Sunday, July 26, 2009

Jaspers goes one better to claim gold in 2009 World Games

2005 three cushion runner-up Dick Jaspers from Netherlands was one of the winners in the 2009 World Games.

In the 2005 final Jaspers lost 42-41 to Daniel Sanchez (Spain). He got his revenge by beating Sanchez 40-26 in the semi finals and Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden) 40-18 in the final.

Austrian Jasmin Ouschan was the defending champion in the women's pool event. She also reached this year's final, but lost 9-8 to Allison Fisher (England).

Ralf Souquet from Germany won the men's pool event. The former world champion is possibly the best player in the world right now and defeated Ching-Shun Yang (Taiwan) 11-4 in the final. The 2005 winner Pei-Weo Chang (Taiwan) did not return to defend his title.

The snooker final was contested between two Englsih pros with veteran Nigel Bond beating David Grace 3-0. Northern Ireland's defending champion Gerard Greene did not take part.

Here are the medals awarded in the billiard disciplines:

Three cushion

1. Dick Jaspers (Netherlands)
2. Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden)
3. Marco Zanetti (Italy)

Pool (9-ball)

Women:
1. Allison Fisher (England)
2. Jasmin Ouschan (Austria)
3. Yuan-Chun Lin (Taiwan)

Men:
1. Ralf Souquet (Germany)
2. Ching-Shun Yang (Taiwan)
3. Stephane Cohen (France)

Snooker

1. Nigel Bond (England)
2. David Grace (England)
3. Mohamed Shehab (United Arab Emirates)

The World Games is an event for 30+ sports not included in the Olympic Games. It's staged every four years by the International World Games Association.

The Games took place 16-26 July 2009 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. In 2013 the host city will be Cali, Columbia.

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Results from recent polls

Here are the results from some recent polls:

What's the toughest world title to win?

According to the visitors snooker is the toughest cueball discipline in which to win the world championship. That option was selected by 65 (43%) of the 150 voters. Combined the disciplines in American Pool received 55 votes. Unfortunately I forgot to include three cushion. Possibly that explains the relatively large number in "Other".

8-ball 5 (3%)
9-ball 28 (18%)
10-ball 11 (7%)
Eightball Pool / Blackball 6 (4%)
English billiards 8 (5%)
Pyramid 3 (2%)
Snooker 65 (43%)
Straight Pool 11 (7%)
Other 13 (8%)

Votes: 150
Poll closed 30 June 2009

What is your favourite cue sport?

Snooker and carom tied for the win here with 19 (31%) each of the 61 votes. American Pool was a clear third with 13 picks.

American Pool 13 (21%)
Carom 19 (31%)
English Billiards 4 (6%)
English Pool 3 (4%)
Pyramid 3 (4%)
Snooker 19 (31%)
Other 1 (1%)
I dont't like cue sports 0 (0%)

Votes: 61
Poll closed 31 December 2008
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Thompson nicks ninth gold in the 2009 World Eightball Pool Championships

2009 World Eightball Pool ChampionshipsSue Thompson (Scotland) and Phil Harrison (England) came out on top in the 2009 Foster's World Eightball Pool Championships.

Thompson defeated England's Emma Cunningham 8-6 in the women's final.

Thompson has reached the final in 14 of her 15 attempts with this being her ninth win. These two have now contested five of the last six finals, with Cunningham tasting victory in 2005.

Harrison beat Mick Hill (England) 11-7 in the men's final to take home the £10,000 cheque. In the semi-finals Harrison defeated Adam Davis (England) 10-7 and Harrison beat Marc Farnsworth (England) by the same score.

This was Harrison's first title. His previous best was four semi finals. Hill won the title in 2005.

The two defending champions went out early this year. Lynette Horsburgh (Scotland) was beaten 6-3 by Collette Henriksen (Wales) in the last 16 and Gareth Potts (England) lost 9-6 to Davies in the quarter finals.

Ben Clark (England) won the Junior title and Gary Swift (England) took gold in the wheelchair division. There were also a number of other events, including teams, Under 21s and Over 50s.

The tournament took place at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool, England, 28 June - 9 July 2009.

Please note that this is the English version of the game. Wikipedia explains the differences in detail. Here is an excerpt:

In the version of pool or Eight Ball played in the United Kingdom and Australia, plain unnumbered red balls and yellow balls often replace the solid and striped balls. If not, the terms "bigs" (9-15) and "smalls" (1-7) are generally used instead. The black ball, however, still typically bears a number eight. Another difference is that the UK table has pockets just larger than the balls, whereas the American table has pockets significantly larger.

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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Merckx finally finds success in 2009 Porto World Cup

Eddy Merckx from Belgium could lift his first World Cup trophy after capturing the World Cup event in Porto, Portugal.

In the final Merckx edged Nikos Polychronopoulos (Greece) 3-2. The frame scores were 15-6, 2-15, 15-6, 9-15 and 15-2.

Surprise men Jae Ho Cho (South Korea) and Jeremy Bury (France) lost out in the semifinals.

Merckx received €5,500 for the win and Polychronopoulos got €3,500 for second place.

Jung Han Heo from South Korea had the highest general average among the 55 competitors with 2.014. He also had the highest single match average of 2.812. Merckx had a perfect 15 for highest run of the tournament.

This was a tournament of upsets, with many of the top players being ousted in the early rounds. Among those failing to reach the last 16 were defending champion Dick Jaspers (Netherlands), Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden), Frédéric Caudron (Belgium) and Daniel Sanchez (Spain).

Although this was the first World Cup win for Merckx he has previously won the 2007 European Championship and the 2008 World Championship.

Merckx moves from 11th to third in the World Cup Ranking. Polychronopoulos improves 11 places to seventh. Caudron and Martin Horn (Germany) hang on to the top two positions.

The Belgian jumps to sixth in the World Players Ranking. Jaspers, Sanchez and Caudron are the top three.

The event took place 29 June - 5 July 2009 at the Centro de Congressis Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal. It was the third of five events in the 2009 World Cup. The next event is in Suwon, Korea, 16-21 November 2009.

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Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Immonen wins Qatar Open

2009 Qatar International Open 9-Ball ChampionshipFinland's "Iceman" Mika Immonen won the 2009 Qatar International Open 9-Ball Championship.

In the final Immonen defeated Taiwan's current junior world champion Pin-Yi Ko 13-9. The victory was worth €40,000 with Ko getting €20,000 for second place.

Immonen trounced Antonio Gabica (Philippines) 11-3 in the semi finals. Ko beat England's reigning world 10-ball champion Darren Appleton 11-8.

The Qatar Open is part of the WPA World Tour:
  • Philippine Open (Niels Feijen)
  • China Open (Thorsten Hohmann)
  • Qatar Open (Mika immonen)
  • Patricks Austria Open
  • 10-ball World Championship
  • US Open
  • 9-ball World Championship
The victory will improve Immonen's current fifth place in the World Tour rankings. Appleton will be the new No.1.

The tournament was played 27 June - 6 July 2009 at the Grand Regency Hotel, Doha, Qatar. It was the third event of seven on the 2009 World Tour. Next up is the Patricks Austria Open on (Euro Tour), which runs from 17-19 September 2009.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Ouschan conquers all in 2009 Great Lakes Classic

Austria's Jasmin Ouscan captured her third career win on the WPBA Classic Tour by taking the 2009 WPBA Great Lakes Classic.

In the final she dominated England's Kelly Fisher 7-2.

Karen Corr (Ireland) and Xiaoting Pan (China), finished joint third.

Defending champion Allison Fisher (England) lost 9-4 to Kelly Fisher in the quarter finals.

This was Ouschan's third win on the Classic Tour. She also won the 2006 EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships and the 2008 Carolina Classic.

Monica Webb (USA), who was gunning for her third title in a row on the Classic Tour, was ousted in the last 24 by England's Kim Shaw.

Ouschan's triumph takes her from 17th to third in the rankings. Kelly Fisher moves to first place, tied with former No.2 Ga Young Kim (South Korea).

The event took place from 17-21 June 2009 at the Blue Chip Casino, Michigan City, Illinois, USA. It was the second of six events on the 2009 Classic Tour. Next up is the US Open, at the Riverwind Casino, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, 29 July - 2 August 2009.

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Sunday, June 14, 2009

Hogan and Jans win European Snooker Championships

David Hogan (Ireland) and Wendy Jans (Belgium) won gold medals in the 2009 European Snooker Championships.

Hogan defeated fellow Irishman Mario Fernandez 7-4 in the final of the men's event while home favourite Jans whitewashed Anna Mazhirina (Russia) 5-0.

Hogan blanked Germany's Sascha Lippe in the semis while Fernandez beat yet another Irishman, Brendan O'Donoghue, 6-2.

In an all-Belgian semifinal EJans eased past Caty Dehaene 4-1. Mazhirina edged Latvia's Inese Lukashevska 4-3.

This was Hogan's first major title. Jans won the European title three years in a row from 2004-2006. She also captured the 2006 IBSF World Amateur Championship.

With this victory Hogan won a spot on the 96-man 2009/2010 Main Tour.

Defending champion David Grace (England) lost 5-2 to O'Donoghue in the quarterfinals. 2008 Ladies champion Reanne Evans (England) did not participate in this year's event.

Former top pro Darren Morgan (Wales) won the Masters division. In the final he beat 2000 winner Joe Delaney (Ireland) 6-3. Morgan also won in 2007. He opted for the Men's event last year though, where he made it to the semifinals.

Tony "Tornado" Drago from Malta had the highest break of the tournament with a 139.

The event was held 3-13 June at the Crowne Plaza, Duffel, Belgium.

The European Main Tour play-offs (International Open) was played just before the tournament. Drago won the event to reclaim a place on next season's Main Tour.

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Sunday, June 07, 2009

Rubilen Amit wins inaugural 10-ball World Championship

Rubilen Amit from Philippines won the 2009 Women's World 10-Ball Championship on home soil.

In the final she defeated two-time world 9-ball champion Shin-mei Liu (Taiwan) 10-4 to grab the $20,000 first prize and become the first world champion in women's 10-ball. Liu received $9,000 for second place.

Amit defeated Japan's Akimi Kajitani 9-6 in the semifinals. Liu beat Jasmin Ouschan (Austria) 9-6.

This was Amit's first world title from her second final. She finished second to Xiaoting Pan in the 2007 World 9-ball Championship. It was also the first win by a woman from the Philippines.

Unfortunately the event was surrounded by some controversy. Read Sarah Rousey's blog post for more.

The tournament ran from June 2-6, 2009, at the SM Mall North, Manila, Philippines.

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