Feeling at Home

Chou was all smiles after a tough battle with Ouschan.

WHEN HER shocking run at the 2009 Amway 9-Ball Open ended with the title in her hands, Chou Chieh-Yu of Taiwan was just the latest incredible talent to jump from previously unknown to global powerhouse. Just 22 at the time, Chou thumped a string of all-time greats - including Karen Corr in the final, thanks to a riveting comeback victory - en route to her first major title.

This year, with an All-Japan title and a number of semifinal appearances in world-class events in her back pocket, Chou had lost the element of surprise. But when the Amway Open - held March 15-18 at Taipei's TaiMall Shopping Center - was equally brilliant. With 48 players divided into eight groups of six, Chou was among the most dominant performers in the opening round-robin stage. She cruised into the single-elimination round by going undefeated in her five matches, a feat only matched by Kelly Fisher, China's Chen Siming and Taiwan's Wei Tzu-Chien.

With 24 players advancing, each group winner received a bye into the round of 16, with the non-winners facing off in the opening knockout round. Surprisingly, world champions Allison Fisher and Fu Xiaofang and Liu Shin-Mei failed to survive round-robin play. Perhaps not so surprising, all eight group winners then won their opening matches, meaning all non-winners were eliminated before the quarterfinal round.

There, Chou survived a stiff challenge from Kelly Fisher, 9-7; Xiaoting Pan eliminated Wei, 9-6; Ouschan held off Ga Young Kim, 9-7; and Chen thumped Korea's Yu Ram Cha, 9-4.

The first semifinal, between Pan and Ouschan, proved as competitive as the crowd had anticipated. Ouschan eventually prevailed, 9-7, to keep Pan from pursuing her first title since late 2010. The second match, however, was an absolute stunner. The reigning BD Player of the Year, Chen was the favorite before the players lagged for the break. But from that moment on, the set was all Chou. She collected the first seven racks - four by clearing the table from the break - to all but clinch a seat in the final. Chen then got on the scoreboard, but Chou quickly closed out the set, 9-1.

Once again, in the extended race-to-11 final, Chou pulled ahead early, this time taking the set's first five racks. But Ouschan, undoubtedly one of the most mentally strong players in the game today, inched back into the match. She won three straight games before Chou reached a 6-3 advantage. Another two games and Ouschan was within a single 9 ball of squaring the match. She eventually caught Chou at 9-9, turning the final set into a race to 2.

Within arm's length of the hill, Ouschan then missed a 7 ball and turned the table over to Chou. The 25-year-old cleared the final three balls, then broke and ran the clinching rack to take the final, 11-9.

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