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| ALL SMILES: Japan’s Yukio Akakariyama with the winners trophy after beating Filipino Ronnie Alcano in the final here yesterday. PICTURE: Hussein Ali |
Japan’s Yukio Akakariyama won the 2011 World 9-Ball Championship after securing a 13-11 victory over Ronnie Alcano of the Philippines in one of the best finals of all time here yesterday.
Akakariyama lifted the trophy and claimed the $36,000 top prize, while runner-up Alcano received $18,000.
The race to 13 match, held at the packed Al Sadd Indoor Hall, was full of twists and turns.
Alcano, who earlier defeated fellow Filipino Dennis Orcullo 11-9 in the semi-finals, looked in control of the match, holding a slender 4-3 lead. But Akagariyama, who pulled off a thrilling 11-10 victory over Britain’s Mark Gray, gained the upper hand after the ninth rack and opened up a 7-5 lead.
But the decisive moment came in the 19th rack when Alcano missed a pot at the 8-ball that could have put into a 10-9 lead. Akakariyama then sank the two balls and broke and ran out the next rack to extend it to 11-9.
Alcano cleared the table for an 11-all to a roar from the Filipino crowd in the stands after Akakariyama snookered himself in the 22nd rack.
But he missed the 2-ball in the next rack. And Akakariyama went for a clear and served out the next to become only the third Japanese player after Okamura Takeshi (1994) and Takahasi Kumihiko (1998) to lift the world 9-ball title.
Earlier, Orcullo, who was almost flawless on Thursday in all his three outings including an 11-6 win over Britain’s Daryl Peach, found it tough against Alcano, the 2006 world champion.
Orcullo, the world No.1, left the 1 ball open on safety try after breaking the opening rack. Alcano cleared the table, then broke and ran out for a 2-0 lead.
Orcullo played some tight safety shots, forcing errors from Alcano to tie the score at 2-2. But he failed to carry the momentum and Alcano was back on two-rack cushion when he completed a 7-9 combo in the sixth. Orcullo briefly halted that progress, taking the seventh on his break, but Alcano remained sharp as he powered 8-3 lead to win four in a row with pin-point accuracy – with a 1-9 combination in the ninth serving as the highlight – to go 8-3 up.
Orcullo then won the safety battle when Alcano missed the 2 with a jump in the 12th and broke and ran out the next to reduce the gap to 8-5.
Alcano enjoyed a big slice of luck when he missed the 2 ball in first attempt with a kick shot but it went into another pocket. And he cleared the table to go within a rack from victory at 10-6.
Having sunk the 1 ball with a full table kick, Alcano had a chance to finish it off with a clear path in the 18th. But he scratched on the 2 to offer a lifeline to Orcullo, who cleared it for 10-8 and then made it to a catchable 10-9.
But Alcano broke the 20th rack and, after making an opening with a safety on the 6, cleared it for an 11-9 win to head into the final.
Orcullo claimed he played as well as he possibly could but was less fortunate on the day. “The balls didn’t come well with me. Ronnie played with more luck today. So I couldn’t do anything,” said the reigning world 8-ball champion. “I played the first two racks with safety and made mistakes twice.”
The other semi-final produced a thrilling finish with Japan’s Yukio Akakariyama beating Britain’s Mark Gray by one rack in the race to 11.
After breaks and runs in the first couple of racks, Gray went 2-1 up after Akakariyama’s poor safety. But luck deserted the Englishman as he struggled with his breaks and played some loose shots as the Japanese steadied his game, opening up a 6-2 lead.
Gray cut it down to 6-3 after Akakariyama missed the 2 in the ninth. The Japanese then pocketed the next two for an 8-3 lead and the match appeared to be heading for an early finish. But Gray, who has stepped up his game on so many occasions over the week, staged yet another fightback and tied the match at 8-8 after Akakariyama scratched.
Gray soon found himself behind when he missed the 9 ball, allowing Akakariyama to open up a two-rack lead at 10-8. The battle raged on as Gray took the next two, with the break going into the final rack. But the luck deserted the Englishman when he scratched on the break and Akagariyama made the clearance.
Results: Final: Yukio Aakakariyama (JPN) bt Ronnie Alcano (PHI) 13-11; Semi-finals: Ronnie Alcano (PHI) bt Dennis Orcullo 11-9, Yukio Akakariyama (JPN) bt Mark Gray (GBR) 11-10.