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The
last scheduled discipline was the 9-Ball competition. The 310 participants
represented once more a new participation record.
I could defeat my first opponent L. Weinreich 7-1.
After a new draw, I played J. Hlvachek. The result was the same - 7-1. In
round 3, I could win with the same score (7-1) against J. Cianflone. The
fourth round seemed to be the most important one of the tournament. Not
only that I had lost in the two other disciplines in the fourth round,
also in 9-Ball everything looked the same. Although R. Wiseman did not
play too well, but everything seemed to work against me and I found myself
trailing 2-6. Wiseman committed another mistake and I could benefit to win
4 racks. At 6-6, I had a black break and the rack went back and forth with
safety shots. Finally, my opponent committed the final mistake I I managed
to enter round 5. Here, it came to the clash against J. Archer. Nobody
could take a clear lead in the beginning, and so the match was very
balanced until 3-3. In the 7th rack, I could benefit from a
poor safety shot by “The Scorpion” to tale the initiative. I won 7-3
and right after this, I played an almost perfect match in round
against the runner-up of the 9-Ball Banks competition, J. Brumback.
With my 7-1 victory, I entered round 7. here, I had to play J. Pinegar.
The match was interrupted several times because my opponent commented the
match. It sure was not a nice match to watch, but finally, justice
triumphed with an ace break (7-4). In round 8, I played B. Bailey. Am
average performance was sufficient to enter the next round - 7-3. On the
final day, my first match was against B. Pickle. It was a typical morning
match and both players did not reach their normal operation temperature.
However, I could win 7-4 and entered round 10. 5 players were still in the
competitio. 2 were undefeated and 3 had one defeat each. J. Wetch draw a
walk-through and I had to play WC runner-up and U.S. Open runner-up A.
Pagulayan. At the beginning, I was a bit unlucky when I tried to play a
safety shot, and then I committed two stupid mistakes. When trailing 1-4,
I had my chance and could turn the match around to finally win 7-4. In the
second match of this round, E. Reyes defeated his Japanese opponent
Takenaka 7-1. In round 11, only three players were left. Now, the draw
offered me a walk-through. Reyes had to play Wetch and crashed him. With a
perfect match Reyes made sure that J. Wetch finishes third of the
competition. In round 12, only Efren and I were left. Since we both were
undefeated, there would sure be a round 13. In this match, I prepared
everything for my upcoming victory. A bad position and the following
safety shot which was not as I wanted it to be, avoided a perfect match. I
could beat the Magician 7-2. After a two hours break, round 13 started. In
case of a victory of Reyes, there would have been a decisive 14th
round. I won the opening break and took a rapid 2-0 lead. Reyes came back
to 2-2. After a few safety duels, the player from the Philippines made the
decisive mistake. I could make use of this mistake and also won the second
match 7-2. So, I won not only the tournament title in 9-Ball, but also
finished second in the World All Around ranking behind E. Reyes and in
front of J. Miller, who had won the 9-Ball Banks competition.
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