Six Survive to See Saturday’s Rounds at IPT Billiards

Six Survive to See Saturday’s Rounds at IPT BilliardsSix billiard players stay alive for another round at the IPT’s World Open 8-Ball Championship. A total of $938,000 will be divvied up between the surviving six, with a grand prize of $500,000 of that going to the winner on Sunday.Not surprisingly, “Rocket” Rodney Morris was the first to finish in the fifth round, but for once today, he was not the winner. Corey Deuel needed to win their match to advance, and he went after it with a vengeance, breaking and running three racks of the eight that he won to Morris’s one. Both players will be playing on Saturday, the last two Americans standing.IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship ForumsVisit the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship Image Gallery
“I advanced already before that match, that’s probably why I got every bad roll,” reported Morris after his match, but he didn’t seem too disappointed. “I missed one tough shot. I ate just before my match—that’s a lesson, don’t eat. You know, it’s hard to play when I am already in and the match doesn’t matter. They say every match is more money, but realistically, you can’t give it your all when it doesn’t mean anything. Like, I’m already in and happy and celebrating, so tomorrow is a new day and I will focus tomorrow and come back strong.”Germany’s Oliver Ortmann defeated Dimitri Jungo 8-4 in the last round and dominated his group with four total wins for the day. Also advancing from his group is Efren Reyes. Though Reyes lost to Mick Hill 8-2 in the fifth round, he had three wins for the day—more than enough to move him along to Saturday’s action.Advancing from the final group to finish are Dennis Orcollo and Mika Immonen. This was a dicey group in which a player’s advancement might have been linked to the fate of another match. For example, Ralf Souquet lost to Mika Immonen 8-6 but still could have moved on if Dennis Orcollo had not won against Niels Feijen. However, Orcollo did win 8-5, decimating Souquet’s chances instantly.Though Orcollo leapt straight up in the air upon sinking the final 8 ball with a scream, he was only slightly subdued later. “I feel happy,” he understated. “I had a lot of chances but had a lot of misses too. Of course I am tired too. I was very nervous, my hand was shaky ... even now. All those guys are good players, but I will do good and try hard.”Immonen was much more effusive. After letting out a grand roar after kicking in his last 8 ball, the Finn exclaimed, “I feel like I’m in seventh heaven! It was a really dramatic match—we went back and forth, and at the end I had a really good chance to have a simple run-out once and for all, but I made a position error on the second-to-last ball. I tried to kill the cue ball but it didn’t work, so he had what he had. He made my ball with his own ball and put me behind two other balls. I was like, well, this is a kick shot, what are you going to do but go for it? That was the only shot you have in that situation, and he left me off the rail, so I was able to bridge nicely and hit it pretty accurate. I hit the eight ball quite solid—to make it in the side is like one out of ten. I was exploding—at first I was like, I made it, then the realization that, that’s it, that’s the match. It’s beautiful. That’s what champions are made of—that kind of stuff.” Tomorrow will see the top six players out of a two-hundred-player field reconvene at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, NV, for a full day of five rounds each. The top two players will move on to the final match on Sunday, where one will be awarded $500,000 for first place. Visit www.internationalpooltour.com to sign up for live streaming video to watch the action as it happens. Watch “Rocket” Rodney Morris, Corey Deuel, Dennis Orcollo, Efren Reyes, Mika Immonen, and Oliver Ortmann vie for the chance at half a million dollars. This is the biggest prize fund in the history of pool!Quick LinksPlayer StatsPrize Money Breakdown Round 6 GROUP 82R. MorrisM. ImmonenO. OrtmannC. DeuelD. OrcolloE. ReyesRound 5 GROUP 79K. BoyesF. BustamanteH. HsiaC. DeuelR. MorrisD. AlcaideGROUP 80R. SouquetM. ImmonenC. WilliamsN. FeijenD. OrcolloD. HarrimanGROUP 81E. ReyesM. HillT. EngertO. OrtmannD. JungoA. Pagulayan

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