Ouschan Shocks Straight Pool World at Predator World 14.1 Championship
East Brunswick, New Jersey- Austria's Jasmin Ouschan is only two matches away from making a monumental feat in pool history...to be the first woman ever to win a men's world championship title. Ouschan came into the final 32 players as the worst record player with more losses than wins (3 wins and 4 losses). Then she was the worst seed at #16 today having to re-match with #1 seed Mika Immonen FIN. Immonen gave Ouschan a terrible beating a day earlier and looked prime to do it again. But he was wrong. This time Ouschan would do the shooting and Immonen the sitting as she ran a 72 early on and never trailed the entire match. Immonen, clearly feeling the pressure, made several uncharacteristic mistakes and had several chances to come back. At one point down 122 - 26, Immonen came back within 2 racks. But too many unforced errors gave Ouschan the breathing room she needed to ice the Iceman 200 - 174 .
This put Jasmin into the quarter finals, which is not an unheard of feat as she made it to the final eight just 2 years ago. Defending World Champion Oliver Ortmann seemed a likely winner in this paper mismatch according to players and fans alike. Again, wrong. Ouschan once again lead the entire match while Ortmann was playing catch up. Though Ouschan's game was not stellar, Ortmann made more errors than Ouschan and seemed visibly frustrated the entire match. Jasmin went onto win and once again make pool history with her 200 - 133 victory, doing her part to stop a German repeat win.
"If you put a bag over her head and Oliver didn't know who he was playing, he would have won by now with alot of high runs." explained one top 14.1 pro, referring to the amount of pressure on the male pro players when faced with Ouschan.
On the other side, USA had three hopes in John Schmidt, Danny Harriman, and newcomer dark horse 21 year old Mike Dechaine. Schmidt had to play Dechaine and started with a 103 ball run. Dechaine fought back and finally succumbed after a controversial 3 foul situation in which Dechaine lost 18 points. Schmidt had also three fouled, but Dechaine failed to warn Schmidt at his incoming turn. Schmidt would win 200-144.
"I'm sure John knew he made three fouls, and I lost that on a technicality by the rule books. I hate to lose that way because that was a big turning point in the match. " commented Dechaine afterwards.
In another rematch, Harriman took on Filipino monster Francisco Bustamante. "I'm looking forward to this one, I'm going to play better than when we first playerd." warned Harriman.
Unfortunately, it was not written in the stars as Harriman failed to create any runs and Bustamante coasted to a 200-137 win. Bustmante then went onto defeat Holland's Huidji See 200-141.
When asked each time by fans on how he did in his matches, Bustamante could be heard saying, "C'mon, I really don't like when you ask me that.....of course I won!" he would say laughing. This would mark Bustamante's first appearance at a major 14.1 event. "Perhaps the secret to his success is the fact that the game is a novelty to him and he is just having fun." observed one top pro. Ironically, if Bustamante wins the event, this would be his first World Championship title in his career, despite many years of playing in events such as the World 9-Ball, 8-Ball and 10-Ball Championships.
In a hugely anticpated match, Schmidt and Feijen would play for rights to goto the semi finals. The match was a letdown in play as both players struggled to run more than two racks, but was exciting in its closeness. Schmidt lead the entire match and Feijen made a crucial miss at 182 points, where Schmidt had 185. Luckily Feijen left Schmidt no easy shot, and Schmidt went for a high pressured cross side bank. Schmidt fired the ball into the pocket and landed perfect for an easy break out shot next to the audiences delight and appluase. Then he missed. Schmidt in his frustration and disgust swiped the rest of the rack with his cue and gave up the match to Niels, who was visibly relieved to not have to run the last 18 balls.
Dutchman Nick Vandenberg, who was seeded #2 and still remains undefeated, gave Germany's favorite son Thorsten Hohmann all he could handle in a surprising 200-133 win for Nick. This would mark the second year in a row that Hohmann finishes 5th in the event.
So top favorite Germany will have no soldier on the final day as well as host USA. Instead, a new country will be crowned World 14.1 Champion with either Austria, Holland, or Philippines.
But most eyes will surely be on young Jasmin Ouschan, who is not only playing for her country but also her whole gender as the first woman to ever make it to the semi-finals of a major men's pool championship.
Full info,results, and stats can be found at www.dragonpromotions.com and brackets at www.azbilliards.com
Matches on last two days will be available soon at www.cuetable.com by Wei Chao.
VIP and general admission tickets can be bought at the door for this final and historic day in straight pool.
The 2008 Predator World Straight Pool Championship is proudly sponsored by Dr.Michael Fedak of NYC, Joel Schapiro of NYC, The Predator Group, Diamond Billiard Products, Aramith Balls, and Simonis Cloth. For more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978.
For more details on the World 14.1 Championship go to www.dragonpromotions.com or email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com
East Brunswick, New Jersey- Austria's Jasmin Ouschan is only two matches away from making a monumental feat in pool history...to be the first woman ever to win a men's world championship title. Ouschan came into the final 32 players as the worst record player with more losses than wins (3 wins and 4 losses). Then she was the worst seed at #16 today having to re-match with #1 seed Mika Immonen FIN. Immonen gave Ouschan a terrible beating a day earlier and looked prime to do it again. But he was wrong. This time Ouschan would do the shooting and Immonen the sitting as she ran a 72 early on and never trailed the entire match. Immonen, clearly feeling the pressure, made several uncharacteristic mistakes and had several chances to come back. At one point down 122 - 26, Immonen came back within 2 racks. But too many unforced errors gave Ouschan the breathing room she needed to ice the Iceman 200 - 174 .
This put Jasmin into the quarter finals, which is not an unheard of feat as she made it to the final eight just 2 years ago. Defending World Champion Oliver Ortmann seemed a likely winner in this paper mismatch according to players and fans alike. Again, wrong. Ouschan once again lead the entire match while Ortmann was playing catch up. Though Ouschan's game was not stellar, Ortmann made more errors than Ouschan and seemed visibly frustrated the entire match. Jasmin went onto win and once again make pool history with her 200 - 133 victory, doing her part to stop a German repeat win.
"If you put a bag over her head and Oliver didn't know who he was playing, he would have won by now with alot of high runs." explained one top 14.1 pro, referring to the amount of pressure on the male pro players when faced with Ouschan.
On the other side, USA had three hopes in John Schmidt, Danny Harriman, and newcomer dark horse 21 year old Mike Dechaine. Schmidt had to play Dechaine and started with a 103 ball run. Dechaine fought back and finally succumbed after a controversial 3 foul situation in which Dechaine lost 18 points. Schmidt had also three fouled, but Dechaine failed to warn Schmidt at his incoming turn. Schmidt would win 200-144.
"I'm sure John knew he made three fouls, and I lost that on a technicality by the rule books. I hate to lose that way because that was a big turning point in the match. " commented Dechaine afterwards.
In another rematch, Harriman took on Filipino monster Francisco Bustamante. "I'm looking forward to this one, I'm going to play better than when we first playerd." warned Harriman.
Unfortunately, it was not written in the stars as Harriman failed to create any runs and Bustamante coasted to a 200-137 win. Bustmante then went onto defeat Holland's Huidji See 200-141.
When asked each time by fans on how he did in his matches, Bustamante could be heard saying, "C'mon, I really don't like when you ask me that.....of course I won!" he would say laughing. This would mark Bustamante's first appearance at a major 14.1 event. "Perhaps the secret to his success is the fact that the game is a novelty to him and he is just having fun." observed one top pro. Ironically, if Bustamante wins the event, this would be his first World Championship title in his career, despite many years of playing in events such as the World 9-Ball, 8-Ball and 10-Ball Championships.
In a hugely anticpated match, Schmidt and Feijen would play for rights to goto the semi finals. The match was a letdown in play as both players struggled to run more than two racks, but was exciting in its closeness. Schmidt lead the entire match and Feijen made a crucial miss at 182 points, where Schmidt had 185. Luckily Feijen left Schmidt no easy shot, and Schmidt went for a high pressured cross side bank. Schmidt fired the ball into the pocket and landed perfect for an easy break out shot next to the audiences delight and appluase. Then he missed. Schmidt in his frustration and disgust swiped the rest of the rack with his cue and gave up the match to Niels, who was visibly relieved to not have to run the last 18 balls.
Dutchman Nick Vandenberg, who was seeded #2 and still remains undefeated, gave Germany's favorite son Thorsten Hohmann all he could handle in a surprising 200-133 win for Nick. This would mark the second year in a row that Hohmann finishes 5th in the event.
So top favorite Germany will have no soldier on the final day as well as host USA. Instead, a new country will be crowned World 14.1 Champion with either Austria, Holland, or Philippines.
But most eyes will surely be on young Jasmin Ouschan, who is not only playing for her country but also her whole gender as the first woman to ever make it to the semi-finals of a major men's pool championship.
Full info,results, and stats can be found at www.dragonpromotions.com and brackets at www.azbilliards.com
Matches on last two days will be available soon at www.cuetable.com by Wei Chao.
VIP and general admission tickets can be bought at the door for this final and historic day in straight pool.
The 2008 Predator World Straight Pool Championship is proudly sponsored by Dr.Michael Fedak of NYC, Joel Schapiro of NYC, The Predator Group, Diamond Billiard Products, Aramith Balls, and Simonis Cloth. For more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978.
For more details on the World 14.1 Championship go to www.dragonpromotions.com or email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com
