2023 World Cup of Pool
Lugo, Spain
Day 1
Notes:
Spain v Philippines
Philippines able to get by Spain 7-5, Spain played better than I expected and Philippines not quite as well. The score line is a bit better than anticipated, but not by more than 1 game or so? Good Match. Will be interesting to see if Philippines can tighten up and shore up a couple of small issues.
Greece v Singapore
Alex and Nik were a little shaky. I thought Sharik Sayed was going to be the weak link, but he played ok. The stats show how close it was, but in the end, Singapore had the edge in the only stat that really matters. Remarkably close match.
Canada v Myanmar.
Alex was very loose to start, and it showed in his game. He missed several shots throughout the match that you would not have expected. Somehow, they still got to the hill first at 6-2. Myanmar had a few very unexpected mistakes late in racks and missed an early 1/9 combination that offset Alex’s missed balls. John was very steady, and his break was solid. With the six blocked a bit by the 8, John left Alex a 5/9 combination. He hit it clean and Canada advanced. (NO MATCH STATS AVAILABLE)
Great Britain v Qatar
Jayson Shaw and Elliot Sanderson representing Great Britain face off against Ali Al Obaidli and Bashar Hussein.
Qatar just could not settle in a play their game, and its so hard to turn it around when things go off the rails. Before long they were down 6-0. Jayson was his usual strong self, Elliot not too bad either but did have a few concerning shots. We will see if he can smooth that out. Elliot seemed to shoot a few shots really quick and missed some shots that I feel he would normally do much better on. Qatar just not up to the task today, Great Britain advances 7-0.
Albania v Peru
Kaci and Sparhui were just too strong for Martinez / Tevez at the start of this match getting to the hill 6/3. Besar is hitting the ball well. He was the only question I had for Albania. Seems to be doing fine though. Peru, with some fire though, with a nice long bank on the 4 and caroming in the 8. Could not capitalize though, as they miss the 5 and leave an easy 3 ball out for Albania. 7/3 they advance.
Austria v Australia
He/Albin v Justin Sajich/James Georgiadis certainly had an obvious betting favorite, but you would not know it the way this one started. Australia was loose and smiling. Their play was solid and resulted in a 2/0 start to the match. Austria would get it back to level at 2/2, but Australia would pull away winning 4 of the next 5 racks but miss a 9 ball to clinch it. Austria picked away and carefully got back to even at hill/hill. The final rack offered both teams opportunities, and unfortunately for Australia, they could close it out and a relieved Austrian team was able to get it done and will move on.
What a day? It had some great play, some shaky moments that created drama. Overall, I enjoyed it, it was fun to watch, and all but one of my pics came through. Day 2 will be interesting.
Day 2
Thoughts.
In the first session we have the Netherlands versus Hong Kong, China. I have Hong Kong moving through, Netherlands has the edge the way Neils and Marc have been playing, but my gut says Hong Kong is going to pull it out. I will not be too disappointed if my pick is wrong on this one.
Next up, Chinese Taipei against Finland. It is the Ko Bros and even though Mika Immonen and Petri Makkonen are past champions of this event, it has been eleven years. They would love to win again and join the other two-time winners, Austria (Ouschan/He), Philippines (Reyes/Bustamante) and China’s (Fu Jianbo /Li Hewen), I just don’t see it happening.
To close the session out, Poland versus Serbia. This will be a heck of a match. Aleksa Pecelj and Lazar Kostic are going to be in battle though. I see Wiktor Zielinski and Konrad Juszczyszyn as too big a mountain though. Poland walking away with it.
The afternoon begins with Germany against New Zealand. While Matt Edwards and Sullivan Clark have been playing a while now, they have not had the results that Josh Filler has, and while Moritz is young, he is quickly showing well in many of the tournaments he has entered this year. 17th in both the World Pool Championships and the World 10b Championship, as well as 4th in the McDermott Classic, 17th in the Maldives Open, 5th in the JFlowers Scottish Open and 9th in the UK Open. This is Germany’s to lose I believe, but it is a short race so anything can happen. Still have Germany as my pick though.
Hungary v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Oliver Szolnoki and Attila Bezdan against Sanjin Pehlivanovic and Ajdin Piknjac. I have picked Hungary, but I will not be surprised if I get this one wrong. Attila is a 747 while Szolnoki is a 799. Sanjin 808 with Ajdin at only 706, though he did well at the last Ljubljana City Open finishing 3rd as well as a 33rd place finish at the 2023 World Pool Championships this past February in Poland.
The day will end with Spain B against Saudi Arabia. Jose Alberto Delgado and Jonas Souto Comino will face the youngster Khalid Alghamdi and his partner Mohannad Hamoud Alghumayz. I believe this is a first-time appearance for all 4 of these competitors. Look for nerves to be a part of it early, and we will see who settles down first. I think the fellows from Spain may have a bit more experience and be able to deal with the pressure a little easier.
So that’s it, this is the run down of day one and a quick though on what could occur on Day 2. Hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers.
Colin “Wookie” Sheil – Kikin Billiards
Images Credit to Matchroom Pool.