By Sports Reporter/Doha


As many as five champions, including the holder Niels Feijen, suffered defeats on day three of the 2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championship at Al Arabi Sports Hall yesterday.
Both the two-time former champions in the draw, Thorsten Hohmann and Fong-Pang Chao, like the defending champion, saw the match slip out of their hands with 8-9 losses.
Greece’s Alexander Kazakis jumped out to a 4-0 lead over defending champion Feijen only to see the Dutch great claw back into the match and take it to down to a one-rack decider.  But the 24 year old Greek held his nerve to stave off Feijen’s fight back, and book his spot in the knockout rounds.
“I’m feeling great,” a clearly pumped Kazakis said after his win. “In the game of pool anything can happen. Even the underdog can win, especially in alternate break, just a race to 9. So it’s nice. I’m lucky for now. This win really helps my confidence. We’ll see what happens from here.”
Hohmann lost to Venezuela’s Jalal Yousef and Chao to Poland’s Karol Skowerski.
American Mike Dechaine sent the 2007 world champion Daryl Peach of Great Britain to the loser’s bracket with a 9-5 win. The 28-year-old from Maine is playing his first ever World 9-Ball Championship but has shown confidence with wins of Chile’s Alejandro Carvajal (9-4) in the first round and now Peach.
Shane Van Boening, who won the other USA vs GBR encounter of the day against Richard Jones, has for long carried the hopes of the United States at the World 9-Ball and should be pleased with a fellow American making waves at the top-notch event.
In the battle of former champions, Miko Immonen of Finland triumphed over Olivier Ortmann of Germany 9-5 for a shot at the last 64.
Apart from Immonen, Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama was the other former champion to win a game yesterday — 9-6 against Yang Ching Shun of Taipei.
Bashar Hussain, who was Qatar’s lone winner on day one of the championship, will continue his campaign in the loser’s bracket after losing 4-9 to Taipei’s Wu Kun Lin yesterday.
Doha-based Filipino player and the 2013 finalist Antonio Gabica will face Mark Gray of Great Britain for a place in the last 64. Gabica beat Sinha Fahim of Bangladesh 9-6 yesterday.
Play continues on Tuesday with the final round of the group stages. All matches will be do or die as players vie for the last 32 spots in the single elimination round of 64, which begins on Wednesday. The semi-finals and finals will be held on Friday September 18th.

RESULTS
Group 1: Satoshi Kawabata (JPN) 9 – 8 Albin Ouschan (AUT); Wu Kun Lin (TPE) 9 – 4 Bashar Hussain (QAT)
Group 2: Wang Can (CHN) 9 - 4 Marc Bijsterbosch (NED); Ruben Bautista (MEX) 9 – 8 Radoslaw Babica (POL)
Group 3: Li Hewen (CHN) 9 – 2 Justin Campbell (AUS); Yukio Akagariyama (JPE) 9 – 6 Yang Ching Shun (TPE)
Group 4: Raymund Faraon (PHL ) 9 - 4 Pordel Mohammadali (IRI); Nik Ekonomopoulos (GRE) 9 – 6 Zhou Long (CHN)
Group 5: Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) 9 – 5 Warren Kiamco (PHL); Wu Jia Qing (CHN) 9- 2 Oliver Medenilla (PHL)
Group 6: Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) 9 – 1 Ralf Souquet (GER); Abdulrahman al-Amar (KSA) 9 – 7 Johann Gonzales Chua (PHL)
Group 7: Naoyuki Oi (JPN) 9 - 2 Tom Teriault (CAN); Liu Ching Chieh (TPE) 9 - 4 Ruslan Chinakov (RUS)
Group 8: Mike DeChaine (USA) 9 – 5 Daryl Peach (GBR); Carlo Biado (PHL) 9 – 5 Daniele Corrieri (ITA)
Group 9: Ko Pin Yi (TPE) 9 – 6 Matey Ullah (NOR); Mika Immonen (FIN) 9 – 5 Oliver Ortmann (GER)
Group 10: Ko Pin Chung (TPE) 9 – 3 Christopher Teves (PER); Shane Van Boening (USA) 9 – 5 Richard Jones (GBR)
Group 11: John Morra (CAN) 9 - 4 Toh Lian Han (SIN); David Alcaide (ESP) 9 – 6 Hesam S.A. Abdulaziz (EGY)
Group 12: Dan Jin Hu (CHN) 9 – 4 Tomasz Kaplan (POL); Alexander Kazakis (GRE) 9 – 8 Niels Feijen (NED)
Group 13: Dennis Orcollo (PHI) 9-6 Hosain Sayeem (BAN); Jalal Yousef (VEN) 9-8 Thorsten Hohmann (GER)
Group 14: Imran Majid (GBR) 9-6 Lo Ho Sum (HKG); Karol Skowerski (POL) 9-8 Fong-Pang Chao (TPE)
Group 15: Chang Yu Lung (TPE) 9-3 Matt Edwards (AUS); Jeffrey Ignacio (PHI) 9-6 Jason Klatt (CAN)
Group 16: Mark Gray (GBR) 9-7 Yapp Aloisius (SIN); Antonio Gabica (QAT-PHI) 9-6 Sinha Fahim (BAN)