Billiards

Michael Wasley is a talented young snooker player from Gloucester who deserves additional respect for being able to solve the Rubik's cube in a matter of seconds (and not, as I used to in my youth, by taking it apart and then reassembling it).Wasley’s ability to untangle a great enigma may stand him in good stead for when he plays one next week in the first round of the Wuxi Classic.Ronnie O’Sullivan, who sat out almost all of last season, has entered not only Wuxi but also the European Tour event next month in Bulgaria.Whether this is because he needs more money for school fees, he missed snooker and wants to make up for lost time or has contractual obligations to fulfil is anyone’s guess, but O’Sullivan’s presence at the SWSA in Gloucester next week will bring interest at a time of year when snooker has traditionally been in hibernation.He’s playing Wasley because the system has changed. For all ranking events barring Australia, Shanghai and the World Championship, all 128 main tour members start from the beginning.In this bright, shiny new era of ‘fairness’ this means that Ding Junhui, who is from Wuxi, has had to come back to Britain to qualify for...Wuxi.He faces Aditya Mehta, who reached the last 16 of last season’s International Championship. The other Indian professional, Pankaj Advani, a quarter-finalist in the Welsh Open a few months back, will provide the first round opposition for Ricky Walden, the defending Wuxi Classic champion.Steve Davis, having seen off his old foe Stephen Hendry, will play Hendry’s nephew, James Cahill.The first round winners will all progress to the final stages next month.I suspect many top 16 players need this like the proverbial hole in the head. It will be interesting to see who has practised and who will be winging it. And despite what they may say, organisers want the top players to qualify.It’s a great chance for the lower ranked players. For many of them, if they’re going to beat a top player it’ll be in the more prosaic qualifying environment than the big arenas.However, some of them may in time come to reflect that this new system is not quite the leveller they thought. The previous system was labyrinthine, tough and seemingly endless but playing, for instance, the reigning world champion in round one is going to be a lot tougher than playing someone of a similar ranking.Still, it’s an exciting time for the new professionals and if I had a hat I would tip it to those who have come through Q School, including Alexander Ursenbacher, from Switzerland, and Ahmed Saif, a Qatari.In my experience new pros couldn’t care less about whichever system is in place (and there have been a few down the years). They just want to play, and there will be much to play in this coming season.

I ventured to the ACS Nationals tourney again this year in Vegas. I wouldn't know how I would fair, as I was now considered as 8-ball "Advanced" Player because I placed 3rd in the Open 8ball division last year. So this year I would be playing with the big girls in the 8ball division, and ranked higher in the 9ball division. But, this year I was going to be able to play in the team events! My first time at ACS Nationals. :)For some reason I was rated a Master player in the singles 9ball division. It made no sense to me. I raced to 7 in the all-combined 9-ball division, and Open players raced to 5, Advanced to 6and Standard players to 4.I wasn't happy I had to race to 9, when all the ACS literature clearly states I was an advanced player.As I readied myself for my defense the first morning, already people were in line to complain to the head guy and I already knew my plight would be for nothing. I simply listened and knew I wouldn't be moved down in the next 20 minutes before my first 9am 9-ball match. We asked to just clearly state the 9-ball rankings in the guidelines, as all walked away miffed.I really was apprehensive about having to race to 9, but I won my first 2 matches 7-1, 7-1. I admit, I played pretty dang sporty against the two 5s. BUT - they were new to 9ball.In the next match, I got a little ahead of myself. Thinking now maybe I *could* after all do well as a rated 7 player, I got too confident. I missed a combo, an 8, a 7, and scratched on a 6, and missed a tough 9. That's 5 games right there and lost to the Open player 0-5! Ouch!I was bummed, but sometimes games go like that.I was told later she said I gave her the match and she was correct - I did. I got too confident and lazy and missed when I shouldn't have.I then had to play another 5 on the one-loss side. She told me she was super hung over and may have to run to the bathroom. What? It's 3 in the afternoon, you lasted this long in the tourney? I missed a few key shots but so did she. I made some stupid mistakes but then started to shoot more decent to get with her on the hill, when I freaking hooked myself on the 8 ball! With only the 9ball left. OMG....I knew if I missed this, she would have ball in hand with two balls and it would be over with. My tourney life was dependent on my kick. I got down and then got back up and reconsidered my shot: "Maybe I should kick the other way?"I kicked the other way, and hit the 8ball. Whew! And then I noticed the 9ball slowly rolled toward a pocket and fell in. Oops. OMG, really? I heard my friend say, "Johny Archer says when you make the right choices things work out."I guess so!Now it's hill-hill. 4-6.I then broke, and even though it seemed to take forever, I ran out! I took my time; probably too much time, but actually broke and ran! To think I almost lost the match a game earlier because I hooked myself was unreal. I then played a rated 7 player and was ON FIRE. I won 7-1. I was playing so good, I had wished I was still playing more matches that day! But, my next match would be at 9am the next day.I get to the pool room early the next morning and my "4" player is warming up. If she's lasted this long, she must be over rated I tell myself, lol. We start about 840am, and she's making several balls the first game. I was like, "yep." But then she whacked at the 9ball. Oh, I see.I get out.She would whack at the tough shots, but otherwise shot well. If she would shoot all her shots smooth like she did for most of her balls, she would have had me. But whacking at balls on a bar tables especially isn't good for yourself and I won 7-2.As I'm playing in my match, I notice the match next to me. I wonder, "Do I play the winner?"I check the score-sheet and sure enough I do. This blond girl playing is playing GREAT. She didn't miss but one ball for the 3 games that I saw. I was like, Wow. That has to be a 7.Sure enough, that would be my opponent. I would tell her after our match how

Found these great #DIY ideas for your #mancave, aka the best place to have your pool table!

Liu Shasha is once again back in the international pool limelight, as she made a successful comeback in the final to nail the China Open. While former champion Chen Siming had a shot to make this her second China Open win, their close battle left an opening for Liu to claim the win at hill-hill. Read on for the complete story on the women’s China Open finale by WPA press officer, Ted Lerner. … LIU SHASHA COMES FROM BEHIND TO DEFEAT CHEN SIMING TO WIN THE WOMEN’S CHINA OPEN 9-BALL TITLE By Ted Lerner WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy of Jin Li/www.top147.com (Shanghai)–Coming into Sunday’s finals of the 2013 China Open, Liu Shasha knew she was on the cusp of a golden opportunity to vault her way back to the upper echelons of not only the fiercely competitive world of Chinese women’s pool, but also the entire world of women’s professional pool. Since coming out of nowhere and winning the 2009 Women’s World 9-ball Championship held in Shenyang, China, the diminutive and glamorous youngster has maintained her place on the Chinese national team, but she hadn’t won any tournaments. In the lead up to this week’s tournament, with 48 top women players from all parts of the globe, Liu hadn’t been playing well in practice and was only hoping to at least reach the quarterfinals. But suddenly she found herself in the finals of one of the biggest tournaments of the year. Indeed on Sunday, in front of packed house at the Shanghai Pudong Yuanshen Stadium arena, Liu seized the moment, coming from behind in crunch time to overtake fellow teammate and young star Chen Siming to win the China Open by a nose, 9 – 8. Liu Shasha With the win, Liu can now claim two of the biggest prizes in women’s pool. She also joins her close friend and “sister” Fu Xiaofang who also has won these same two prestigious events. For Chen, the loss had to be a massive disappointment. The hard working and prodigious player, who many feel is China’s best natural talent, led the contest nearly the entire way only to see the dream die right when the finish line was in sight. Chen was in stride early and jumped out to a 3 -1 lead in the alternate break match. Liu quickly got it together and tied up the match. But then Chen hit one of her high gears, which can be a thing of beauty to watch. Chen went up 5-3, then 6-4, then 7-4. She seemed to have an answer for everything Liu tried and appeared capable of fending off her opponent at will. Chen Siming But as so often happens in pool, one mistake sends the momentum over to the other player’s side. After a break and run by Liu to move to 7-5, Chen broke, but saw the cue ball get kicked into the pocket for a scratch. Lui made a calculated clear to close the gap to one, 7-6. Liu then stepped to the table and tied the match with a break and run out. With the title down to a mere race to two, Liu got Chen once again as Chen left a safe open and allowed Liu to grab her first lead of the night, 8-7. Chen’s the consummate battler, however, and she broke serve in the 16th frame after winning a nervy safety exchange to leave one final rack to decide the champion. Chen broke and sent two balls down on the break. Position for the two ball was tricky and Chen bobbled the 1-ball in the jaws. Liu came to the table with a look at the one and steadily picked off the colors. As she got down to the final 8 and 9 balls, she held her chest and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself as she stood on the cusp of victory. With raw nerves jangling, she potted the last two balls for the championship. On the floor afterwards, Liu was greeted with warm hugs by a tearful Fu Xiaofang. The two are not really sisters, but they are practically inseparable, living together and playing pool together every day. As she drank in the accolades, Liu expressed surprise that she was even standing in the winner’s circle. Liu Shasha “I am very surprised that I won this tournament,” she said through an interpreter. “I have not been playing well la

CORTEZA CASHES IN! FILIPINO LEE VAN CORTEZA IS ALL BUSINESS AS HE CAPTURES THE CHINA OPEN 9-BALL CROWN By Ted Lerner?, WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy of Jin Li, www.top147.com  Lee Van Corteza waves as he finishes off his final win. (Shanghai)–Playing with his trademarked calm and cool demeanor, all the while exhibiting a deadly stroke and a fierce, quiet fortitude, the Philippines Lee Vann Corteza staked his claim to stardom today as he defeated Taiwanese veteran Fu Che Wei to win the 2013 China Open 9-ball in Shanghai. The win means that the China Open title, one of pool’s biggest tournaments, remains in the Philippines at least one more year, as Corteza’s win follows countryman Dennis Orcollo’s victory in 2012. The victory, besting a quality field of 64 top players from around the globe, is easily Corteza’s biggest  to date in a professional career that has spanned nearly two decades. For the last five of those years, Corteza’s pedigree had already been established far and wide. Everywhere he has played fellow players and fans could see that under Corteza’s humble veneer and boyish smile lay a deadly serious and focused professional with a noticeable swagger that oozed confidence. This is a man who has something inside him that doesn’t allow him to flinch under pressure. This is a man who knows how to close out a match. All of these traits were on full display today in front of over 500 people at the Shanghai Pudong Yuanshen Stadium arena. The match was played at an extremely high quality with 12 of the 17 played racks being break and run outs. The outcome turned on just a few mistakes, and it was Corteza who took advantage and nailed the door shut every time he was given the opportunity. As they had all week, both Corteza and Fu remained untouchable in their respective semi-final matchups which took place earlier on Sunday morning. Corteza easily defeated surprise entry Omar Al-Shaheen of Kuwait, 11 – 3. Fu put a halt to the marvelous run of former two-time world champion Wu Jiajing, 11 – 8. In the finals, the 34 year old Corteza won the lag and broke and cleared the first rack in the alternate break match. The pair traded racks and neither missed a single ball as the Filipino led 2-1. Corteza’s first chance to gain some distance came in rack four when he cleared off a Fu miss on the 1-ball to take a 3-1 lead. Corteza broke and ran the next rack to move up 4-1. The Filipino would never be threatened the rest of the way. Fu Che Wei Fu continued to play well, and continued to break and run racks, but so did Corteza plunking the cue ball dead square in the center of the table on the break and potting 2, 3 and once even 4 balls. Down 7-5, Fu had a brilliant opportunity to narrow the lead in rack 13 when Corteza scratched. Fu was clearing the table beautifully until he missed an easy 8-ball and was soon down 8-5. Fu forced a foul in the next rack to close to 8-6, but Corteza, as all great champions do, put pedal to the medal and sprinted home, while Fu wilted down the stretch. Corteza won going away, 11-6. Afterwards the low key Corteza was typically reserved, but the satisfaction of his accomplishment was all too clear. “I’m so happy right now I really don’t know what to say,” Corteza said. “This tournament is so hard there are so many good players. I tried not to be under pressure and I really enjoyed myself this match. That was one of the keys today. I was relaxed. And that also helped me to stay focused the whole time. “For me this means a lot to win this tournament. It’s been three years since I won a big tournament. And the way I won this, playing really well and of course I get a few lucky rolls, this is going to give me a lot of confidence in the coming months. This is a big win for my career.” As expected Fu was  disappointed as the loss meant his second defeat in the final of major in the course of one year. In 2012 he lost in the finals of the World 8-ball championship in Fujairah, United Arab Em

CORTEZA CASHES IN! FILIPINO LEE VANN CORTEZA IS ALL BUSINESS AS HE CAPTURES THE CHINA OPEN 9-BALL CROWN By Ted Lerner WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy of Jin Li, www.top147.com (Shanghai)–Playing with his trademarked calm and cool demeanor, all the while exhibiting a deadly stroke and a fierce, quiet fortitude, the Philippines Lee Vann... Want to know the full story? Check it out

Respectively ranked #3 and #5 in the world, it is no surprise that teammates Chen Siming and Liu Shasha of China emerged out of the tremendous field of talent to face one another in the finals of the 2013 China Open. In recent years, these teenage phenoms have become two of the top rulers of international women’s pool, with Siming Chen capturing the China Open in 2010 & the Philippine Open in 2011, while Liu Shasha held the World 9-Ball title in 2009 and was a semifinalist in 2012. The final match between Chen & Liu is set to take place at 1:30pm (1:30am EDT) on Sunday, May 19. Read on for the details leading into this final pairing in the story below by WPA Press Officer Ted Lerner. … TEENAGE PRODIGIES EYE THE PRIZE CHEN SIMING AND LIU SHASHA REACH THE FINALS OF THE CHINA OPEN 9-BALL By Ted Lerner WPA Press Officer (Shanghai)–Chen Siming and Liu Shasha are both 19 years old. They are both members of the Chinese national women’s team. And they each have a prodigious talent with a cue stick that leaves fans of the sport in awe. And now, the two friends will finally get a chance to go head to head in the finals of one of the biggest tournaments of the year in the world of pool, the 2013 China Open 9-ball in Shanghai. The finals will take place at 1:30pm inside the Shanghai Pudong Yuanshen Stadium arena. The match will be a race to 9, alternate break. Both players have achieved fantastic successes in their own short careers but it was Liu who pulled off the most amazing feat, winning the 2009 Women’s World 9-ball Championship when she was just 16 years old. That same year, Chen won the China Open, also at the age of 16. Liu Shasha In the highly-competitive world of Chinese women’s pool, however, it is Chen is who considered to have a freakish talent. Much is expected of Chen from her coaches and fans of the sport. Since winning the Philippine Open 10-ball in 2010, she has faltered in the big events in China and she seems to play under more pressure than does Liu. The finals will surely be a back and forth affair as both players put in rock solid performances throughout the long day of play today. Chen first took down Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan in a messy match, 9-7. She then manhandled the Philippines’ Rubilen Amit, 9-2. In the semi-finals, Chen met up with defending champion and world number one Kelly Fisher. The Brit had relatively easy wins over Taiwanese Tsai Pei Chen 9 – 3, then Lan Hiushan 9-5, and looked to be cruising towards a repeat of the last year. Fisher surely knew, however, that she would be in for a much stiffer test in the semis against Chen. The match, which was about as good a pairing as you could find in women’s pool, was appropriately played on the TV table in front of a packed house and shown live on CCTV around China. Chen grabbed an early 3-0 lead but Fisher fought back to tie. From there on in the two stars sparred in a high quality, give and take match with Chen getting a one rack lead, then falling back in to a tie, then getting a lead, then back to tie again. Siming Chen The whole match came down to two mistakes by Fisher, one in rack 13 with the match tied at 6-6 and one right at the end. Chen was up 8-6, but Fisher fought back to force a one rack decider. In the final frame, Fisher thought she left a lock down safety on the 2-ball, but Chen could see enough of the long shot to sink the pot. She then calmly ran the table for the win and a spot in Sunday’s final. “I played really good today,” Chen said afterwards through an interpreter. “I’ve been practicing a lot in the last few months and my confidence is getting better every time I play. After I lost in the group stages I tried to tell myself to relax and not take it too seriously. Kelly played solid, especially early in the match. At 6-6 she made a mistake and I was able to hold on.” Fisher was disappointed but resigned to the fact that her two mistakes spelled the difference. “It was a quality match,” Fisher said. “She playe

One of the toughest and most prestigious WPA ranking events in the world, The China Open, is now leading into its final day of competition. Professional pool players from around the globe have come together at this international summit in Shanghai. Check out the breakdown of the results of Saturday’s action below in the story by WPA Press Officer, Ted Lerner. … A KUWAITI IN SHANGHAI! UPSTART OMAR AL SHAHEEN BARGES INTO THE SEMI FINALS AT THE CHINA OPEN, JOINS CORTEZA, WU AND FU FOR SUNDAY’S FINAL FOUR By Ted Lerner, ?WPA Press Officer Photos Courtesy of Jin Li/Top147.com (Shanghai)–Omar Al Shaheen just booked his place in pool history. After defeating Taiwan’s Hsu Kai Lun, 11-8, in the quarterfinals of the China Open 9-ball in Shanghai on Saturday night, the 20-year-old Kuwaiti became the first pool player in his country, and indeed in the entire Middle East region, to ever advance to the semi-finals of a major world ranking pool event. It is an accomplishment that will surely have profound repercussions for not only Al Shaheen’s budding career, but also for the progress of the sport in the Middle East, which is one of the few growth areas worldwide—along with China–for the American game of pool. Whether Al Shaheen can take the prestigious crown and the $40,000 winner’s purse on Sunday is something that is entirely up to the pool gods.  But the way things have fallen in place for Al Shaheen this week in Shanghai, anything must surely be in the realm of possibility. Al Shaheen will have all he can handle and more as he takes on the Philippine veteran Lee Van Corteza in the first semi-final. In the second semi-final, Taiwan veteran Fu Che Wei will go up against his former countryman and surprise entry, the two time former world champion Wu Jiajing (formerly Wu Chia Ching), who now plays out of China. Al Shaheen has had an amazing run through the field this week in Shanghai and it was capped off with an all-time gritty performance throughout the day today. He first came back from a 10-7 deficit to beat Poland’s Radislaw Babica, 11-10. In his next match, he fended off Great Britain’s Karl Boyes down the stretch, and won another cliff hanger, 11-10. After taking down Taiwan’s Hsu, Al Shaheen whooped it up with his fellow Kuwait teammate and various friends in the arena. Omar Al Shaheen “I’ve very happy,” a beaming Al Shaheen said.  “A lot of people back in Kuwait are waiting for something like this. All over the Middle East this is very big. They will be proud of this. I have worked very hard for this.” The youngster’s rise to the upper echelons of pool is not totally out of the blue. When four Kuwaitis made it to the final 64 of the World 9-ball Championship in Qatar last June, it showed Kuwait is a growing force in professional pool.  When Al Shaheen advanced all the way to the final 16 of the event, it showed that he is clearly the face of the new and hungry generation coming out of the Middle East. Al Shaheen revealed that he goes to university during the day where he studies sports psychology. At night he trains on the pool table for 5-6 hours. He said he uses what he learns in the classroom on the pool table. “I try to control my thinking out there when I play, and I take my time on each shot.” If Al Shaheen wants to send the entire population of his small city state country into the streets to celebrate—something he says will happen if he manages to win the China Open—he’ll have to employ more than psychology against Corteza. The Filipino played marvellous pool on Saturday first taking down Austria’s capable Albin Ouschan, 11-8, then smothering Taiwan’s Ko Pin Yi, 11 -6. In the final match of the day, Corteza defeated another strong Taiwanese player, Zheng Yu Xuan, 11 -7. Corteza is certainly one of the world’s top players, but he said he had to take a rather unconventional approach for a Filipino player in preparing for the China Open. With the tournament and money game scene having all but dri

TEENAGE PRODIGIES EYE THE PRIZE CHEN SIMING AND LIU SHASHA REACH THE FINALS OF THE CHINA OPEN 9-BALL By Ted Lerner WPA Press Officer (Shanghai)–Chen Siming and Liu Shasha are both 19 years old. They are both members of the Chinese national women’s team. And they each have a prodigious talent with a cue stick [...] Want to know the full story? Check it out

By NYC Grind Contributor, Mark Finkelstein I’m off to Tampa to teach another seminar with Tom Simpson. I always enjoy working with people that are improving their game. This week I want to look at ways that our runs stop, and some ways to eliminate some of these errors. Small improvements over time make for big gains in your game. First is missing the shot! A lot of misses come about because we shoot the shot with out a clear picture in our mind of what we want to do with the shot, and we jump up. Make sure you finish every shot. Have a clear idea of what you are doing on the shot and stay down on the shot. This means you have to slow down a little and have a plan. Watch any good player and you will see how much time they take on some shots. They don’t get down until they have a clear picture in their mind what they want to do. The next run stopper is losing the cue ball. Their are two things to look at here. Play better patterns that don’t have the cue ball moving around so much, and secondly, shoot softer. The less the cue ball moves, the easier it is for you to control where it will stop. These run stoppers probably aren’t much of a surprise to you, but I want to add 3 other to this list as a lot of advanced players fall into these traps. Losing the middle ball in a combination stops a lot of nice runs. What happened in this diagram is that after cutting the one ball to the right, it kept going to the long rail. Our shooter was so focused on making the shot, that the cue ball only went to the end rail, not leaving a high percentage shot on the one. Make sure you take the extra time to figure out how to play position on the middle ball so that your run can continue. The next area that stops runs is blasting away at a dead shot, and then winding up with no next shot. This is the kind of cruel fate you that can happen to you if you blast away at dead balls and don’t take the time to play position on another ball. The trick is to know where the cue ball is heading and control the speed and the other balls so that you are left with some options.You’d have to look really close, but this combination might also work if you went in to the 7 first, leaving you the 11 no matter what else happened. The specifics of this particular dead shot are not as important as the idea, when you have a dead shot, don’t just blast away at it, make sure you play position on the next shot so your run continues. The next run stopper that I want to look at is separating clusters of 2 to 4 or 5 balls. Again, if you are not careful, it is easy to stick on a ball or get left with out a shot. Look what happened to me the other day. I was on a nice little run. cruising right along, and I thought I was going to hit the 8 on the side nearest the 2 to leave me another shot. I didn’t take enough time and wound up stuck on the back of the 8 with out another shot! The trick is to take adequate time planning the shot so that you don’t make the mistake I did. The final run stopper I want to look at is bumping in to balls when you don’t have to. Eliminate this error and your game will come up at least one ball. Pay attention for a week how many games are lost or thrown away because the player bumped a make-able ball. Watch how good players take pains to not hit other balls! MENTAL TRAINING TIP: The Japanese have an expression called ‘kaizen’, and it means steady improvement. Adopting this attitude for our pool game will help you play better. Every miss, loss or bad game isn’t seen as an ego destroying event, but rather as an opportunity to learn something. As CJ Wiley says, “the game is the teacher”. After every miss, loss or bad shot, when you have a quiet moment, rather than beating yourself up, ask what the game is trying to teach you. I miss a lot of shots when I am teaching and have learned I can’t shoot and talk at the same time. If you take the time to learn the lesson of each miss, and apply it to your game, you will get better. This accepting