Russia March on at World Cup of Pool

Russia March on at World Cup of PoolPool and Billiard NewsRussia moved into the last 16 with a 9-3 success against Hungary in the first of the matches on day two. However, the Russians, who are seeded 11, will know they will have to play much better in their next encounter as both players were guilty of missing simple-looking chances. Konstantin Stepanov said: “It’s a very nice tournament and you have to change how you would normally think to play well. You have to know the rhythm and the atmosphere, you can speak to each other and it’s fanastic.” Who do you think will win? Discuss World Cup of Pool here.Hungary won the lag but all four players were showing their nerves in the first rack as everyone failed to convert shots they would normally pocket.
The crucial error came from Vilmos Foldes who failed to sink the pink four and that enabled the Russians to gain a 1-0 lead against the break. They ran out in the second but a couple of errors from Zolotilov proved costly. He firstly missed the green six and Foldes finished the rack off before Zolotilov scratched on the break in the next and it quickly became 2-2 in the race to nine. Hungary started the fifth well as Solymosi produced a 1-7 combination but then the Hungarians fell out of position and a safety exchange followed until Solymosi was the first to slip up as Russia again moved in front. Their advantage again moved to two when Foldes left a chance on the orange five after Zolotilov had missed an earlier opportunity and Konstantin Stepanov wrapped the rack up. Zolotilov scratched off the break in the seventh as Hungary reduced the arrears to one. Hungary should have drawn level again but threw it away when Gabor Solymosi was trying to gain position from the eight to the 9-ball and scratched as it become 5-3. Russia again capitalised on Hungarian errors in the next rack. Russian Zolotilov missed a pot at the green and left it hanging over the pocket but Solymosi, who tried to hit the cue ball off a rail first to avoid the 9, failed to connect with any ball and giftwrapped the frame to Russia. The 11th seeds ran out the 10th rack and then secured the 11th, their fourth successive rack, to give Hungary a mountain to climb as Russia moved to the hill. They sealed the victory but will know they were not at their best, although they did enough to stay in the hunt for the $60,000 top prize.

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