(MENAFN- Gulf Times) "font-size : 15px!important"> Unlucky Liu forfeits match after failing to show up for the quarter-finals
After a day of intense pool drama mostly played at the highest levels of the sport, the 2017 World 9-ball Championship has come down to just four players remaining. And what a final four it promises to be.
In one semi-final, Taiwan's newest pool playing super hero, 22-year-old Wu Kun Lin, will take on Filipino veteran Carlo Biado, who at 34 years old seems more ready than ever to ascend to the mountain top.
In the other semi-final sits another Filipino, Roland Garcia, who once studied at the foot of the legendary Efren Reyes and has, this week, been showcasing similar magician-like skills. The 36-year-old Garcia will square up against pool's new wunderkind in 18-year-old Albanian Klenti Kaci.
Both semi-finals will be race to 11, alternate break and will be played concurrently at 10am Doha Time at the Al Arabi Sports Club. The finals will be a race to 13, alternate break and will begin at 2pm Doha time.
Not only did yesterday's action ensure that pool will have a brand new, first time champion come Thursday evening, but it also proved that old axiom that seems to be a common occurrence in pool; once you think you've seen it all, something else quickly comes along to prove you wrong.
In this case, unfortunately, that something else had absolutely nothing to do with pool skills played out on the blue pitch. The incident in question happened right at the start of the quarter-finals on Wednesday. Biado had come off a gruelling test against fellow Filipino Jeffrey Ignacio, outlasting his younger compatriot 11-7 to advance to the final 8. After a 90 minute rest, Biado sat in his chair waiting for his opponent, China's Liu Haitao, who had earlier stormed back from a 10-8 deficit to win his final 16 match, 11-10 against Taiwan's Ko Ping Chung. The veteran Liu, however, was nowhere to be found.
As it turned out, Liu had gone back to his nearby hotel between sessions for a bit of a rest and had likely forgotten to wake up in time. Tournament officials at the hotel were able to roust Liu and put him in a van to try and beat the clock, where rules stated that players get a 15 minute grace period to show up for a match. But Liu arrived at the Al Arabi Sports Club ten minutes past the grace period and found himself disqualified. A shell shocked Liu couldn't believe what had just happened, and neither could Biado, who was awarded the match by an 11-0 score line without firing in a single ball.
Whether the lack of a match in the quarter-finals will help or hurt the Filipino is anyone's guess. Certainly, however, Biado is well positioned to finally ascend to the mountain top of the sport after over 15 years of taking his lumps in all corners of the globe. For many years he was seen as this super talented nice guy who kept banging on the door of success, but without much luck.
But in 2015, Biado started to crack the door open, especially when he came within a few racks of winning the World 10-ball championship against Taiwan's Ko Pin Yi. Then earlier this year, Biado achieved his biggest success to date when he captured a coveted gold medal at the World Games in Poland.
The Filipino is clearly not afraid to win and win big, and today could see him finally grab pool's ultimate prize.
Biado will first have to match wits with rising Taiwanese star Wu Kun Lin. The 22-year-old travelled to the US and reached the semi-finals in the World Pool Series in New York a few months ago.
Yesterday, Wu proved himself by first crushing defending champion Albin Ouschan, 11 3. He then poured it on against fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Chia Chen, winning handily, 11 7.
Garcia will have to maintain his incredible pace today for he is up against a player in Kaci who appears absolutely unstoppable. The 18-year-old Albanian's superb skills and seemingly impenetrable armour were on full display again today in his two matches. Kaci first dismantled Canada's John Morra, 11-6. He then faced off with one of the young surprises of the event, the 23 year Maung Maung from Myanmar.
With two World Pool Series wins and a runner up finish at the US Open under his belt this year alone, the unflappable Kaci would seem to be the favourite of the four semi-finalists ready to chase pool history on Thursday. He is clearly a rare pool talent, a prodigy of the likes of Wu Chia Ching, who won the World 9-ball and World 8-ball crowns in 2005 at the age of 16. Should he pull off two wins today and claim world 9-ball supremacy, Kaci will surely go down in pool history.
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