009 Main Tour. Next up on the snooker calendar is the Royal Watches Grand Prix which starts 11th October.

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Sunday, October 05, 2008

It's England again as Appleton wins inaugural World Ten Ball Championship

Darren Appleton from England won the World Ten Ball Championship.

Appleton won a closely contested final against two-time world pool champion Chia-Ching Wu (Taiwan) 13-11. The Englishman lead 3-0, 6-1 and 10-5 before Wu climbed back into contention.

Recent straight pool world champion Niels Feijen (Netherlands) grabbed third place by beating local hero Demosthenes Pulpul 11-8 in the bronze match. This was the first time a bronze match has been contested in a world pool championship event. Previously both semi-final losers shared third place.

In the semi-finals Appleton overcame Feijen 11-9 while Wu defeated Pulpul 11-8.

Appleton, the previous world No.1 in English pool, received $100,000 for first place while Wu got $40,000 for finishing second.

This was the second major title for England in American pool. Last year Daryl Peach won the world 9-ball championship. This time Peach was ousted in the last 32 by another Englishman, Mark Gray.

Wu was aiming for a world championship triple after having won the 9-ball title in 2005 and the 8-ball title in 2006.

This was the first ever world championship in ten ball. There will be no 9-ball world championship this year as it has been postponed to 2009.

The event was dominated by the European and Asian contingent. There were eight Asians and six Europeans in the last 16. Shane Van Boening and Charlie Williams from USA were the only exceptions.

Appleton's ten ball success means Europeans now hold all major titles in pool. Ralf Souquet (Germany) is the reigning world 8-ball champion, Feijen won the 2008 World Straight Pool Championship and Peach is the 9-ball titlist.

The tournament was staged from 29 September to 5 October at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, Philippines.

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Jaspers continues three cushion domination with South Korea World Cup win

Dick Jaspers from Netherlands won his third consecutive title by capturing the World Cup event in South Korea.

Jaspers edged home favourite Kyung-Roul Kim 3-2. The frame scores were 15-6, 15-6, 13-15, 13-15 and 15-6. Tying for third were Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden) and Frédéric Caudron from Belgium.

Youn-Soo Lim (South Korea) had the highest general average of 1.896 while Mun-Gap Choi (South Korea) had the highest single match average of 2.727. Dinh Tien Dang had the highest run with 14.

Defending champion Daniel Sánches (Spain) lost 3-1 to Kim in the quarter-finals.

This was Jaspers' 17th World Cup win and third in a row.

The win strengthens Jaspers first place position in the World Cup Ranking. Kim advances from third to second. Caudron stays in second place.

Jaspers also stays on top of the World Players Ranking. Caudron stays in second place and Blomdahl (Sweden) follows closely in third.

The event took place 29 September - 4 October 2008 in the Suwon Youth Culture Center, Suwon, South Korea. It was the fourth of six events in the 2008 World Cup. Next event is in Hurghada, Egypt, 16-22 November.

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