19-26 February 2011
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The final stage set
Credit: Jerry Forsyth
The
2011 World 8-Ball Championship is now down to just two players. Niels
Feijen will face Dennis Orcullo on Saturday for the title.
Friday play started
with the final sixteen players and the fans witnessed the surprising
elimination of Mika Immonen (9-1 at the hands of Thomas Engert) as well
as a fantastic hill-hill match between Appleton and Ronnie Alcano.
Appleton led the match 8-4, before coming up dry on the break and being
forced to watch Alcano run rack after rack to tie the match at 8-8.
Alcano made a ball on the break and looked to be out in the case rack,
but missed a tricky ball down the rail and that was all the opportunity
that Appleton needed to run the rack and win the match.
The final round of
eight saw another great comeback as Niels Feijen looked to be on his way
out the door in his match against Nick Van Den Berg. Van Den Berg held
an early lead, but Feijen came back and made it a close match. Van Den
Berg was running out a tricky final rack at 8-8, when he got funny on a
ball early in the rack. The pressure of the situation may have gotten
the better of him as he missed a semi-touch cut and conceded the match
to Feijen instead of sitting and watching Feijen run his final eight
balls.
The
story of the first quarter final match was missed opportunities. Dennis
Orcullo faced off against David Alcaide and the packed house of Filipino
fans made it very clear who they were cheering for. The match saw
Orcullo take a small lead early in the match. At 5-3, a miss by Orcullo
let Alcaide to the table, but he was unable to take advantage and
Orcullo won the rack. Again, at 6-3, Alcaide got to the table but was
unable to capitalize. Amazingly, at 7-3, Alcaide had another chance that
didn't pan out and Orcullo took an 8-3 lead. That would be the last
chance for Alcaide as Orcullo broke and ran the final rack for the 9-3
win.
The second quarter
final match was between last year's runner up, Niels Feijen, and Darren
Appleton. With the "winner breaks" rule and the forgiving pockets, the
lag has been extremely important for the players. That lag went to
Darren Appleton, but that would be one of only two trips he made to the
table. Appleton broke dry and was forced to sit in the chair as Fiejen
ran six straight racks. At 6-0, Feijen made a ball on the break but
really had no high percentage shot to start the run with. Feijen opted
for a safety and Appleton got his second chance at the table. Appleton
missed a tricky jump-carom and that was the end as Feijen ran the final
three racks for the 9-0 win.
Saturday play will
start out with Appleton taking on Alcaide for 3rd place, followed by
Feijen vs Orcullo for the title.