|
|
Headstring News
Round Three: Down To the Nitty Gritty, and Not Necessarily Pretty
Sep 7, 2006, 2:30 PM
Pool players are not usually known for their math skills, but with advancement dependent on so many of the 60 remaining players' games-won percentage, cell phone calculators received record use in round three of the International Pool Tour's World Open at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino.
The 60 left standing were distilled down from 120, and only 36 would advance. At the end of round three, Tour Founder Kevin Trudeau sweated the last of the round-robin matches, many of which were do-or-die. The Americans were near extinction at the end of round three, with many of the 19 players facing elimination going into their final match. One win out of four was not enough for Johnny Archer, Mike Davis, David Matlock, Tony Chohan, James Walden, Gabe Owen, Steve Moore, and Shannon Daulton to advance. Cory Deuel, on the other hand, was given the gift of a potential $10,000 extra and advancement based on the merit of his one win in round-three play.
"I've never played so bad in my life," Deuel said, citing a broken break and three missed 8 balls. "But who knows? Something like this happens, maybe I'll end up winning the whole thing."
In his last match of the day, Tony Robles fell in a hill-hill marathon against Mika Immonen, which put his two wins just under the cut for advancement.
Nine Americans managed to advanced to round four: Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant, who went undefeated in round three; Rodney Morris, who led the field in break and run-outs at 47 (followed by Ralf Souquet with 42, and Oliver Ortmann at 41); Charlie Williams, who eeked out a hill-hill final match over Filipino Ramil Gallego; Deuel, Larry Nevel, Jason Miller, Nick Varner, and qualifiers Danny Harriman and Jason Kirkwood.
Seven Filipinos advanced, with the elimination of Gallego and Rodolfo Luat. And the Germans were still four strong, with Ralf Souquet, Thomas Engert (4-0), Oliver Ortmann, and Michael Schmidt advancing.
Also looking strong going into round four: The Netherlands' Neils Feijen, (3-1), and Brits Daryl Peach, Karl Boyes (4-0) and Mick Hill (4-0).
The final 36 will be cut in half once again, with 18 advancing to round five for a difference of $11,000. Stay tuned to HeadString for in-depth analysis.
|
|
|
