Finals - Souquet vs. Alcano

DoomCue

DoomCue

David J. Baranski
Silver Member
Alcano is up 3-0 right now, and his soft break is still working great. Souquet made a not-so-great safety in rack 1, and played bad position in rack 3.

Alcano just played bad shape on the 4, and lucked into a good defensive position. Ralf is playing a half-ball hit safety, and has a full-ball snooker. Alcano made a good hit, but sold out the rack.

Ralf seems to be struggling with ball speed - he's getting out of line quite a bit on his few trips to the table.

Alcano up 3-1, Souquet has the break.

-djb
 
Rack 5

Souquet breaks, squats whitey, has a look-in on the one. There is a cluster to be solved, so Steve Davis is saying Souquet will play safe on the one.

Souquet plays safe.

Alcano plays a mini-masse, making a good hit. Ralf doesn't really have a shot on, so he plays safe again, coming up short. He's still having trouble with ball speed.

Alcano plays safe, has a full ball snooker. Looks like Alcano may go for a 3-foul win if Souquet fouls.

Souquet fouls.

Alcano plays another safety. Looks like this kick is easier than the last.

Souquet makes a good hit, but dollies up the one. The 3 is still tied up with the 6, though....

Alcano runs to the 3, plays a clever safety, freezing the CB to the 5. Souquet should make good contact on this.

Good hit by Souquet. Leaves a relatively easy bank for Alcano and he drains it.

Looks like a Cosmo now for Ronato.

Alcano up 4-1 and has the break.
-djb
 
thanks doom cue please keep the updates coming i for some reason cant get a good feed with tvu or sopcast
 
Rack 6

Soft break by Alcano again - finishes perfect on the 1.

I can't see Alcano not getting out here.

And of course, he misses the 2 - a short-side cut up the long rail.

The 2 dollies up for Souquet. Funny, the announcers just mentioned Cosmo (see my last post).

Souquet runs out, down 4-2, and he has the break.

-djb
 
Rack 7

Souquet breaks, pocketing two balls. He has a tough play on the 2. He's been ducking - will he play safe again?

He does attempt a safety, but leaves a wide open look at the 2.

Alcano plays a nice touch draw shot to get back to the 4 after the 2. Plays a fine positional shot to get to the 5 - got a little lucky/unlucky. Lucky to have a shot on the 5, unlucky that the shot is going to force whitey to travel around the world to finish on the 6.

Alcano hits the shot perfect, coming within inches of scratching, but gets absolutely perfect on the 6. Should be out now.

Alcano up 5-2 with the break next.

-djb
 
Rack 8

Alcano breaks (softly, of course), pocketing the wing ball and finishing on a tough shot on the 1. Souquet has opted to play safe when faced with testy rack-opening shots, what will Alcano do?

Alcano plays a gorgeous safety - I don't see a way for Ralf to hit this ball.

Steve Davis agrees with me, btw. :D

Of course, Ralf makes a great 3 rail escape!

Alcano plays another safety. He gets a full-ball snooker, but this is a much easier kick, one which should result in a safety played back at him by Souquet.

Good contact by Souquet - didn't get safe, but didn't leave a shot on for Alcano.

Wrong again - Alcano caroms the 1 off another ball into the side pocket, and also pockets the 6.

Alcano came a little short on position for the 3, but should be ok from here.

Alcano is playing some fantastic pool right now. He missed a couple of balls early, but I think his confidence is rising.

Alcano up 6-2, Souquet breaking next.

-djb
 
Rack 9

Souquet breaks, pockets a couple of balls, but loses whitey a little. He hasn't finished on the two for an offensive shot.

Souquet plays safe, but Alcano figures to escape easily as Souquet has overhit it slightly. The question is whether or not Alcano get play a safe back at him with the kick.

Alcano makes good contact, but leaves the 2 on for Ralf. Ralf will have to play good position here to get back for the 4 off the 3.

Ralf pockets the 3, but overruns shape on the 4 and is forced to play safe. He thins the 4, leaving half a ball for Ronato to see.

Alcano plays a safety, leaving a full-ball snooker for Ralf. Ralf's issues with ball speed are continuing to manifest. His demeanor at the table reminds me of the last few racks of the 2000 WPC, when he lost to Immonen.

Ralf makes a good hit, leaving a testy cut for Ronato.

Ronato drains it, using the 6 as a fence to help the 4. He should be out from here.

Alcano 7-2 and breaking.

-djb
 
Rack 10

Alcano breaks, makes the wing ball and another, and finishes on the 1.

Plays nice shape on the 2 and he should be out.

Quick rack for Alcano.

Ralf's in trouble - the deficit is starting to become huge, especially for alternate break.

Alcano 8-2, Souquet has the break.

-djb
 
Rack 11

Souquet breaks, pockets 3 balls, and finishes on the 3. The rack is wide open - needs to play good position from 3 to 5, and 5 to 6.

Has overrun position again (or come up short, depending on if Ralf intended to go short-side) and plays safe on the 5. He sends the 5 to one short rail while parking whitey on the other, plus plus leaves a full ball between them.

Alcano fouls.

Watching Alcano's mannerisms, I can't help but be reminded of Reyes. He has the same walk, the same tucked in elbow at the table, the same stroke. I guess that's a good thing....

Souquet runs out.

Alcano 8-3, and breaking.

-djb
 
Rack 12

Alcano breaks, pockets the corner ball, finishes on the 1.

Leaves himself about a 1/4 ball hit on the two, and will need to roll whitey around 3 rails for the 3. He's finished in a position where he could take on the 3-9, or try the 3 past it.

He takes on the 3-9, and nails it dead center!

Alcano 9-3.

-djb
 
Rack 13

Souquet breaks, pockets a ball, squats whitey, but doesn't finish on the 1. He's going to have to push out, but where do you push out?

Nigel Rees announces push-out, and Souquet chooses to leave Alcano a long tough cut. Alcano attempts a safety, but leaves full view of the 1. While the one doesn't really have a pocket, he has plenty of balls to snooker Ronato behind.

Souquet is really off, he's left a wide-open 1, straight into the corner pocket. This is not the Souquet I expected to see - he looks nervous and unsure of himself (the exact opposite of Alcano).

Alcano plays a 2-way shot on the 3, but misses it and it looks like Souquet has room to cut it into the corner. He's faced with a tough positional play to the 4 as well. Souquet plays a ton of inside and finishes on the 4.

The rack looks fairly academic now - Ralf just needs to stay in line.

Alcano 9-4, and breaking.

-djb
 
Rack 14

Alcano breaks, pockets a ball, finishes on the 1 in the side.

He can do no wrong.

He should be out again. It's going to be impossible for Souquet to catch up if Alcano keeps running out his break.

He finished too straight on the 6, tries a safety. He's left a long tester for Souquet. The pot itself isn't too terribly difficult, but position to the 7 is.

Souquet attempts a safety, but leaves the 6 open for Alcano. It's a tough cut, Alcano misses it, and scratches in the corner!

Souquet may get a break of serve back now. Position from 6 to 7 is still touchy, even with BIH.

Ralf finishes perfect on the 7, should be out.

Alcano 9-5, Souquet breaking.

-djb
 
Rack 15

Souquet may be able to get back into this. Souquet's got a ton of heart and he never gives up. He's down just one break of serve now - if he can protect his break, and capitalize on one of Alcano's, it's back to an even race.

Souquet breaks, pockets a ball, and has a tough shot on the 1. The rest of the rack looks wide open, but the trouble spots are pocketing the 1 and getting on the 2.

Ralf nails the one, but overruns shape on the two. He has a chance at the 2-4 in the side, or possibly a safety.

He chooses the safety, and finishes with a half-ball snooker.

Alcano makes the long back-cut on the two, and finishes dead on the three. Fantastic shot.

Alcano 10-5, and breaking.

-djb
 
Rack 16

Unless the wheels just totally fall off Alcano, I can't see Souquet getting back into this match. He's not defending his break very well, and he still hasn't found his ball speed.

Alcano breaks, pockets a ball, and finishes on the 1. Should be out.

Alcao 11-5, Souquet's turn to break.

-djb
 
Alcano's on fire and his break is working very well. This is looking like being a slaughter. 11-5 now and Ralf just got a bad break again.

Colin
 
Rack 17

Souquet hasn't changed his break throughout this match. Again, he pockets a ball. Again, he's snookered from the 1.

He's attempting a swerve. He hits the 1, but dollies it in front of the corner. I wonder why he didn't push out?

The rack is wide-open for Alcano again. I don't see any problems here.

Alcano 12-5 and breaking.

-djb
 
Rack 18

This has been a horrible showing for Ralf - he's not thinking or playing well, and I never thought I would see the day. I've seen him have off-days where he didn't play up to his usual standard, but I've never seen him fail mentally.

Alcano breaks, makes the wing ball, and is a little close to his work on the 1, but he figures to make it. Position to the two is the tricky part, so Alcano elects to play safe. He leaves full sight on the 1 for Ralf.

Ralf returns the safety and has a snooker, but it looks like the 1-8 might have a chance in the corner. Alcano attempts the jump, but just grazes the 1, leaving it for Souquet.

Alcano 12-6, Souquet breaking

-djb
 
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