German ace Ralf Souquet who is ranked No. 3 in the world beat his 2006 World Pool 9-Ball Championship nemesis RBonnie Alcano 6-4 to emerge as the man to beat at the 2010 Guinness World Series of Pool – 10Ball Challenge, successfully completing a sweep of the preliminary rounds.
Souquet dominated Indonesian representative Jajuli, 6 – 1 in the group opener and then in a gripping match got the better of long-time Filipino rival Ronato Alcano, 6 – 4, in the winner’s bracket to barge into the single elimination round at the Mal Taman Aggrek in Indonesia, Jakarta.
Souquet was determined to redeem himself after finishing a disappointing 17th in last July’s 2010 World 9-Ball Championships in Fujairah and quickly buckled down to business by routing his Indonesian opponent in the morning session to enter the winner’s bracket where he faced Alcano.
The lanky Filipino himself appeared to be at the top of his game when he cruised to an easy 6 – 3 victory over another hometown bet, William Tanizar.
In the evening session, all eyes were on the highly anticipated rematch between Souquet and Alcano from their epic 2006 WPA 9ball Finals battle in Manila where the Filipino routed the German ace.
Souquet appeared to be far more focused from the start as he capitalized o Alcano’s errors to race to a 2-0 lead. However a poor miss on a 1-ball corner pocket attempt saw Alcano grab the opening to run out and get back at 1-2.
The match turned into an enthralling battle in the middle racks of the race to six as both players engaged in one safety battle after another. It was Alcano who cracked first as he uncharacteristically missed a routine shot on the 10-ball in the 5th rack and with momentum clearly on his side Souquet raced to what seemed like an overwhelming 5 – 1 advantage.
But the champion within Alcano simply refused to give up. He gave g Souquet a taste of his own medicine by playing some exquisite safeties to force Souquet into a difficult shot on the yellow 1-ball in the 7th rack. The resulting foul allowed Alcano to string together three successive run-outs of his own to come within one at 4 – 5.
Ultimately, it was a case of too little too late for the Filipino as Souquet, breaking for the match, calmly stepped up to the table to orchestrate a brilliant series of bank shots to shut-out his opponent and emerge victorious..
The action in Day 1 proved to be an exhilarating start to the prestigious tournament organized by ESPN STAR Sports. As expected, the top seeds showcased incredible pocketing skills to rule the double-elimination round. Aside from Souquet, notable players through to the single knockout stage included Carlo Biado (PHI) who defeated Bambang Peodjiono (INA) 6 – 2 and Jimmy Jusman (INA) 6 – 3, Dennis Orcullo (PHI) who beat Jeffrey Andrianto (INA) 6 – 0 and Irsal Nasutio (INA) 6 – 4 and Darren Appleton (GBR) who overcame Bambang Susilo (INA) 6 – 1 and Hence (INA) 6 – 1
Naoyuki Oi (JPN) edged Muhammad Zulfikri (INA) 6 – 4 and Ricky Yang (INA) 6 – 5 while Antonio Lining (PHI) defeating Adi Purnomo (INA) 6 – 3 and Raymond Cruz (CAN) 6 – 0 Chinese-Taipei’s Kuo Po-Cheng defeated Deni Saputra (INA) 6 – 3 and stunned one of the favorites Mika Immonen (FIN) 6 – 2
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