Manalo vs. Hohmann in Finals of IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship

Manalo vs. Hohmann in Finals of IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship IPT discussion forum Day 7 image galleryIn a preview of tomorrow’s final match, former world champion Thorsten “The Hitman” Hohmann and Marlon Manalo played each other in the last round of the evening, with the German winning by an enormous 8-1 margin.There was a chance that if Hohmann lost and Dennis Orcollo won, it would have been an all-Filipino final instead of Europe versus Asia, but Hohmann left little doubt that he was in command. Breaking and running the first two racks, he put together a 4-0 lead before allowing Manalo to the table. To give Manalo his due, he long-rail kicked in his last stripe and back-cut the 8, which thrilled the audience, but for the rest of the match, it was Hohmann all the way.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve played Marlon in the past, but with the exception of the King of the Hill tournament in Orlando, I always played ninety percent against him. I didn’t miss a shot, and I played him yesterday, I think, and it was the same thing, so hopefully I can do it one more time. He might start with five racks—he’s capable of running that, so we’ll see. I played good—hopefully I can continue how I finished today … it’s fifty-fifty.”Orcollo struggled through his match with Evgeny Stalev in which he always had the lead, but with the unpredictable streakiness of the Russian’s game, it was impossible to choose a winner. Orcollo’s dry breaks gave him trouble, and Stalev ended up one-stroking his way to 7-5 Orcollo. He scratched on the last break, though, and Orcollo dished up to win 8-5.Efren Reyes won a lengthy hill-hill battle with Ralf Souquet—it was a close match all the way, but the score finally seesawed to 7-5 Reyes. “Bata” missed his first shot of the match, leaving Souquet to run out and then break and run the following rack to make it double-hill. But he scratched on his final break, at which point several factions of the audience began cheering and clapping. The referee sternly admonished them for their negative rooting, and then Reyes cleared the table to win 8-7.“The day was horrible … a nightmare,” Souquet recounted. “At the beginning I missed a couple shots, and that ruined the whole day after I lost to Orcollo. I didn’t play as well as I did before. I fell apart. I had skids … balls that didn’t roll the way they are supposed to roll. Most were not my mistake, I played them not soft, but solid, they just didn’t go.”Regarding the considerable faction of the audience that cheered when he scratched, Souquet exclaimed, “Of course they were rooting for Efren … they were all Filipinos.” While first and second places are still up for grabs, Stalev has taken $40,000 for sixth place, Souquet earned $50,000 for fifth, Reyes took home $65,000 for fourth, and Orcollo won $80,000 for third place. Tomorrow, the IPT will award the remaining $449,000.Round 6 Group 82E. ReyesR. SouquetT. HohmannE. StalevD. OrcolloM. ManaloVisit Inside POOL Magazine for the latest pool and billiard news from the North American Open 8-Ball Championship.

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