German Billiard Team Too Good For Spain

German Billiard Team Too Good For SpainThe German billiards team made it through to the quarter finals of the PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool as they overcame a hiccup to beat Spain by 9-5. The German side, made up of European No.1 Thomas Engert and former WPA World Champion Oliver Ortmann, now face Taiwan on Saturday afternoon in what promises to be one of the matches of the round.Who do you think will win? Discuss World Cup of Pool here. Spaniards David Alcaide and Rafael Guzman did well to recover from a 5-0 deficit but made too many mistakes against a team of Germany's undoubted class.
A smooth run out from the break in the first set the tone for Germany as they moved into the early lead before both sides had opportunities in the next but neither could develop the table sufficiently to make it pay. It was the less experienced Guzman who made the critical mistake as he left the 8 ball hanging in the jaws of the pocket for the Germans to go to 2-0 and another excellent run out from the break by Ortmann and Engert took the score to 3-0. In the next the Spaniards had a shot on the 1 ball following the break but Guzman had to go rail first and a safety exchange followed. In the end the Germans got the better of it and took their fourth rack before Engert and Ortmann ran out from the break in the fifth to go to 5-0. The Spanish duo finally stopped the rot in the sixth game as Engert at last missed one. The underdogs gained the initiative in the next as well and showed a lot of heart to nearly clear the table but Guzman missed a horror 9 ball to give Germany a chance. However, Ortmann missed it himself although he left the ball apparently safe until Alcaide potted a wonderful table-length cut to take the rack for Spain. Another outstanding piece of skill by Alcaide took the next rack for Spain . Guzman overran the cue ball going from 8 to 9 and left it tight on the final ball but Alcaide banked the 9 across table. The Spanish comeback was derailed in the next as a positional error caused a miss on the 7 ball and the Germans cleared to go to 6-3. But Spain took the next to reduce the deficit to two racks in what was turning into an intriguing encounter.Ortmann missed a pink 5 ball into the bottom left pocket in the 11th and some more good work from Alcaide seemed to set up a run out but the Spaniard missed the 6 ball and left it in the jaws as the Germans cleared to go 7-4. Spain looked likely to win game 12 as Alcaide put three balls down on the break but the run broke down on the four ball and the German pair cashed in to reach the hill. The Spanish side offered some final resistance but the Germans took the match as they reasserted themselves in what was the final game. “We felt confident after our first match and at 5-0 up we were going very, very well,” said Engert. “It all hinged on that one shot in the sixth rack and the momentum changed. They made a few mistakes though and missed a few balls and in the end we won but didn’t feel so proud about it.” Ortmann added: “But sometimes it’s good to win ugly; it gives you more confidence than when you win easy. Taiwan played solid against Japan today but really I don’t care and as long as we play our game we’ll be tough to beat.” Visit Inside POOL Magazine for the latest news from the sport of billiards and pool.

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