Players Learn From Their Mistakes at IPT Billiard Tournament

Players Learn From Their Mistakes at IPT Billiard TournamentMick Hill of England was one of the first to finish his fifth-round match, in which he sent Steve Moore home 8-2. Hill is one of three pool players to enter Thursday’s rounds undefeated for the entire event.Moore had few chances to win against Hill. The Brit won the first game, scratched on the break in the second and gave Moore a rack, took the next rack after Moore hooked himself on the 8, and then broke and ran two for a 4-1 lead. A brief hiccup in the fast-paced match occurred when Hill came up dry on his next break, but Moore didn’t get position on his 8 ball and missed a thin cut. From there, Hill cleared the table, broke and ran two more to reach the hill, and then missed an early stripe, enabling Moore to put another game on his side. But an empty break doomed him, and Hill quickly dished up for the 8-2 win.IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship ForumsVisit the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship Image Gallery
“I’ve done quite well, I got thirteen of thirteen,” stated Hill. “I have played well, I put a lot of hours in since the last event. I thought I played well there … a friend of mine, who is sponsored by the Universal Smart Shaft, talked to the sponsor and asked if we could get some equipment. So halfway through the Open at the Venetian, a delivery comes and my friend says, ‘I have a little surprise for you ... three cues for me, Karl Boyes, and Darren Appleton, take your pick.’ So I picked one and it’s absolutely beautiful. I’m still playing with the Z Shaft, I haven’t tried the Smart Shaft yet because I am still new to the American pool cues, so I don’t want to try my luck too much. But the body … I feel like its improved my game twenty-five to thirty percent from the Open. I felt like I played quite well there, but I was still a bit inexperienced. So I acquired a table from Diamond, put that in my home, and practiced three to five hours every day. But straight away, as soon as I put the butt on the Z Shaft, I knew it was for me.“With regards to being unbeaten, I just hope it sticks. I haven’t missed a lot—I broke a little patchy, and fortunately for me the opponent hasn’t played up to their potential or they have broke bad as well. So all guns blazing … I’m sharing with Karl Boyes, who is also undefeated … I actually sponsor Karl as well, so it’s going great.”Fellow Brit Boyes (pictured above) bested Danny Harriman 8-6 and will return Thursday undefeated, and Francisco Bustamante will as well, having won 8-5 over Jason Kirkwood in the fifth round. A tired Boyes justified his performance. “Sixty percent good play, forty percent luck. Scrappy breaks, they didn’t really work. I feel good—I got beat at the North American in this round, so obviously I picked up my experience, so that’s probably seen me through. We’re gonna have a couple of pints, relax, and go to bed … come back here about eight o’clock.”The other Europeans to advance include Fabio Petroni, Ralf Souquet, Mika Immonen, Thomas Engert, Tony Drago, Alex Lely, Daryl Peach, Dimitri Jungo, Michael Schmidt, and Niels Feijen, who just defeated Gabe Owen by a whopping 8-2. “I did good—the percentages helped me really,” explained Feijen. “I did good in the group—I learned from the last tournament about that. I was already through before I played Gabe. I feel like I have more energy than last time. I had some back problems and couldn’t work out for a couple of months, and that really killed me, so I did a lot of swimming for this event, and I don’t feel tired like last time, so that’s a positive thing.”In the Filipino corner, Ronato Alcano, Bustamante, Alex Pagulayan, Antonio Lining, Dennis Orcollo, Efren Reyes, and Jose Parica. Ramil Gallego, Rodolfo Luat, and Edwin Montal didn’t make the cut, which means that eight Filipinos will return to Thursday’s rounds. Americans who will advance are Danny Harriman, Charlie Bryant, Rodney Morris, Jason Kirkwood, Corey Deuel, Larry Nevel, Nick Varner, Jason Miller, and Charlie Williams.Of the 36 who return Thursday, only 18 will make it back Friday. Thursday’s payouts will range from $22,322 for 36th place to $31,095 for 19th place. From there, six players return for Saturday’s rounds, and the last two standing will play Sunday in the finals, in which a first-place prize will be awarded to the winner in the amount of $500,000.Quick LinksPlayer StatsPrize Money Breakdown Round 4 GROUP 76GROUP 69GROUP 70GROUP 71GROUP 72C. DeuelT. EngertT. DragoE. MontalS. DaultonVisit Inside POOL Magazine for the latest news from billiards and pool.

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