Austrian Albin Ouschan’s dream of becoming the first back-to-back winner of the World 9-Ball Championship in Doha moved a bit closer to reality when he made the last 16 of the tournament at the Al Arabi Sports club yesterday.
The 27-year-old defending champion ousted Kuwait’s Abdulla al-Yousef 11-6 in the last-64 stage before beating South Korean Woo Seung-ryu 11-9 in the last-32. He will now meet Taipei’s Lin Wu Kun today and will likely clash with Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann in the quarters after the latter defeated China’s Xu Xiao Cong 11-5.
“I prefer to take one match at a time,” Ouschan said after his win. “I am very happy with my performance today but my wins were by no means easy. All of them are good players,” he added. Hohmann, who won the tournament first in 2003, said he was looking forward to use his near 25-year experience to see him through in the remaining matches.
“I had some good breaks,” the 38-year-old who lives in the Philippines said. “But I was also lucky,” said the veteran. Ten players had qualified for the round of 64, of which four have made it to the last 16. They are Hsieh Chia Chen, Liu Haitao and 2015 champion Pin Yi. Three Filipinos – Carlo Biado, Jeffrey Ignacio and Roland Garcia – also advanced.

Last-16 line-up

Albin Ouschan(AUT) vs Wu Kun Lin(TPE)
Thorsten Hohmann(GER) vs Hsieh Chia Chen(TPE)
Carlo Biado(PHI) vs Jeffrey Ignacio(PHI)
Liu Haitao(CHN) vs Ko Ping Chung(TPE)
Ko Pin Yi(TPE) vs Roland Garcia(PHI)
Jalal al-Sarisi (VEN) vs Dang Jinhu(CHN)
Maung Maung(MYR) vs Joshua Filler(GER)
Klenti Kaci(ALB) vs John Morra(CAN)