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FIVE-TIME World Pool Masters champion Ralf Souquet is one of three players through to the quarter-finals of the 2010 event.

He is joined in the last eight by Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines and Canadian John Morra after a full day's play at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

In the opening match of the last 16, Filipino Dennis Orcollo made light work of Raj Hundal (India), going through to the quarter finals by an 8-1 scoreline. Hundal, who looked composed as he negotiated his way through the opening two rounds, made too many mistakes for a player of Orcollo's obvious calibre.

Hundal's safety game wasn't tight enough to contain Orcollo and the sharp-shooting Pinoy completed four break and runs as he ran away with the match.

'It was great! I had a break in the first game as Hundal missed a ball. That was my chance and I took it. I always think I'm going to win the competition, but there's a lot of top players here," said Orcollo.

The second game of the evening was a nervy affair as up-and-coming Canadian talent John Morra put paid to John Schmidt's World Pool Masters hopes, winning through by an 8-4 margin. Morra can look forward to a quarter-final match-up against Dennis Orcollo.

It was a scrappy encounter with both players making errors, but Morra rode his luck to pull away after leading 5-1.

"I played pretty well for most of the match but was difficult to get used to the TV table as it was very different to the tables we've been playing on," said Morra. "But I feel good about my game and got a couple of rolls which helped but John's a great player so that's a great win.

"The shot clock was difficult and I got called up on it and wasn't sure about the rule. I'm going to have to use my extensions better and I have them for a reason.

"Dennis is one of my favourite players. I've played him once in an event in Virginia three years ago and beat him 9-2. He won the tournament but I beat him on the winner's side.

"I feel really good but tomorrow is a whole new day and I hope I can play better. I did make mistakes and need to step it up a notch to beat Dennis."

In the final match of the evening, five times Masters champ, Ralf Souquet had just enough to stay ahead and close out Indonesia's Ricky Yang in a tough encounter.

Souquet opened up a big lead but the dogged Yang, now emerging as one of Asia's premier players, came back at him. Souquet though, held him off for the win.

"It's always good when there's a W next to your name but this was not the best performance at this event, but as long as I reach eight first then I'm happy.

"I started off well but I missed a stupid one ball in the side when it was 4-1 and from that point I let it slip away and made a few more mistakes. The shot clock kept bothering me as we hadn't played with it earlier and when you play ten tournaments without it, it can be difficult.

"Ricky Yang is a very good player and was expecting a close match and he won the Philippine Open and is well known so I wasn't expecting an easy one."

Earlier in the day, Scotland's Jayson Shaw produced one of the shocks of the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters by knocking out Mosconi Cup star Dennis Hatch in the last 32.

Shaw, 21, from Glasgow, continued his giant killing act as he dumped Dennis Hatch out of the competition to set up a last 16 clash with Roberto Gomez who had earlier beaten Huidji See of Holland.

"Reaching the last 16 is probably my greatest achievement in pool. I've played in the IPT but this had topped it," said Shaw.

"I've been playing pretty good and won a few things at 9-ball so I thought if I get my chances I can take them. I'm just as good as anybody when I get among the balls.
"A lot of people didn't know me but I've beaten Lee Van Corteza and Dennis Hatch, the MVP at the Mosconi Cup so I'm just over the moon."

With players eliminated in the first two days of competition reading like a who's who of pool, there are still a host of big names left in the event, a testimony to the immense strength of the field.

However, defending champion Darren 'Dynamite' Appleton saw his hopes of a repeat win dashed as Germany's seasoned veteran Oliver Ortmann overturned large deficits coming from 7-4 down to take their match 9-7 and set up a last 16 clash with countryman Thorsten Hohmann, who had earlier beaten remaining Dutch hope Niels Feijen.

"I played pretty well and got a bit lucky. I broke very well though and I'm pleased to progress," said Ortmann.

Play continues tomorrow from 2pm.

Last 32 - Results
Raj Hundal (IND) 9-6 Ernesto Dominguez (USA)
Marcus Chamat (SWE) 7-9 Dennis Orcollo (PHI)
Rafael Martinez (MEX) 7-9 John Morra (CAN)
John Schmidt (USA) 9-8 Jason Klatt (CAN)
Stevie Moore (USA) 8-9 Ricky Yang (INA)
Do Hoang Quan (VIE) 7-9 Ralf Souquet (GER)
Dennis Hatch (USA) 5-9 Jayson Shaw (SCO)
Roberto Gomez (PHI) 9-4 Huidji See (NED)
Naoyuki Oi (JAP) 9-5 Evgeni Novosad (UKR)
Lo Li-Wen (TPE) 8-9 Charlie Williams (USA)
Karl Boyes (ENG) 4-9 Daryl Peach (ENG)
Kuo Po Cheng (TPE) 3-9 Toru Kuribayashi (JAP)
Rodney Morris (USA) 9-7 Mark Gray (ENG)
Thomas Engert (GER) 9-6 Johnny Archer (USA)
Darren Appleton (ENG) 7-9 Oliver Ortmann (GER)
Thorsten Hohmann (GER) 9-5 Niels Feijen (NED)

Friday Night Last 16 Results
Raj Hundal (IND) 1-8 Dennis Orcollo (PHI)
John Morra (CAN) 8-4 John Schmidt (USA)
Ricky Yang (INA) 6-8 Ralf Souquet (GER)

Saturday Afternoon's Matches
Roberto Gomez (PHI) v Jayson Shaw (SCO)
Naoyuki Oi (JAP) v Charlie Williams (USA)
Daryl Peach (ENG) v Toru Kuribayashi (JAP)

After 17 years as a 16-player invitational competition, the Masters, one of the longest established tournaments in pool, is now a 64 player event and takes place over five days instead of three.

Working in conjunction with Cuesports International, the Masters takes place during the annual BCA National 8-Ball Championships, which sees thousands of players and fans flock to the Riviera for a lengthy festival of pool.

Television is produced by Matchroom Sport and will be seen as 15 x one hour programmes in 14 countries around the world with more to be added to the list.

The prize fund is set at a guaranteed $100,000 with $20,000 going to the eventual champion.

Date posted: May 15, 2010

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