Great Britain’s Darren Appleton breaks during his match against Lin Cheng-Chieh of Taipei at the WPA World 9-Ball Championship at Al Sadd Sports Club yesterday.

By Mikhil Bhat/Doha

Former world champion Darren Appleton of Great Britain survived a massive scare against qualifier from Taipei Lin Cheng-Chieh yesterday to reach the round of 64 at the WPA World 9-Ball Championship at Al Sadd Sports Club.

Appleton, after struggling with his breaks and making a few mistakes early on, was left staring at a discouraging 7-1 scoreline in favour of the lanky lad from Taipei.

With Cheng-Chieh’s turn to break next, it looked like Appleton would be moving to the loser’s bracket for any chance of qualifying to the round of 64.

But the qualifier hit the three-ball a little too hard and the cue rolled back into a pot. Appleton walked up calmly and took the frame to win his first frame after five frames.

The 36-year-old Brit’s experience kicked in and he won the next three frames to make it 5-7. Cheng Chieh showed some life winning the 13th frame for an 8-5 score.

“At 8-5, he has got a couple of breaks, so I am thinking he will take it. But 8-6 was the big one, I broke and the cue ball got kicked into the pocket. That’s when he should have gone for the game but he tried to snooker me, but only managed to leave it for me,” Appleton said after the match.

With Appleton’s break next, he levels the match. “At 8-8, all the pressure is on him. I am just sitting in my chair and hoping to get a chance. To be fair, he had a good shot at the one ball. He should have played safe on the two but he tried to make it and unluckily for him, he again left it for me,” he said.

Appleton, nicknamed ‘the Dynamite’, was all praise for his young opponent. “At the start of the game, he was positive, playing aggressive. But once I started getting back at him, he started getting a bit negative. He stopped attacking,” Appleton said.

“Situations like these will make him a stronger player and the way he plays his game, looks like he will be a world champion in the future,” added Appleton, who won the world championship in Doha two years ago, said.

Earlier in the day, Qatar’s Waleed Majed beat Italy’s Fabio Petroni 9-6 to advance to the elimination rounds.

Meanwhile, defending champion Thorsten Hohmann was tested by Tanaka Masaaki of Japan in the group 1 match yesterday. The German had to dig deep to beat his opponent 9-8 and reach the round of 64.

Last year’s runner-up Antonio Gabica also reached the round of 64, beating Croatia’s Michel Bartol 9-3.

 

Day 3 results 

 

Group 1: Thorsten Hohmann (GER) 9 – 8 Tanaka Masaaki (JPN); Cheng Yu Hsuan (TPE) 9 – 5 Marco Teutscher (NED)

Group 2: Tohru Kuribayashi (JPN) 9 – 6 Jalal Yousef (VEN); Dang Jing Hu (CHN) 9 – 7 Hsu Kai Lun (TPE)

Group 3: Shane Van Boening (USA) 9 - 5 Daniele Corrieri (ITA); Fu Che Wei (TPE) 9 – 0 Abdul R. al-Ammar (KSA)

Group 4: Nick Van Den Berg (NED) 9 – 7 Mehdi Rasekhi (IRI); Antonio Gabica (PHL) 9 - 3 Michel Bartol (CRO)

Group 5: Mika Immonen (FIN) 9 – 7 Seung Woo Ryu (KOR); Waleed Majed (QAT) 9 – 6 Fabio Petroni (ITA)

Group 6: Ralf Souquet (GER) 9 – 3 Abdullah al-Yusef (KUW); Niels Feijen (NED) 9 – 6 Warren Kiamco (PHL)

Group 7: Dennis Orcollo (PHL) 9 – 6 Ko Ping Chung (TPE); Jayson Shaw (GBR) 9 - 7 Ivo Aarts (NED)

Group 8: Hijikata Kayato (JPN) 9 - 4 Roman Hybler (CZE); Carlo Biado (PHL) 9 – 7 Tom Storm (SWE)

Group 9: Bruno Muratore (ITA) 9 – 4 Karl Boyes (GBR); Raymund Faraon (PHL) 9 – 7 Young Hwa Jeong (KOR)

Group 10: Wu Jiaqing (CHN) 9 – 7 Elvis Calasang (PHL); Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) 9 – 4 Mieszko Fortunski (POL)

Group 11: Wang Can (CHN) 9 – 1 Aloysius Yapp (SIN); Huidji See (NED) 9 – 8 Andreas Gerwin (SWE)

Group 12: Mario He (AUT) 9 – 1 Ali Obaidly (QAT); Nick Ekonomopoulos (GRE) 9 – 5 Nguyen Anh Tuan (VIE)

Group 13: Darren Appleton (GBR) 9 – 8 Lin Cheng Chieh (TPE); Johann Chua (PHL) 9 – 6 Lo Li Wen (TPE)

Group 14: Jeffrey De Luna (PHL) 9 - 3 Israel Rota (PHL); Ko Pin Yi (TPE) 9 – 1 Salaheldeen al-Rimawi (UAE)

Group 15: Radoslaw Babica (POL) 9 – 6 Alex Pagulayan (CAN); Li He Wen (CHN) 9 - 8 Omar Al Shaheen (KUW)

Group 16: Oliver Ortmann (GER)9 – 6 Omran Salem (UAE); Elmer D. Haya (PHL) 9 – 8 Artem Koshovyi (UKR)