Two Hill-Hill Matches Start the Day

Two Hill-Hill Matches Start the DayThe seventh day of the North American Open 8-Ball Championship began with two hill-hill matches out of three in the first round, adding even more excitement to the already thrilling event. The gleaming, enormous silver trophy took center stage between the two televised matches, but the crowd only has eyes for the stars.IPT discussion forumDay 7 image galleryDay 6 image galleryMatch schedule for July 29, 2006On one table, the inscrutable Russian, Evgeny Stalev, faced off against Thorsten “The Hitman” Hohmann, the 2003 World Pool Champion. Though Stalev held an early 3-1 lead, Hohmann slowly got back in the match and took over. Stalev stared off into the distance as Hohmann ran out. When the German reached the hill, he came up empty on his break, and Stalev got up to the table, one-stroking his shots. He got out of line and was forced to play safe, which ended up in a defensive battle that saw Stalev drill one of his balls cross-side. Ending up with the cue ball at one end of the table and the 8 at the other, he played safe, which turned out to be his final shot of the match, as Hohmann was able to clear the table and win 8-3.
“I think I was tired in the beginning,” reported Hohmann. “I missed like five shots and then finally caught my game. I ran three racks, which gave me a decent lead. I made so many comebacks this tournament, I know if I get a chance I can make it.”Off to the side of the two televised matches, Ralf “The Surgeon” Souquet played a heartbreaking match against Dennis Orcollo, the Bellflower, CA, qualification event winner in March. Souquet broke and ran two racks in a row to reach the hill with Orcollo at 3 but came up empty on his next break. Orcollo cleared the table and broke and ran the following rack to narrow the gap to 7-5, but his next break was dry. It looked for all the world that Souquet was going to run out, but he hung his fourth stripe in the pocket—Orcollo dropped his cue in his rush to reach the table and clean up. He then broke and ran the next rack for a hill-hill bout, but again, a dry break held him back. Again, Souquet missed the fourth stripe. With considerable speed, as if he wanted to clear the table before he woke up from this dream, Orcollo dished up for the 8-7 win.In the all-Filipino battle on the second TV table, Marlon Manalo and Efren “Bata” Reyes went head to head. Certainly the most-watched match of the morning, the bleachers and chairs were packed with eager fans. Reyes held a 5-2 lead but seemed to get out of line, eventually missing to allow Manalo free rein. With his foot in the door, Manalo won that rack and then broke and ran the next three to overtake his idol. A safety battle in the next game finally forced Manalo to take a shot, which he pocketed to work slowly through the rest of the rack, reaching the hill 7-5. A dry break gave Reyes another chance, and he took full advantage, winning two racks in a row to make it double-hill; however, his final break came up empty, and Manalo cleared the table for the win.“It was a tough match. It just happened that he didn’t make a ball on the final break that left me to run out. I just played normally and I will just take it one at a time,” said the exceedingly humble Manalo after the match.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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