Behind The Scenes...
Behind the scenes will bring you the lighter side of the World Pool
Championship with gossip and funny tales.
Let's get ready to rumble
All the talk on Sunday was of the spat between Finland's Mika Immonen
and Jeremy Jones (USA) who clashed on Table 2 during a Group 12
match-up. It all centered on Immonen's throwaway comment when he
fluked an 8 ball in the latter stages of the match. 'I guess that evens it up
then' he said, presumably in reference to a previous piece of good fortune
for Jones.
The feuding then started as both players muttered insults to each other as
play continued. The Finn eventually won 9-6 to advance to the knock-out
stages whilst Jones went down to Lee Van Corteza to depart the
competition.
There was more though as the insults carried on after the match. As of
Tuesday evening peace had not yet been restored.
Taxi Crash
Anyone who has braved the traffic in Manila will know that it is not for the
faint hearted. With journey times sometimes extraordinarily long, patience
is a virtue, as well as the ability to sometimes shut your eyes and hope for
the best.
For Farhad Shahverdi, the first player to compete in this event from Iran,
his journey on Monday afternoon to the Araneta ended with a crash and a
two-hour delay.
A friend alerted tournament organizers and he eventually arrived at the
venue with seconds to spare for his opening game with Li He-wen. Clearly
shaken by his ordeal he went on to lose 9-2 to Li and was eliminated by
Dejan Dabovic not long afterwards.
Long Dej for Serbian Dabovic
Talking of Dejan Dabovic, the tall Serbian deserves some kind of award for
endurance after winning through to the last 64 on Monday. He took part in
the opening match of the day at 3.30pm, losing to Marlon Manalo 9-7 on
the TV table.
He won his second game to stay in the competition and then faced
Malaysia's Alan Tan in a do-or-die battle on the outside tables. The final 9
ball was potted at 2.57am meaning that Dabovic was in the venue for 11
and a half hours from first ball till last.
Caseless in Manila
Every year at the World Pool Championship there is always one hapless
player whose luggage goes awol on the long trip to Manila and this time it
was former two-time WPA World Champion Johnny Archer.
Archer set out from Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday 3rd giving himself plenty
of time to reach the Philippines for his first round matches on Tuesday.
An airport mix-up though saw himself and his luggage set sail on two
separate flights and Archer arrived in Manila bagless. Johnny's wife Melanie
was on the case though and a series of frantic emails and phone calls saw
Johnny reunited with his clothes in emotional scenes at his hotel.
It's getting hot in here
There was high drama on Tuesday afternoon at the Big Dome when fire
broke out in the lighting rig over Table 5 on the upper tier. Each of the
outside tables has a light box with fluorescent tubes that light the table
and a short circuit sent sparks flying and before long the box was ablaze.
Matchroom Sport's John McDonald alerted venue staff and only his quick
thinking saved the table as he and cameraman Lawrence 'Lol' Lustig
covered it to stop debris and foam raining down onto the felt. Before long
temporary lights were installed and play was able to commence at the
designated time.
Behind the scenes will bring you the lighter side of the World Pool
Championship with gossip and funny tales.
Let's get ready to rumble
All the talk on Sunday was of the spat between Finland's Mika Immonen
and Jeremy Jones (USA) who clashed on Table 2 during a Group 12
match-up. It all centered on Immonen's throwaway comment when he
fluked an 8 ball in the latter stages of the match. 'I guess that evens it up
then' he said, presumably in reference to a previous piece of good fortune
for Jones.
The feuding then started as both players muttered insults to each other as
play continued. The Finn eventually won 9-6 to advance to the knock-out
stages whilst Jones went down to Lee Van Corteza to depart the
competition.
There was more though as the insults carried on after the match. As of
Tuesday evening peace had not yet been restored.
Taxi Crash
Anyone who has braved the traffic in Manila will know that it is not for the
faint hearted. With journey times sometimes extraordinarily long, patience
is a virtue, as well as the ability to sometimes shut your eyes and hope for
the best.
For Farhad Shahverdi, the first player to compete in this event from Iran,
his journey on Monday afternoon to the Araneta ended with a crash and a
two-hour delay.
A friend alerted tournament organizers and he eventually arrived at the
venue with seconds to spare for his opening game with Li He-wen. Clearly
shaken by his ordeal he went on to lose 9-2 to Li and was eliminated by
Dejan Dabovic not long afterwards.
Long Dej for Serbian Dabovic
Talking of Dejan Dabovic, the tall Serbian deserves some kind of award for
endurance after winning through to the last 64 on Monday. He took part in
the opening match of the day at 3.30pm, losing to Marlon Manalo 9-7 on
the TV table.
He won his second game to stay in the competition and then faced
Malaysia's Alan Tan in a do-or-die battle on the outside tables. The final 9
ball was potted at 2.57am meaning that Dabovic was in the venue for 11
and a half hours from first ball till last.
Caseless in Manila
Every year at the World Pool Championship there is always one hapless
player whose luggage goes awol on the long trip to Manila and this time it
was former two-time WPA World Champion Johnny Archer.
Archer set out from Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday 3rd giving himself plenty
of time to reach the Philippines for his first round matches on Tuesday.
An airport mix-up though saw himself and his luggage set sail on two
separate flights and Archer arrived in Manila bagless. Johnny's wife Melanie
was on the case though and a series of frantic emails and phone calls saw
Johnny reunited with his clothes in emotional scenes at his hotel.
It's getting hot in here
There was high drama on Tuesday afternoon at the Big Dome when fire
broke out in the lighting rig over Table 5 on the upper tier. Each of the
outside tables has a light box with fluorescent tubes that light the table
and a short circuit sent sparks flying and before long the box was ablaze.
Matchroom Sport's John McDonald alerted venue staff and only his quick
thinking saved the table as he and cameraman Lawrence 'Lol' Lustig
covered it to stop debris and foam raining down onto the felt. Before long
temporary lights were installed and play was able to commence at the
designated time.
