WCOP 2009 - Germany And Philippines B Through To Final

Matchroom Sport Press Release:

Reyes And Busta In Epic Semi Win

In an absolute thriller of a match, the Philippines B team of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante, made their way through to Sunday evening’s final of the PartyCasino.net World Cup of Pool, beating China 9-8 in front a crowd in excess of 1,000 at the SM Mall North Annex.

Spare a though for ’07 Champions China, made up of Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen, who mounted a sterling comeback from 5-1 down to see themselves breaking for the match.

Reyes and Bustamante now meet the winners of the second semi-final, Germany v Philippines A.

With the arena full, hundreds looking on from balcony and at least three hundred people still lining up for long sold out tickets, the two teams were introduced to the crowd and it was China who got the match underway but some errors from a nervy Fu Jianbo allowed the Philippines to open up a lead.

Another miss from the stick-thin Fu let their opponents get to the table and they looked good to go into 2-0 lead. Another miss, this time from Li, gave the Filipinos a chance but they couldn’t cash in and China steadied their nerves with their first rack of the match.

That was to be their only success for sometime as Philippines B got on a roll, winning the next three with some free-wheeling play. The crowd needed to be warned several times by referee Michaela Tabb as their enthusiasm got the better of them at times.

The Chinese duo of Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen, dug deep and fought their way back into the match and they clawed back the racks to trail 5-6 but, with a chance to level it, Fu came up short and left the 4 ball over the middle pocket and the Philippines calmed the crowd by clearing the table to restore a two rack lead at 7-5 in the race to nine.

Reyes though missed the red 3 as the crowd gasped and China grabbed the opportunity to run out and get within one of the opposition but a dry break in the 14th rack scuppered their momentum. However, there is some controversy as Reyes fouls, failing to hit a rail after hitting the blue 2.

Reyes disputes this, but referee Tabb had already called ‘touching ball’ to indicate that the 2 ball was locked on the rail and therefore could not then touch it after contact.

There was disaster for Li though, as he hopelessly miscued on the straight 4 ball and with the balls out in the open, Philippines ran out to increase the lead to 8-6 – one away from victory.

Reyes came up with an illegal break though, and the Chinese nervously went through the table to get one back at 8-7.

Fu delivered an excellent break in the next, dropping two balls and leaving the 1 ball on. The Philippines got back to the table but Reyes left what looked like a decent safety shot after China ran out of position.

Li's jump shot, under immense pressure, was perfect and he potted the 2-ball with good position for the 3-ball. It was great character shown from China and the match became a one-rack shoot-out.

Fu missed a critical 1/2 combo though and the Philippines had their destiny in their own hands. They went through the balls, with everyone cheered by the crowd before Bustamante sunk the final 9 for a marvellous win.

Super Germans See Off Philippines A

The final of the 2009 PartyCasino.net World Cup of Pool will be between the German pair of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann and Philippines B made up of Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes and Francisco ‘Django’ Bustamante.

That follows on from another outstanding performance from Germany as they took down tournament favourites Philippines A , made up of Dennis Orcollo and Ronnie Alcano by a 9-6 scoreline at the SM Mall North Annex in Quezon City, Manila.

"This is why we came here. Of course you have to fight, that's what it's all about,” said a fired-up Hohmann afterwards.

"Who wants to see a Philippines A versus Philippines B final? It should be a great final of Philippines B v Germany,” he added.

The precise Germans against the all-round prowess of the Philippines was never likely to be a runaway for either team and so it proved. Neither side could gain any momentum in the early stages as neither team could manage more than a rack lead at any time.

With the scores tied at 4-4, they were dead-locked in safety battle which Souquet broke with a table length bank on the 3 ball and from there, the Germans completed a decent run out to take the lead at 5-4.

Team Germany then downed the 1 ball off the break and with the 2 ball on, Hohmann and Souquet ran out to gain a two rack lead for the first time in the match.

That didn’t last for long though as a fruitless break from Hohmann let Philippines A to the table and they ran out to narrow the lead to 6-5 to Germany.

Orcollo made an illegal break to bring the Germans back to the table but Hohmann missed a long pot on the 1 ball as the crowd gasped. The two smiling Pinoys negotiated the table and it was back to all square at 6-6.

Between racks, guest of honour, World Light Flyweight Champion Brian Viloria, made an appearance and took his seat in the VIP enclosure.

A bad miss on the 2 ball down the rail by Alcano gave Germany a great chance to regain the lead. There was no hesitation as they ran through the table to get themselves within two racks of victory.

Souquet’s break saw two balls drop and the 1 ball out in the open. Hohmann though chose to play safe rather than attempt the low percentage pot. Alcano took on the 1 ball and missed it. Souquet played what was the shot of the match to pot the 1 ball and gain a three rail position, through a crowd of balls, to leave his partner perfect on the 2 ball.

They made no mistakes from there are cleared to get to the hill at 8-6.

Scenting the victory, Souquet missed the 1 ball to throw the Philippines a life jacket but Alcano completely blew it, as he left the 1 ball hanging in the jaws of a blind pocket.

The run out was a tough one, with the Germans permanently out of position but the cool heads of Hohmann and Souquet guided Germany home for a magnificent win.

"We're really looking forward to the final. This was a tough match but to play against Efren in a major final will be another highlight of my career - he is my favourite player and Bustamante is also a great player,” said Souquet.

"I know we will have to fight and will be against a crowd of more than 1,500 Filipino fans but, hey, we have some fans here and fans in Germany and the rest of the world."

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