Source : Match Room Pool
TWO-TIME PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool winners Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante comfortably progressed to the last eight as their Philippines B team beat India 8-5.



The Indian pair of Raj 'the Hitman' Hundal and Amar 'AK47' Kang, wearing the winning shirts in the 'best dressed' competition, were again led into the arena by a glamorous model scattering rose petals ahead of them.

After eight racks it was 4-4 and that put pressure on the Filipinos, but they responded superbly as they picked up the pace to gain the win.

The Indians acquitted themselves well and, considering Kang had never played on TV before, were a credit to their nation.

"We got lucky again," said Reyes, echoing his regular catchphrase but the truth is there was plenty of skill and shot-making and their likely quarter-final opponents, Germany, will have their hands full on Saturday.

Sweden earlier became the first team through to the quarter-finals in a fantastically entertaining second round match against qualifiers Switzerland. Both teams were shaky at best with Ronni Regli for Switzerland and Thomas Mehtala (Sweden) having particularly torrid times.

The final score was 8-6 but that barely told the story of one of the craziest matches in World Cup history. The Swiss team of Regli and the imposing Dimitri Jungo started where they left off following their defeat of defending champions China on Tuesday, as they moved into a 4-0 lead.

Sweden took the next four to level the score at 4-4 and shared the next two to make the score 5-5. The Scandinavians, who looked dead and buried, won the next two after both sides had chances following some errors and they were on the hill.

In an amazing last rack, Regli missed the 4-ball, Mehtala left Chamat in a shocking position with hampered cueing but Chamat produced a heroic effort to get Sweden back on course.

However, his partner missed a straight-forward 6-ball but Regli could not take his second chance as he missed the 7-ball and almost walked out of the arena in disgust.

Dimitri Jungo, who had been excellent throughout, put a comforting arm round Regli's shoulder as the Swiss-Filipino felt the heat. Chamat pocketed the 8-ball and started dancing as he sensed victory.

Mehtala, who looked a bag of nerves in the latter stages of this match, stayed strong when he needed to and downed a simple 9-ball for the win.

"It was an amazing game. I've played so many games over years and that's one of the worst games I've been involved in!" said a delighted Chamat.

"I will always remember this game, just like I remember the Mosconi Cup games. You have to show a lot of heart and dig deep down but it wasn't about pool, it was about seeing straight."

Chinese Taipei, a perennial powerhouse of the world pool scene, advanced to the second round with a comfortable 8-4 victory over Russia.

The Taiwanese were represented by Ko Pin-yi and his 15-year-old brother Ko Ping-chun - the first time siblings have competed in the World Cup.

Their opponents Russia, with Ruslan Chinakhov and Konstantin Stepanov on board, looked to have a chance but the clinical Taiwanese were too good from the off. The Russians stayed with them in the early stages but always trailed as the Chinese Taipei brothers looked relaxed and confident.

They were never put under sufficient pressure and looked to have a couple more gears available to them if the need arises. They now meet Italy in the second round, who came from behind to beat Hong Kong in a scrappy thriller.

Hong Kong's Lee Chenman and Kenny Kwok were in the driving seat throughout their round one match against Italy and led 4-2, but Chenman missed an easy 9 ball to gift the rack to the Italians.

Hong Kong kept their noses in front as they moved to 6-5 but another mistake from Chenman let the Italians in for 6-6 and they won the next two to take the match.

Poland recorded the second 8-0 whitewash of the event as they flattened Vietnam.

Radoslaw Babica, an ever-present in the Polish World Cup side since the event's inception in 2006, was this time joined by Karol Skowerski and they thrashed their opponents.

"We've known each other for more than ten years, play in the same club and have played together in the Polish National Championships and the Polish League," said Skowerski.

The knowledge of each other's games was paramount and the match was a bit of a procession as the confidence drained from the Vietnamese.

"Two weeks ago we won the Polish Scotch Doubles Championships and it was an easy win so that's why we're so confident," added Babica.

"We started very well and that's why the match went our way. We started with two run outs, he missed and then it was 4-0. That made them more nervous and we had less pressure.

"But it was just one match and if we play like that and our opponents play like that then we will win the next match. Every match is different and we'll just concentrate on our next opponent and try to play our best."

In the second match of the session, Malta made it six first round exits out of six as they went down to Canadian pair John Morra and Jason Klatt by 8-4. The Maltese pair made too many errors to stay in contention and Canada can now look forward to meeting Orcollo and Alcano in the next round.


The 2011 World Cup of Pool is sponsored by PartyPoker.net, the world's leading online poker school. Cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc, tables by Star Xing Pai and the Official Cue is Predator.


The PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool takes place at the Block Atrium at the SM Mall North in Quezon City, Manila. It features 32 two-player teams representing 31 nations - hosts Philippines have two sides. The total prize-fund is $250,000 with $60,000 going to the winning pair.


PARTYPOKER.NET WORLD CUP OF POOL
DAY THREE RESULTS
ROUND ONE: Chinese Taipei 8-4 Russia, Italy 8-6 Hong Kong, Poland 8-0 Vietnam, Canada 8-4 Malta,
LAST 16: Sweden 8-6 Switzerland, Philippines B 8-5 India