Diary of the days play; courtesy of Matchroompool.com Team England text in
Red 6pm: America are next up and Corey Deuel and Mike Dechaine show they've got a sense of humour as they're wearing red shirts, stars and stripes trousers, with the same pattern on the shoes and a white belt to finish off the effect. Only the Indian sparkling shirts from yesterday will deny the Americans the $500 for the best dressed team.
5.54pm: Holland nearly pull it back to 7-5 but See overhits his positional effort and hooks his team-mate with two balls left. See slaps the table in frustration, Teutscher fouls and Holland are out, 8-4 to Thailand.
5.49pm: Maybe I've done the Dutch a disservice they win the next for 7-4 and get a chance in the next following Palajin's miss on the pink 4.
5.46pm: Holland pull another one back but it looks a matter of time before they are knocked out.
5.42pm: Both sides claim one of the next two as Thailand edge closer to a fine win. See's 2-ball rattled around in the jaws of the second of these racks but didn't drop as Thailand move to the hill.
5.25pm: Fortune is favouring the Thailand team. See rolls the cue ball tight behind the 4-ball with the 2-ball on the rail but Kanjanasri's hit and hope ends with the 2-ball colliding into the 7-ball, which falls. Thailand win the rack from there on. 6-1.
5.19pm: Maybe a turning point comes in the sixth when Thailand, closing in on 6-0, miss a simple black - the first big mistake they've made. Holland get their first rack on the board and this could be something to build on.
5.16pm: Decent performance so far from Thailand. They have no pedigree in the event but are closing in on the win. They should make it 6-0 and are not looking in trouble. Holland are facing a whitewash defeat and it's a long way to come from Holland to Manila and lose 8-0.
5.09pm: It's a nervous start from 19-year-old Teutscher as he follows up his error on the 7-ball in the previous rack with a poor shot at the 2-ball. Thailand, who had earlier made a dry break, run through the rest and it's 5-0.
5.06pm: Marco Teutscher, making his World Cup debut, misses the 7-ball after an illegal break from the Thailand side and the Asian team move further ahead with the scoreboard now showing 4-0.
5.01pm: Six seeded teams have already lost and another one is in trouble as Holland, the 14th seeds, find themselves 3-0 behind very quickly.
4.59pm: The fourth match of day two is between Holland and Thailand. Holland are represented by Huidji See and Marco Teutscher while Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Kobkit Palajin are in the Thailand team.
QUOTES - DENNIS GRABE (ESTONIA): "At the beginning it was very hard with the pressure as we'd never played in front of such a big crowd but we didn't have anything to lose.
"But we knew if we played well we could beat them. In a race to eight everyone has a chance. We didn't expect to win and it was a surprise but we had been hoping."
QUOTES - ERKI ERM (ESTONIA): "England are a very strong team but it was a very important match for us and this was our first time here.
"I think if we play well we can beat anybody as we made some mistakes but still won, but if we play perfectly we have a chance against everyone.
"Switzerland qualified as well and beat last year's champions and we've qualified and beaten one of the favourites."
4.33pm: But Grabe pots the 7-ball, Erm the 8-ball and Grabe downs the 9-ball to clinch the shock win of the tournament. 8-6 to Estonia and the third seeds are out.
4.31pm: A table-length bank shot, while using the jump cue, from Appleton ends in a spectacular pot but Melling then hooks his partner with his next shot. But Appleton produces a fine safety.
4.23pm: Estonia move to the hill. They could soon be dancing on the streets of Tallinn if they win one more. The opportunity comes after Melling scratches.
4.17pm: Mixed fortunes for England with the jump cue. Melling gets lucky to make the 2-ball safe, but Appleton then scratches with a similar effort. And Grabe makes a 3-9 combination for 6-6.
4.05pm: Grabe misses and scratches just to add to his woe. England get in and lead for the first time in the match.
4.04pm: England run out the next one 5-5 and you've got to fancy England from now on.
3.59pm: A touch of inexperience from Erm. He pots the 2-ball into the side but gets the angles wrong as the cue ball vanishes into another pocket. England win it and it's 4-5.
3.54pm: Estonia get back in and look like losing the table when a 6-8 combination from Erm leads to them losing optimum position. But they get themselves back out of trouble and win the rack to move 5-3 ahead.
3.52pm: Melling misses a shot at the 1-ball in the seventh but England get fortunate as it doesn't come back to haunt them. Instead, Estonia, showing the first hint of nerves, let England back in and the third seeds reduce the deficit to 3-4.
3.41pm: Melling's break is a good one but Appleton, for the second time, draws the cue ball back and into the side pocket. Estonia capitalise and make it 4-2.
3.38pm: It proves to be a good decision as Erm later fouls and with ball in hand England win their second in a row. England 2, Estonia 3.
3.37pm: England's break is no good and Estonia have a chance but Erm leaves the 4-ball near the pocket. Melling, who was right behind the shot, bounces out of his chair the second it was shot but decides to play safe.
3.34pm: Their first error comes from Grabe and it's a costly one. It should be 4-0 and they're two balls away from that but Grabe misses the 8-ball and a relieved England get their first rack on the board.
3.31pm: Grabe's break is perfect and the 1-ball vanishes with a shot on the 2-ball for Erm.
3.27pm: The Estonian break is an illegal one in the next and that leads to a high-quality safety encounter which ends when Appleton inadvertently screws the cue ball back and into the side pocket. With ball-in-hand Estonia have a chance for a shock 3-0 advantage. And that's what happens.
3.17pm: It's a solid start from the newcomers who double their lead by taking the second rack as well. The Estonians are yet to make a mistake.
3.11pm: Erki Erm and Dennis Grabe had to battle through a qualifying tournament to get here and take an opener with a 7-9 combination. Too early to say a shock, but it might be tougher than England expected.
3.07pm: Estonia are making their World Cup of Pool debut now against the fancied team of England's Darren Appleton and Chris Melling.
2.37: It's Malaysia as they labour their way through the final rack to record a 8-6 victory and book a second round spot against Germany.
2.25: France are not finished yet though as a mistake from Bin Amir is punished. It's now 7-6 as both teams vye for the dubious honour of facing Germany in the next round!
2.11pm: Malaysia are starting to play now and reach the hill at 7-5, having won five straight racks. Neither side has looked exceptional, but the Malaysians are doing the business.
2.05pm: France are going for the three fouls win in rack 11, but Ooi jumps his way out of a safety. Cohen then lays another good snooker which the jolly bin Amir manages to escape from and pot the 1 ball. His partner though leaves the two ball in the open but Facquet plays it safe. Bin Amir flukes the 2 ball in the side pocket and Ooi lays a very tight snooker and Cohen fouls escaping. With ball in hand, Malaysia take a 6-5 lead.
1.58pm: There's a fair sized crowd in at the Block Atrium for this one and they see Malaysia level things up in what is becoming an intriguing encounter. 5-5.
1.52pm: Ooi rolls the 9-ball into the side pocket and that means Malysia have clawed another one back but neither side is at their best. With Germany facing the winners then one side will need to raise their games quickly. 5-4.
1.50pm: Typical. Just when I praise them they have a stinker. The French break is an illegal one and Cohen later scratches when attempting a jump shot on the 1-ball. Malaysia win their first rack in a while to make it 5-3.
1.42pm: The French have found their stride now and are beginning to look a decent pairing. France got to the quarter-finals last year for the first time and will be hoping to at least repeat that this time. They run out their second in a row and now look comfortable with a 5-2 lead.
1.40pm: They run out the sixth rack with probably their most composed rack so far.
1.37: France take the fifth. It is not pretty but the French will not care.
1.22: France take the next as Vincent Facquet and Stephan Cohen hit their stride. The Malaysian pair are struggling for position, leaving themselves tough shots, but a 5/9 carom sees them level it at 2-2.
1.15: Malaysia, made up of Patrick Ooi and Ibrahim bin Amir take the opener but after a couple of misses on the 9 ball, Ooi inexplicably commits a time foul to hand the rack to France. 1-1.
QUOTES: Souquet: "Australia had pretty good chances in the first couple of racks and it should've been 2-0 to them but they handed us the first two racks and after that we controlled the match. We ran three or four from the break and the match was history. It's a really short format and one mistake could cost you three or four games."
Hohmann: "If I could pick any player in the world to be with then it would be Ralf. I'm coming off a big win last week and Ralf won the Masters so our confidence is very high."
12.53: Australia get back to the table but having spent most of the match watching, Jenkins is a bit cold and he misses the 3 ball. Germany lay a snooker and although Australia escape, they leave an easy 3/9 combo which the Germans take to complete the 8-0 whitewash.
12.50: 7-0. It will be the miracle of miracles if Australia win this one. A rack for pride's sake will be enough.
12.42: Australia get back to the table but Rothall leaves his partner in the lurch with no shot on the 4 ball. Jenkins makes a connection with his jump shot but leaves the ball on for Souquet. The Kaiser, who two days ago won the $20,000 top prize at the World Pool Masters, plants it firmly centre pocket and from there, they run out for 6-0.
12.38: And another. 5-0 to Germany now and it's beginning to look like mission impossible for the Aussie boys.
12.35pm: The biggest win of the tournament is Japan's 8-3 success over Croatia. The Germans look likely to beat that here. They run out the fourth.
12.30pm: It is looking easy for the Germans as they storm into a 3-0 lead.
12.24: The Germans make it 2-0 as Souquet atones for a miss by knocking in a slightly tricky 9 ball.
12.15: Germany take the opener as Rothall misses a cross table bank of the 8 ball and leaves it on for Hohmann who deposits it and leaves a straight in 9 ball for Souquet.
12.00: We're back at the SM Mall North folks for Day 2 of the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool and our first match sees the highly fancied German pair of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann take on the unheralded Aussies - Greg Jenkins and David Rothall.
Edited by user 07 September 2011 10:09:52(UTC)
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