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CHINA'S FU JIAN BO THROUGH TO SHANGHAI LEG'S FINAL FOUR

Defeats Chinese Taipei's World 9 Ball Champion Wu Chia-Ching for a chance to win the champion prize of US$15,000

4 August 2007, Shanghai: In front of nearly 800 supporters, China's Fu Jian Bo dream victory at today's Guinness 9 Ball Tour Shanghai leg quarter-final match gave the partisan crowd plenty to cheer for, defeating 2005 WPA World 9 Ball Champion Wu Chia-Ching of Chinese Taipei by the slimmest of margins 9-8.

It was the Zhe Jiang native's gutsy play that won the tie, and the hearts of the supporters that packed the pool arena at the Shanghai Hotel Ballroom. The dramatic match got the crowd on the edge of their seats, especially in the 17th and final rack with both players making critical errors.

That was when the 2006 China 9-Ball Championship runner-up capitalised on a fatal error by Wu when he missed the 6-ball, which allowed Fu to wrap up the match and clinch his semi-final berth.

Said Fu: "The final rack was so nerve-wracking! At first the thought of winning never crossed my mind, because everyone knows the Chinese-Taipei players are streets ahead of us in terms of experience and skill. But as the match progressed I think anxiety may have gotten the better of me knowing I have a chance to win it.

"For tomorrow, I'm just going to focus on playing each rack at a time, and do my best. Nonetheless, I'm going to call my family after this and celebrate today's win."

Playing for the first time in the Guinness 9 Ball Tour, the tournament's dark horse must beat another Chinese Taipei player in Yang Ching-Shun to reach the final tomorrow. 

Yang, the winner of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour Kaohsiung and Singapore leg this year, similarly won a tight match over the Philippines' Roberto Gomez 9-8 in his quarterfinal. The Gomez-Yang tie proved to be one of the most entertaining and thrilling contests of the year with both players putting on an exhibition of multiple breaks and run-outs.

This clinical performance by the two contenders left the audience awe-struck and anticipating for more. But it was a heart-breaking loss for the Filipino, whose quarterfinal exit saw him finish with 90 points, which falls short of qualifying within the top-ten list on the Order of Merit to play in the lucrative Grand Final in Bali on 31 Aug – 2 September.

The Shanghai leg of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour is the final chance for Asia's elite cue artists to qualify for the prestigous Grand Final by finishing within the top-ten of the Order of Merit list at the end of the tournament. In addition, the same top ten will also qualify for November's 2007 WPA World 9 Ball Championship in Manila at the internationally acclaimed Araneta Coliseum. The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World 9 Ball Championship.

In the 12th rack with that score 5 – 6 in favour of Yang, a miscued two-pot from the Filipino on the corner pocket, snookered the cue ball behind the pink-four, allowing for an almost impossible shot attempt at the red-three. Although Gomez managed to come up with an excellent three-ball safety, it was not good enough as Yang coolly and calmly stepped up to the table and banked the three-ball towards the side pocket to break the see-saw battle.

In the very next rack, another one ball corner pocket miss from Gomez saw Yang clean up the table once more to string his third consecutive run-out and hold an 8 – 5 advantage. Not wanting to let his Grand Final qualification slip away, Gomez then gritted his teeth, stepped up his game and managed to answer with three straight racks of his own via a break and run out in the 14th, a table rout off a Yang foul in the 15th and a five ball corner pocket miss in the 16th rack which brought the match to a nail-biting hill-hill result.

But with Yang breaking in the deciding rack, Gomez's fate hung on the balance. Luckily for the Taiwanese, his stroke did not desert him as he broke cleanly with no problem balls in sight. The Kaohsiung and Singapore leg champion then proceeded to seal the contest at 9 – 8.

Earlier in the first quarterfinal, Ryu Seung Woo of Korea defeated Singapore 's Chan Keng Kwang 9-7 to barge into the semi-finals for the first time in his career. The Korean needs at least a finals appearance to make it to the lucrative Bali leg finish and a spot in November's WPA World 9 Ball Championships.

The 2005 South-east Asia Games gold medallist started promisingly, winning the first two racks of his quarterfinal before leading by 4-3 by the break. But Ryu capitalised on Chan's costly fouls to clinch the tie to put the Korean through to his first semi-final against Ronato Alcano of the Philippines.

Reigning WPA 8ball and 9ball champion Alcano displayed his much-heralded championship form to win his clash with Chinese Taipei's "Cold Faced Killer" Chao Fong-Pang, 9-3 in the final quarterfinals match of Day Two to remain on track for his first Tour win of the season.

Already assured of a Bali Grand Finals entry through his participation in the previous four legs, the soft-speaking Filipino favorite started out strong to a commanding 6–0 advantage. In fact, Alcano even made difficult pot situations look ridiculously routine, such as a yellow one kick-shot to the corner pocket in the 4th rack and a thin two ball slice in the 5th.

It was only at the 7th rack that Chao finally managed to snap out of the scoring drought as he cleaned up the table and enter the board 1–6. The Kaohsiung native then followed up with two more racks by capitalizing on an Alcano dry break in the 8th and putting up his first table rout in the 9th to edge closer at 3–6.

Despite cheers of encouragement from Chinese-Taipei supporters, the pressure proved to be too much even for the seasoned Taiwanese veteran as he proceeded to muff a two attempt towards the corner in the 10th which Alcano was able to salvage with heavy English to sink the two and eight balls in one stroke. With the score at 3–8 in favour of the top Filipino seed, Chao committed one last error, a thick corner pocket miss on the six, which practically gift-wrapped the victory for Alcano.

Now bigger and better with the partnership forged between ESPN STAR Sports and Guinness, the Tour promises to bring all the exhilarating pool drama back in a full-tournament setting with 24 of Asia's elite cue masters. The event now offers the all-time biggest prize money – US$320,000, which is double from last year's US$160,000. The Guinness 9 Ball Tour will also have the most stops ever– increasing the number of legs to six from last year's four and now have included a

ESPN STAR Sports, Asia 's number one sports broadcaster, dedicates 15 hours of live and exclusive coverage for this thrilling leg. Telecast of Asia's premier pool competition will be carried LIVE on STAR Sports with fifteen hours of exhilarating competition from 3 to 5 August. Broadcast times are as follows:

Sun,05 August, 2007

Semi-final 1:

12:00pm (HKT)   Ronato Alcano (PHI) vs Ryu Seung Woo (KOR)

Semi-final 2:

1.30pm (HKT)      Yang Ching-Shun (TPE) vs Fu Jian Bo (CHN)

Final

3.00pm (HKT)

For more information on the Tour, please check out www.guinness9balltour.com . For the latest schedules and program information on ESPN STAR Sports, catch us on the net at www.espnstar.com.

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