Above: Ralf Souquet and Ronnie Alcano
WINNING a third world title has become an uphill challenge for Ralf Souquet of Germany and Ronnie Alcano of the Philippines.
They learned this quickly on Day One of the World Ten Ball Championship as they suffered stinging setbacks against their respective foes at the World Trade Center. The two top guns in the tournament are now in a win-or-go-home situation in their loser’s bracket matches on Thursday, November 26.
It was Thomasz Kaplan of Poland who delivered the stunning blow against Souquet. Down 2-6, the Polish cue artist crept his way back into the contest, leveled the score at 6-6, and then stormed ahead to victory.
Kaplan racked up seven straight games to advance to the winner’s bracket of Group A in the WTBC.
“We’re in a group where anybody can beat anybody,” said Souquet, who is still confident of his chances of going to the next level. “It could happen even to the best players out there. He was composed in coming back. I knew he’s capable of winning because I’ve faced him in the European circuit.”
Alcano, world 9-ball champion in 2006 and world 8-ball champion in 2007, was similarly shocked in his triple-crown bid by a player who made it to the main tournament via the tough qualifying stage – Dang Jin Hu of China.
Dang dictated the match early, then held off Alcano in the endgame before prevailing, 9-7.
“That’s just the way it is. Only one man should win, not two,” said Alcano, who accidentally sank the orange No.5 ball on a different corner while trailing 8-7.
His Chinese rival quickly took advantage and went for the kill, sending the favored Filipino cue artist to the brink of elimination.
The prize of staying in the hunt for an ambitious third world title resumes Thursday for Alcano, who will next face compatriot Demosthenes Pulpul in a knockout match.
Pulpul, last year’s surprise semifinalist, lost to two-time world champion Johnny Archer of the United States, 7-9.
Pulpul also had tough luck, missing several shots that he made during his miraculous run to the Final Four last year.
“I missed three important shots. For seven games, I couldn’t get a good opening,” said Pulpul.
Pulpul’s crucial error happened in the 15th rack while trying to shatter the game’s final deadlock at 7-7. He scratched the cue ball, allowing Archer to finish off the match.
In another upset, Nguyen Anh Tuan of Vietnam defeated former US Open champion Shane van Boening of the US in a hill-hill encounter, 9-8.
Another victim of the upset ax was world No.7 Jeff de Luna, who lost to Mehmet Cankurt of Turkey, 9-5.
While some Filipinos lost their matches, most others in the field finished off their first-round opponents. One such was Jomar de Ocampo, a player who entered the WTBC main draw via an exhausting qualifying stage. He came from behind to nip highly-touted Wang Hung-Hsiang of Chinese-Taipei, 9-8. It was sweet victory for De Ocampo, who had to battle back from 4-8 down before pulling off an upset win.
Dennis Orcullo had an easier time beating fellow Pinoy Steve Villamil, 9-6.
Defending champion Darren Appleton of Great Britain was a picture of focus in his game against Tey Choon Kiat of Singapore. The British ace won, 9-5, and appears set to advance to the round of 64.
“I feel good. I hope I feel better in Thursday’s game,” said Appleton, who ruled last year’s event at the Philippine International Convention Center.
The pride of the Netherlands --Neils Feijen and Nick van den Berg – also served notice of their title aspirations and made short work of their respective rivals.
Feijen, ranked No. 3 in the world, scuttled Scott Higgins of Great Britain, 9-1, to quickly enter the winner’s bracket. Van den Berg had a similar victory over Kim Wong Dae of Korea, 9-1, to join his compatriot in the winner’s bracket.
Chinese-Taipei’s Kuo Po Cheng outplayed Matjaz Erculz of Slovenia, 9-4.
Other opening day winners were: Mario Tolentino of the Philippines over Roman Hybler of Czech Republic (9-8); Kenny Kwok of Hong Kong over Ben Nunan of Australia (9-6); MB Alias of Brunei over Martin Kempter of Austria (9-8); Chang Pei-Wei of Chinese-Taipei over Elvis Calasang of the Philippines (9-3); Naoyuki Ooi of Japan over Allan Cuartero of the Philippines (9-5); Vincent Facquet of France over Christopher Feintjes of Germany (9-3); Ruslan Chinakhov of Russia over Han Hao Xiang of China (9-8); Oliver Ortmann of Germany over Ibrahim Bin Amir of Malaysia (9-1); Hayao Hijikata of Japan over Ricardo Jones of Great Britain (9-4); Mika Immonen of Finland over Basher Hussain of Qatar (9-1); Ignacio Chavez of Mexico Konstantin Stepanov of Russia (9-4); Yukio Akakariyama of Japan over Marko Vogel of Germany (9-8); Serge Das of Belgium over Tyler Edey of Canada (9-6); Marcus Chamat of Sweden over Bahram Lofty of Denmark (9-3); Imran Majid of Great Britain over Frailin Guanica of Venezuela (9-6); David Alcaide over Emil Martinez of the Philippines (9-3); Li Hewen of China over Jalal Youse of Venezuela (9-7); Mario He of Austria over Toh Lian Han of Singapore (9-8); Karl Boyes of Great Britain over Raymond Cruz of Canada (9-4); Cheng Tsung-Hua of Chinese-Taipei over Abdulah Fawal of Qatar (9-2); Daryl Peach of Great Britain over Lee Po Soon of Malaysia (9-8); Lee Van Corteza of the Philippines over Vegar Kristiansen of Norway (9-4); Yang Ching-Shun of Chinese-Taipei over Andreas Koukiadakis of Greece (9-4); Alain Martel of Canada over Phil Stojanovic of Croatia (9-4); Jericho Banares of the Philippines over compatriot Jundel Mazon (9-6); Jeong Young Hwa of Korea over Sandor Tot of Serbia (9-5); Bruno Muratore of Italy over Shaun Wilke of USA (9-4); Antonio Gabica of the Philippines over Ralf Mund of Germany (9-2); Oscar Dominguez of the USA over Kazuo Furuta of Japan (9-4); Wang Ming of China over Widi Harsoyo of Indonesia (9-7); Cheng Yu Lung of Chinese-Taipei over Ramil Gallego of the Philippines (9-8); Craig Osborne of Great Britain over Rashid Al Mari of Qatar (9-1); and Marlon Manalo of the Philippines over Stevie Moore of the USA (9-4).
