Taiwan’s billiards players enjoyed a successful day on the tables at the World Games in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Cheered on by a sizeable crowd, “Son of Pool” Yang Ching-shun had a comfortable passage into the last eight of the men’s nine-ball pool competition after beating Croatia’s Ivica Putnik 11-2.
Yang was never in trouble, taking the first game on a three-ball clearance after a mistake by his opponent before clearing up off the break for a 2-0 lead.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Several more multi-ball clearances saw Yang race into an 8-0 lead before Putnik finally got on the scoreboard after a clearance of his own, making it 8-1.
Yang then made it 9-1 after a simple error by the Croatian before Putnik pulled another back, again clearing up off the break.
But Yang finished the match with some more ruthless potting to clinch the victory and set up a last eight showdown with Sweden’s Marcus Chamat.
Meanwhile, in the women’s competition Liu Shin-mei was made to work a little harder by Japan’s Akio Otari.
Liu raced into an early 3-1 lead before Otari hit back, potting five balls off the break in one game to snatch a 4-5 lead. But that was the last game she would win as Liu kept her cool to take the next five, wrapping up a 9-5 victory to reach the last eight.
Later on in the evening, Kuo Po-cheng lost to Shane Van Boening of the US in the final game following a nailbiting struggle in which the lead changed hands several times.
Given a chance in a dramatic final game after Van Boening left the ball hanging in the pocket, Kuo lost after potting the cue ball, giving the American the chance to clear up the final four balls for the win.
In the women’s draw, the “Battle of Taiwan” between Tsai Pei-chen and Lin Yuan-chun ended with Lin making the final eight after a 9-2 win.
In the snooker competition, Taiwan’s Wu Yu-lun went through to the last eight after beating Ricky Walden of Great Britain.
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