Eastern Risings

The Chinese hosts look ready to dominate major tournaments for years to come.

The unheralded Bi, though, had other ideas, and, as the match with Fu moved along, the storyline took a classic twist. The favorite with the high expectations and all the media surrounding her started feeling the pressure, while the upstart with nothing to lose played accordingly.

The first half of the match was tight as the pair split the first 10 games. The fast-moving contest then took a pivotal turn in the 11th rack. Fu was running out with several clutch pots when she missed a short cut on the 8 ball, then offered a tepid response to a safety by Bi, who converted to take the lead for the first time in the match at 6-5.

Bi, clearly gaining confidence, cleared the next from the break for a 7-5 advantage. Fu, looking tight under the pressure of the moment, fought back with a solid safety in the next rack but then committed a colossal blunder when she missed a makeable 6 ball.

After her well-earned 9-6 win, Bi said she brought the classic underdog's mentality into the match.

"No, I didn't think I could win this tournament," Bi said. "Nobody thinks I can win. So I guess that's why I'm relaxed. I'm just having fun out there. It's like practice to me."

In the second semifinal, Chen came in as the favorite but also found herself tested by the pressure of the moment. Much has been expected of the youngster, as fans in and out of China have marveled at her accuracy and tenacious fortitude. She captured last year's Beijing Open, and this March she went to Manila and mowed down the field to win the Philippine Open 10-ball title.

Chen jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Han committed several errors. Han, though, dug in and fought back to tie the match, 4-4. Midway through the match, however, both players started to crumble and it became a matter of who would collapse first. That dubious honor went to Han, as she handed the match to Chen with a scratch.

"We both made many mistakes," a relieved Chen said after her testy 9-7 win. "I was a little nervous. It's easy to say that I should be calm, but I've never been to the finals of a world championship before. I want to win this very badly, but I think I'll be calmer in the finals."

At the beginning of the race-to-9, alternate-break final, played in front of more than 1,200 fans and a national TV audience numbering in the hundreds of millions, Chen indeed looked like she had shrugged off any of those previous anxieties as she quickly moved up, 3-0. But then the cracks returned to Chen's famously solid game, while Bi settled back in underdog mode and started to relax. Pouncing on several errors by Chen, Bi tied the match at 3-3, then continued her fine rhythm while Chen kept sliding downhill. In a matter of moments, Bi had made it six straight racks and held a 6-3 lead.

From there the match became a nervy battle of attrition, and the tension got to both players. But Bi had freewheeled long enough to hang on. Chen fought back from 7-4 down to move within one at 7-6. But just when Chen looked like she was about to tie the match, she suffered an unlucky scratch that allowed Bi to move to the hill. Rack 15 was tense as the two couldn't break up an 8-9 cluster. Finally Chen showed her mettle by forcing Bi to foul. It was now 8-7 in favor of Bi, but with Chen breaking next, it was anyone's final.

For Chen, though, it was not to be. She got to the table and tried to draw the cue back the length of the table for a sure 2-9 combination. But the cue ball didn't cooperate, and it traveled too far and dropped into the corner pocket. Bi then nailed the 2-9 for an unlikely world championship.

"I'm very happy, very excited," Bi said afterward. "That's the best I ever played. Fu and Chen are great players and to beat them both in one day makes me proud. I was more nervous during the finals than in the semifinals, but I wanted to do my best because this was my chance to achieve my dream."

Chen hardly seemed disappointed as she joked with Bi in the media room afterward. She realized that she hadn't played her best and, with a gracious manner typical of all the Chinese women pool players, gave full credit to Bi.

"The first three racks I played well," Chen said. "But after that, Bi played better than me. I'm happy for her."

With her prodigious talent, nobody doubts that Chen's time will come soon enough as a world champion. For now, though, the spotlight stays squarely focused on Bi Zhou Qing, the tiny new champion who cut down the big names, and became a sporting hero for 1.5 billion people. And with Bi's unlikely victory comes an ominous message for the rest of the women's pool world: Bi is one of many more to come, as China takes over and dominates women's professional pool now and for the foreseeable future.

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