World Pool Masters Qualifier Malaysia

In case anyone is interested, here is the draw for the first of the four qualifying tournaments for the World Pool Masters here in Malaysia.

http://xzsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wpmqt2010-msia-day-1-draw.pdf

Some notable names such as Luong Chi Dung from Vietnam, Dharminder Singh Lilly from India, Muhammad Zulfikri from Indonesia and many of the Singaporean pros as well as our own local pros and shortstops all playing tomorrow.

I'll hopefully be watching some of the action but it depends on my college schedule this week. Will try to keep you guys updated on how the four tournaments go and who gets the four spots in Vegas

Ahmad Taufiq of Brunei has won the first qualifying spot for the World Pool Masters, beating Goh Chin Teck of Singapore 9-3 in the final.

Day 1 results : http://xzsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wpmqt2010-msia-day-1-results.pdf

Draw for the 2nd qualifying tournament to be held today: http://xzsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wpmqt2010-msia-day-1-results.pdf

Do Hong Quan of Vietnam has won the second qualifying tournament, beating Chan Keng Kwang of Singapore 9-7 in the final. Great match. Do got to the hill first with the score at 8-4, before Chan pulled back to 8-7. Do then broke and ran the final rack to claim his spot in Las Vegas.

Day 2 results: http://xzsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wpmqt2010-msia-day-2-results.pdf

Draw for Day 3: http://xzsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wpmqt2010-msia-day-3-drawchart.pdf

The field is generally around 40 to 45 players and many players get a bye in the first round. I only managed to watch the final yesterday as I had college in the daytime.

Golden Break Pool Club is a very nice place to play although it's a bit on the expensive side. Service is top notch and tables are close to perfect. You get what you pay for. Like all pool halls in Malaysia, smoking is still allowed indoors.

Yesterday's match was really great, with most of the crowd watching cheering on Chan KK especially as he had many of his fellow Singaporeans watching him. Most of his safeties and great positional shots were applauded loudly while Do only had minimal suport from the Vietnamese contingent. The difference between the two was that Chan KK made more mistakes, a poor pushout and a rubbish safety which easily cost him two racks. I thought Do definitely deserved to win and he made some fantastic runouts and recovery shots. Very impressive.

There are some pictures of the location at http://xzsports.wordpress.com/

Just got home from watching the action from Day 3. It was an all Indonesian semifinal lineup with Muhammad Zulfikri beating Jimmy Jusman 9-5 and Imran Ibrahim beating Apsi Chaniago 9-6. In the final, Zulfikri raced out to a 6-0 lead, running out his racks while Ibrahim never got a clear shot at anything. Everytime he came to the table he was facing a really tough shot or a kick/jump out of savage safeties laid by his opponent.

He finally managed to get one back but Zulfikri took the next two to sit on the hill, 8-1. Ibrahim took a break before coming back to take the next 3 racks, capitalising on mistakes by Zulfikri as well as making some tough outs himself. However, with the alternate break format, it was going to be a tough ask and at 8-4, Zulfikri laid a tough snooker which Ibrahim managed to escape from but left the 1ball on. Zulfikri then ran out to win 9-4 and book his ticket to Las Vegas.

Day 3 results: http://xzsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wpmqt2010-msia-day-3-results.pdf

Draw for Day 4: http://xzsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wpmqt2010-msia-day-4-drawchart.pdf

Day 4 is now in the books and Luong Chi Dung of Vietnam has emerged as the winner, beating Tan Tiong Boon of Singapore 9-5 in the final. Luong had earlier defeated his fellow countryman Long Nguyen Phuc 9-4. Luong jumped out to a 5-1 lead and although Long narrowed the deficit to 5-4, Luong then took the next 4 racks to book a spot in the final.

The other semifinal saw the lone Malaysian left, Elvin Lean take on Tan Tiong Boon. Lean had an early lead before Tan caught up, capitalising on poor safeties and missed pots to get to the hill at 8-6. Lean's snooker background was a tremendous advantage in the 16th rack as he made two tight cuts on the 5 and 8 ball to level the match at 8-8. Malaysia's hope to have a representative in the final was dashed however as Tan broke and ran the final rack to win 8-7.

The final was a straightforward affair as Luong jumped out to an early 5-1, demonstrating his immaculate potting skills and position play. They traded racks as Luong reached the hill at 8-5. Luong looked certain to win with only the 8 and 9 remaining but missed the 8 ball playing deep reverse side spin. The 8 jumped out of the jaws leaving Tan with a tricky but makeable shot. He missed the 8 into the opposite corner pocket and Luong cleared up to book a spot in the World Pool Masters.

Day 4 results: http://xzsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wpmqt2010-msia-day-4-results.pdf

No problem thaitom, it was a pleasure to watch such fantastic players in action. I was watching Luong warmup before the final and he was firing in balls from all angles with all sorts of spin on it and making it look effortless. One highlight in particular was him throwing all nine balls onto the table at random before running out with ease. I was actually surprised Luong hadn't won one of the previous spots as he easily was one of the best in the field, not to mention being a former World Championship quarterfinalist.