Qatar’s Bashar Hussain prepares for a break during his match against Irsan Afrinneza of Indonesia during the 2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championship at Al Arabi Sports Club yesterday; (Right) China’s Li Hewn in action against Roman Hybler of Czech Republic.
By Mikhil Bhat/Doha
Bashar Hussain gave Qatar its lone win on day one of the second stage of the 2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championship at Al Arabi Sports Club yesterday.
Hussain beat Irsan Afrinneza of Indonesia 9-5 to advance in the winner’s bracket even as seven other Qatar players went down. These players will now have to go through the grind of the loser’s bracket to try and get through to the later stages.
Hussain was understandably happy to have begun the tournament with a win, and despite a minor disagreement over a referee decision in what eventually turned out to be the final frame of the match, was in good spirits.
“I played a powerful, fast shot and only hit the 1 ball but the referee reckoned I hit the two. Anyway, I had to accept the referee decision,” Hussain told Gulf Times after his match.
“Overall I played okay. This was my first match. Next time, I hope to be more focused. When you win, you always get a bit of confidence. Every player needs this.”
Asked about his preparation coming into the tournament, he added: “The Federation organized a camp for us. We have been preparing with good players. There are a few good Filipino players — (Antonio) Gabica, Amir (Rota), Francisco (Felicilda) — and we have been practicing everyday with them and other players.”
Hussain, who has often tasted success at the regional level, will next face Chinese Taipei’s Wu Kun, who beat Russia’s Konstantin Stepanov 9-7.
At the adjacent table, Qatar’s Waleed Majid lost to Yang Ching Shun of Taipei 6-9.
Majid, who is the highest-ranked player from the region at 24, was leading 5-3 before Shun won three straight frames. Majid cleaned up on his break to level things up at 6-6 before his opponent took the next two frames for an 8-6 lead.
Breaking for the match, Shun’s shot wasn’t clean enough for a sweep and he played safe to let Majid negotiate the minefield. Majid, probably in a bid to take control of the game, went for it but clipped a ball on the way, handing his opponent a perfect opportunity to run away with the match.
Majid will continue his campaign through the loser’s bracket and will face Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz of Spain. The Spaniard, who won the junior 9-ball title in 2010, was edged out 8-9 by 2011 champion Yukio Akagariyama of Japan yesterday.
In the first match of the tournament, last year’s finalist Albin Ouschan of Austria beat Egypt’s AM Khalid 9-5. Ouschan’s opponent in the 2014 final and the defending world champion Niels Feijen beat Doha-based Filipino qualifier Francisco Felicilda 9-4.
Former world champions Daryl Peach of Great Britain, Ko Pin Yi of Taipei, Mika Immonen of Finland and Olivier Ortmann of Germany got through to the next round without much trouble.
RESULTS (Stage 2, Day 1)
Albin Ouschan (AUT) beat AM Khalid (EGY) 9-5, Kawabata Satoshi (JPN) beat Hunter Lombardo (USA) 9-6, Bashar Hussain (QAT) beat Irsan Afrinneza (INA) 9-5, Wu Kun (TPE) beat Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) 9-7, Wang Can (CHN) beat Kuribayashi Tohru (JPN) 9-6, Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) beat Mohamed Al bin Ali (QAT) 9-4, Radoslaw Babica (POL) beat Abdullah al-Yousef (KUW) 9-3, Bautista Ruben (MEX) beat Bader al-Awadhi (KUW) 9-7, Li Hewn (CHN) beat Roman Hybler (CZE) 9-8, Justin Campbell (AUS) beat Rasekhi Mehdi (IRI) 9-2, Yang Ching Shun (TPE) beat Waleed Majid (QAT) 9-6, Yukio Akagariyama (JPN) beat Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) 9-8, Ramund Faraon (PHI) beat Francois Ellis (RSA) 9-3, Pordel Mohammadali (IRI) beat Mohamed Saeed (QAT) 9-6, Nik Ekonomopoulos (GRE) beat Mohamed Shareef (MDV) 9-1, Zhou Long (CHN) beat Marco Teutscher (NED) 9-7, Warren Kiamco (PHI) beat Vegar Kristiansen (NOR) 9-2, Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) beat Jeong Young Hwa (KOR) 9-2, Wu Jia (CHN) beat Shannon Ducharme (CAN) 9-5, Olivier Medenilla (PHI) beat Mohanna Obaidly (QAT) 9-2, Ralf Souquet (GER) beat Chang Jung (TPE) 9-8, Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) beat Mohamed Sharif (PAL) 9-8, Johann Gonzales (PHI) beat Ali Obaidly (QAT) 9-7, Hichem Benaissa (ALG) beat Abdulrahman al-Amar (KSA) 9-3, Oi Naoyuki (JPN) beat Nick Van Den Berg (NED) 9-5, Tom Teriault (CAN) beat Abdultif Fawal (QAT) 9-7, Ruslan Chinakov (RUS) beat Lee Van Corteza (PHI) 9-6, Liu Ching Chieh (TPE) beat Mohamed al-Hosani (UAE) 9-8, Daryl Peach (GBR) beat Mohamed Bewi (INA) 9-2, Mike Dechaine (USA) beat Caravajai Alejandro (CHI) 9-4, Carlo Biado (PHI) beat Fahad Khalaf (BRN) 9-6, Daniele Corrieri (ITA) beat Mishel Turkey (QAT) 9-6, Ko Pin Yi (TPE) beat Denis Grabe (EST) 9-4, Matey Ullah (NOR) beat Rajandran Nair (RSA) 9-6, Mika Immonen (FIN) beat Amir Rota (QAT-PHI) 9-4, Olivier Ortmann (GER) beat Zhu Xi (CHN) 9-2, Ko Pun Chung (TPE) beat Marcus Chamat (SWE) 9-5, Christopher Tevez (PER) beat Cheng Yu (TPE) 9-5, Shane Van Boening (USA) beat Omran Salem (UAE) 9-6, Richard Jones (GBR) beat Hassan Shafraz (MDV) 9-1, John Morra (CAN) beat Mario He (AUT) 9-8, Toh Lian (SIN) beat Mazen Berjaoui (LIB) 9-6, David Alcaide (ESP) beat Chu Bing (CHN) 9-3, Hesam SA (EGY) beat Khalid Yousuf (UAE) 9-8, Jin Dan (CHN) beat Ryu Seang (KOR) 9-5, Tomasz Kaplan (POL) beat Hamzaa M (ERI) 9-5, Niels Feijen (NED) beat Francisco Felicilda (QAT-PHI) 9-4, Alexander Kazakis (GRE) beat Mohamed Berjaoui (LIB) 9-1
