Fitch and Taylor Tops on Viking Tour
Viking Cue 9-ball Tour / Greensboro, NC

by InsidePOOL Staff
The Viking Cue 9-ball Tour rolled into Greensboro, NC, the weekend of September 29-30. Hosted by Shooter’s billiards, this stop crowned Shannon Fitch and Richard Taylor tops in the open and amateur divisions, respectively.
Fitch first faced off against Southeast terror BJ Ussery, defeating him in a hill-hill nail-biter. He then bested Jeff Baumgarner 9-2, Randy Hatten 9-0, Sparky Ferrell 9-5, and Robert Ray 9-5 for the hot seat. From the West Coast, Rafael Martinez started off his event with wins over Trevor Jefferson 9-2, Thomas Sansone 9-3, and Larry Cheek 9-1 before being sent to the one-loss side by Ferrell 9-4. Martinez collected himself to best Jeff Pruitt 7-4 and Mike Fuller 7-6 before matching up with Ferrell again, this time in the quarterfinals. After defeating Ferrell 7-4, he went on to the semifinals against Ray, whom he bested 7-3. In the double-elimination final match, Martinez experienced success in the first set, winning 9-3, but Fitch came back in the second set to win the title 7-2.
In the amateur division, Taylor went undefeated through the path to the finals, notching wins over Dee Wylie 6-2, Chris Cubbage 6-1, Arnold Hamlett 6-3, and Mike Preston in the hot seat match 6-2. Hamlett faced down Matt Karbowski 6-2 and Pete Sawyers 6-1 before his loss to Taylor. Hamlett recovered to defeat Anthony Arney 5-3 and Mike Preston in the semifinals but could not overpower Taylor, who bested him 6-2 in the final match.

Open Results:

1st
Shannon Fitch

2nd
Rafael Martinez

3rd
Robert Ray

4th
Sparky Ferrell

5-6th
Harry Florence

Mike Fuller

7-8th
Johnny Walker

Randy Hatten

Amateur Results:

1st
Richard Taylor

2nd
Arnold Hamlett

3rd
Mike Preston

4th
Anthony Arney

5-6th
Chris Cubbage

Kent Lacy

7-8th
John Craig

Pete Sawyers

Sandler Sweeps Southeast Tour

J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-ball Tour / Vero Beach, FL

by InsidePOOL Staff
Jim Sandler bested a field of 29 billiards players the weekend of September 29-30 to capture first place on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-ball Tour. This stop was hosted by Cunningham’s pool and Darts in Vero Beach, FL.
Sandler enjoyed a virtually unchallenged run through the one-loss side, though he barely squeaked by his opponent in the hot seat match, Mike Mallen, to escape with a double-hill victory. Sent to the west side of the chart, Mallen was faced with Mark Coats, who had just ousted Tommy Kennedy in a hill-hill match. Mallen had little trouble disposing of Coats, winning their match 9-5 to earn a rematch with Sandler. However, yet another hill-hill match transpired with the same results as before—Sandler ended up winning 9-8 to take first place.

Open Results:

1st
Jim Sandler

2nd
Mike Mallen

3rd
Mark Coats

4th
Tommy Kennedy

5-6th
Tony O’Donnell

Craig Rogers

Dechaine Outlasts Them All on Joss Tour

Joss Northeast 9-ball Tour / Waterville, ME

by Rick Davis
The Joss Northeast 9-ball Tour held their second billiard stop of the season over the September 29-30 weekend at T.J’s Classic billiards in Waterville, ME, where a strong 32-player field came out to do battle. After the carnage had cleared, past champions, tour regulars, and other favorites all fell to Mike Dechaine, who went undefeated after offering up two days of solid play.
On the winners’ side Dechaine made short work of the chart, clearing it up in the hot seat match where he defeated Bucky Souvanthong 9-6. Then, on the one-loss side, the rest of the top eight were clawing and reaching to advance further.
Top national player and multi-time tour winner Dennis “The Hatchet Man” Hatch was slowly making a comeback from an early loss in day one. Hatch ousted Walter Szydlowski 9-2 then shut out Pete Bowman 9-0 to reach the quarterfinals. Nearby, the winner of the season’s first stop, Marc Vidal, eliminated Bruce Carroll 9-5 to catch up with Hatch in the quarterfinals. Hatch wasted little time and knocked out Vidal 9-3 and then kept up his streak by eliminating Souvanthong 9-5 in the semifinals.
With the finals on hand and the true double-elimination format in effect, a great match unfolded. Hatch took the opening set with a 9-7 squeaker, but in the second set the players hit the brakes and the score kept close. After a 7-all score Dechaine pulled away one rack to get on the hill and then inched over the line, taking the final rack to earn the event win after the 9-7 final set victory.

Open Results:

1st
Mike Dechaine

2nd
Dennis Hatch

3rd
Bucky Souvanthong

4th
Marc Vidal

5-6th
Bruce Carroll

Pete Bowman

7-8th
Chance Chin

Walter Szydlowski

Chameleon Rack to Sponsor U.S. Open 9-ball

The U.S. Open 9-ball Championship has a new equipment sponsor, the Chameleon Rack. The Chameleon Rack, the first rack for all pool games, will be the official rack of the 2007 U. S. Open 9-ball Championship at the event and on all TV programs distributed nationally and internationally by Billiard Club Network, including the live Internet broadcast.

“The Chameleon Rack will add a great new component to the U.S. Open 9-ball,” says Barry Behrman, founder and promoter of the event. “It’s unique design and tightening features will ensure a tight rack every time.”

As part of the sponsorship deal, the Chameleon Rack will also sponsor the ever-popular Rack Girls that have become a mainstay in the Chalk-Off TV Arena at the U.S. Open 9-ball Championship. The Chameleon Rack Girls will keep the crowd involved and informed with their display of which rack in the match is up next.

“We’re excited to be part of professional pool’s most prestigious event,” says Robert Tertel, creator and president of RST2 International, the parent company of the Chameleon Rack. “We’ll be at the event all week to answer any questions the players might have and make the racks available for sale.”

Two of pool’s world-class personalities and talented professionals are very supportive of the Chameleon Rack, Johnny Archer and Allen Hopkins.

It’s great to have a rack which has the ability to accommodate the varying ball sizes in a specific set of pool balls,” commented Johnny Archer, the 1999 U.S. Open Champion.

Allen Hopkins, a two-time U.S. Open Champion (1977 and 1981) and ESPN commentator echoed the sentiment, “Finally, there’s a rack that freezes the balls without using your fingers or tapping them in place. The Chameleon Rack is definitely the best rack for all games

The Chameleon is the only product that adapts to rack all your favorite games including 3-ball, 6-ball, 7-ball, 8-ball, 9-ball 10-ball. The Chameleon is incredibly easy to store. It hangs easily on a wall-mounted hook and fits in almost any slotted pool table. The Chameleon will not damage the felt on your table or the surface of your balls. For more information, visit www.ChameleonRack.com (http://www.chameleonrack.com/) or call toll free 1-866-777-1430.

About RST2 International: RST2 is a company that was developed to give pool players worldwide a new look at how the game can be, and should be played. Each of our products stems from the successes and failures of existing billiard accessories, by correcting the flaws and enhancing the features of the products that have come before them. RST2 will continue to listen to pool players in an effort to provide the most practical, durable and affordable billiard accessories on the market, as we have done since our company was founded.

NYCGrind.com LLC Inks Deal with Inside pool Magazine
NYCGrind.com LLC and Inside pool Magazine have announced an agreement to create and publish programming for the billiards Podcast by Inside pool Magazine. Programming created by NYCGrind.com is currently being broadcast on the podcast, and this deal will extend the relationship into mid-2008. The deal will commit exclusive publishing of NYCGrind.com LLC programming on InsidePOOLmag.com .
NYCGrind.com specializes in producing billiards programming and has committed to weekly delivery of programming on the billiards Podcast by Inside pool Magazine. The episodes will feature a variety professional-quality billiards content video.
“Teaming up with Inside pool Magazine is a true milestone for us. It is clear that they are an industry leader, and there is no question that they are committed to providing what’s cool from a pool player’s perspective,” said Jerry Tarantola, president of NYCGrind.com LLC.
View the podcast at iTunes (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=263687352)
View the billiards Podcast by Inside pool Magazine list (/pool-and-billiard-podcasts/pool-podcasts-and-videos.html)

China Wins 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool
The Chinese billiards team has won the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool. In one of the best finals ever, Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo clinched a dramatic 11-10 victory over the Finnish duo of Mika Immonen and Markus Juva.
At 10-6, China looked like becoming comfortable winners but they gifted Finland a route back into the match as they did not take a number of glorious opportunities.
Fu missed a shot to win the cup with the score at 10-8 before Li then scratched in the next when China were two shots from glory as Finland forced only the third hill-hill match of the tournament.
The Finnish side did not play a safety shot well enough and Fu Jian-bo held his nerve to sink the final 9-ball as China became World Cup winners and scooped the $60,000 top prize.
China had beaten South Africa, France, Philippines and Japan on their way to the final, while Finland defeated Qatar, England, Switzerland and Canada.
In the semi-final, Finland had used the soft-break and positioned the cue ball in exactly the same position on their way to a 9-0 victory.
However, this tactic was not as effective in the final as Finland, who won the lag, saw a dry break to give China an early opportunity.
They appeared to have wasted their chance as the Finnish duo of Immonen and Juva were back at the table, although Immonen lost position going from the 8-ball to the 9-ball and Juva missed the subsequent 9-ball.
China sunk the same ball for 1-0 but then recorded a dry break of their own, the first time in this tournament where there had been two successive dry breaks. But they still won the rack, thanks to a 3-9 combination from Fu Jian-bo.
Amazingly, there was then another dry break from China, the third in a row. Juva failed with an attempt at the 6-ball but Fu Jian-bo then was not successful with an effort at the 7-ball, the 23rd time the 7-ball had been missed in the tournament, and Finland made it 1-2.
In the fourth, Immonen missed with his shot to kick off the rail and connect with the 1-ball and that proved costly as China made it 3-1. It was soon back to a one-rack gap as Fu could not down the 1-ball and a long bank from Immonen helped it become 2-3.
Finland had broke and run out five times in the semi-final and did for the first time in this match to tie the score at 3-3.
Yet another dry break, the fourth in seven racks, brought Finland back in action but Juva gifted the rack to China when he scratched as the score was now 4-3. It was level again after Fu produced a gaff on the green 6.
China regained the lead after a crucial miss from Juva on the 1-ball following yet another dry break as Finland were unable to reproduce the success from the break they had in the semi-finals.
For the first time since the early stages of the match, China moved two ahead at 6-4 before another dry break in the 11th from China and it was 6-5.
The 12th was an error-filled rack as Juva laid a tight safety and Fu was miles away from connecting with his desired target, but Immonen later lost position and the lead was back at two with it being 7-5.
China ran through the next rack and at 8-5 had the biggest advantage than at any other stage of the match. But they were still another three away from the title.
Both sides had used soft breaks in this match but Fu opted for power in the 14th and it seemed the right decision as the 1-ball disappeared with a straight-forward shot on the 2-ball. Within seconds it was 9-5 as China had now stamped their authority on the match with Finland desperate for another chance.
There had only been ten dry breaks in the previous 30 matches but now China produced the sixth in only 15 racks during the final. Finland did the rest and it was now 6-9 to China.
After another dry break, the seventh in 16 racks, the frustration was showing as Immonen slammed his fist down on the table after he left his partner with no shot on the 2. China moved to the hill and were now one potential shot away from the victory.
But, for the eighth time in this encounter, no balls went down on the break shot as Finland were clinging on but the thinest of margins.
Finland were thrown a tournament lifeline as Li, aiming to make the 2 into the right side pocket, watched in horror as the cue ball vanished into the top left pocket. That gave Finland ball-in-hand and Juva held his nerve with a fine long-range pot the 9-ball for 10-7.
The Finnish pair had been successful in the semi-final with the soft break but Juva now went for power and got an instant reward for three off the break and his team ran out in one of the fastest racks of the final for 10-8.
Despite hitting the cue ball hard in the next, Finland had no luck and the ninth dry break of the match came at the worst moment for the Europeans.
The safety shot was not good enough and China moved through the balls and Fu Jian-bo had an attempt to win the World Cup. He tried to roll the 9-ball down the right rail but the ball rattled in the jaws of the bottom right pocket but did not drop.
Juva showed nerves of steel by sinking the 9-ball but were China going to regret that crucial error?
In a hugely dramatic final, Juva then scratched off the break to give China ball-in-hand and again in sight of victory. Li He-wen pocketed the 8-ball but in an unbelievable error the cue ball ended up in the right pocket. Juva again disposed of the 9-ball and it was hill-hill for only the third time in the tournament.
Early in the 21st rack there was a potential for Juva to make a 1-9 combination, but after a long deliberation he opted to play safe.
However, he left a 1-6 combination on and China made it to regain control of the table. The question was whether their nerves would hold up and they slowly inched their way towards the title. Fu Jian-bo pocketed the 9-ball to spark scenes of joyous celebration as China were the World Cup winners.

Chinese Billiard Team Wipes the Smile off the Japanese Faces
The Chinese billiards team will meet Finland in the final of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool. The eighth seeded Chinese team of Fu Jian-bo and Li He-wen beat Japan’s Naoyuki Oi and Satoshu Kawabata 9-4 at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam, Holland.
China had reached the final four after defeating South Africa, France and then the defending champions Philippines in a memorable quarter-final on Saturday evening. The hugely-popular Japanese side, who had smiled and joked their way to wins over Spain, Holland A and Singapore, had been unseeded but performed well to make the semi-finals.
China won the lag by the narrowest of margins and then ran out the opening two racks as Japan were rooted firmly in their seats.
The Japanese should have won the next rack as they got back to the table but Naoyuki Oi dogged a simple-looking 9-ball. However, Fu Jian-bo also missed the same ball, before Satoshi Kawabata did likewise. It was left to Li He-wen, a semi-finalist in the 2006 World Championships to down the 9-ball for 3-0 to China.
But the same player scratched in the fourth as Japan recorded their first rack of the match. The scoreline should have narrowed to 3-2 after Fu scratched but Kawabata did the same with only the 9-ball left on the table.
China gratefully accepted the present for 4-1 and ran out the next to give them a 5-1 lead in this race to nine. The missed 9-ball from Japan in the fifth was proving costly as they had not had a shot since and China ran out once more in the seventh for 6-1.
The Japanese side had an opportunity in the eighth after Fu Jian-bo had produced a tight safety but Oi failed to connect with any ball on the table to give another ball-in-hand to the Chinese and they made it 7-1.
Throughout the tournament there had been a number of close matches but both semi-finals were proving to be one-sided affairs after Finland thrashed Canada 9-0 in the other semi-final.
It had been a near-faultless performance from the Chinese pair but that ended in the ninth as Li He-wen failed to pocket the 2-ball. Japan had to keep the China team in their chairs and managed it for this rack for 7-2.
Japan ran out the tenth and with the score now moving to 7-3 the crowd were hopeful of this being the start of a magnificent fightback.
Oi and Kawabata were not giving up and a fine shot from Oi, who rolled the 2-ball down the right hand rail, set up another Japanese rack, their third in a row for 7-4.
Just when it seemed Japan would get back in the match, Kawabata missed a bank attempt on the 2-ball, which was left hanging over the bottom left pocket and that was looking like being their last shot of the match.
China sealed the job in the 12th rack and moved to the hill at 8-4. Fu was unsuccessful when trying to pot the 2-ball but Japan did the same and that was it. The game was as good as over as China won 9-4 to set up a final with Finland.

Finland billiards Team Utilize Soft Break for Win
The Finnish billiard team produced an emphatic display of tactical excellence as they crushed Canada 9-0 in the opening semi-final. The Finnish side recorded a dry break off the first rack but then slightly changed the positioning of the cue ball as they found an effective, if uninspiring, formula which they successfully repeated again and again.
With each soft break they were left with a shot on every time and they were rarely in trouble, although they deserve full credit for displaying some of the best teamwork seen in the competition this week.
Finland had been in good form to reach the semi-finals with fine victories against Qatar, England and Switzerland, while Canada has been less impressive with a large slice of luck in their wins over India, Korea and Belgium.
The Finnish pairing of Mika Immonen and Markus Juva were at the table first after winning the lag but Immonen recorded a rare dry break, only the 11th in the whole tournament so far.
Canada’s Edwin Montal produced a number of mistakes and looked extremely nervous in their triumph over Belgium and he again made a twitchy start as he let Finland back to the action. That enabled Juva to down the final 9-ball as the Europeans made it 1-0.
Immonen got lucky in the second as he missed a pot at the 1-ball but it ended up behind the orange 5, although half of the 1-ball was still visible. However, Montal failed to connect with the same ball and, with ball-in-hand, Finland quickly moved 2-0 ahead.
Finland ran out from the break in the third and at 3-0 were looking good value for their lead. Canada finally got another opportunity but did not take advantage as a rash shot from Alain Martel left the red 3 tight on the left side rail and Juva produced a stunning effort to put his team back in control for 4-0.
The Europeans were opting for soft breaks from the same spot in every rack but it was proving effective as they kept having shots on the 1-ball. It was a similar story in the fifth as they once again ran out a rack and at 5-0 the semi-final was proving to be much more one-sided than had been expected.
It was not the most exciting pool and some fans prefer the balls being smashed open from the break but there was no denying that it was working for Finland. Once again, in a near copy of the previous rack, Finland produced a soft-break, had a shot on and ran out for 6-0.
The seventh did not go all of Finland’s way as Martel had a shot but he failed to make it safe and the Europeans, who were working well as a team, did not make another mistake in the rack and the scoreboard showed 7-0 with Finland two away from the final.
Once again, Finland got the speed of the break perfect and again had a shot on the 1-ball. Canada would need Finland to make an error or be the end of only the second whitewash of the competition after Philippines defeated Croatia 8-0 in the Last 16.
It became 8-0 and with a shot on the 1, the Finnish pair were within touching distance of the final. Mika Immonen sealed the 9-0 win as Canada, who had only had nine shots in the whole match, were on their way home.

Philippines Knocked Out of World Cup
Defending champions Philippines have crashed out of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool. The Filipino duo of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante suffered a shock 9-6 defeat against the Chinese pairing of Fu Jian-bo and Li He-wen.
Philippines won the 2006 World Cup of pool but suffered a huge scare in the opening round of the defence of their title when they had to battle hard to scrape an 8-6 win over Scotland.
But their progress was easier in the last 16 as they recorded the only whitewash of the whole competition so far with an 8-0 triumph over Croatia.
China had reached the quarter-finals thanks to an 8-1 victory over South Africa and an 8-6 triumph over France.
Philippines won the lag but no one could have expected what happened next as Bustamante recorded a dry break, something that had happened only a handful of times all week.
Bustamante then made another surprising error when he missed an escape shot from a snooker to give China ball-in-hand and Li He-wen made it 1-0 to the two Chinese players with the break in the second.
It was proving to be a poor start from Bustamante as China lost position of the cue ball but Philippines gifted them a route back when Bustamante scratched with only three balls left on the table.
China took the opportunity and quickly moved into a 2-0 lead in this race to nine. Reyes and Bustamante were glued to their seats in the third rack as Li He-wen and Fu Jian-bo broke and ran through the rack to see the defending champions 3-0 down.
There had been a number of upsets in this tournament with USA, Taiwan, Holland A and Germany among the sides failing to make the semi-finals. Philippines would have an uphil task to avoid suffering a similar fate.
Li He-wen had announced himself to the pool world by reaching the semi-finals of the 2006 World pool Championships and his country were on course to make the last four of another major global competition.
China ran out the fourth rack as Bustamante and Reyes, who are often joking and smiling in the arena, sat in silence and were becoming increasingly worried.
With the winner-break format, Philippines needed some luck and got it at the start of the fifth as Fu Jian-bo came up with a dry break of his own. Bustamante and Reyes, national heroes in their home country and supported by a large number of fans here in Rotterdam, did the rest to finally make their mark on the scoreboard, but still trailed 1-4.
In the next, Bustamante misjudged a safety on the 1 but it was not immediately punished, although Reyes’ attempt on the 1-ball that rattled in the top left pocket but would not drop did prove costly.
A spectacular 6-9 combination from Fu Jian-bo moved China one step closer to victory and gave them a four-rack advantage at 5-1.
Fu went from hero to villain in a very quick space of time as he missed an attempt at the red 3 and the Philippines pulled a rack back at 2-5, as the crowd began to hope of a memorable fightback.
A two-rail safety escape from Li to hit the 2-ball went wrong in the eighth to give ball-in-hand to the Philippines and they clinched their second rack in a row, although were still behind by a 3-5 scoreline.
Bustamante made one of the best pots of the tournament with a stunning table-length attempt on the 1-ball but then got no luck as the cue ball had drifted out of position. As a result, Reyes missed the attempt on the 2-ball and China regained control of the match as the scoreboard now showed 6-3.
China ran out the next as Reyes and Bustamante both looked miserable and knew they were only two racks away from being eliminated.
They needed some luck and got it in the next. With the 1-ball over the pocket but another ball between that and the cue ball, it seemed a straight-forward kick-shot off the bottom rail.
However, Li’s attempt was unsuccessful and Philippines gratefully grasped the opportunity to win another rack. 4-7. Li and Fu both left chances in the next rack and it eventually went the Philippines’ way as Reyes banked the 4-ball into the 9-ball for 5-7.
In a thrilling 13th rack, with the cue ball on the bottom rail and the 9-ball tight on the top rail, Fu tried a brave attempt of bouncing the cue ball off the left side rail. It would have been one of the shots of the tournament if successful but instead left a simple pot for Reyes as they took their third rack in a row for 6-7.
The match had looked to be swinging the Philippines way but they changed in the next as Reyes missed a simple green 6 as China moved to the hill and led 8-6. They ran out the next to seal a fine 9-6 victory.

Finland Billiard Team Secures Semi Seat
The Finnish billiards team will meet Canada in one of the semi-finals in the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool. The Finnish duo of Marcus Juva and Mika Immonen defeated Switzerland’s Marco Tschudi and Dimitri Jungo by 9-4 at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam.
The last two European sides met in the third quarter-finals as tenth seeds Finland went up against 15th seeds Switzerland.
Both sides had performed well to reach this stage with Finland defeating Qatar and England, while Switzerland had eliminated Hungary and USA.
Finland won the lag and made a lightning start as they broke and ran out in both the opening racks to move 2-0 ahead with Switzerland not even getting a shot.
When they did finally get to the table, they made a spectacular impact as Jungo kicked in a fantastic 3-9 combination to quickly pull one rack back.
The fourth rack was the longest of the match so far after Switzerland failed to take advantage of an Immonen error when he left the 1-ball hanging over the bottom left pocket. However, Switzerland still managed to win the rack in what was already looking as a tight and tense encounter that could go down to the wire.
Both sides played a nervous fifth rack as Juva left the blue 2 on before Jungo did likewise on the red 3 that remained hanging over the right side pocket. That proved to be the decisive mistake as Finland regained the lead.
There was then some controversy as Switzerland took a toilet break, but the Finnish players were convinced that this was a strategic move and had been done to throw Finland off their game.
Finland, who still had the break, responded in the best way possible as they let their pool do the talking by running out the next for a 4-2 advantage.
The earlier controversy had seemed to fire up the Finnish duo and they moved closer to their victory target of nine by making it 5-2.
Switzerland had a rare chance in the next as Immonen failed to sink a long-range 2-ball and overcut it but Tschudi could also not pocket the same ball and Juva eventually downed the 9-ball for the fourth successive rack for Finland.
The crucial moment in the ninth came when Immonen lost position going to the 8-ball with only two balls left on the table. Juva tried to play safe but left Jungo a long-range attempt on the 8-ball, which the Swiss player made thanks to a thin cut, before Tschudi pocketed the 9-ball for 6-3.
Immonen missed the 1-ball to bring the Swiss back to the table and the fired-up Switzerland players reduced the deficit by 1. It was not long before the gap was back to three racks as a 1-9 carom from Immonen made it 7-4.
It was the same player who finished off the next rack and Finland were now on the hill and looked on course to advance into the semi-final. There was no love lost between the two countries as both teams were desperate to win the match.
Juva attempted a table-length bank but got it wrong to give Switzerland another chance. With a host of other World Cup players watching the action, it should have been a rack that Switzerland won but Jungo choked on a simple-looking 9-ball, which was left over the left side pocket for Immonen to end the match.
I felt better than in previous games, said Juva. I was a little bit concerned that I wasn’t nervous enough and if you feel more relaxed you start to be over confident but ten minutes before the game the nerves got me again.
I played very carefully and with this table and this format you have to play carefully.

Canada Snuff Belgium’s World Cup Hopes
The Canadian billiards team moved into the semi-finals of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool. The team of Edwin Montal and Alain Martel produced a nervous, error-strewn performance but still did enough to win 9-4 against a Belgian side who looked drained after defeating highly-fancied Taiwan last night.
Belgium were not even in the original line-up of nations but got their chance when Malaysia withdrew. But since then Belgium have grasped the opportunity with both hands and recorded a fine win over Holland B in the opening round.
But that result was put in the shade with an incredible 8-6 victory against Taiwan on Friday evening, a scoreline that shook the world of pool. Canada, the 11th seeds, had been a bit more lucky with their route to the quarter-finals with a comfortable victory against India followed by a somewhat fortunate success against Korea.
It was another partisan crowd as a number of Belgian spectators had made the short journey to Holland and packed out the Outland Nightclub with a fantastic atmosphere.
The crowd soon had something to cheer about as a 3-8 combination from Serge Das helped Belgium clinch the opening rack for an early lead.
Canada had a great opportunity to make it 1-1 but Edwin Montal dogged an attempt on the 9-ball and Noel Bruynooghe could not believe his luck as he made it 2-0, to the delight of the majority of spectators.
It became 2-1 when Das failed to pocket the 4-ball and a combination attempt saw the North Americans clinch their first rack. The Canadians had ball-in-hand after Bruynooghe missed his attempted ball and that led to it moving to 2-2.
Montal had to play safe at the start of the next but drew a mistake out of Bruynooghe as he tried a two-rail escape but clipped the 4-ball, which had been positioned in front of his target of 1-ball.
That gave Canada ball-in-hand and they did the rest to move into the lead for the first time.
Belgium were struggling to recreate their efforts of Friday evening with both Das and Bruynooghe making unforced errors. The crowd were kept quiet as Canada benefited from the mistakes from the Europeans.
They won the next three racks to lead 5-2 in this race to 9. Montal was looking very nervous for the Canadians but was constantly reassured by Martel, who was carrying his team on the way to the last four.
The score moved on to 7-2 as the Belgians looked to have peaked in their previous match, despite the crowd trying to will their side into a memorable comeback.
An overhit positional shot from the tense Montal brought Belgium back to the table and they held their nerve to finally record another rack, after seven in a row from Canada. The scoreline was now 3-7 against the Europeans but they at least would now have the break.
Unbelievably, Belgium wasted the opportunity by producing a dry break at just the worse time possible. It did not matter as increasingly-twitchy Montal failed with the jump cue and left the 1-ball on. The majority of the crowd were rooting for Belgium and they clinched their second rack in a row for 4-7.
A misjudged safety by Das ended the Belgians’ good run and they were looking a completely different side to yesterday. Canada moved to the hill by winning the 12th rack and had a shot in the next. But Martel gave Belgium one more chance by not potting the pink 4.
But the dream was over for Belgium. Canada, who at no stage in any of their three matches have looked at their best, had moved quietly into the semi-finals and a match against either Finland or Switzerland.

Japan Jests Their Way to Semi-finals
The Japan billiard team became the first side to reach the semi-finals of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool. Naoyuki Oi and Satoshi Kawabata have come to Holland with the attitude of enjoying themselves in every match and their constant laughing, smiling and joking has made them firm favourites with the Dutch crowd.
After fine victories against Spain and Japan, Japan defeated Singapore 9-5 and will now meet either Philippines or China in Sunday’s semi-final.
Neither Japan or Singapore had been seeded and had performed well to reach the last eight.
All the quarter-finals were a race to nine and Singapore’s Chan Keng Kwang and Toh Lian Han made a fine start by taking the first two racks.
Japan had become one of the most popular sides left in the tournament due to the happy-go-lucky attitude of both players who had smiled their way through the competition, no matter what had happened on the table.
They had every reason to be happy shortly after as they won the next two racks to make it 2-2.
Both sides clinched one of the next two racks for a 3-3 scoreline in an entertaining start to the fifth day’s play. Chan Keng Kwang missed an attempt at the blue 2 and that enabled Japan to take the lead for the first time at 4-3.
The same player was at fault in the eighth rack as Chan sent the cue-ball hurtling towards the left side pocket to give the Japanese side ball-in-hand for a 5-3 advantage.
It should have become 5-4 as Oi left an easy shot for Singapore on the blue 2. Things were going the way of the Singapore side up to the 9-ball when they lost position and Chan, who was having a bad match, failed with his attempt to roll the 9-ball up the left rail.
That left an easy opportunity for Japan and it was 6-3. Seconds later it was 7-3. Oi played a spectacular 1-8-9 combination and the Japanese side were jumping for joy and two away from victory.
Oi failed to down the 1-ball but then bowed to the pool gods as the 1-ball was hidden behind the 9-ball. However, it did not matter as Toh played a fine kick-shot off the top rail to pocket the 1-ball and that enabled Singapore to win their first rack after four successive racks for Japan.
Singapore then clinched the next for 5-7. But Japan moved to the hill after a superb shot from Oi. Toh had produced a fine effort for a thin cut on the 4-ball but then lost position on the 5-ball.
Chan failed to make it safe and Oi, shooting into a blind pocket, produced a fantastic shot to roll the 5-ball into the bottom left pocket as Japan then moved to the hill for 8-5.
It had been a memorable tournament for the instantly likeable Japanese side and it got even better as they ran out from the break in the next for a fine 9-5 victory.

Belgium billiards Team Stuns World Cup of pool
The Belgium billiard team has produced one of the biggest shocks of all time by defeating Taiwan in the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool. They beat Taiwan 8-6 to the delight of a packed, partisan crowd at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam, Holland.
The Belgian side of Noel Bruynooghe and Serge Das, ranked 46th and 60th in Europe respectively, defeated the Taiwanese side of 2005 World Champion Wu Chia-ching and Yang Ching-shun, a former World Championship semi-finalist.
Already this tournament there had been a number of shocks, including Germany losing to Singapore and USA going out to Switzerland but this victory eclipsed those performances and must be regarded as the greatest upset in World Cup history.
Taiwan, who were priced at 1-33 ON by bookmakers Stan James to win the encounter, won the lag comfortably and cruised into an early lead.
Bookmakers had written off Belgium as no-hopers in this match, although there was a large number of Belgian supporters in the audience hoping the so-called experts would be wrong.
The Belgian fans soon had something to cheer about as Wu scratched and the Europeans did the rest to make it 1-1.
Belgium ran through the third rack to lead 2-1 and it could have got even better for them but Das missed a 2-9 combination in the fourth after a fine positional shot from his partner Bruynooghe as Taiwan made the score level.
A missed orange five from Bruynooghe in the next helped Taiwan regain the lead and they then took full control.
They stepped on the gas and raced into a three-rack advantage, despite Wu scratching in the first of these three.
However, Belgium had shown they were no pushovers by thrashing Holland B 8-2 in the first round. They were putting up another fight by winning the next two to make the scoreline 5-4.
Bruynooghe produced one of the shots of the tournament to pot the 1-ball with the jump cue after the cue ball hurdled the 3-ball. But his team-mate Das then failed to sink the 2-ball and Taiwan moved two ahead at 6-4.
It did not last long as Yang scratched off the break and a 5-9 combination from Das brought them to within one once again at 5-6.
It became 6-6 after Wu undercut an attempt on the blue 2, while a stunning long 3 pot in the next took Belgium to the hill.
The clock ticked into the early hours of Saturday morning but no one was leaving as every successful shot from the Belgians received a large cheer by a crowd who were realising they were watching something very special.
Yang then messed up a safety attempt on the 1-ball and he had his head in his hands as he realised his side were only a few balls away from being eliminated.
Noel Bruynooghe sunk the decisive 9-ball as he and partner Serge Das leapt in delight as they had recorded one of the biggest shocks ever in world pool.

Finland Billiard Team Finishes off England
Team England has crashed out of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Cup of pool. The Finnish duo of Mika Immonen and Markus Juva fought back from 3-1 and won five racks in a row on their way to an 8-5 victory.
They will now meet 15th seeds Switzerland, surprise winners over USA earlier in the evening, in the quarter-finals on Saturday evening, while Daryl Peach and Imran Majid will be on their way home.
Immonen won the lag for Finland but with no clear shot on the 1-ball after the break, Juva was forced to play safe.
However, England soon got themselves in a good position and the team of Majid and Peach moved 1-0 ahead as Majid sunk the 9-ball for a fine start for the English side.
It got even better for them as they raced through the second rack with the Finnish duo remaining glued to their seats. Peach and Majid had not put a foot wrong so far and deservedly led 2-0.
Peach got a stroke of luck in the third as a misjudged safety left the 2-ball on the side rail, but the cue-ball rolled well for England and ended tight behind the 5-ball. That forced a mistake from Markus Juva and he left a tough, but makeable 2-4 combination.
Majid decided to attack and attempt the combination but it went wrong to give Immonen a straight-forward 2-ball into the right side pocket. That led to Finland recording their first rack of this match.
There was a good piece of sportsmanship from Immonen in the fourth as he was aiming for the 2-ball but instantly got up and admitted he had clipped the 9-ball before hitting the blue 2.
Television replays showed the slightest of contact on the 9-ball but Immonen deserves some credit for his honesty. However, it did his team no favours as England went on to win the rack and reclaim a two-rack advantage at 3-1.
Finland’s Markus Juva looked to be attempting to play safe in the next with the 1-ball near the top rail, close to the 9-ball. But Juva made a heavy contact on the 1-ball and the cue-ball cannoned into the 9-ball, which then crept down table and disappeared into the bottom left pocket.
It looked like a massive stroke of luck, but it was a shot that Juva later claimed had been fully intentional.
England had done little wrong, but Finland ran out the next to make it 3-3, in a contest that could go either way.
Finland took the lead for the first time by winning the seventh. Juva had given England an opportunity when his rolled shot on the blue 2 hit the knuckle of the left side pocket. Peach tried to bank the same ball into the right side pocket but was unsuccessful as Finland took advantage for their third rack in a row.
The decisive moment in the eighth came when Majid, attempting to play a kick shot off the bottom rail to hit the blue 2, got his effort completely wrong as he was left shaking his head in disbelief with Finalnd gaining ball-in hand.
Finland did the rest and the match had completely turned from 3-1 in England’s favour to 5-3 to the men from Northern Europe. That soon became 6-3 as Finland ran out for their fifth rack in a row as shell-shocked England were left praying for another chance.
It came. And England gratefully grasped their opportunity by winning the tenth as Majid sunk the 9-ball, but the English still had a lot of work to do if they were to win this match.
But they were keeping it interesting as now it was the Finland players’ turn to stay sitting down. Majid and Peach ran through the next to pull it back to 5-6 with good position in the next.
That counted for nothing though as Peach lost the cue-ball going from the 6 to the 7 and that forced Majid to get the jump cue out. He cleared the problem 8-ball but failed to sink the 7, which was left on for their opponents who then moved to the hill at 7-5.
Just when they needed it, Finland got another huge slice of good fortune. Juva, with the cue ball tight on the side rail, watched his attempt at the 2-ball miss its original target of the top left pocket, but then slide into the right side pocket.
That was it, the game was effectively over and former World Champion Immonen did the business to send the 9-ball down and England out of the World Cup.

Swiss billiards Team Dispatches USA at World Cup of pool
The USA billiard team, runners-up in the 2006 World Cup of pool, have been eliminated from the 2007 tournament. This week’s competition in Rotterdam, Holland, has produced a number of huge upsets and a large crowd at the Outland Nightclub witnessed another as Switzerland fought back from 5-2 down to win 8-6.
The American side of Rodney Morris and Corey Deuel were hotly-fancied to win the event but were dumped out by young Swiss stars Marco Tschudi and Dimitri Jungo.
USA only just scraped into the last 16 after a hard-fought 8-7 victory against Malta in the best match of the tournament so far. The American duo of Corey Deuel and Rodney Morris were 7-4 down and had to run out four successive racks to move into the next phase.
Their opponents tonight were Switzerland (Dimitri Jungo and Marco Tschudi), who had looked unconvincing in a nervous, mistake-filled 8-5 victory over Hungary on Thursday.
With both Holland teams already eliminated from the tournament, Morris and Deuel decided to wear orange shirts, a colour normally associated with Dutch sides.
It was a scrappy opening rack as every one of the four players missed at some stage. But the crucial error came from Jungo who failed to sink the red 3 but it then got worse as the cue ball slumped into the right side pocket.
With ball-in-hand, it was a routine task for USA and a 5-9 combination from Morris gave them an early lead. Morris and Deuel, who both represented USA in the 2006 Mosconi Cup, comfortably run out the next rack for an early 2-0 lead.
However, Switzerland soon got on the scoreboard when they profited from an error from Deuel who missed an attempt at the blue 2 into the bottom left pocket.
Switzerland ran out the fourth rack to make it 2-2 and it looked like being another tight match for the second seeded Americans.
In the fifth, Tschudi laid a tough-looking safety and Deuel did well to hit the 1-ball but left it in open table as the Swiss had another chance to win a rack. But they did not take it as Tschudi dogged an effort on the brown 7 and Team America gratefully grasped to opportunity to steal the rack for a 3-2 lead.
The Europeans were back at the table in the sixth but Jungo missed a bank shot on the 1-ball before Tschudi later failed with a one-rail kick shot escape after a fine safety. That helped USA restore their two rack advantage for 4-2.
They cruised through the next to make it 5-2 and only three away from a meeting with either England or Finland in Saturday’s quarter-final.
The Americans seemed to take their foot off the accelerator with a number of sloppy shots to keep Switzerland in the match. Both Deuel and Morris passed up opportunities to down the orange 5 and that enabled Switzerland to win their third rack of the match.
It was proving to be a much tougher proposition than expected for the Americans and with the winner-break format it meant Morris and Deuel would have to stay in their seats and wait for another chance.
The ninth went all Switzerland’s way as the scoreline narrowed to 4-5, the closest it had been for the last 20 minutes.
But there was to be another twist as Switzerland inexcuseably lost position with only the 7, 8 and 9-balls left on the table in the tenth to gift America control once more and a 6-4 advantage.
It did not last long as once more the balance of the match turned in what was proving to be a thrilling encounter for a large crowd at the Outland Nightclub in Rotterdam, England.
USA lost position and again had to sit, watch and hope. They would have been sweating a bit more after Switzerland claimed the 11th rack to trail 5-6.
The Swiss team seemed revitalised and a thin cut from Tschudi to deposit the 6-ball helped set up another rack, their fourth in five, to make it 6-6. In effect, the match was now a race to two.
A huge shock was now on the cards and a faultless Swiss rack saw then run out from the break to move to the hill and only a few minutes away from a potential memorable win.
With the 1-ball going down on the break and the 2-ball over the bottom left pocket, it was within touching distance for the Swiss and they held their nerve as Dimitri Jungo sunk the final 9-ball of the match for an 8-6 triumph.