Ortmann Books Passage into Next Round

Ortmann Books Passage into Next Round
Oliver Ortmann locked in his place in the final eight of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters with a decisive 8-3 victory over Naoyuki Oi.

Ortmann, who will now meet David Alcaide in the next round, secured the victory, despite having a back injury.

{mosimage}"I think I played pretty well except the last frame when I got lucky," said Ortmann.

"I have to have an operation at the end of the month with a hernia disc. It's pretty tough sometimes when I move down the table and my left arm feels shaky. Hopefully for the next two days it will be ok."

Ortmann gained some perfect practice on Thursday as he won the Challenge of Champions event at Club 8 in Amsterdam.

But today was when the serious business took place as he met Japanese player Naoyuki Oi in the second match of the 2007 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.

Ortmann won the lag and quickly took advantage by making a 2-9 combination to move into an early lead. Oi had no shot from the next break so deliberately failed by pocketing the 9-ball so it would be respotted.

However, Oi still managed to win the rack, but Ortmann regained the lead when he broke and ran through the third.

The Japanese player was making his Masters debut but he was already impressing the fans at the Hotel Zuiderduin in Egmond aan Zee. He produced a stunning shot in the fourth rack when he jumped over the 3-ball to hit the one before the cue-ball then diverted to sink the 9-ball.

The next three racks went with break as Ortmann was 4-3 in front in this race to eight.

But the crucial moment came in the eighth when Oi produced a dry break. To make matters worse, the cue ball flew off the table to give Ortmann ball in hand.

The German produced a 1-9 combination to go 6-3 in front and when Oi missed an optimistic 5-9 carom, Ortmann moved into a four-rack lead.

Ortmann secured his place in the last eight in fortunate fashion as an attempted shot at the 4 into the right middle pocket missed but the cue ball hit the jaws of the pocket and cannoned into the 9-ball, which was on the top rail, and it went in.

David Alcaide will be Ortmann's next opponent tomorrow and he is expecting a tough match.

"He is a tough guy to beat and in the last two or three years he has gained a lot of experience," said Ortmann. "It's difficult to predict a winner as everyone has a chance."

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