| 2000 World Pool Masters | |
| Comment on first round play | |
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| Home | Alex Lely (Holland) 7 - 3 Jimmy White (England) Defending Champion Alex Lely of Holland successfully opened his account at this year's World Masters as he came from 3 - 0 down to win 7 - 3 against crowd favourite Jimmy White. The Plague from the Hague now faces either Corey Deuel (USA) or Radoslaw Babica (Poland) in tomorrow's last eight match. Lely, 27, who last year defeated Efren Reyes in the final to put himself firmly on the world pool map, looked a little shaky early on as White moved into a 3 - 0 lead. White who didn't manage to find his break cue until the second rack, made too many errors for a player of Lely's calibre and in the end the Dutchman won comfortably. Commented Lely, " It's time I started playing good right away because I'm tired of losing a few racks before I start to play. In the end though, I'm happy with the result as I haven't really played since Cardiff and my cue got nicked in France three weeks ago so this is a new one. "That's the first match out of the way and I feel confident that I can go on and win this title again. It's only one win but against a guy like Jimmy white I'd say it was a good one." Thomas Engert (Germany) 7 - 4 Ismael Paez (Mexico) German No.3 Thomas Engert made a successful Masters debut here at Lakeside Shopping Centre this afternoon with a hard fought win over 2000 World Championship runner-up Ismael Paez. Engert, 34, from Duren near the Dutch border, looked nervous at the start but Paez, the twitchiest player in pool, could not capitalise as Engert moved into a 2-1 lead. Paez then got himself together to move into a 4 - 2 lead, but Engert reasserted himself to win the next five racks and take the match. Afterwards Engert was delighted with his performance: " It's a great atmosphere here and the spectators are appreciative towards both players. I felt a little nervous at the start but you have to be nervous to play well. " I scratched twice early on to give him chances but he didn't take them and in a race to seven if you make too many mistakes you lose. I think Souquet will beat Younger which will be great because it will guarantee a German in the semi-final! Looking at the draw I think I can win this tournament at my first attempt because I am a good enough player." Steve Knight (England) 7 - 4 Kunihiko Takahashi (Japan) UK No. 2 Steve Knight took sweet revenge for his 9-0 whitewash at the 2000 World Pool Championships when he defeated 1998 World Champion Kunihiko Takahashi of Japan to advance through to the quarter-finals here at Lakeside Shopping Centre. London-based Knight, 27, spends a couple of months a year in the United States playing in money matches and gaining himself a pool education and it certainly paid off against a player who many fancied to go all the way in this tournament. Knight had the run of the balls early on to go into a 3 - 1 lead but several errors allowed Takahashi back in the Japanese star took advantage to win the next four and leave Steve looking decidedly shaky at 5 - 3 down. Knight, though, is nothing if not a fighter and he gritted his teeth to take the initiative and win the next four to take the match 7 - 5. He now meets Tony Drago in quarter-final three at 2.00 Saturday afternoon. Commented Knight, " Let's face it, I played below par today and I was lucky to beat a player who I thought played a better match than me. I was so glad to beat him though because of Cardiff. " I made a lucky safety shot at 5 - 3 down and from then on I stepped the pace up a bit to win the match. Drago's a good player and the problem for me is that I mustn't let him dictate the pace. He plays very fast and today he dragged Marcus Chamat into his speed zone and look what happened to him. Fabio Petroni (Italy) 7 - 6 Steve Davis (England) Steve Davis' pool aspirations suffered a blow this evening at Lakeside Shopping Centre as he crashed out of the World Masters at the hands of former Mosconi Cup team mate Fabio Petroni. However, Davis so very nearly pulled off another of his famous comebacks as he dragged himself back from 6 - 2 down to level the match at six racks apiece. However a poor break in the final rack let Petroni in and the 28 year-old Roman took his chance to close out the game. After his exploits at the World Championship in July where he knocked out three former World Champions en route to the quarter-finals, Davis stock in world pool has gone through the roof but he got off to the worst possible start against Petroni, losing the first four racks as Fabio totally dominated play. Romford Slim won the next two but when Petroni won racks seven and eight, it looked all over for Davis. Finding his stride after a rare Petroni error, Davis started to play and as the racks fell his way an upset looked on the cards. Commented Steve after the match, " I was too cold early on and by the time I had warmed up I had too much to do. I gave him too many chances at the beginning and, I'm afraid, at this level you can't do that. I've known Fabio a few years now and I know what he's capable of. He's got as much chance as anyone of winning this tournament ." Corey Deuel (USA) 7 - 5 Radoslaw Babica (Poland) Efren Reyes (Philippines) 7 - 6 Tommy Donlon (Ireland) 1999 World Champion Efren Reyes of Angeles City, Philippines, scraped through his opening match at the 2000 World Pool Masters as he finally overcame UK No.1 Tommy Donlon in the deciding rack here at Lakeside Shopping Centre. Reyes, 45, who was the beaten finalist here last year, won the opening rack in a match where the lead changed hands five times! Donlon then took the initiative to lead 2 -1 before the onus went back to the Magician who won the next two to lead 3 - 2. However, the Disher, who has won 6 UK Tour events this season, cashed in on some Reyes errors to lead 4 - 3, before his own mistake let Efren square it at 4 - 4. Donlon could not add to this and Efren took the next two racks to put himself within sight of the finishing post. Donlon wasn't finished though and he managed to compose himself to clear up in the next two racks to take the match to the decider. Tommy got a ball off the break but failed in an attempt to pot a long 3 ball off the rail and with that he left Efren a relatively easy clearance for the match. Efren now faces Italy's Fabio Petroni in this afternoon's quarter-finals. Commented Reyes, " I was lucky today. I didn't play too good but he missed a lot too. In the practice room upstairs I was playing very well but when I got to the arena it was different. Petroni is a good player and although I've never played him I've seen him play so I will need a lot of luck to win. I won't play worse than I did today though. " Ralf Souquet (Germany) 7 - 5 Johl Younger (Australia) Former two-times Masters Champion Ralf Souquet of Germany produced a marvellous comeback to beat Thunder from Down Under Johl Younger today at Lakeside Shopping Centre. In a match of the highest quality Johl got off to a flyer, playing near-flawless pool to move into a 4 - 1 lead and leave Ralf looking vulnerable. However, the Kaiser is not one of the best players in the world for nothing and he staged a tremendous revival as Younger was left to sit it out for five racks as Ralf moved into a 6 - 4 lead. Younger finally got back to the table to take the 11th rack, but the mighty Kaiser regained the initiative to take the next rack and the match. He now faces fellow countryman Thomas Engert for a place in the semis. Commented Ralf, " I thought I played pretty good and so did Johl. The table was breaking very hard at the beginning and three times I didn't make a ball off the break. Finally, I made a ball on the break and I was really focused on not letting him back to the table. " The deciding shot was at 6-5 when he played a push-out, I gave it back to him and he left me a good opportunity to hook him and that was the key shot. I broke up two balls while playing the safety so it was difficult for him to hit the 3. With ball-in-hand on an open table I made no mistake. " Me and Thomas play in the same team but this an individual tournament so there will be no mercy! I am capable of beating Thomas but in a race to seven anything can happen. " For further details contact Luke Riches on 01708 782212, 0385 395688 or: luke.riches@matchroom.com |
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