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Eight Remain at WPA World 8-Ball
Apr 8, 2010, 3:45 PM

Feijen (top) eliminated Souquet in a Thursday evening slugfest.

The quarterfinal round is set at the WPA World 8-Ball Championship. With 32 players alive when play began on Thursday, just eight remain in pursuit of the first world championship of the year.

Plenty is still to be determined, but one this is for sure: There will not be a repeat champion. Ralf Souquet, winner of the last 8-ball title in 2008, suffered a heartbreaking loss in the round of 16 to familiar foe Niels Feijen. The two Europeans fought one another for more than three hours, with Feijen establishing a late 8-5 lead. Souquet, though, responded by winning four consecutive racks to climb on the hill, 9-8. The Netherlander responded, first clearing a dry break from Souquet and then running out from his break in the decisive case game.

But with three-fourths of the field eliminated in one day, Souquet found company on the sidelines. Mika Immonen, the reigning World 10-Ball champ, was sent packing Russia's Ruslan Chinakhov, 10-7. Filipino favorite Lee Vann Corteza eliminated Dennis Orcollo, 10-9, before himself being bounced out by countryman Jeffrey De Luna, 10-2.

The quarterfinal matches will get started on Friday, with the four match-ups as follows:
- Jeffrey De Luna vs. Ruslan Chinakhov
- Vicenancio Tanio vs. Karl Boyes
- Niels Feijen vs. Andreas Roshkowski
- Darren Appleton vs. Joven Alba