Hong Kong Billiards Team Produces Another Shock

Hong Kong Billiards Team Produces Another ShockThe Hong Kong billiard team caused another shock in the PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool as they defeated Russia to move into the last eight.Before the tournament started the Hong Kong billiards team of Lee Chenman and Kong Man-Ho were written off as 150-1 outsiders to win the competition but have now beaten the sixth seeds Sweden and 11th seeds Russia to set up a quarter-final tie against the mighty American pairing of Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris. “To get to the quarter-final is a shock,” said Chenman. “But if we can cause another shock and beat American then I think the whole of Hong Kong will make it a bank holiday.”Who do you think will win? Discuss World Cup of Pool here. Chenman won the lag but both sides made a nervous start before Kong Man-ho missed a chance on the blue two and the Russians ran through the remaining balls to take an early lead against the break.
But the advantage did not last long as Konstantin Zolotilov failed to convert a shot at the pink four into the top right pocket and Hong Kong equalised the match.Neither team was breaking well and when Hong Kong came up dry, only the fourth time that had happened in the whole competition, Russia took full advantage to again move one rack in front.A 3-8 combination from Kong Man-ho helped his side take the next but a poor miss from Chenman, when he failed to get out of a snooker and missed the orange five, let Russia move ahead for the third time.But Russia scratched while potting the brown seven in the sixth rack and that gave Hong Kong a simple task of squaring the match.Frustratingly for the underdogs, Kong Man-ho then came up dry from another break, the second successive time he had done that, and that was punished as the score moved to 4-3 in Russia ’s favour.Amazingly, after seven racks no team that had broke had then won that rack and that sequence continued in the next as Chenman sunk a tricky 9-ball into the left middle pocket to make it 4-4.Hong Kong won the next to finally take a rack from the break and they now moved into the lead for the first time at 5-4.When Stepanov overcut the 1-ball Hong Kong had a chance to go two racks ahead but it appeared they had wasted this opportunity when Chenman missed the black eight.However, the ball ended up behind the 9-ball and Zolotilov foolishly tried a jump shot and fouled as Chenman this time made no mistake as Hong Kong took a 6-4 lead.Before this match there had only been three dry breaks in the entire tournament but Kong Man-ho matched that figure on his own with his third failure in this game as Russia won their first rack in four for 6-5.Hong Kong regained their two rack advantage with a huge stroke of luck as Chenman missed a comfortably shot at the pink four but it then cannoned into the 9-ball and crept towards the right centre pocket and slowly dropped down.It soon became 8-5 as Hong Kong moved to the hill before Stepanov made a golden break, only the second of the entire competition to keep the match alive at 8-6.Chenman missed an attempt at the 1-ball in the next as they began to show some nerves as the deficit was reduced to one again with the score at 8-7.Russia broke and ran in the 16th rack to make it the second hill-hill encounter that Hong Kong have been involved in.They defeated Sweden 9-8 in round one but this time it looked like the result would go against them when Kong Man-ho missed the 1-ball.But Zolotilov inexplicably fouled when no ball hit the rail on his next shot and Hong Kong ran through the balls as Chenman composed himself to fire the 9-ball home and his side into the quarter-finals.

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