Mishel Turkey of Qatar in action en route to his win over Great Britain’s Daryl Peach during the 2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championship at Al Arabi Sports Hall yesterday. PICTURE: Bo Bader

By Mikhil Bhat/Doha

Joining the army changes lives. Ask Mishel Turkey. After a tough morning session, which saw as many as four Qatar players bow out of the 2015 WPA World 9-Ball Championship, Turkey was the hosts’ only hope. He didn’t disappoint.
Playing at Table 1, the feature table, all eyes were on the 19-year-old. If that wasn’t enough pressure, the army man was playing a former champion in Great Britain’s Daryl Peach. He won 9-5 to make it to the round of 64.
Turkey showed almost no signs of nervousness when he took a 2-0 lead. Four racks later, he was at 4-2 and it looked like Peach was going to close in with only the nine ball left to be pot. Peach didn’t, Turkey did, and he was up 5-2.
In the next rack, a snooker effort backfired, Turkey potted cue and Peach cleaned up to make it 3-5. Turkey’s turn to break and he raced through the balls. That was until the eight ball refused to go in and wobbled at the mouth. Luckily for him Peach missed too. Twice. Turkey took a 6-3 lead.
With score at 8-5 in his favour, many fans gathered expectedly. Turkey had everything going for him but a straightforward seven ball gave a scare. Eventually though when he pot the eight ball, he hit the table in excitement. Having calmed his nerves, he potted the nine-ball and gave out a shout as the fans clapped, whistled and shouted in celebration.
It was some time before he spoke about his victory with everyone from the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) president Mohamed Mubarak al-Ramzani to fellow players and officials hugged and congratulated him for the victory. “I feel so good and proud. I have given them a reason to cheer for,” Turkey said after his win. “It has given me confidence and I feel good especially after winning against such a big name.”
This was Turkey’s second time at the World Championship but the first time he has made it to the round of 64. “I am more focused now. I am going around the table a lot more thinking about my every shot. I am playing much better than I was last year.”
Has joining the army been a factor? He smiles.
“Of course. I have lost a lot of weight, which has made me more comfortable around the table. I am more disciplined with my game and training regime. And like I said, more focused. I have more belief in me now. Earlier, I used to get very nervous but now, that does not happen.”
So how far does he think he can go? “I am hoping to reach the last eight, maybe even the semi-finals. I will do my best and do my country proud,” he said. Meanwhile, defending champion Nils Feijen and 2013 champion Thornton Hohmann made an exit from the championship. The Netherlands’ Feijen was shocked by Ryu Seang Wooof Korean 8-9, while Germany’s Hohmann tumbled out after his defeat to Francisco Diaz-Pizarro of Spain 4-9
Earlier in the day, Ali Obaidly and Mohamed Saeed blew up good neck-to-neck starts to go down 5-9 against their respective opponents.
World number 24 Waleed Majid couldn’t get his rhythm going and by the end he was only playing catch-up against Australian Justin Campbell. Majid, who is the only Qatar player to have reached the round of 16 in the World Championship (2014), lost 5-9. Bashar Hussain came closest of the four to a victory. He even had the cue ball in hand in the deciding rack but couldn’t handle his nerves and ended up losing 8-9 to American Hunter Lombardo.
In another match, last year’s finalist Albin Ouschan of Austria fought back into his match against Indonesia’s Irsan Afrinneza Nasution to win 9-8.
Results
Group 1: Albin Ouschan (AUT) 9 – 8 Irsan Afrinneza Nasution (INA); Hunter Lombardo (USA) 9 – 8 Bashar Hussain (QAT)
Group 2: Kuribayashi Tohru (JPN) 9 - 8 Radoslaw Babica (POL); Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) 9 – 8 Abdullah Al Yousef (KUW)
Group 3: Yang Ching Shun (TPE) 9 – 5 Rasekhi Medhi (IRI); Justin Campbell (AUS) 9 – 5 Waleed Majid (QAT)
Group 4: Zhou Long (CHN) 9 – 5 Mohamed Saeed (QAT); Marco Teutscher (NED) 9 – 3 Pordel Mohammadali (IRI)
Group 5: Warren Kiamco (PHL) 9 – 6 Shannon Ducharme (CAN); Oliver Medenilla (PHL) 9 – 6 Vegar Kristiansen (NOR)
Group 6: Johann Gonzales Chua (PHL) 9 – 6 Chang Jun Ling (TPE); Ralf Souqueto (GER) 9 – 5 Ali Obaidly (QAT)
Group 7: Ruslan Chinakov (RUS) 9 – 4 Nick Van Den Berg (NED); Lee Van Corteza (PHL) 9- 2 Tom Teriault (CAN)
Group 8: Mishel Turkey (QAT) 9 – 5 Daryl Peach (GBR); Mohamed  Bewi Simanjuntak (INA) 9 – 7 Daniele Corrieri (ITA)
Group 9: Denis Grabe (EST) 9 – 7 Oliver Ortmann (GER); Matey Ullah (NOR) 9 – 6 Zhu Xi He (CHN)
Group 10: Omran Salem (UAE) 9 – 7 Christopher Teves(PER); Richard Jones (GBR) 9 – 6 Cheng Yu Hsuan (TPE)
Group 11: Mario He (AUT) 9 – 2 Hesam S.A. Abdulaziz (EGY); Toh Lian Han (SIN) 9 – 8 Chu Bing Jie (CHN)
Group 12: Ryu Seang Woo(KOR) 9 - 8 Niels Feijen (NED);  Tomasz Kaplan(POL) 9 – 7 Francisco Felicilda (QAT-PH)
Group 13: Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) 9 – 4 Thorsten Hohmann (GER); Goh Chin Teck (SIN) 9 – 5 Hosain Sayeem(BAN)
Group 14: Liu Haitao (CHN) 9 – 5 Lo Ho Sum (HKG); Chao Fong Pang (TPE) 9 – 7 Karl Boyes (GBR)
Group 15: Andreas Gerwen (SWE) 9 – 7 Matt Edwards (NZL); Jason Klatt(CAN) 9 – 2 Petri Makkonen(FIN)
Group 16: Darren Appleton (GBR) 9 – 2 Sinha Fahim (BAN); Aloisius Yapp (SIN) 9 – 5 Omar Alshaheen (KUW)