Earl Advances in the International Challenge of ChampionsBy InsidePOOL StaffFive-time U.S. Open Champion Earl Strickland won his match against Taiwan's Ching-Shun Yang in the third match of the 13th Annual International Challenge of Champions.  This excellent event is taking place at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.Yang arrived 10 minutes before his match started, and with no warm-up at all, plunged into his match with Strickland.  Unfortunately for him, this strategy fell flat, and his game was nowhere near the level it was when he won the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour inaugural event last spring.  With his typical foot-stomping, hands-to-the-skies antics when he was remotely out of line, Strickland took complete control of the match.
Without making a ball o­n the break, Yang was already at a disadvantage, but added to the fact that in the first seven games, he had shot 11 times and 4 of these were fouls, the short race-to-7 format did him no favors.  With the score at 6-1 Strickland and the o­nly game Yang had under his belt was a missed combo attempt by his opponent, Yang did make a beautiful break-and-run that was all the more frustrating because it was a glimpse into what kind of player he usually is.  However, it was too little too late, and Strickland broke and ran out the next rack to win the match 7-2. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest updates from the world of billiards and pool.
Pool Balls and Billiard Balls at LOW PRICES!!!

View all Pool Billiard News's articles

---

About the Author:
Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.

More January 2006 articles