Alcano vs Souquet for the WPC Crown

12th November 2006

After eight pulsating days of competition, the 2006 Philippines World Pool Championship will reach its climax today with a dream finale. Ronato Alcano of the host Philippines will battle Ralf Souquet of Germany for the much-coveted title of world pool champion and the first-prize money of $100,000. Game time at the PICC starts at 4 pm Philippine Time.

Both players had to battle through two tough matches yesterday. Alcano dumped first tournament favorite Wu Chia-ching, the defending champion, and then looked good disposing of surprise semi-finalist Li He-wen of China .

Souquet had a Taiwanese double as he beat firstly Liu Cheng-chuan 11-8 and then came through a thriller as he beat Fu Che-wei in a hill-hill affair.

“I’ve played Ronnie a few times and he’s a great player – if you get to the final of the World Pool Championship you must be,” said Souquet. “I’ve seen him win many tournaments but I won’t be thinking about my opponent. I’ll just play my game and do my best.

“I’ve had a good year and that has built up my confidence but I didn’t have the best start here. I was only sleeping three or four hours per night and then just waiting for breakfast! Finally the last couple of days I’ve got more sleep.

“I’ll go into the final like any other match. I want to have fun and enjoy it and play good. The crowd will be against me but that’s OK,” he added.

After beating Li, Alcano said: “I'm very happy to reach the final of this tournament, here in Manila . It was a very tough match as he is a very good player.

“I will try to capitalize on the break and I hope the match will go my way. I must get the first lag.

"There is big pressure on me but I want to show respect to my opponent and I hope the crowd respects Mr Souquet tomorrow.

"This is the biggest moment of my career and I'm hoping for a big victory."

Alcano Reaches The Final

RONATO Alcano is now one match away from winning the biggest competition in pool after barely squeezing into the knockout stages of the tournament.

Alcano, the last player from the Philippines left after Rodolfo Luat fell to Taiwanese Fu Che-wei earlier yesterday, reached the finals of the 2006 Philippines World Pool Championship after defeating China's Li He-wen 11-8 in an epic semi-final.

The first three racks went in Alcano's favour but Li won four of the next five to tie the match at 4-4. Thereafter, however, the Filipino did enough to stay at least one rack in front for the majority of the contest.

At 10-8 Alcano looked to have a dreadful mistake when he scratched and Li ran through the balls until he lost position moving from the 8 to the 9.

Li tried to make up for the error with a softly-struck shot but it just left the 9-ball hanging over the pocket for a shot that Alcano could surely not miss. In the end he did not have to make his final shot as Li offered his hand and conceded the rack and therefore the match.

Alcano, whose previous best performance in the World Championship was reaching the last 64 in 2005, will now meet German Ralf Souquet, the 1996 champion, in the final. It is a remarkable story for Alcano as he was only one rack away from failing to make it out of the first round.

Defeats against Vietnam's Luong Chi-dung 8-7 and an 8-3 loss against German Christian Reimering in the group phase left Alcano on the brink of elimination.

However, he gained some luck with the other results in his section and it meant his clash with Marcel Martens of the Netherlands was a winner-takes-all affair.

Due to the number of racks he had conceded, Alcano had to win by a score of 8-0, 8-1 or 8-2 to qualify and he managed this with a thrilling, nerve-racking 8-2 triumph. He was one of only two players to qualify for round two after only winning one out of their three games and was ranked as the player with the worst record after round one.

That meant he played Roberto Gomez, who had the best results of anyone in the group stages, but Alcano showed his class with a 10-1 victory. After that, his route to the final has been extremely difficult.

In the last 32 he beat Filipino legend Efren Reyes, before he recorded wins against 2005 runner-up Kuo Po-cheng and 2005 winner Wu Chia-ching to take his place in the semi-finals against Li He-wen.

Now in the final, Alcano realises he has the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders tomorrow.

He said: "I'm very happy to reach the final of this tournament, here in Manila. It was a very tough match as he is a very good player.

"He committed three scratches and was very unfortunate but I was very confident going from 5-5 to 8-5 and there was less pressure on me when it went 8-5. I will try to capitalise on his break and I hope the match will go my way. I must get the first lag.

"There is big pressure for me but I want to show respect to my opponent and I hope the crowd respect Mr Souquet tomorrow.

"This is the biggest moment of my career and I'm hoping for a big victory."

Souquet Aims for Second WPC Crown

IN AN incredible final rack, Ralf Souquet of Germany won a tense safety battle with Taiwan ’s Fu Che-wei and with it their 2006 World Pool Championship semi-final 11-10 and a spot in tomorrow afternoon’s race-to-17 final.

It will be Souquet’s third appearance in the final – he won in 1996 in Borlange , Sweden against Tom Storm and lost to Mika Immonen in Cardiff five years later.

The match was nip and tuck throughout and it was no surprise that it went to the final game as Souquet and Fu matched each other rack for rack through the first half of the match.

Souquet pulled away to lead 9-6 but Fu pulled three games back to square the match at 9-9. There was plenty of tension in the air over Table 2 and they shared the next two to force a sudden death decider.

The German player broke and ran the first few balls but the problem was the 5 and 6 which were tied up on the side rail. Souquet tried to split them as he pocketed the 4 ball but was only partially successful.

He moved the 5 ball but the pot into the corner pocket was not on. Fu came to the table and began a succession of visits by both players as they left the orange 5 tucked up by the 6 and moved the cue ball around the table.

In the end it was Fu who cracked as he came up a little heavy trying to glance the 5 and he only succeeded in moving it to the centre of the table, leaving a tough long pot on for Souquet.

The 37 year-old from Manching said, “I thought for one second about playing a safety and then another for a semi-safe but I knew he would have a shot.

“I decided to go for it and although it was no certainty, I was comfortable with the decision.”

Souquet composed himself, made the shot and gained perfect position on the 6 ball. From there he cleared the remainder of the table to take a marvelous match.

It was tough on the 33 year-old Fu who had played well throughout the match but in the end, the relentless German had too much.

Souquet can now look forward to tomorrow’s final where he will face the Philippines ’ Ronnie ‘Calamba’ Alcano for the title and the $100,000 top prize.

“I’ve played Ronnie a few times and he’s a great player – if you get to the final of the World Pool Championship you must be.

“I’ve seen him win many tournaments but I won’t be thinking about my opponent. I’ll just play my game and do my best, he said.

“I’ve had a good year and that has built up my confidence but I didn’t have the best start here. I was only sleeping three or four hours per night and then just waiting for breakfast! Finally the last couple of days I’ve got more sleep.

“I’ll go into the final like any other match. I want to have fun and enjoy it and play good. The crowd will be against me but that’s OK,” he added.