| 2000 World Pool Masters | |
| Comment on quarter-final play | |
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| Home | Steve Knight (England) 7 - 4 Tony Drago (Malta) UK Number Two, Steve Knight, resplendent in futuristic shades, became the first player into the semi-final shake-up as he put paid to Tony Drago's World Masters dreams here at Lakeside Shopping Centre, Essex. The Knight Rider, who was a quarter-finalist at the 1999 World Championship, played a great game and he soon found himself 4 - 1 up as he took full advantage of some Drago errors. The Maltese Tornado staged a mini revival of sorts as he found his break and at 5 - 4 down Knight knew he was in a match. However, Tony failed to make a ball off the break in the 10th and Knight took that rack and the next to ensure himself a minimum of £2.500. Commented Steve after the match, " I played and felt a lot better than the first match. Winning a bit fortunately against Takahashi put me in a good frame of mind. Tony played quite well but made a couple of positional errors and missed the pots and that gave me chances. " I'm sure I can win the Masters; I'm halfway there already. Everyone in the semis, though, will be dangerous, they wouldn't be there if they weren't. " Ralf Souquet (Germany) 7 - 6 Thomas Engert (Germany) Alex Lely (Holland) 7 - 5 Corey Deuel (USA) Defending Champ Alex Lely got off to his customary slow start in this evening's semi-final match but still had enough to put paid to young American Corey Deuel's World Masters hopes here at Lakeside Shopping Centre, Essex. Deuel stormed into an early 3 - 0 lead as the Plague from the Hague failed to get into any kind of early rhythm. Lely, though, had his chance in the 4th rack and won the next four on the spin to find himself 4 - 3 to the good. 22 year-old Corey then nipped into a 5 - 4 lead but TV nerves showed and in the end Lely ran out a 7 - 5 winner. Afterwards Lely was delighted to make it into the semis; " I missed early on and Corey just ran three racks. I played better yesterday against Jimmy White but for some reason tonight I felt a little more nervous, maybe because I am defending champion. Tonight though, I thought that experience was a big factor and I felt more seasoned in a TV environment than Corey did. " Last year I was a rookie both in this event and on TV and I had no expectations, which worked in my favour. I had a bad World Championship but that was a one-off but now I feel a lot more consistent and I would like to be able to play to the same standard in every tournament. " As for the semi-final I don't mind who I play as it will be as easy to beat Reyes as it will be to lose to Petroni. " Efren Reyes (Philippines) 7 - 4 Fabio Petroni (Italy) For further details contact Luke Riches on 01708 782212, 0385 395688
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