By: Erik Hjorleifson
Most of the first round matches at the World Cup of Pool are in the books and there has been one major upset so far. The Qatari team of Waleed Majeed and Bashar Hussain have defeated the Taiwanese pairing of Chang Yu Lun and Hsu Kai Lun with by a score of 7-5. I'm sure the first thing people will say is that it was only a race to 7 and there is merit to that argument but I believe the fact that there is also more pressure in a race to 7 should be considered.
Majeed has had a break through year on the international scene, with a notable win against Darren Appleton in the World Championships along the way to a top 16 finish. Hussain has been competing on the international scene for a while now with the help of sponsorship from the Qatar Billiards Federation. This is a historic and proud day for billiards in the Middle East and it looks like their investment in the sport is beginning to pay off.
Qatar now moves on to play Austria in round two; now the inevitable question will arise as to why the dynamic sibling duo of Ko Pin Yi and Ko Pin Chung were not representing Taiwan. In other first round matches the Philippines survived a close match with Chile which again was a strong statement from a country and actually a whole continent that has not had much success in the past.
Pool truly is being played at a high level all around the world now in this modern day and age. In other matches China, one of the tournament favourites, won their match 7-5 against the Czech Republic. Like the Taiwanese the Chinese pairing, although both highly accomplished players is a little surprising. This year Dang Jinhu and Wang Can are the representatives. France also advanced to round two against a highly competitive Italian team.
The American team of Van Boening and Earl Strickland were up against a dark horse Croatian team. After getting up to a 5-0 lead, a few mistakes from Strickland gave the Croatians a glimmer of hope. However it was not to be as the Americans went on to win 7-2. Another thrilling match on this day was England vs Spain. In a surprise move the tournament directors did not think that Spain deserved a top 16 seed, thus lining up this heavy weight match-up of sorts. After being down 5-3 the team of Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes pulled out a nail biter 7-6 to move on to the final 16.
Canada will play Malta on Thursday and tournament favorites Holland and Germany are still among the last matches yet to play in the first round. The World Cup of pool carries a $250 000 total prize fund with the winners receiving $60 000. Check back on Friday to see how team Canada and the rest fair.
Thursday matches :
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